Light in the end of the tunnel - the sequel.

[Swe_Richard 1,172]

So, after I removed the sim from the computer and let my annoyance cool down over a couple of days I figured I’d try reinstalling to see if that might fix it. Of course it did not (didn’t believe it would either TBH). I figured I’d just uninstall it again, but thought that considering I had nothing to loose, I might as well start experimenting with the in-game settings. I remember reading at the MSFS forum that some guy solved the CTDs by lowering some of the settings. Never figured this would apply to me, as the sim runs well up until CTD. However I found something rather interesting in my case. If I run trees on anything more than LOW I seem to be prone to CTD. Run it on low=drastically reduced CTD. Even at medium it is CTD galore.  Have always run on Ultra with no issues (before SU 5). 
 

So to my fellow brothers suffering from CTDs, might want to experiment a bit!

[cianpars 1,165]

That seems a bit of an odd one. What are your system specs? For me, it was the CPU getting hot (GPU strangely quite cool) and locking v sync at 30 fps rather than 60 fps seemed to make things run cooler and stopped the pauses and stutters.

It may have been a case of lowering anything that was taxing your system may have resolved your problem (e.g.switching everything from ultra to high). If temperature related, like me,it could equally have been a result of a fall in ambient temperatures.

[abrams_tank 7,417]

26 minutes ago, Swe_Richard said:

So, after I removed the sim from the computer and let my annoyance cool down over a couple of days I figured I’d try reinstalling to see if that might fix it. Of course it did not (didn’t believe it would either TBH). I figured I’d just uninstall it again, but thought that considering I had nothing to loose, I might as well start experimenting with the in-game settings. I remember reading at the MSFS forum that some guy solved the CTDs by lowering some of the settings. Never figured this would apply to me, as the sim runs well up until CTD. However I found something rather interesting in my case. If I run trees on anything more than LOW I seem to be prone to CTD. Run it on low=drastically reduced CTD. Even at medium it is CTD galore.  Have always run on Ultra with no issues (before SU 5). 
 

So to my fellow brothers suffering from CTDs, might want to experiment a bit!

Assuming your Community folder is empty, you deleted all Marketplace add-ons, and your Windows isn't corrupt, I think you have a hardware issue.  You should be able to run trees on higher than low, if your hardware specs support that.

Provided you are not overstressing your hardware with your settings (ie. you run everything on 4K ultra, but your hardware is only meant to run on 1080p and medium settings), you should be able to run MSFS in a stable way.  Also, if you are overclocking any of your hardware, stop overclocking it.  

 

[Swe_Richard 1,172]

1 hour ago, cianpars said:

That seems a bit of an odd one. What are your system specs? For me, it was the CPU getting hot (GPU strangely quite cool) and locking v sync at 30 fps rather than 60 fps seemed to make things run cooler and stopped the pauses and stutters.

It may have been a case of lowering anything that was taxing your system may have resolved your problem (e.g.switching everything from ultra to high). If temperature related, like me,it could equally have been a result of a fall in ambient temperatures.

3900x with 2080ti and 3600mhz ram (32gb). No issues with temps on Ultra. No overclocks on either CPU or GPU. No issues with performance either (locked at 30). Issue introduced with SU5. Before that, CTDs were as rare as twin horned unicorns. 

[Swe_Richard 1,172]

1 hour ago, abrams_tank said:

Assuming your Community folder is empty, you deleted all Marketplace add-ons, and your Windows isn't corrupt, I think you have a hardware issue.  You should be able to run trees on higher than low, if your hardware specs support that.

Nope. Hardware and Windows 10 works just fine. Issue introduced with SU5. 

[OneOfMany 314]

Which chipset are you running to clock your Ram to 3600? 

[pstrub 998]

I know you've tried many things to get rid of your CTDs, and it's perfectly plausible to me that it's MSFS that's at fault here. It could be an MSFS bug triggered by a specific combination of hardware and/or software on your PC, which would explain why others don't have the same problems. 

Anyway, concerning your re-install, did you delete all the files in the local settings folder in %localappdata%\Packages\Microsoft.FlightSimulator_8wekyb3d8bbwe (MS Store version) or %appdata%\Microsoft Flight Simulator (Steam version)? I know it's only a stab in the dark, but it's worth making sure the environment for MSFS is as clean as possible.

I don't think hardware issues are particularly probable when you never experience your entire system to hang or blue screens. Anyway, I've heard of people with stability issues on certain Ryzen 3x00 systems with fast RAM timings, even when running within the specs of the modules, so you might give it a shot and check for bios updates for your board and/or try to run your modules at a lower frequency or more relaxed timings, just for testing. Many hardware issues can be identified running a stress test such as Prime95 for the CPU/RAM, or Furmark for the GPU. As I said, without bluescreens/random reboots it's not very likely the hardware is at fault, but it's relatively easy to run a stress test for a couple of hours so you can be absolutely sure about it. Probably you've done it already at some point.

Anyway, interesting observation about the tree setting. I really hope it keeps working for you, and is more than a placebo.

[Swe_Richard 1,172]

31 minutes ago, OneOfMany said:

Which chipset are you running to clock your Ram to 3600? 

The RAM is the G.Skill Trident Zero (3600mhz / CL16). Simply running the profile in the motherboard settings. Works flawless.

 

[John Fields 279]

Hi,

I think Richard has found a solution. The problem is that it might not work with everyone.

In my case, I do the following:

1) Each time I start MSFS I lower the graphics to the lowest, then I apply and save. But this is important: I can change immediately the graphics to high end or ultra (and also I can change one or two items and the graphics will change to custom, so it seems that the quality of graphics will be the same till you exit MSFS). I apply and save. I have to do this each time I start MSFS. 

2) I changed the cockpit interaction systems to legacy (I've read that the new cockpit in SU5 was prone to CTD).

3) I only have active mods that are verified to SU5 update. 

4) I select (with MSFS Addon Linker) just the mods I need to fly.

5) I use the last Game Ready NVIDIA driver. I tried the Studio driver, but I had a lot of CTDs, so I installed the new one. It seems to work ok for me (by the way, I have Windows 11 for more than a month. I think the OS makes no difference at all).

I'm still having a CTD now and then, but not many (before that I had a CTD almost in every flight!).

I realize that this "solution" could not work for many people, but it could help somebody!

Cheers. 

 

Edited August 19, 2021 by John Fields

[Dominique_K 10,146]

 If I am not mistaken the tree parameter is about visual quality not quantity. And SU 5 has changed (read nerfed) the visual quality of faraway trees. 

Have you tried the same "recipe" with buildings ?

 

 

 

 

 

[MegaRiceBall 99]

35 minutes ago, Swe_Richard said:

The RAM is the G.Skill Trident Zero (3600mhz / CL16). Simply running the profile in the motherboard settings. Works flawless.

 

Can you try the non-XMP setting of your RAM (which would turn the clock speed to 2133 or something like that with lower voltage) and run MSFS again with ultra setting on everything to see if it's stable?

I had the same RAM and it screwed my MSFS' stability on release. However, it was stable in every other stress testing or programs. I had to manually tune it to < 3200 with higher voltage to make it stable.

[Swe_Richard 1,172]

1 hour ago, Dominique_K said:

 If I am not mistaken the tree parameter is about visual quality not quantity. And SU 5 has changed (read nerfed) the visual quality of faraway trees. 

Have you tried the same "recipe" with buildings ?

 

 

 

 

 

I started by lowering buildings, grass (I think) and trees to medium. The result was CTD. Lowering trees to low let me complete 6/6 flights. Raising trees back to Medium again resulted in two CTDs out of two attempted flights. Going back, yet again, to low trees let me complete flights again without issue. I don’t think I have had one single CTD while having trees on low. 
 

I have not, however, tried other combos such as buildings to low and trees to medium and can’t say if just ”trees” is the silver bullet. Have been away with the family a number of days and will resume my tests when back home. When at first I noticed the CTDs disappear I was so happy I could use the sim again and did some OnAir flights. 

[Swe_Richard 1,172]

1 hour ago, MegaRiceBall said:

Can you try the non-XMP setting of your RAM (which would turn the clock speed to 2133 or something like that with lower voltage) and run MSFS again with ultra setting on everything to see if it's stable?

I had the same RAM and it screwed my MSFS' stability on release. However, it was stable in every other stress testing or programs. I had to manually tune it to < 3200 with higher voltage to make it stable.

Yes, I’ve read on several occasions that ”underclocking” solves the CTDs for some, but I am reluctant to do that as everything else apart from MSFS after SU5 works as it should. 

[OneOfMany 314]

1 hour ago, Swe_Richard said:

The RAM is the G.Skill Trident Zero (3600mhz / CL16). Simply running the profile in the motherboard settings. Works flawless.

 

I understand that you are running the ram at 3600, however some amd motherboard chipsets have shown to exhibit latency issues with ram clocked this high. Intel as well. There are various chipset used in PCs that support your CPU, from value to performance oriented. Even though they will work fine in less demanding situations, higher throughput will exacerbate any internal timing issues. We see this often as a shop specializing in gaming rigs. My first recommendation would be to loosen up the timings. My second unfortunately is to swap to a better brand of RAM. Although g. Skill is popular, we have moved away from it over the years as the problems encountered, and number of kits requiring rma was the highest of all brands. It is popular because it is usually the least expensive available for its specs. 

[MegaRiceBall 99]

27 minutes ago, Swe_Richard said:

Yes, I’ve read on several occasions that ”underclocking” solves the CTDs for some, but I am reluctant to do that as everything else apart from MSFS after SU5 works as it should. 

Don't worry, it's just a sniff test to see if RAM clock speed may be the cause. If that's it, what I did was up the voltage from 1.35v to 1.4ish to make it stable, or fine tune the speed & timing to make it more stable (so instead of 3600CL16, you may try 3200CL14 or 3000CL13 to give you the same performance but potentially better stability)