Hi,

This is another one of those does affinity work or not questions but I'm getting some performance gains with the following and I would like someone else out there to test this theory for me just to see if its just me.

I run P3D from a batch file as I also run AS, ASCA, Projectfly, Chaseplane and Trackhat all at the same time as the sim is running, so I wrote a batch file to fire all these programs off on one click.  It goes a bit like this:

Start "" /affinity 3 "E:\projectfly\projectFLY.exe"
TIMEOUT /T 5
Start "" /affinity FFC "E:\Prepar3D V4\Prepar3D.exe"
TIMEOUT /T 5
Start "" /affinity 3 "C:\Games\TrackHat opentrack\opentrack.exe"
TIMEOUT /T 1
Start "" /affinity 3 "E:\FSFX Chaseplane\ChasePlane.exe"
TIMEOUT /T 1
Start "" /affinity 3 "E:\AS_P3Dv4\AS_P3Dv4.exe"
exit

Now I run affinity from the Start command rather than embed it in the P3D config.  I have an I7 8700K with HT on, clocked to 5.1Ghz (although task manger never shows it above 4.8 Ghz).  The affinity command used here is in hex not binary. So I lock all the other apps to LC1 and VC1 leaving P3D all logical and virtual cores remaining.  If you are not sure how to do this you can also control the affinity through task manager, open task manager - tab "Details" - find P3D running exe - right click select affinity - uncheck core 0..................if HT is on then you need to also uncheck core 1.      Your other apps need the opposite doing it them.

I find that this gives me consistent frames of 20+ on the ground with FlyTampa Amsterdam, UTL working in a QW 787 and in the air (36k) with Orbx Global, Vector, Europe and GB over London still in the QW787 frames 45-55 and its super smooth.  I also found that my GPU loads rose from 35% to 60-70% - Gigabyte Extreme Gaming X 1070

I have no other tweaks in the cfg's they are all vanilla.

Could someone please test that if they run the affinity from a batch file like above, ring fencing the others apps CPU usage to a core and let P3D have all the cores - they too get a similar performance boost or better frames.

My side effect which I'm not sure right now is related is it seems a little unstable i.e it seems to crash more.

Thanks for helping me test.

My cpu is a 14 core processor and till today I did not use an AM fir P3D, only for the addons to spread them over the less loaded cores. Like you with a batchfile.

Two weeks ago I installed a second 1080Ti and while the franerate went up by 25-50%, depending on the situation, I had a “every 1.5 second stutter” and the Sim was less smooth.

SteveW helped me and I now use an AM where I use the 8 strongest cores for p3d and the 6 remaining cores for the addons. Each addon is able to use 2 different cores.

The Sim is performing very smooth..

I've come to a similar conclusion running P3D with AM=213, AS, P2ATC and Flight 1 GTN750 via batch file and assigned AM. Unlimited w/vsync no triple buffer. Not a single stutter. Case closed. 😀

Cheers,

Mark

So the batch file method is better than via the cfg file? Does anybody get instability or the 4.3 texture blurries?  These are things I've got but not sure if it's AM related?

I am way behind the knowledge curve that many of you have regarding the Affinity Mask (AM), batch file etc.  I do try different AM numbers that you all provide even though I cannot define how it works.  I also have the dreaded 2 second stall at certain times and locations.  It drives me crazy.  I spend more time testing and reading forums than flying.  I nearly reverted back to v.2 yesterday since I had less issues and an AM that worked pretty well. I now have to have vsync and triple buffering on where I didn't before.   I am not certain that updates are worth the hassle.  For every new fix there is an unintended consequence.  

I appreciate all the comments and suggestions even though most of them are way over my head.  Okay, I feel better now just getting it off my chest.   Happy flying!

 

Edited August 18, 20187 yr by kenthom

Gerard - How did you conclude which were your strongest CPU cores?  Also would you recommend putting P3D to the last bank of cores with add-ons and windows to the front or the other way round.

With an tool like "Processor Lasso" it is word not allowed-proof to allocate apps to different cores.

3 hours ago, 9GTurn said:

Gerard - How did you conclude which were your strongest CPU cores?  Also would you recommend putting P3D to the last bank of cores with add-ons and windows to the front or the other way round.

My mobo has Intel Turbo Boost Max Technology 3, so by running it once I had a list from strongest to less strongest core.

Then I took that list to use the 8 strongest cores for P3Dv4.3,  which I overclocked more than the others. 

Windows will pick any core it likes for all kinds of calculations and it starts on core 0. If core 0 is also used as the main P3D thread it will put more load on other cores.

 

3 hours ago, JoeFackel said:

With an tool like "Processor Lasso" it is word not allowed-proof to allocate apps to different cores.

SteveW is a specialist on systems and getting the most performance icw the best stability out of a pc. He also tests very thoroughly and is able to proof what he says.

I use different cores per app, just like the Windows manager does.

PL also allocates to different cores in Max Performance mode. I use it too. So the correct AM for P3D, a batch file with affinities for the Fs addons and PL for everything else.

2 hours ago, GSalden said:

SteveW is a specialist on systems and getting the most performance icw the best stability out of a pc. He also tests very thoroughly and is able to proof what he says.

I use different cores per app, just like the Windows manager does.

PL also allocates to different cores in Max Performance mode. I use it too. So the correct AM for P3D, a batch file with affinities for the Fs addons and PL for everything else.

Sorry, but i don't get what Steve might have to do with my suggestion of "Processor Lasso".

What could be the difference between setting the AF via batchfile that i have to write or with an handy tool like PL where i can do that with a few mouse clicks on the fly?

Everyone's so sure until they are even more sure later on after some homework.

Batch files or app starting tools are fine if they set out the available cores or LPs reliably for the exe app to start within, but process managers can alter the behaviour undesirably by moving stuff around when we are setting up everything with care.

So start with what works bats you know do, test all ok - later substitute in handy utilities if they are fully understood.

Moving an app after it has started is not the same as having it start within the confines desired for the setup and leads to big problems and weird behaviour. Which then leads on to confusion like "AMs don't work for me..." etc.

I'm always eager to lern, maybe i'm doing wrong but first i have to give a picture what i'm doing in PL.

I lock p3d to Cores 2-7 leaving Core 0/1 to Windows and the addon i've running. Some of the apps have also access to Core 6/7 if they need more processing power because i guess no. 3 isn't utilised completely by P3D.

I don't use any fancy PL-Options like "max performance mode" oder similiar, just the core locking feature.

Maybe i'm doing it completely wrong, but i leave this valuation to the AM-Pro's 😉 

And sorry to everyone who's seeing this as thread derailing.

On 8/18/2018 at 12:33 AM, GSalden said:

My cpu is a 14 core processor and till today I did not use an AM fir P3D, only for the addons to spread them over the less loaded cores. Like you with a batchfile.

Two weeks ago I installed a second 1080Ti and while the franerate went up by 25-50%, depending on the situation, I had a “every 1.5 second stutter” and the Sim was less smooth.

SteveW helped me and I now use an AM where I use the 8 strongest cores for p3d and the 6 remaining cores for the addons. Each addon is able to use 2 different cores.

The Sim is performing very smooth..

Gerard, I understand the above is with HT OFF. 

Do you allow P3Dv4 use Core0 in your AM setting? Did you find any difference turning Core0 On/Off for P3Dv4 in AM?

Thanks. 

My best to less best cores :

8

4

0

2

1 

9

10

5

- - - 

7

3

11

12 

 6

 13 

 

So the first 8 are running P3D at 4.7 Ghz and the 6 others are running addons at 4.3 Ghz.

No difference in running P3D starting from core 0 or another core.

AM = 1847 :

00011100110111

 

Edited August 21, 20187 yr by GSalden

7 hours ago, JoeFackel said:

I'm always eager to lern, maybe i'm doing wrong but first i have to give a picture what i'm doing in PL.

I lock p3d to Cores 2-7 leaving Core 0/1 to Windows and the addon i've running. Some of the apps have also access to Core 6/7 if they need more processing power because i guess no. 3 isn't utilised completely by P3D.

I don't use any fancy PL-Options like "max performance mode" oder similiar, just the core locking feature.

Maybe i'm doing it completely wrong, but i leave this valuation to the AM-Pro's 😉 

And sorry to everyone who's seeing this as thread derailing.

"Maybe i'm doing it completely wrong"

Don't use a process manager to manage processes that manage themselves otherwise you have odd contention in there. And that is why P3D comes with its own core Affinity setting - so use it.

Since you mention 'fancy settings'.  - Guys!  - do not alter the performance mode of anything regarding your flight sim. Making one app have priority in the mix can't actually give any more to that app - so what's it do? It reduces the performance of everything else.

In P3D, it is relying on system resources to supply it - that's right -  those resources that have become less active if we give priority to P3D. So what happens? P3D is forced to wait for them.