This may interest new flight simulator users

[Phonic]

I have been an avid flightsim fan since the very first version by Microsoft and since then have tried all the other sims that have come on to the market over the years. To be fair they all have their good and bad points, including and not the least of which, all of the Microsoft versions produced over the years. In my case I look back on those years as very educational in terms of tweaking my computers and the software to get the best performance based on my budget at the time. For a couple of years I was part of a team producing Australian scenery for FS98 and in that time I learnt a lot about that seemingly eternal demon "Frames Per Second". That was when I discovered the mysterious thing known as the "Disney Standard". When Walt Disney first started producing cartoons drawn by hand it became obvious that what he produced had to be comfortable and smooth to the human eye or no one would watch what he created. Through a great deal of research they discovered that the human eye could not detect any change in frame rate above 25 frames per second which was the point where everything became smooth and clear. This topic has been hotly debated over the years, however, what cannot be disputed is that it is a scientific fact. Prior to digital projection in movie theatres, all movies on celuloid were projected at 25fps. It can be said that when watching a movie these days, what you see is so much clearer and that is true but that clarity is due to digital technology and not frame rate. All of this is leading up to my journey with MSFS 2020.

 

When Microsoft announced their return to flight simulation in 2018, my first reaction was, will all the scenery and aircraft I had invested in over the years be compatible and ofcourse the immediate answer was no, leaving me cursing and blinding. I continued to fly FSX while all the time declaring my undying devotion to the good old sim. However when I first saw the initial release of screenshots of FS2020 I knew it would be impossible to resist. I also knew that a major upgrade of my system would be required and as time went on it became obvious that a completely new computer would have to be built. At the age of 72 and a pensioner, I had to carefully consider my budget while also making sure that whatever I built would have to be able to handle the program for some time to come. At the time the i7 cpu had been around for a while and proved itself to be fast and reliable. The i9 series was in the wings but still very expensive so that was off the list.

Luckily RAM these days is one of the cheaper components so 32GB was the go. I remember when 4k of RAM cost AU$360!. Next on the list was the video card. The choices were incredible and so were most of the prices. In hindsight I believe that most of the manufacturers flooded the market with grosely overpriced and under performing cards making the choice very difficult. I spent many hours trawling the net in search of a suitable candidate and finally setled on one that was far from the top but not at the bottom and in doing so, took a bit of a punt. In hindsight I was able to fully understand the specs laid out by the manufacturer and based on my past experience and considering my budget I think I made the right choice. All of the components except the RAM and the CPU are considered as "marginal" by the MSFS system.

 

Components...

Windows 10 64

AMD Radeon RX570 Video Card 8GB

Corsair 16GB RAM x2

ASUS PrimeZ-390-P Motherboard

Power Supply 650 Watt

i7 CPU

1TB SSD Hard Drive

1TB SSD Hard Drive Windows System & MSFS Clone (Complete backup)

 

I decided to buy the premium edition from Steam which turned out to be a good decision as I have had no problems with updates and downloads. Since the program's release there has been a lot of problems reported by users from all around the world mostly regarding installation of updates. I must admit I became quite nervous about the continuing reports of serious problems considering my "marginal" system. A couple of days after installing Update 6, when loading the sim, it got to the main menu and after selecting aircraft and airport and selecting FLY the computer shut down completely. This continued for around 12 attempts. Thinking that either the sim update V6 had not installed correctly or there was a problem with Windows I switched over to my backup cloned disk which had not yet been updated to V6 and exactly the same thing happened which pointed to both Windows and the sim not being the problem. Back to basics. At this point I had checked all the usual Web sites and forums and no one seemed to be having the same problem. I decided to create a check list based on old experiences. First on the list was to check the BIOS. The available data displayed in the BIOS showed nothing out of the ordinary so it was back to the drawing board. At my age I have found that over thinking a problem can be dangerous so, to clear my head, I decided to walk away from the problem for a couple of days...the weeds in the garden had been calling my name for some time and as it turned out I'm glad I answered the call. It's amazing how some fresh air and exersise can clear the mind. After a few hours out in the fresh air and sunshine, a train of thought began to emerge. All this "exersise" was causing my body to get quite hot and generate a good deal of sweat which kept dribbling into my eyes causing me to stand up straight and let the gentle breeze do its job of evaporating the sweat and creating natural refrigeration and cooling me down. The other thing I noticed was this was happening at very regular intervals. Again at my age sometimes it takes a bit more time to recognise the bleeding obvious.

 

After a good night's sleep I decided to start again so I fired up the sim and to my suprise it happily allowed me to take off and fly. That lasted about 10 minutes before the inevitable complete shut down without any warning messages. Undaunted and ever the optimist I tried again and this time it lasted about five minutes. This went on a few more times and each time the time frame got shorter until it returned to the original shut down point. What I realised at this point was that the only constant in this process was running time and possibly over heating as a result. One very important thing to remember here is that MSFS 2020 is, in all respects, a very demanding program. Incidently all other programs I have installed performed perfectly including iRacing in VR and Everyday Golf VR...funny that!. On reflection I realised that right from start my computer had been running 15 to 18 hours literaly every day since I built it...two years this August 18th. There are those that may dispute this however, being retired, the one thing I have is plenty of time and, in these difficult times, a yearn to see all the amazing places on this planet that time and circumstance have not allowed me to do, from the comfort and security of my own home. If you have read this up to now you are probably thinking..."PLEASE GET TO THE BLOODY POINT". The point is that heat can be a great companion but also your biggest enemy. At this point, for the first time in two years, I stripped the computer completely and straight away the whole problem became obvious. Even with a quick inspection dust was everywhere. With today's CPU's and video GPU's the need for good cooling is essential and as a result the need for efficient cooling fans is paramount. However, the fan is not the only solution. For instance the heat sink on my CPU is not only fitted with a fan but also a very large set of very finely constructed aluminium fins through which the fan pulls cooling air. This is a very efficient method of cooling however what the fan also pulls through the fins is dust which, courtesy of static electricity, happily attaches itself to the fins creating large airflow blockages if not cleaned out. This also applies to the video card heat sink. By the way the dust also settles on the fan blades making them less efficient. At this stage I still wasn't totally convinced that this was the source of my problem. Stubborness is also a common problem in my little world.

 

Where I live (Perth, Western Australia) there was an advert on TV a while ago which used the phrase "Don't tell me what to do...I know boats". The scene was a group of people standing on a small boat jetty. Tied up to the jetty was a small dingy. Standing in front of the people was a man about to step aboard the dingy dressed in an elaborate sea captains outfit. One of the people was heard to say "be carefull climbing into the dingy", to which he replied "Don't tell me what to do ..I know boats". Predictably he stepped out from the jetty and went straight through the bottom of the dingy into the water. What I was faced with here was a good time to reflect on whether I knew boats or not. I quietly decided on the latter and went and grabbed the vacuum cleaner and got to work. In the process I also disconnected every thing plugged into the mother board and carefully cleaned all of the plugs and pins and reseated them all into clean slots. A technician once told me when cleaning make sure to remove, clean, and replace RAM and Video cards simply because the ammount of heat they are subject to in use naturaly causes expansion and contraction to their components and pins and reseating is a smart thing to do.

The end result of this "I know boats" adventure is nothing short of amazing and incredibly satisfying. It has been 5 days since I completed this task and in the preceeding two years the sim has never run like it is running now. Not one CTD or shut down and truly beautiful clarity in both 2D and VR. The frame rate chasers wil be shouting "Yes, this all sounds very nice BUT what FPS are you getting mate". Bare in mind in the two years of running the sim I have not upgraded or replaced any of the computer components..basically it has come down to experimenting with the miriad of settings in the sim itself and investing a lot of time. FPS in VR is 25-28...in 2D is 35-40. In both formats the immersion is mind blowing. Ofcourse all of this is only a relatively small part of what makes the sim what it is today and what it will become tomorrow. When I first played with the idea of VR it appeared to me to be a very expensive and unproven option for the sim. When ASOBO announced the introduction of VR I had another go at looking around for information so as to justify the outlay required. My video card proudly proclaimed that is was VR ready so I bit the bullet and bought an HTC Vive Cosmos headset. Although the Cosmos did not have a lot of information available, the one thing that attracted me was the fact that it did not use what are called satelites. These are wall mounted cameras that detect your movement. The Cosmos has the camera's built in to the headset which made more sense to me however I struggled to get the headset to stabilise and function correctly.

 

Vive provided extra software but I never was able to get it to work for any length of time without freezing or crashing. Steam VR software was the same although slightly more stable. The headset connects to the computer via an external small box. The box has its own power supply and two cables, 1 USB3 and 1 HDMI which connect to the computer and the video card. I must point out that the problems I was having were only relevant to the sim. All other VR programs functioned Ok. I had got to the stage of thinking that I had made a big mistake by investing in VR primarily for the sim and trying to run it on a so called "marginal" computer. As luck would have it I was wrong. Worth mentioning here is the view in the Cosmos headset. In front of two small flat screens are two lenses that are so thick that each one looks like the bottom of a coke bottle. Each lens has a so called sweet spot in its centre so that when you look straight ahead what you see is clean and clear. The down side is if you concentrate on your peripherel vision the edges of the view appear somewhat fuzzy to the point where the digits on cockpit instruments are virtually (pun intended) imposible to read. One other thing that requires getting used to is looking around in VR. To keep things in focus you have to turn your head left and right and up and down without moving your eyes so that you are always looking through the sweet spot. Small sacrifice. In my travels I discovered a small company based in the UK that manufactures replacement lenses that have a larger sweet spot and are very simple to fit and reasonably priced. They make a considerable difference to the field of view and I feel are well worth the investment (AU$74 to the door). Also since Update 6 I no longer have to load any extra VR software...only the Vive program that automaticaly loads when turning on the headset external box. ASOBO have taken on a technical journey to places no one has ever been before and the very fact that they have gone this far is a credit to their determination. In my mind the fact that my system even runs the sim let alone does it so well now, is testament to their clever work. Personally I will enjoy the ride, be patient and watch them do what they do best. The reason I have writen this story is primarily to point out to new users of this incredible program that so called bigest and best is not necessarily the way to go. Regardless of modern technology there are still fundamental rules in physics and science that have to apply for all of this to function correctly.

 

Enjoy the fact that you can explore the entire planet and go places you may never have dreamed of and all without leaving home and to top it off you can make new friends and fly live with people from all corners of the globe. Who would have thought?.

[g7rta]

Hi Paul,

Thank you for posting. I’m impressed that you persevered with the problem and figured out it was down to too much dust, heat & a lack of airflow. Glad you sorted it out and enjoying the new sim and in VR too!

I use the Reverb G2 and am not all that familiar with the Vive Cosmos, but presumably you get the same immersive feeling as if sat in an actual cockpit :)

 

Regards

Steve

[kevinfolsom]

Hi Paul, welcome to the wonderful world of VR. I'm glad you got everything fixed and running. I have a couple of questions for you. Do you know if that company in the UK makes replacement lenses for the HP Reverb G2? How much improvement in the sweet spot did you get?

 

Kevin

[Phonic]

Hi Kevin, thanks for your reply and encouragement... it's much appreciated. Regarding your first question here is a link to the company web site..https://www.etsy.com/au/shop/VRDesignGB. I hope they can help you out. With regard to your second question I will try not to rattle on too much, unlike my original post !!

I'll try and describe it in words even I understand :pilot:. In the beginning I used the Steam VR software to set up for the sim and in the process of loading, a 3D screen would appear with a large billboard. It all looked very impresive and described, in text, the settings to use when running VR. In looking at the billboard through the sweet spot, without moving my head, the text was very clear. However when using peripherel vision it was basically unreadable both side to side and up and down. Once in the cockpit things were a little better, however, even in the sweet spot digital readouts were somewhat blurry. Outside there appeared to be a definite demarcation line between close and far away. ASOBO have acknowledged this and have said a fix is in the pipeline. The replacement lenses had a very noticable improvement on all of this. I have also noticed that since V6 update there has also been a marked improvement. I hope this has been some help and wish you luck with it all.

All the best,

Paul

[cgsimpson]

Thank you Paul

And you don't have to be a new FS user.

interesting read.

Graeme

Bendigo

Vic

[roypaglia]

Hi Paul.

I'm your age and I've been sim flying for as long as you but I know very little about computers. Recently I had someone add 8gb of RAM to my ten year old pc as the sim was only able to work with small planes, simple scenery ie no built up areas, clouds etc and all sliders to the left. Just the jump from 16gb which I had to 24gb changed everything. It's far from perfect obviously but, untill I can afford a better pc, I'm more than satisfied. Point is this, when the ram was added and the pc case opened, there was a thick layer dust and I was told how lucky I was that things were still working and that they were very close to not working. It was stressed how important it was to spring clean the pc and how many malfunctions were simply due to poor ventilation and overheating due to the vents getting clogged with dust.

Just to let you know, I think yours is one of the most usefull comments seen and so many who are having problems with this fantastic sim would benefit from reading it.

Thanks.

Roy

[daspinall]

I too was plagued with heat issues, although a good lesson in learning heat is a performance killer... Now armed with a radiator and liquid pump I'm able to utilize all that power to the max! I also invested in an Electric Air Duster Blower to keep the system in peak condition, and I would say it's a vital piece of kit for powerful PC's.... Happy Landings.....

 

[Phonic]

Hi Paul.

I'm your age and I've been sim flying for as long as you but I know very little about computers. Recently I had someone add 8gb of RAM to my ten year old pc as the sim was only able to work with small planes, simple scenery ie no built up areas, clouds etc and all sliders to the left. Just the jump from 16gb which I had to 24gb changed everything. It's far from perfect obviously but, untill I can afford a better pc, I'm more than satisfied. Point is this, when the ram was added and the pc case opened, there was a thick layer dust and I was told how lucky I was that things were still working and that they were very close to not working. It was stressed how important it was to spring clean the pc and how many malfunctions were simply due to poor ventilation and overheating due to the vents getting clogged with dust.

Just to let you know, I think yours is one of the most usefull comments seen and so many who are having problems with this fantastic sim would benefit from reading it.

Thanks.

Roy

 

Hi Roy....Thanks for your kind words it is much appreciated. Some times it takes us "old blokes" a while to get to where we are going, however, we usually arrive with a smile :). I know I'm looking forward to ASOBO doing their stuff in the years to come...I think it will be a great ride.

 

All the best and take care,

Paul

[Phonic]

Thank you Paul

And you don't have to be a new FS user.

interesting read.

Graeme

Bendigo

Vic

 

Thank you Graeme..much appreciated.

 

All the best

Paul

[vegasjon]

Just wanted to throw this in for humor "I know boats!"

 

[Phonic]

Thanks vegasjon....Having a good laugh these days is gold...Well done :cool: