What can I expect with a Core i7 in FSX?

[Sarconix]

Hey folks,

Long time reader, first time posting...

I recently built a Core i7-based machine, and I am not seeing the performance I would expect from FSX, even after quite a few hours of tweaking. This is not unusual... I don't think anybody is completely happy with FSX performance. It may just be that my expectations are too high, so I am wondering: what can I expect from my system in FSX?

I have the full specs and initial settings below. Here is what I am seeing:

- I typically test with the Robinson R22 (helicopter) around KATL (Atlanta), using the settings below. This is a dense urban area with almost no water.

- Setting either Complexity or Autogen above Dense results in two issues:

Stuttering, especially when panning in an external view. It's really more like "lurching" (fast, then slow) but I believe most FSX folks call this stuttering. I never see anything like this in games: swinging frame rate, maybe, but not this stuttering / lurching.

Graphics artifacts, like severely stretched triangles, especially from trees. This happens with several GPUs, though I have only tested with NVIDIA so far. This doesn't happen with lower settings.

- Both issues are reduced quite a bit using the DX10 option. Does that sound right? However, it is my understanding that DX10 is not intended for full-time use.

- The only add-on I have installed is the Tahiti X scenery from Aerosoft. Flying around Moorea (NTTM) is especially sluggish and shows artifacts; Bora Bora (NTTB) is much better.

- I have tried a number of things mentioned in various forums, with minimal success, so the settings below are really just my starting point.

I would like to see 25 fps around KATL with the highest Complexity and Autogen settings (Extremely Dense), but that may be asking too much. It seems like it is possible from what others have said elsewhere with a similar setup.

If this is already covered somewhere else, let me know. I have looked around and found a lot of advice, but but it doesn't seem to help in my particular situation. Thanks for any help!


FSX Settings

- FSX Gold - Acceleration w/ SP2
- GRAPHICS: 1920x1200x32, 25 fps, Trilinear, Anisotropic, bloom OFF
- AIRCRAFT: Medium High
- SCENERY: Ultra High, with 60 cm texture and Mid 2.x for water.
- WEATHER: Ultra High
- TRAFFIC: Medium High
- No fsx.cfg tweaks, though I have previously tried several things.

System Specs

Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem 2.66GHz
- Mild overclock to 2.8 GHz, on the stock cooler.
- FSX drives the CPU temp to about 65c.

6 GB G.Skill DDR3 1333 RAM (PC3 10666)
- Timings: 9-9-9-24, tried 8-8-8-20 with no obvious effect.
- The motherboard recognizes this as 1066 speed, so I manually bump it to 1333.

EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS 320 MB
- This is at stock speeds.
- Latest driver is installed: 182.50.
- I have tried a GTX 260 with 1.5 GB RAM, with no obvious effect.
- ... though it did speed up Crysis and World in Conflict quite a bit.

Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R motherboard
- I have tried disabling speed throttling options, with no obvious effect.

Seagate Barracuda 320 GB 7200RPM SATA

Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Gamer

Antec SmartPower 2.0 500W
- This has two 18A rails.
- This is almost three years old, so I wonder if it is losing watts/amps.
- I don't see any stability issues that might be caused by being underpowered, except those artifacts in FSX (likely unrelated?).

Vista x64 SP1

[noell]

This should give you an idea of what to expect:
http://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/showthread.php?t=191229

[loki]

With that video card and that resolution you should try turning down some of the grahpics related settings. The 320MB version of the 8800GTS cards have always been a little starved for memory. This is at least part of the issue with stuttering when you turn autogen up. If you want to run at 1920x1200 and high graphics settings, an 8800GTX or 280 card would be better.

Power supplies do tend to drop in output over time, especially if they have been in a hot and/or dusty environment.

Have you defragged your hard drive? The name sort options of O&O and Ultimate Defrag do make a difference.

In the end, overclocking the CPU is the best way to improve your performance as FSX is still heavily dependent on CPU speed.

[noell]

Also, try working through these guides which often help with FSX performance:
http://www.simforums.com/forums/foru...TID=29041&PN=1
http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/ya...num=1208959973

[Sarconix]

Hey folks,

Thanks for the fast feedback... much appreciated. A few comments and questions:

- I did try GPUs with more memory (768 MB and 1.5 GB), but they didn't seem to make much difference in FSX, either for stuttering or artifacts. I thought it was strange myself. The Crysis benchmark certainly ran better, though.

- I forgot to mention that I eventually want this to run on a TripleHead2Go at 3840x1024, so it will need to run well on at least the 1920x1200 monitor I have now. The triple monitor setup has 70% more pixels. I don't think this is GPU-bound at all, so that shouldn't be a big problem.

- Is there something that consistently causes the stuttering / lurching or the artifacts? I get the impression from other reading that there is no single cause, and thus no magic bullet to fix them.

- Would you recommend using the DX10 mode? I gather that it is not generally recommended due to possible add-on incompatibilities, but it does seem to run better overall on my machine after quick testing (though I don't like new water color).

- After your recommendation, I defragged with PerfectDisk. It looks like it may have helped a little bit, but it is hard to say for sure. Is O&O ($50) significantly better for defragging?

- I'll try some overclocking as you recommended. I was hoping to avoid it for the kind of performance I want, because the stock cooler won't handle it. So I'm looking at getting the Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme mentioned in one of those threads; it'll be about $80 shipped.

- I'll also try going through the tuning guide you mentioned, after I do the overlocking. I have looked at it previously, but I cherry-picked what looked most appropriate. This time I will be more methodical.

Thanks again for your help!

[loki]

There is no one single thing that causes stuttering. It can be caused by using settings too high for your video card and/or CPU or a fragmented hard drive, among others.

When you tried the other video card, did you let FSX build a new FSX.cfg file? Besides having more memory, the 260 you mention is a much more powerful GPU and better suited to running FSX or other games at 1920x1200 with higher settings. The 8800GTS 320MB is about as powerful as a 9600GT. If you are planning on moving to a Triplehead2Go, then a more powerful GPU will help.

I don't think PerfectFisk has a name sort option which both O&O and Ultimate Defrag have. This has helped others with at least some of the stuttering as it keeps all FSX files together on the hard drive.

But again though, the single best thing people have found is overclocking the CPU.

[RyanbATC]

The major difference between Paxx's i7 920 and yours is that Paxx's 920 is overclocked to 3.8Ghz

Yours is only 2.8Ghz. If you want 25 FPS and smooth you'll need to attempt a 3.6 - 4+ Ghz and follow Nick N's guide:
http://www.simforums.com/forums/foru....asp?TID=29041

Also, that video card is a weak link. With the i7 920 you'd want a GTX260 if the CPU is running stock, but a GTX280/285 when you overclock it.

[Paxx]

The major difference between Paxx's i7 920 and yours is that Paxx's 920 is overclocked to 3.8Ghz

4.0Ghz, after burn-in, 4.20GHz effective since I run with the turbo feature on. Most those screens where made at 4.0GHz (i.e 3.8GHz with turbo on for 3.99GHz, yeah I round up).

My current 4.0/4.2GHz gives slightly better FSX FPS but I did it mostly to see if I could and because that extra 200MHz helps quite a bit with the video stuff I do (mostly in the format rendering area).

[RyanbATC]

ahhh, well I only read the first few lines and it said 3.8 at the time you wrote that, nice to see you got it up to 4.2....

4 seems to be the sweet spot

[angels355]

4.0Ghz, after burn-in, 4.20GHz effective since I run with the turbo feature on. Most those screens where made at 4.0GHz.

Howdy Paxx. Could you explain burn-in? Friend of mine doesn't burn in, just throws it together and yanks on the starter rope (haha) and goes! He has a i7 920 but I don't think it is overclocked that much maybe up to 3.2 ghz? He had an old GTX 280 w/ his Q9550 system which he sold, now either he still has the same GTX 280, or 290 295? -- I dunno hard to keep up with him. He wants to get three for triple sli for Crysis, says that for Crysis it does make a difference. Has 6 gb's ram. Any way he said his old Q9550 with GTX 280 conquered FSX, and the i7 plus GTX 280 much more so mildly overclocked. He uses vista 64 bit. On my suggestion he is using a Corsair 750 power supply. I think he uses an auto throttled overclocking Asus mobo, had one for his Q9550 and I think has an auto throttling/overclocking Asus board for his i7.
This type of system overclocks the processor and video card gpu depending on the load.

Sarconix,

From what I've read and discussed w/ my tech friends, the 8800 gts is not going to cut it for the amount of performance you want. It's up to you how you want to budget, but I'd suggest a GTX 280 or better, and a Corsair 750 or better.