The "big 7" tweaks and stutters.

[jorandp 0]

Another question on tweaking.Like most of you, I started my FSX experience with very poor FPS and impressive stutters.....After weeks of testing FSX tweaks, I started to get what I would call a very acceptable result in term of FPS (always around 18-25 - target at 25, except very large airport on tarmac around 15.As I mentionned on another post, this was achieved by sacriying all kind of traffic (no plane, car, boat) for maximum scenery settings (all far right, except see high 1x)While fps are good, I am still experiencing significant stutters on take off (side wing views) and mostly when taxing (all views).Among the big 7 tweaks bellow (except1-2), that most of us have probably tried, could someone give an advice on the impact of each tweak on stutters ?Big tweak 1: Texture replacement by resized texture.This one has probably no impact but created significant results in term of frame rateBig tweak 2: Default.xml file in autogen folder renamed as default.bak. This one helped a lot for FPS, probably no impact.Big tweak 3: Pool size: my one is at 9000000. Is this too high ? Seem to help for smooth panning around. Impact on stutters ? Big tweak 4: Fiber frame fraction: Have this one at recommended value (by aces) 0.33. Should I put it higher, is this logical to think that allowing more time for scenery loading would get less stutters but less fps as well ? I tried also very low values (around 0.05-0.1) but autogen does not load totally (I saw trees added at some places after 3-5 seconds, not enough loading time) and many blueries.Big tweak 5: Max autogen per call, have both buildings and trees at 2500 and this sees a good compromise with a still nice looking sceneryBig tweak 6: Texture bandwith; Have pushed it at 300, seem to help a lot for better scenery loading when changing view.Big tweak 7: Setting high priority when launching fsx.exe. Have not tried this yet, it this really worth ?Many thanks for sharing your tweaking experiencePatrickGeneva, Switzerland

[Guest spiffy_scimitar]

One thing that really helped me (as well as your mentionned tweaks) that isn't often mentioned is texture resolution; although 1m is really sharp, I find that anything higher than nap-of-the-earth flying looks just as great at 2m.. and it seems be a lot less work for the gfx card and RAM, as well as decreasing blurries. Try it out. I barely notice the difference in image quality but it's a much smoother experience and less visible refreshing.

[jorandp 0]

Thanks Spiffy, will try that tonight.Patrick

[MikeAdamo 51]

Hi Patrick,"Big tweak 7: Setting high priority when launching fsx.exe. Have not tried this yet, it this really worth ?"I wouldn't try this as a tweak. If anything, you'll notice a significant decrease in performance. I went the other way and set my process priority to BelowNormal which combined with setting my processor affinity to CPU1 gives me a good boost.Mike

[Guest jonboy162]

In relation to No. 5: Where do I change the max autogen setting. I have searched the forums and cannot find the answer although I know i've seen it.I have been following these newsgroups daily since I got FSX in October and have read so much but keep losing info.

[jorandp 0]

Hi Johnboy,You will find this tweak in the tip-and-tricks forum, there is a PDF guide listing all the tweaks.You should add two line in your FSX.cfg, under the terrain section,such as (better verify in the pdf first):Terrain_max_buildings_per_cell=xTerrain_max-trees_per_cell=xX is your choice, I entered 2500 for both, it works fine and still much more trees and buildings than in fs9.Hope this helpsPatrick Geneva

[Guest jonboy162]

Thanks for the reply, I shall try that tonight.

[Guest ldaly]

Hi-Had very good luck with Disktrix Ultimate Defragger by movining .exe &.dll files to outer tracks and using performance option (neat program); and installing directx_oct2006_redist from Microsoft, suggested on another gaming forum. Got rid of stutters & added about 5 fps. Recommend both in addition to all the other tweaks.Lew

[Rimshot 1,131]

The FSX defaults are 4500 for trees and 3000 for buildings. FS9 in comparison used only 600 for trees and 300 for buildings. Quite a difference! Unfortunately my system can't really handle anything more than the FS9 values in FSX :-roll More explained here:http://members.cox.net/spambait/FSXTweakGuide.pdf

[Guest tnenonen13]

where can I get that defragger you mentioned?

[Guest ldaly]

Hi-PC Aviator - can download & try out - I believe 30 days - then $20.- or so. Lew

[Mace 1,902]

>>Big tweak 2: Default.xml file in autogen folder renamed as>default.bak. This one helped a lot for FPS, probably no>impact.>On my system, Big Tweak 2 absolutely eliminates all of the "side view stutter" you mention. In fact on my system it eliminates all stutter entirely, even in places like NYC or Seattle.But the drawback is, well, you know, not as many xml scenery objects.It is enough of a drawback, that I do not run my FSX that way except in the most dire-est of circumstances, like an approach to KMSP, EGLL, or KORD in rough weather. 95% of the time I like my default.xml intact.RhettAMD 3700+ (@2530 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2 GB Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8, WD 250 gig 7200 rpm SATA2, CoolerMaster Praetorian

[Mace 1,902]

>Hi->>Had very good luck with Disktrix Ultimate Defragger by>movining .exe &.dll files to outer tracks and using>performance option (neat program); and installing>directx_oct2006_redist from Microsoft, suggested on another>gaming forum. Got rid of stutters & added about 5 fps. >Recommend both in addition to all the other tweaks.>>LewNot debunking here, just curious and wanting discussion:How can moving .exe's to the *outer* tracks be helpful? I have always thought the fastest hard drive tracks were the INNER tracks. Wouldn't it be better to move them to the fastest part of the drive?RhettAMD 3700+ (@2530 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2 GB Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8, WD 250 gig 7200 rpm SATA2, CoolerMaster Praetorian

[Guest ldaly]

Hi Rhett-Best to have Disktrix explain it, but has to do with outer tracks pass head faster and hold more clusters, & therefore transfer data faster. Also want to put all the files constantly being read close to each other to reduce head "back & forth" seek times.Lew

[greggerm 312]

I think Lew may be on to something with this one...Given that a hard drive spins at a constant rotation, the speed at which the platter is moving under the drive head changes as you move outward. The farther from the center you go, the faster the platter is moving under you. The faster the platter speed, the faster data can (theoretically) be written and read. I just ran up Ultimate Defragger trial, and my system displays that most of my data is already resting near the outer edge, not the inner edge. This tells me that XP (and/or the drive writing subsystem) already knows that the outer edge is the location best suited for the data. I am running a process on my FSX drive to move "archive" libraries of files to the inner edge, while pushing all FSX files to the outer edge.If I remember, I'll post up again with any notable performance gains. :)-Greg