P3dv4 blurry laggy slow texture loading popping and stutters

[vortex681 806]

7 hours ago, Wanthuyr Filho said:

Well, my EVGA 1080 FTW usually gets very hot under the load of P3D v4, but it will increase the RPM of the fans. I never saw it get to 100% RPM though. If I had the option I'd better make it run at 100% fan speed the whole time.

Try using MSI Afterburner (you don't need to have an MSI card). Amongst its many features it will allow you to set a custom fan curve for your graphics card. So, for example, you could have the fans off until 45C then 100% fan speed or you could set a progressive increase to maximum.

6 hours ago, Dreamflight767 said:

I'm experiencing stutters and except a fresh install, I have tried everything listed here and everything I could find on other posts and google.

Microsoft have recently acknowledged that there is an issue for some users of Win 10 which can cause stuttering whilst gaming. They are looking to include a fix in some future update. See the following post for a solution which has worked for some people:

The linked article does tend to give the impression that this issue affects all gamers which is clearly not the case but the fix is worth a try.

[Guest]

9 hours ago, GSalden said:

Photoreal scenery is not optimised in V4. It is shown in worse quality than V3.

Correct, I had pointed this out to LM in early Beta when TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP option became available.  

My understanding on how to resolve this would require the PR dev to shift their LODs up by 2-4 levels and provide higher resolution textures (and they will need to be compiled with the P3D V4 SDK).  I believe most PR textures (being sold that is) are based on Aerial image sets and not Satellite image sets ... Aerial sets are considerably lower quality and of course less expensive.  Hi resolution Satellite imagery is VERY expensive, last time I inquired a few years ago I was looking at $6M to get "most" of Greenland color matched one season.

To be blunt, PR scenery in P3D V4 does NOT look as good as the global textures.  Currently I would rather less accurate and seasonal global textures over PR textures ... PR textures also do NOT blend well with the global texture sets, too much obvious contrast in quality and blending.

Cheers, Rob.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, vortex681 said:

Microsoft have recently acknowledged that there is an issue for some users of Win 10 which can cause stuttering whilst gaming. They are looking to include a fix in some future update.

The most recent Windows 10 update has caused havoc on my PCs.  I don't use MS Edge, but Edge is broken and apparently even when not the default browser  will cause other issues and will trigger OS event log errors and will not work correctly (audio streaming from web sites no longer works): 

Faulting application name: MicrosoftEdgeCP.exe, version: 11.0.15063.608, time stamp: 0x59ae240c
Faulting module name: unknown, version: 0.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x00000000
Exception code: 0xc0000604
Fault offset: 0x0000000000000000
Faulting process id: 0xfcc
Faulting application start time: 0x01d32d944dd75098
Faulting application path: C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\MicrosoftEdgeCP.exe
Faulting module path: unknown
Report Id: b1a222b6-8339-4ae8-a954-0e60a9f406f9
Faulting package full name: Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_40.15063.0.0_neutral__8wekyb3d8bbwe
Faulting package-relative application ID: ContentProcess

It's also causing my Visual Studio environment to crash any time I attempt to access "work items" (aka bugs) from our TFS server.  I would recommend you avoid installing either of these KB's until Microsoft fix the issues: 

KB4038788 and KB4038806

https://www.tenforums.com/browsers-email/93338-edge-application-error-1000-a.html

Cheers, Rob.

[Dreamflight767 312]

Hmmm; interesting.  I look forward to a "fix".  

In case it helps any HT is off, lasted GeForce drivers (I've tried older versions) , no tweaks in P3D itself or to NI, G-sync enabled, PMDG 777 w/ PTA using Thopat and the settings recommended for P3D, Vector, Orbx Global, Pilot's FS Global (newest version), REX Enhanced, AS2016, and ACSA.  VFR around New York. 

[Dreamflight767 312]

1 minute ago, Rob Ainscough said:

The most recent Windows 10 update has caused havoc on my PCs.  I don't use MS Edge, but Edge is broken and apparently even when not the default browser  will cause other issues and will trigger OS event log errors and will not work correctly (audio streaming from web sites no longer works): 

Faulting application name: MicrosoftEdgeCP.exe, version: 11.0.15063.608, time stamp: 0x59ae240c
Faulting module name: unknown, version: 0.0.0.0, time stamp: 0x00000000
Exception code: 0xc0000604
Fault offset: 0x0000000000000000
Faulting process id: 0xfcc
Faulting application start time: 0x01d32d944dd75098
Faulting application path: C:\Windows\SystemApps\Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_8wekyb3d8bbwe\MicrosoftEdgeCP.exe
Faulting module path: unknown
Report Id: b1a222b6-8339-4ae8-a954-0e60a9f406f9
Faulting package full name: Microsoft.MicrosoftEdge_40.15063.0.0_neutral__8wekyb3d8bbwe
Faulting package-relative application ID: ContentProcess

It's also causing my Visual Studio environment to crash any time I attempt to access "work items" (aka bugs) from our TFS server.  I would recommend you avoid installing either of these KB's until Microsoft fix the issues: 

KB4038788 and KB4038806

https://www.tenforums.com/browsers-email/93338-edge-application-error-1000-a.html

Cheers, Rob.

Thanks Rob!  Is there any way to disable edge (don't see that mentioned in the link you provided)?  I use chrome as my browser so I've never noticed issues with edge...actually didn't even know what it is/was.

[theskyisthelimit 48]

I dont think i posted this here yet.. but take a look at this video in regard to odd texture loading.

This is ksan + ftxg + openlc + sca..(purely these areas).. i tried this same test on 2 machines, the same thing occurs.

To me, this shadowy area just under the aircraft that unrolls as you move along, seems almost like some sort of shadow glitch more than a terrain load issue..  I cant seem to find too much data on what this could be though.. or maybe noone has noticed yet.  You can see it in the first 10 seconds and in other spots, like 47 seconds in.

 

[Guest]

37 minutes ago, Dreamflight767 said:

s there any way to disable edge (don't see that mentioned in the link you provided)?

No, you can set your default browser to something else, but you can't disable Edge.  The usual BS from Microsoft saying it's "Core" to the OS, yada, yada ... utter and total BS (anyone that has programmed anything knows that's complete nonsense from Microsoft).

On Apple OSX front you can actually remove Safari from your Mac without any consequences, not so with Microsoft Edge (especially if you operate Visual Studio 2015/2017).

As far as blurries, here is a video I made of the problem I "had" that was actually solved by a BIOS/EFI update with CPU microcode update:

The initial problem:

Temporary solution was to disable Intel's Turbo Boost Max:

Final solution was to update the EFI/BIOS and CPU microcode update, re-enable Intel's Turbo Boost Max:

But as you can see from my first video, there clearly was something NOT correct, in my case it turned out to be a hardware issue that was resolved via microcode update.  But what this issue does demonstrate that if thread contention happens, you'll get "blurries".

As I've said before "stutters" are all about maintaining min FPS that is equal to or better than your refresh rate.  If hitting one's refresh rate is not a viable option, then set the framerate limiter to 2-3 FPS below your lowest (min) FPS (you'll still get stutters but they should be less obvious).

But all kinds of things can cause stutters, just too many possibilities to list.  But for me, the items most likely to cause stutters:

1.  Add-Ons (especially those not compiled with P3D V4 SDK and/or not using support techniques)
2.  DL + SSAA (GPU)
3.  SimObject Shadows (CPU/GPU)
4.  Terrain Shadows (when using TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=10) and a high quality Mesh at 1M  (GPU)
5.  DR (GPU)
6.  AI traffic Add-ons (CPU)
7.  Road/Boat Traffic (CPU)

If you're maxing out your CPU, then dial #6, and #7 back (or off), If you're maxing out your GPU then dial AA back.

Cheers, Rob.

[vortex681 806]

1 hour ago, Rob Ainscough said:

The most recent Windows 10 update has caused havoc on my PCs.  I don't use MS Edge, but Edge is broken and apparently even when not the default browser  will cause other issues and will trigger OS event log errors and will not work correctly (audio streaming from web sites no longer works)

I've installed both KB4038788 and KB4038806 this week as part of the routine updates and have had no problems at all. I use Firefox as my default browser and it works perfectly. I've checked the Windows Event viewer and can't see any browser-related errors. Odd.

[Guest]

Click on Edge icon in your taskbar, then check OS event viewer.

[John_Cillis 2,406]

12 hours ago, GSalden said:

Photoreal scenery is not optimised in V4. It is shown in worse quality than V3.

Quote :

"The LOD radius limitations are the same as in 3.4, however the high resolution texture setting effectively doubles your LOD range. Using the TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=10 in combination with enabling high resolution terrain textures will effectively quadruple your LOD radius. There is a known issue with this which is that photo-real textures don't currently improve in quality as a result. This is because the resolution of the texture is baked into the content. For non photo-real textures, much of the detail comes from vector data such as rivers and roads, and the base resolution of the global textures are about 1 meter per pixel. So, with TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=10, you'll see 1mpp texture quality at 4x the distance.

Beau Hollis
Prepar3D Rendering System Lead"

I'm very happy with the default LOD radius, mostly because it resembles real life, perhaps not as sharp as we see in the flight levels here in the desert, but in the rest of the country, especially in the more humid east, it matches quite well what I see in real life.  I recently flew to London and back from Phoenix this June and the haze on most of the trip was quite similar to P3d default.  Also I think P3d does a good job of resembling the Soft Horizons textures I created for FS9 and FSX.  It's a very good simulation all around, very stable despite my only having a 3GB video card.  I also know that the higher LOD is more demanding on memory, so when using that simmers have to keep that in mind.  Good post though, and good info to have.

John

[vortex681 806]

1 hour ago, Rob Ainscough said:

Click on Edge icon in your taskbar, then check OS event viewer.

Thanks, but I'm a great believer in not tempting fate!

[GSalden 4,657]

Regarding MS Edge , since a week I cannot play any YouTube vids anymore.

Using Explorer 11 , which still exists with W10 no issues....

[Guest]

13 minutes ago, GSalden said:

since a week I cannot play any YouTube vids anymore.

Yes, that's one of the issues ... also can surface as no audio output.  I use Google Chrome primarily, but on my development PCs I need Edge, IE11, Google, etc. for testing.  In Visual Studio 2015/2017 for web apps you can select which browser you want to run under when testing/debugging.  One of many reasons why I hate coding web applications, any front end changes requires min 4 test loops and adjustment for specific browsers and even sub-version of a browser (it's a nightmare, desktop apps are so much easier to code and debug).

Anyway, I digress, point being Win10 latest updates "may" cause user headaches/issues which could also be a source or the infamous "stutters" (aka long frames).  I wish Microsoft would take a book from Unix (Linux) and allow users to install just the components of the OS they need to get a specific task done, can't help but think our FS platforms would run A LOT smoother and faster ... but it seems Microsoft are moving in the opposite direction NOT ALLOWING users to turn off features then don't need or want (like Windows Updates, Cortana, Notifications, etc. etc.).  

Cheers, Rob.

[Dreamflight767 312]

 

6 hours ago, Rob Ainscough said:

No, you can set your default browser to something else, but you can't disable Edge.  The usual BS from Microsoft saying it's "Core" to the OS, yada, yada ... utter and total BS (anyone that has programmed anything knows that's complete nonsense from Microsoft).

On Apple OSX front you can actually remove Safari from your Mac without any consequences, not so with Microsoft Edge (especially if you operate Visual Studio 2015/2017).

As far as blurries, here is a video I made of the problem I "had" that was actually solved by a BIOS/EFI update with CPU microcode update:

The initial problem:

Temporary solution was to disable Intel's Turbo Boost Max:

Final solution was to update the EFI/BIOS and CPU microcode update, re-enable Intel's Turbo Boost Max:

But as you can see from my first video, there clearly was something NOT correct, in my case it turned out to be a hardware issue that was resolved via microcode update.  But what this issue does demonstrate that if thread contention happens, you'll get "blurries".

As I've said before "stutters" are all about maintaining min FPS that is equal to or better than your refresh rate.  If hitting one's refresh rate is not a viable option, then set the framerate limiter to 2-3 FPS below your lowest (min) FPS (you'll still get stutters but they should be less obvious).

But all kinds of things can cause stutters, just too many possibilities to list.  But for me, the items most likely to cause stutters:

1.  Add-Ons (especially those not compiled with P3D V4 SDK and/or not using support techniques)
2.  DL + SSAA (GPU)
3.  SimObject Shadows (CPU/GPU)
4.  Terrain Shadows (when using TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=10) and a high quality Mesh at 1M  (GPU)
5.  DR (GPU)
6.  AI traffic Add-ons (CPU)
7.  Road/Boat Traffic (CPU)

If you're maxing out your CPU, then dial #6, and #7 back (or off), If you're maxing out your GPU then dial AA back.

Cheers, Rob.

Rob, I could hug you!

When you said add-ons not compatible with P3DV4 I immediately thought of mytraffic.  I already thought I turned it off and tested my sim without it.  But when I went to check again, I realize it would not stay "un-checked" in the scenery library.

I went and manual disabled it, and boom.  No stutters and huge, huge, FPS increase.

Brilliant.

Thanks so much.  I'm going to do more testing but this is absolutely the right direction.

[John_Cillis 2,406]

1 hour ago, Rob Ainscough said:

Yes, that's one of the issues ... also can surface as no audio output.  I use Google Chrome primarily, but on my development PCs I need Edge, IE11, Google, etc. for testing.  In Visual Studio 2015/2017 for web apps you can select which browser you want to run under when testing/debugging.  One of many reasons why I hate coding web applications, any front end changes requires min 4 test loops and adjustment for specific browsers and even sub-version of a browser (it's a nightmare, desktop apps are so much easier to code and debug).

Anyway, I digress, point being Win10 latest updates "may" cause user headaches/issues which could also be a source or the infamous "stutters" (aka long frames).  I wish Microsoft would take a book from Unix (Linux) and allow users to install just the components of the OS they need to get a specific task done, can't help but think our FS platforms would run A LOT smoother and faster ... but it seems Microsoft are moving in the opposite direction NOT ALLOWING users to turn off features then don't need or want (like Windows Updates, Cortana, Notifications, etc. etc.).  

Cheers, Rob.

My Windows was last updated a few days ago, so far no impact on P3d or XP11, no stutters.  I wish I could get Windows update to stay off however due to what happened on my last PC.  Windows Update destroyed that PC, it got stuck in a loop saying "0 Pct of Updates loaded" and it stayed in a virtual reboot.  After two days of this I gave up, Update would not allow me to boot into safe mode or Ctrl-Alt-Delete out of it.  Microsoft's only response in chat was that Vista was no longer supported.  I am quite angry at Microsoft for allowing this to happen on Vista machines and they had no fix at all for the issue, google the issue and it's been reported many times there.

 If they no longer support an OS fine, then they should have turned off update instead of allowing it to run on a reboot.  They owe me big time for the damage done and a ruined computer with all my files.  Eventually I will try to take it in for repair at least to salvage the hard drive.  So beware Windows update is all I can say.  I've been a computer engineer for 30+ years and I've never lost a computer until my last one was lost.  Also, on my new computer Microsoft has locked out the system variables so I cannot update the path there.  I wish I could take the issue to court, that's how steamed I am.

Don't mean to start a flame war, this was my first serious issue with Microsoft.  At least I have Visual Studio for free on my new system.

John