20 minutes ago, jcomm said:

Dear Steve,

just a short follow-up to say that I tested this alternative JobScheduler parameters and it works great.

In the above reply to my last post you say 6 cores + HT is more subtle to deal with. Do you think turning off SMT would be a better option then?

 

Stick with what you have which is better overall PC performance - disabling HT will reduce scenery collection performance slightly as you fly but fps will be about the same.

Hi all,

Very interesting topic. What settings should I try with an i7-10700k (8 cores, 16 LPs) processor?

Stefan

10 minutes ago, StefanBravo said:

Hi all,

Very interesting topic. What settings should I try with an i7-10700k (8 cores, 16 LPs) processor?

Stefan

From the previous page I describe a good setting for HT Enabled 8 cores 16 LPs:

HT Enabled 8 core 16 LP
07,06,05,04,03,02,01,00=core number
11,11,11,11,11,01,01,01=AffinityMask = 65493
11,11,11,11,11,01,01,01=P3DCoreAffinityMask = 65493
00,00,00,00,00,00,00,01=MainThreadScheduler = 0
00,00,00,00,00,00,01,00=RenderThreadScheduler = 1
00,00,00,00,00,01,00,00=FrameWorkerThreadScheduler = 2

[JobScheduler]
AffinityMask=65493
P3DCoreAffinityMask=65493
MainThreadScheduler=0
RenderThreadScheduler=1
FrameWorkerThreadScheduler=2

 

Thanks for your answer. Did a quick test: performance seems better (more stable FPS on the climb and cruise) but the cores still reach a peak of about 94 degrees during flight. On the ground the temps are about 65 degrees.

50 minutes ago, StefanBravo said:

Thanks for your answer. Did a quick test: performance seems better (more stable FPS on the climb and cruise) but the cores still reach a peak of about 94 degrees during flight. On the ground the temps are about 65 degrees.

Yes, the quicker scenery processing helps with fps stability because more cores and HT enabled shortens the time to process scenery.

More heat equates to more work done in the same time. So you can try to use less cores in the jobscheduler setup but the remaining cores spend more time processing scenery and warm up over longer periods anyway.

However, getting hotter in the sky could mean you are not limiting fps. Try and limit your fps with the vsync methods described early on in this thread. Basically that means setting vsync on and target fps to Unlocked in P3D and setting your monitor refresh frequency to something suitable, maybe start at 30Hz.

On 9/28/2023 at 1:47 PM, SteveW said:

However, getting hotter in the sky could mean you are not limiting fps. Try and limit your fps with the vsync methods described early on in this thread. Basically that means setting vsync on and target fps to Unlocked in P3D and setting your monitor refresh frequency to something suitable, maybe start at 30Hz.

I have (and had before) limited my FPS using the nVidia control panel to 35 FPS. The lowest refresh rate for my monitor available through the Windows settings menu is 60 Hz (max is 144). However, the cores still reach peak temperatures of 100 degrees using the settings provided in this topic. 

On 9/28/2023 at 12:47 PM, SteveW said:

Yes, the quicker scenery processing helps with fps stability because more cores and HT enabled shortens the time to process scenery.

More heat equates to more work done in the same time. So you can try to use less cores in the jobscheduler setup but the remaining cores spend more time processing scenery and warm up over longer periods anyway.

However, getting hotter in the sky could mean you are not limiting fps. Try and limit your fps with the vsync methods described early on in this thread. Basically that means setting vsync on and target fps to Unlocked in P3D and setting your monitor refresh frequency to something suitable, maybe start at 30Hz.

Steve,

I just bought a 6 month Professional license of v5.4 to be able to install and use the FSLabs buses and, maybe, the Concorde too 🙂

As I mentioned I re-enabed SMT in my Ryzen 5600x, co 12 HT cores are available. Overall temperatures reached on both versions, v6 and v5, under identical scenarios, are never past 74ºC and can be between 71 and 65 most of the time... 

I am using the exact same Jobscheduler parameters you had suggested above in this thread in v6 and in v5.

I have VSync unchecked in sim and in NCP,and limited fps to 30 in sim. My monitor is able to do only 60 or 54 Hz, if I'm not mistaken, but for sure not 30Hz.

Question: I see mentioned here & there that it's preferable to not limit FPS in sim, but I tested using MSI Afterburner and saw no difference in CPU activity / use between FPS limited in sim or Vsync enabled in sim or through NCP? So... I have to ask... what do you recommend?

Edited September 30, 20232 yr by jcomm

During my 60-Hz days, I used RTSS for limiting frames, using the Scanline X/2 method. I still use this in my laptop for FSX. I can't stand the mouse lag at 30 Hz, so this is the next best thing. Core0 will appear as hammered to 100%, but it's just wait cycles, and your temperatures will remain similar or cooler. You can give it a try. 

Now that I have a 144 Hz Freesync monitor, it's no longer feasible. I'm still switching between limiting FPS in RTSS or NCP. BUT, since there is a low frame compensation mode in my monitor that triggers at both 30 and 40 fps, I have to set the lock to 29. Sometimes I feel brave and I raise the lock to 33 or higher, but never beyond 39. I don't have yet a definite answer for a higher refresh rate monitor. 

Edited September 30, 20232 yr by Luis Hernandez

Since the edit period expired, I'll add a new post with another two options:

1) Noel's method (RTSS frame lock, front edge sync): I tried in P3D and it works indeed. He uses now a G-sync monitor, but he used to do that in his previous, fixed refresh rate one.

2) Limit nothing: no frame caps anywhere. How do I prevent overheat then?
- CPU: at least in mine I enabled ECO mode in BIOS. Surprisingly, I didn't lose as many frames as I was expecting, and my CPU ran way cooler. Looks like the biggest losses would be in applications that stress all cores equally (such as Cinebench).
- GPU: in MSI Afterburner I locked the GPU clocks to a lower frequency, either baseline (1410 MHz) or default boost (1665 MHz). Without that, it can go all the way up to almost 2 GHz, if thermals allow.

I have a 60Hz refresh 4k monitor and the sim can do around 50fps. I have HT enabled and use 29LPs of 16 cores

In P3D I set target fps to Unlocked and VSync=On, and close the sim.

Then in Nvidia Control Panel I first restore the factory defaults in global and Prepar3D.exe profile, then in Prepar3D.exe profile, I set Vertical sync to Adaptive (half refresh rate) and close NCP.

Now after starting the sim I see stable 30fps and reasonable temps.

On 9/30/2023 at 8:23 AM, jcomm said:

Question: I see mentioned here & there that it's preferable to not limit FPS in sim, but I tested using MSI Afterburner and saw no difference in CPU activity / use between FPS limited in sim or Vsync enabled in sim or through NCP? So... I have to ask... what do you recommend?

Bear in mind that the in-sim setting "target fps" does not limit frames, instead as soon as it has rendered the view frame it continues rendering look-ahead frames until either there is no time left before starting the next view frame to render or the look-ahead limit is reached.

In effect this keeps the CPU use high until the look-ahead buffer is full.

So unlimited in-sim and limited in NCP ensures the least CPU activity during the run of the sim.

Even so, setting graphics parameters high enough will keep the CPU in high use whatever fps setting method in use (and increase the possibility of greater temperatures).

When the CPU cores hosting the thread schedulers reach 100% that means the "demand" on those cores is 100% or greater. At this point the fps is destabilised so for example very roughly, if the demand is 110% then there will be a 10% hit to fps.

 

On 9/30/2023 at 7:44 AM, StefanBravo said:

I have (and had before) limited my FPS using the nVidia control panel to 35 FPS. The lowest refresh rate for my monitor available through the Windows settings menu is 60 Hz (max is 144). However, the cores still reach peak temperatures of 100 degrees using the settings provided in this topic. 

 

To lower CPU temperatures we can:

Disable HT (or SMT) - this will halve the number of file processing threads and reduce file processing performance by 30% or more. - This can reduce heat, fps will be about the same but slightly less stable, depends on settings in the sim and the scenery load you are flying over.

Set the actual monitor refresh rate to its highest frequency and limit the fps outside the sim and in the sim use unlimited and vsync=on.  - In NCP half-refresh on 60Hz monitor is 30fps but on 144Hz monitor it will be 72fps which may continue the high CPU use. Instead use the NCP Prepar3D.exe profile to set "Max Frame Rate" to a desired fps that can be maintained in the sim during the flight.

Reduce in-sim graphics settings.

Improve the cooling in (and around) the PC.

Edited October 2, 20232 yr by SteveW

Further to my note on using the in-sim "Target Frame Rate":

If I set "Target Frame Rate" to unlimited and VSync=off I can view the sim fps, this is showing me the natural fps available with my current settings.

Let's assume I get 50fps. So if I now set "Target Frame Rate" to 30fps I will see 30fps in the sim. However, the remaining time between frames does not allow the completion of the first look-ahead frame. Even so I would see a stable 30fps but the CPU remains at high use. I would need to see a natural fps of more than 60fps (by reducing graphics settings) to enable one complete look-ahead frame.

When there is ample natural fps of more than double the use of the "Target Frame Rate" setting we will see very precise timings between viewed frames and improved accuracy of the simulation overall but this requires a powerful and well cooled PC.

Dear @SteveW, thank you again for always taking the time to answer our questions regarding performance an tuning of P3D !

I am now using in both v5.4 and v6.0.35, unlimited in sim, VSync OFF in sim and VSync Half Refresh Rate in NCP - my monitor running at 60Hz means a rather stable 30 FPS as measured by MSI Afterburner...

Temps can range from mid 60ºC to sometimes 78-80ºC in my Ryzen 5600x, and yet MSI + Riva are showing not more than25-30% CPU use... Guess I have to learn to live with this, because the overall performance is rather smooth. Actually it's smoother in P3Dv6 when I install Orbx, but presently I have a fresh install of vanilla P3Dv6 and only have Orbx Global installed in v5.

Edited October 2, 20232 yr by jcomm

48 minutes ago, jcomm said:

Dear @SteveW, thank you again for always taking the time to answer our questions regarding performance an tuning of P3D !

I am now using in both v5.4 and v6.0.35, unlimited in sim, VSync OFF in sim and VSync Half Refresh Rate in NCP - my monitor running at 60Hz means a rather stable 30 FPS as measured by MSI Afterburner...

Temps can range from mid 60ºC to sometimes 78-80ºC in my Ryzen 5600x, and yet MSI + Riva are showing not more than25-30% CPU use... Guess I have to learn to live with this, because the overall performance is rather smooth. Actually it's smoother in P3Dv6 when I install Orbx, but presently I have a fresh install of vanilla P3Dv6 and only have Orbx Global installed in v5.

You're welcome!

Let's say you have a four core CPU and one core is at about 100% and the others are showing no activity, you will only see around 25% CPU. Similarly even if you have thread scheduler cores maxed out in P3D the overall use may still only be 30% until you are actively flying into new scenery areas where the file processing increases.