Onboard sound made 727 panel slow...how?

[Jono]

Hi All
I posted an article a few days back about my machine being really slow with the 727 (panel only, not the world outside the window).
I remember reading somewhere that it wasn't recommended using onboard sound, so I disabled it in the BIOS and now the 727 is beautifully smooth.
Can anyone explain how the onboard sound can have this effect?
Thanks
Jono :-jumpy

[Paul Golding]

No idea at all......that was helpful of me!

It is strange, as many people use onboard sound with no problems at, including me until a few months ago. I had a problem with FS in general not playing sounds properly (just seemed to happen overnight for no reason) and a sound card fixed it. Fortunately, you don't have go to extremes and a cheap (about £15) card did the trick and was easy to install.

If no quick fix appears (or a string of others claiming the same problem with the 727), the most painless cure is a probably a soundcard.

I'll keep an eye on the thread to see if anyone else has the same problem though.

[Jono]

Hi Paul
Thanks for the reply and let me take this opportunity to thank you for this magnificent aircraft. I used to check the website almost daily since the announcement of the project and I have to say that it has exceeded my expectations...now if I could just get through that manual..:9
Regards
Jono

[Paul Golding]

Thanks Jono, it's appreciated.

[airforce2]

Many...probably most...of the onboard sound setups use the CPU rather than a dedicated DSP chip to generate the audio waveforms. It can heavily burden the CPU, as well as disrupt things due to all the interrupts and memory page faults generated in the process.

I recently swapped a Creative Audigy 2 ZS for an older Audigy...made a noticeable difference.

Regards

Bob Scott
ATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-V L-300
Washington, DC

[Lou_Betti]

Yes, on board sound robs your CPU of power. Of course, every machine is different, and actual results will vary, but overall, it is always best to have a separate audio card, just like a separate video card. :-)

Regards,
[link:www.dreamfleet2000.com|http://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/images/Forum_Banners/LOU.gif]
[font size=1][font color=blue]Can you pilot a plane, instead of programming an FMC to do it for you?[/font color= blue][/font size=1]

[AmSkram]

Unless you're a laptop user like me, then you're just plain screwed! :-lol

[jacdan]

Just out of curiosity, does the same apply to onboard LAN?


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[NedUT]

My cousin (who is into a lot broader spectrum of gaming) told me that in many games, even an older dedicated sound card can cause lower frame rates. He said that upgrading to a more modern sound card *can* make a noticeable difference in game play/frame rates.

That's just for dedicated sound cards. I would definitely be able to imagine that upgrading to an actual sound card versus an integrated solution would be a (relatively) big help.

[Aviationrichard]

Hello there.
Gday there. My name is Richard Murray and I am an Aussie Commercial
Pilot Licence 435579. I recently purchased the 727 and have been
experiencing very poor frame rates. I normally pull aroung 33fps ( which I have set )and I am getting around 9 to 22 with the 727. The side views fail to open sometimes. Having said that - My system is running absolutely perfectly. Its a P4 Dual 3 gig with 1024mb DDR ram with a Geforce 5900 Ultra card. I must tell you that I can tell that this 727 is an increadible accomplishment and you should be very proud. I also must say that your 737-400 is absolutely superb in every aspect - but unfortunately - it can't ofcourse be used on FS2004.
Having read these reports on how sound cards drain the CPU - I am now hopeful that my level of happiness will now improve out of sight.



I am emmensly looking forward to responce.

Kindly from Down Under - Richard Murray
rp.murray@optusnet.com.au

[kc10]

>I remember reading somewhere that it wasn't recommended using onboard sound, so I disabled it in the BIOS....

So with no sound card, and onboard sound disabled, where is your sound coming from now???lol

[DAL1044]

I have Nvidia onboard sound. So just to test if a stand alone sound card would improve perfomance I disabled it and installed a SB Audigy. No improvement what so ever. Then I loaded the DF 727 on my wifes computer with Cmedia onboard sound. ( I use hers for back up in case something goes down on mine) Well I can state Cmedia onboard sound is very lousy with this AC. My wife runs the same processor and a gig of PC3200. Only difference is the chipset. Cmedia will not work well with the DF 727 but it appears the Nvidia works well. Just my two cents.

[Paul Golding]

Interesting.....well kind of.

The only thing is that the Cmedia onboard sound is very common and if this alone were the cause it would've been seen by now i.e. 100's and 100's of users screaming about it!

I'll keep an eye on this thread though.

[DAL1044]

Ok just in the interest of debugging I also loaded the 727 on another system with the nvidia onboard sound. No problems. I've removed all traces of the DF 727 and my registered MSFS as well. Tomorrow I'll be trying it on another system with SIS Chipset and I don't know what onboard sound yet. But I'll keep you posted Paul. So far Nvidia has no problems. I do want to say that I always install and use the latest drivers for any onboard sound as well.

[DAL1044]

I forgot to mention. Both my wifes system and mine are Gigabyte motherboards. Mine has the Nvidia chipset and hers has the Via. I'll try to keep track of chipsets and onboard sound chip. This might help in development of the SP as well as any future AC.

[Aviationrichard]

Hello there again Paul, Lou and all you guy's. I simply turned off the virtual cockpit option and bingo. A massive improvement in frame rates. I also dare say the photo realistic 2D surround views not only look better , but are much much better on frame rates. I personally am not fussed about Virtual Cockpits, and so I am very happy with this improvement. As I type, the 727 is sitting on the tarmac at Melbourne ( YMML ) and getting around 28 to 33fps. If I gets these frame rates now at YMML with all the default aircraft in view, once airbourne, things should be even better.

Hope this information helps.

Please post your results if this simple change helps your rates.

Kindest Regards from Mona Vale ( which is 18 DME on the YSSY 001 VOR radial ) Richard Murray.

[Paul Golding]

Glad you found something that works for you, personally, I get no difference is the 2d cockpit using a vc model or non vc model.

It's obvious from this thread that a small number of users have a frame rate issue with their setup, but we are talking about a few....like a handfull. It's not the onboard sound, it's not the drivers and it's not reproduced within a 50+ beta team. So umless someone with the problem can systematically go through every gauge in the panel.cfg one by one to find one that repeatedly makes a difference, there reaaly is nothing more we can say, sorry.