Upgrading my machine

Hello everyone.

 

Here's my current machine's specs:

 

Operating System Windows 7 Professional Edition (64-Bit)

Motherboard ASRock Fatal1ty Z97 Professional LGA 1150

Processor Intel 4th Gen Core i7 4790K (4.6 - 4.8GHz Overclock)

System Memory 32GB Trident DDR3 SDRAM 2133MHz

Graphics Processor 4GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 980, PCI Express 3.0

 

I do get pretty good results with FSX. I don't keep all the slides to maximum. But, for example, when I'm approaching Imaginesim's KATL with traffic set at 35%, I do get bad frame rates. This happens at other big airports as well.

 

With that being said, I really want to invest in an upgrade that will give me a big gain in performance. I was even thinking about going for a multi-processor and/or multi-video card system, but I'd like to hear your opinions first. I'm willing to spend up to 5K dollars to upgrade it. What would you guys suggest ?

 

Thanks

 

Eduardo

Nothing. Your rig is well over the top for a quality gaming system.

 

FYI 35% traffic is actually on the excessive side. Im at 25% and Heathrow/Gatwick in London is packed. And JFK in NY is completely chock a block with airplanes. If you "air traffic" menu is so long that you only get airbus A3xx models showing up, your overcooking it a bit

 

If your getting bad frame rates with that rig, then there is something wrong with FSX and its config. Mines is lower spec that yours and im getting 60fps averages, with extremely dense airports at around 30 fps some times more depending on aircraft models and time of day.

Hi.

 

35% might be too much on large airports, but if I move it to 25% and fly to Tampa, for example, there are almost no aircrafts there.

 

Here are my settings inside FSX.

 

Filtering: anisotropic

Global Texture Resolution: Very High

Lens Flare, light bloom, advanced animations and directX 10 preview: OFF

 

Level of detail radious: Medium

Mesh complexity: 84

Mesh Resolution: 2m

Texture resolution: 15cm

Water effects: Low1x

Detail land textures ON

Scenery complexity: Extremily dense

Autogen density: None

Ground scenery shadows: OFF

Special effects detail: medium

 

Cloud draw distance: 90mi

 

I have REX Essential Plus, GEX, Active Sky Next SP3 and MyTraffic 2013.

 

My FSX only has this tweak:

 

[GRAPHICS]

HIGHMEMFIX=1

 

What can I do to have more performace out of this rig ?

 

Thanks

 

Eduardo

Well your settings are whacky for a start;

 

Try this;

Level of Detail radius - max

Mesh Complexity - 90+

Mesh resolution 10m (2m is bad and causes performance loss unless you actually have a 2m mesh for that area)

Texture resolution - max

Water effects - 2xlow

Scenery Complexity - dense

Autogen Density - dense

Special effects detail - max

 

 

-------

 

Traffic -

25% Airline

15% general aviation

25% road 15% shipping

 

 

-------------

 

FSX config tweaks;

 

[buffer Pools]

Use pools =1

PoolSize=2097152

RejectThreshold=126976 (512Kb = 524288, 256Kb = 262144, 124Kb = 126976, 96Kb = 98304 ~ experiment to find which value is best for you )

 

[Main]

FIBER_FRAME_TIME_FRACTION=0.4 (0.33 is default - higher = better texture loading, lower = better frame rates)

 

 

Set FSX to "unlimted" frame rate, and use an external limiter to keep it under 60fps or 30 fps.

 

 

This is my settings and I get 60 FPS in places like Cairo with buttloads of scenery, and at least 30fps in JFK, and most often 40-50 fps at medium dense airports.

 

I have REX Es. Sp3/REX Soft Clouds /OrbX Global/OpenLC EU/FTX Scotland/Freemesh X global and patches and over 200+ aircraft.

Nothing. Your rig is well over the top for a quality gaming system.

 

FYI 35% traffic is actually on the excessive side. Im at 25% and Heathrow/Gatwick in London is packed. And JFK in NY is completely chock a block with airplanes. If you "air traffic" menu is so long that you only get airbus A3xx models showing up, your overcooking it a bit

 

If your getting bad frame rates with that rig, then there is something wrong with FSX and its config. Mines is lower spec that yours and im getting 60fps averages, with extremely dense airports at around 30 fps some times more depending on aircraft models and time of day.

 

I was thinking the same thing, i mean that's a very nice setup he has

Yup, and Im only using crappy SATA 300 HDD's. No SSD here but its not an issue with this game if you set it right.

 

His rig should tear FSX a new one easily.

Well your settings are whacky for a start;

 

Try this;

Level of Detail radius - max

Mesh Complexity - 90+

Mesh resolution 10m (2m is bad and causes performance loss unless you actually have a 2m mesh for that area)

Water effects - 2xlow

Scenery Complexity - dense

Autogen Density - dense

Special effects detail - max

 

 

-------

 

Traffic -

25% Airline

15% general aviation

25% road 15% shipping

 

 

-------------

 

FSX config tweaks;

 

[buffer Pools]

Use pools =1

PoolSize=2097152

RejectThreshold=126976 (512Kb = 524288, 256Kb = 262144, 124Kb = 126976, 96Kb = 98304 ~ experiment to find which value is best for you )

 

 

[Main]

FIBER_FRAME_TIME_FRACTION=0.4 (0.33 is default - higher = better texture loading, lower = better frame rates)

 

 

Set FSX to "unlimted" frame rate, and use an external limiter to keep it under 60fps or 30 fps.

 

 

This is my settings and I get 60 FPS in places like Cairo with buttloads of scenery, and at least 30fps in JFK, and most often 40-50 fps at medium dense airports.

 

I have REX ESS. Sp3/REX Soft Clouds /OrbX Global/OpenLC EU/FTX Scotland/Freemesh X global and patches and over 200+ aircraft.

 

Hi, thanks for your answer. I will try these settings.

Oh and before I forget, always remember to delete your shader cache after changing settings, because it goes wonky if you dont.

 

Shader cache is in

 

AppData\Local\Microsoft\FSX\Shaders.

 

 

Delete all the stuff in that folder and let FSX remake them next time its loaded.

I agree, the specs for the system are very good and you wont get a performance boost by upgrading your motherboard and going to a 5th gen Intel CPU that you will notice or be worth the money.

Its clear that it is a setup issue more than a hardware issue and the advice here is very solid.

It will pay to also check that there isn't anything running in the background while you are using FSX that is causing your system to slow up. The usual culprit can be anti virus or anti malware software that is running in the background which will lower your FSX performance.

Save your money and invest in time getting FSX setup right.

What are "good" and "bad" frames in numbers?

 

Can you pinpoint what exactly is causing the drop? Is it the AI traffic? The airport buildings? Lights?

 

Are you using NVidia Inspector? What is the resolution you use in FSX? Windowed or fullscreen? One monitor or several?

 

You could try getting Steve's Fixer and switch to DX10. I could provide some suggestions on how to set this up for maximum performance.

 

But first IMHO you should find out what and where your problem is.

My advice contradicts Darryl's a bit.

My AV, running in the background does not give any issues.

Yes, if I'm running a full scan while playing fsx there is an occasional stutter, but not when the AV is simply running in the background.

 

Actually, I would say, invest in a payware AV.

To me it sounds lik that pc is very much underperforming. And I expect virusses/spyware to be the cause.

 

I noticed a huge boost when going from free AV to a paid AV.

I have cloud settings low, but I can run with traffic at 100% now without any ill effects or stutter.

 

Actually that is the main change. There always used to be a little stutter, especially in the edges of the view. Most visible when looking out the left window of the VC. Or in the edge of view when looking out of one of the passenger views.

Not anymore, smooth as glass now.

At busy airports the framerate used to drop to 10 ish, with huge stutters (jumps) and very hard to taxi evenly.

Now that changed to framerate 16-17 with very smooth taxiing.

 

I also noticed that there is more visible, without having changed settings.

I see the contrails at much larger distances when cruising at altitiude. More stars. Runway lights on the ground when cruising a 30.000 ft. And 2 days ago I saw a comet go by.

 

Don't turn off your AV. Buy a good one, and keep it switched on.

 

il88pp.

My advice contradicts Darryl's a bit.

My AV, running in the background does not give any issues.

Yes, if I'm running a full scan while playing fsx there is an occasional stutter, but not when the AV is simply running in the background.

 

 

Normally, when someone says AV running in the background, that refers to a full scan running, not just the AV is in idle mode looking out for intrusions. I try to remember to set mine to "silent mode" before starting up FSX.

Ah, yes. Ok.

Agree with that.

I do think Darryl probably meant that as well. That's why I added: "a bit".:)

 

But I have occasionally seen the advice to switch off the AV when running fsx. Just wanted to say I think that would be ill advised.

Had some virus issues on my own pc here last few days, I'm a bit over sensitive.;)

 

salutations!

il88pp.

I don't see what changes you can make to your hardware that would make FSX run better. Your rig should run it beautifully. I agree with others that your problem has more to do with settings than hardware. Are you using an add-on payware AI program? I use WoAI and MAIW and my traffic is set at 34% with no problems. You might try setting your traffic to 20-25% and see if that makes a difference.

Ah, yes. Ok.

Agree with that.

I do think Darryl probably meant that as well. That's why I added: "a bit".:)

 

But I have occasionally seen the advice to switch off the AV when running fsx. Just wanted to say I think that would be ill advised.

Had some virus issues on my own pc here last few days, I'm a bit over sensitive.;)

 

Yep, I was meaning when a AV is running a scan or a update, not when it was just sitting idle, thanks chaps for clarifying what I said, sometimes what the brain is saying and what the fingers type out on the keyboard get lost in translation a little:).

You should of course have your AV running at all times looking out for threats. Many AVs have as a default setting that it will search and install updates on start up as well as a quick system scan. These will cause problems with FSX performance.

 

So you should either first let it do its thing before starting FSX, or change the settings if possible in your AV to perform such actions only when activated by the user or at a set time.

I don't see what changes you can make to your hardware that would make FSX run better. Your rig should run it beautifully. I agree with others that your problem has more to do with settings than hardware. Are you using an add-on payware AI program? I use WoAI and MAIW and my traffic is set at 34% with no problems. You might try setting your traffic to 20-25% and see if that makes a difference.

 

Hi. I use MyTraffic 2013.

What are "good" and "bad" frames in numbers?

 

Can you pinpoint what exactly is causing the drop? Is it the AI traffic? The airport buildings? Lights?

 

Are you using NVidia Inspector? What is the resolution you use in FSX? Windowed or fullscreen? One monitor or several?

 

You could try getting Steve's Fixer and switch to DX10. I could provide some suggestions on how to set this up for maximum performance.

 

But first IMHO you should find out what and where your problem is.

 

Hi. For example, when approaching KATL with 30% of traffic, or taxing, I get 14-15 fps. With no Traffic, it goes up a lot.

 

I use FSX in full screen mode, and I don;t have Nvidea Inspector. What is it ? Can it help improve the performace ?

 

Thanks

Hi. For example, when approaching KATL with 30% of traffic, or taxing, I get 14-15 fps. With no Traffic, it goes up a lot.

 

I use FSX in full screen mode, and I don;t have Nvidea Inspector. What is it ? Can it help improve the performace ?

 

Thanks

 

What FPS in Windowed mode? Have you seen Pseudo Full Screen mode? Basically it uses a window with very thin (non-existent) borders to fill up the screen. I have been using for a couple of months and it works as advertised. Search Avsim for PseudoFullScreen.

Hi. For example, when approaching KATL with 30% of traffic, or taxing, I get 14-15 fps. With no Traffic, it goes up a lot.

 

I use FSX in full screen mode, and I don;t have Nvidea Inspector. What is it ? Can it help improve the performace ?

 

Thanks

 

It may let you test various settings to see what works the best.

In the end, it comes down to deciding whether one wants a smooth

running flight simulator, or a not so smooth scenery display program.

And with the limitations of FSX, in many ways there is little one can do about it.

Myself, I don't run much AI, and only default so far. I did download the WoAI

SWA pack the other day to try, but haven't even got around to installing it yet..

 

Thing about me.. Most times I fly my flight, and once I'm off the runway, I

usually shut it down. I don't even bother taxiing to the gate most flights.. So

don't really care how much AI is around.

I only see the gates at the beginnings of flights, and my plane is usually in the

short stop mode.. The engines and such are off, but the plane is lit up otherwise.

I don't bother with a cold start every time..

 

So being that is the case, I guess it does help my frame rate a bit being I haven't

been running a lot of AI planes.

 

BTW, I don't know how this applies when running fast video cards, which to me,

yours is pretty fast.. The middle 2xlow water setting is a lot better frame rate

than the two higher settings..From what I understand, the two highest water

settings have to double draw so to speak, and the frame rate shows it vs the

middle water setting. On my box, I see little if any improvement using the two

lowest settings. It seems the middle setting is the highest setting that is single

draw, and it's rate is about as good as the two lower.

 

Where I see it make a big impact is when I'm running the NGX, which is pretty

much a CPU hog on it's own, and then having dense ASN clouds. With dense

clouds, I have much better frame rates with the middle water setting vs the two

higher. Pretty big difference too. I don't use ground shadows much, and I don't

use the "bloom" or whatever it is called. Actually, ground shadows don't seem to

hurt mine too bad, but with the dense autogen I'm running, visually there isn't a

whole lot of difference once up in the air a bit. So most times I leave it off and gain

a few fps.. It's all a compromise.

Often with low CPU hit planes, I run everything flat out with no problems, being

as the NGX is not weighing the CPU down.

 

BTW.. About traffic.. 30% 3rd party traffic is probably more dense than stock

FSX 30% traffic.. So it may be more dense than you realize, if that is the case.

It may let you test various settings to see what works the best.

In the end, it comes down to deciding whether one wants a smooth

running flight simulator, or a not so smooth scenery display program.

And with the limitations of FSX, in many ways there is little one can do about it.

Myself, I don't run much AI, and only default so far. I did download the WoAI

SWA pack the other day to try, but haven't even got around to installing it yet..

 

Thing about me.. Most times I fly my flight, and once I'm off the runway, I

usually shut it down. I don't even bother taxiing to the gate most flights.. So

don't really care how much AI is around.

I only see the gates at the beginnings of flights, and my plane is usually in the

short stop mode.. The engines and such are off, but the plane is lit up otherwise.

I don't bother with a cold start every time..

 

So being that is the case, I guess it does help my frame rate a bit being I haven't

been running a lot of AI planes.

 

BTW, I don't know how this applies when running fast video cards, which to me,

yours is pretty fast.. The middle 2xlow water setting is a lot better frame rate

than the two higher settings..From what I understand, the two highest water

settings have to double draw so to speak, and the frame rate shows it vs the

middle water setting. On my box, I see little if any improvement using the two

lowest settings. It seems the middle setting is the highest setting that is single

draw, and it's rate is about as good as the two lower.

 

Where I see it make a big impact is when I'm running the NGX, which is pretty

much a CPU hog on it's own, and then having dense ASN clouds. With dense

clouds, I have much better frame rates with the middle water setting vs the two

higher. Pretty big difference too. I don't use ground shadows much, and I don't

use the "bloom" or whatever it is called. Actually, ground shadows don't seem to

hurt mine too bad, but with the dense autogen I'm running, visually there isn't a

whole lot of difference once up in the air a bit. So most times I leave it off and gain

a few fps.. It's all a compromise.

Often with low CPU hit planes, I run everything flat out with no problems, being

as the NGX is not weighing the CPU down.

 

BTW.. About traffic.. 30% 3rd party traffic is probably more dense than stock

FSX 30% traffic.. So it may be more dense than you realize, if that is the case.

 

Thanks for your answer. I've tried the suggestions given here and it's performing much better. At Schiphol (Aerosoft's scenery) with traffic set at 50%, I'm getting more than 45Fps and a very smooth rendition. The thing is, ai think that Imaginesim's KATL is a very heavy addon, specially the jetbridges. When I lower the complexity slide and they vanish, I gain around 20 fps.

 

Thank you

The water reduction probably helps mine the most, but my video is weak.

The weird part is you don't even have to be looking at water, or even have

any in the nearby visual area for it to cause the frame hit with dense clouds.

Or at least on my box..

So it's always on the middle setting with the NGX, and I only use max water

when I'm actually flying over it. And most of those types of planes I run take

much less of a CPU hit, so the max water is no big deal with the extra frame

increase. Even the F/A 18 I can run with max water and max autogen/scenery

no problem. The F/A 18 is pretty CPU friendly, even with the 3rd party versions.

Nvidia Inspector (NVI) is a freeware tool that lets you influence the GPU driver settings in more detail than NVidia control panel does. For optimum performance you tweak your FSX settings and tune a special NVI profile to go with them.

 

Hardware upgrade: You already have a multiprocessor system with the i7, it has 4 independent CPUs inside. But FSX has to run a central synchronized thread so everything is happening at the right time in the simulated world. That one runs in only one CPU core. The other cores are used for tasks that can be safely parallelized, but this is not possible for this "master thread". So adding even more CPUs would not boost performance much, unless you get a CPU with massively higher clock speed (these do not exist on the consumer market) or with Arithmetical/Logical units (ALUs) outperforming the current technology by a significant margin (those do not exist either and/or FSX could not use their advanced instruction sets anyway, as it was programmed before they existed).

 

Multi GPU: there is no SLI profile for FSX from NVidia. So FSX is not able to make full use of an SLI array, on the contrary, you might get micro stutters etc. that were not there before. If you look at the load your 980 has when FSX is running, you will probably notice that it is not even used to 100% (you can do this with NVI too, it produces a little graph showing you GPU load). I had an GTX 660 SLI array in my FSX system once - after trying in vain to get it to perform smoothly for 3 months I threw it out again and dropped in a more advanced model single GPU (GTX 780 ti) with much better results.

 

If you want to get the best out of your FSX, I suggest moving to DX10 with the fixer. You would gain (slightly) nicer graphics, cockpit shadows, better performance (if FSX and NVI are tuned right). But on the other hand, your system runs pretty well I think. And a golden rule in IT says: "Never touch a running system" :)

Guys, can somebody help me with this tweak please

 

[buffer Pools]

Use pools =1

PoolSize=2097152

RejectThreshold=126976 (512Kb = 524288, 256Kb = 262144, 124Kb = 126976, 96Kb = 98304 ~ experiment to find which value is best for you )

 

It means that anything bigger than the selected size will be handled by the GPU and not CPU right ? But I have no ideia which size my GPU would handle … And with the Geforce GTX980, could I use the Poolsize=0 ?

 

Thanks

 

Eduardo

Yes, turn the pools off completely.

Set UsePools = 0 and delete the other options.

Great thread, I'm going to tweak some of the things mentioned this weekend as I'll run into some similar issues at major airports at times. I do have AI turned up way to high haha (70%)