CPU Usage

[sclincoln]

I put together a nice system before FS9 came out with a P4 3.0GHz. The other day, I noticed in the Task Manager that while running FS, my CPU Usage never goes higher than 60%. I have fps set to unlimited and even when flying over graphically intense areas where the fps started to drop, the CPU Usage was between 50-60%. I realize that it may not be wise to try to jam it straight to 100% but I'd like to get my money's worth and try to get at least 80-90%. Do any of the guru's know what's up with this?

[Captain_Slarty]

you are not using the correct tool to monitor useage...

use perfmon..

all you are seeing is ht in use :-)

[jasho]

Well...FS9 is CPU dependent, but up to a point. There really is only so much that the CPU can do and the rest is up to the video card. So, looking at your specs, it seems that FS9 IS already using your system to the max. It mainly has to do with the way the game is coded. The internal calculations are set to run the game which only uses "x" amount of CPU. Anything more is not needed. For example...the game could run the same with someone else who has the exact same setup as you but with only 2.2GHz instead of 3.0GHz. The FPS would be the same because FS9 really only needs to utilize 2.2GHz of CPU power at the max. This is a big misconception that lots of gamers don't realize. Just because you have a faster CPU, doesn't mean that the game will run proportionally faster. The correlation between the two are not linear.

[flightsimmer747]

Hi so are you saying fs9 will run fine on a 2.8 no big difference compared to the 3.0 ghz. I looking to build a system but i need some help on what i need to run the sim better than average thanks

[sclincoln]

So, you're saying that my Radeon 9700 Pro is a bottleneck??? The framerates are set to unlimited. Why would I still be getting slowdowns to 8 fps in crowded areas? Are you suggesting that no matter how powerful a CPU you have, FS9 simply cannot use the power? I've heard of people getting 50 fps but I'm not seeing that.

[jmagyar]

Try putting in multiple cloud layers to drag down the frames. Does that change your usuage??

James

[MadMaster]

>Well...FS9 is CPU dependent, but up to a point. There really
>is only so much that the CPU can do and the rest is up to
>the video card. So, looking at your specs, it seems that FS9
>IS already using your system to the max. It mainly has to do
>with the way the game is coded. The internal calculations
>are set to run the game which only uses "x" amount of CPU.
>Anything more is not needed. For example...the game could
>run the same with someone else who has the exact same setup
>as you but with only 2.2GHz instead of 3.0GHz. The FPS would
>be the same because FS9 really only needs to utilize 2.2GHz
>of CPU power at the max. This is a big misconception that
>lots of gamers don't realize. Just because you have a faster
>CPU, doesn't mean that the game will run proportionally
>faster. The correlation between the two are not linear.

Even if your computer is up to the max that you monitor can display doesn't mean that your computer is going to stop useing its power. It is going to keep going and you are going to see fps in the 200-300. The correlation can be linear and if you upgrade an FPS increase is usually there.

The video card is almost never a bottleneck unless you have something really horrible like a TNT2 M64 or even worse integrated graphics. Your Radeon 9700 is fine and upgrading to a 9800 pro or a 5800 ultra will render almost no extra performance.

I would also like to add that my 2.4ghz 800FSB HT CPU does the exact same thing yours does. I think it is normal and is probably just something to do with hyper threading. It may be because it thinks you are not useing all of your processors HT capabilities but really you can't do anything about it because it is writen into the code of of a program. And of course you cannot change the code vary easily at all!

Your current set up is fine and you are getting about the right performance for your set up. I would suggest locking your FPS somewhere (like 20-25). It might help a little bit.

I hope this helped!

[sclincoln]

I tried turning off HT in the BIOS but it definitely didn't help my fps. There must be someway to get FS9 to utilize the resources that are available.

[sclincoln]

I get exactly the same results with Performon. Here is a screenshot. I was flying in full screen mode then switched to windowed just for the screenie. I seem to have a ceiling at around 60%. Any suggestions? How could this happen?