My experience and questions with FSX Tweaking for perfomance

[chip58123]

I have had FSX SE for a month or so now and have tried many of the tweaks out there to make it perform at its best. I now have it performing pretty well I believe. Actually as good as I believe I can on my machine which is a Dell XPS 8700 desk top with i7 4790 processor, 24gb DDR3 ram and a MSI Nividia 970 4gb. I have run inspector and currently am running it at the 8SX version found here: http://forum.avsim.net/topic/324786-nvidia-configuration-guide-inspector-2xxxx-drivers-version-20-explanations-of-all-settings/. I am also added bufferpools, widescreen fix and Affinity Mask=84. With these settings at Van Nuys with my display settings set the same as in Kostas guide I am getting about 36fps at peak with a lot of clouds with an average 28-30. It seems to be fairly smooth unless it dips around 24 for a second or too.. Is this your yalls experience also. I saw on line people talking about super tweaker so I tried that and any setting I tried killed my performance. It seem to me that Affinity Mask did more for me that anything other than inspector settings.

[pvarn]

" I am getting about 36fps at peak with a lot of clouds with an average 28-30. It seems to be fairly smooth unless it dips around 24 for a second or too.. Is this your yalls experience"

 

What you did not mention is your clock speed.

Assuming 4 GHz and high FSX option settings this is within normal range your yall.

 

-Pv-

[chip58123]

my processor is running at 3.6 ghz.

[pvarn]

Those frame ranges would be normal if you did not have all the option sliders on full.

-Pv-

[MBKHOU]

my processor is running at 3.6 ghz.

 

With the 4790, likely runs FSX at 3.8, 3.9, and peaks to 4.0 ghz..

One thing about that CPU, which is what I'm running too, you will get

a tad better performance if you turn off the Intel auto speed control.

With that on, the chip can run as slow as 800 mhz, and peaks up with a

load. If you turn off the Intel speed control, the lowest it will go will be

in the 3200-3600 mhz range with low load, and upper 3000's to 4000 when

running FSX.

 

I ran with the Intel control at first, and later turned it off. The whole machine

seemed a good bit quicker. The Intel control is set in the BIOS, and I forgot the

exact name they call it.. Intel something... I'll check it out again next time I reboot.

Mine seems to run at 3.8-4.0 when FSX is running. Probably a 3.9 ghz average.

The frame rate can be all over the map just depending on what all I'm running.

 

IE: the 737NGX alone will take a bite before you even get to the scenery, but I

still do pretty well most of the time, and most all my scenery settings are at max

full to the right. About the only thing I lower is the water, if I'm running the NGX.

I use 2xlow instead of max. I only use max water when flying low and slow and

I actually want to see the better water. At 737 altitudes, doesn't matter much, and

2xlow gives a nice frame boost vs max water 2xhigh or whatever it is, particularly

when I also have dense clouds. BTW, I'm still using the onboard HD 4600 video too,

so I would do better with a more manly video card. I use the internal limiter at 30 fps.

Even locked at 4 ghz max, the 4790 is pretty stout.

[MBKHOU]

I checked my BIOS and it actually has two different controls for the Intel speed

control.

And this is a MSI "Krait" Z97S MB, so you may or may not have this being as

you likely have another board.

On mine, the main control that turns the auto speed selection off or on is

the Intel C-State setting. It's off, on, or auto..

If it's on, or auto, you then get a second setting available which is Intel VT-D Tech.

That is the one that sets a low speed when the machine is idling. On mine, it would

drop as low as 800 mhz when idling.

 

If I turn that off, but leave C-State on "auto", I get automatic speed control, but

the minimum is much higher, and the CPU often spikes to 3900, 4000 mhz a good bit.

The lows, 3200 to 3600 mhz or so..

I forgot to try C-State on, and VT-D off.. But in theory, it should be about the same

either way I think..

 

If I turn C-State off, that in turn makes VT-D go away from the menu, and the

machine runs a constant 3800 mhz on all four physical cores. No fluctuation at all.

 

Now, when I run FSX with C-State auto, It'll usually run a bit above 3800, and

spike to 3900, 4000 every once in a while. In theory, you would think that would

be slightly better than running all cores at a constant 3800, being as the cores

are spiking to a higher speed from time to time, but you don't see it dropping below

3800 mhz.

But... As far as I can tell, having C-State disabled, and running all four cores a

constant 3800 gives me the best frame rates. And is pretty smooth.

I'm talking about maybe 4-5 fps difference with the different views.

Say if the exterior side view of the NGX gave me in the low 50's with C-State on,

with it off, I would be bouncing around 60 or so.. I had one cockpit view using the NGX,

and C-State on, in the high 30's with a few bumps above 40fps, and with it off, would

see the low 40's more than high 30's.

 

Also, using VT-D, the CPU usually shows running fairly high speeds when FSX

is going. About the same as with it off nearly.. So I wasn't expecting much difference,

but it did make a good difference turning it off when using C-State on auto.

And seems even better if I turn C-State off and run constant speed.

BTW, I do use hyperthreading.. So have eight virtual cores.

The difference on or off seems fairly small, but I did see a slight increase with it on.

And I do see FSX use more than four cores. I've seen it use seven over several

minutes time for sure.. Can't remember if I've seen it use all eight. But it probably does

in the course of a flight. I don't spend too much time watching it..

Of course, a few cores only get the random data loads from time to time, but every bit

spread around seems to help.

[loki]

Intel VT-d has to do with virtualization, not clock speed control. For the setting that reduces clock speeds when the system is idle or under a lite load, look for the Intel Speed Step setting. My Gigabyte board has it labelled as "CPU EIST Function", for example. Check the manual for your MB to see what the manufacturer calls it.

[il88pp]

I have a i5 3570k. In a Gigabyte Ga-Z77X-d3h mainboard.

I have not overclocked it to a higher frequency, it's set to the default 3.4, with turbo frequency enabled.

 

Interesting stuff here.

I did not dare change those settings before. But I had noticed (using the program HWmonitor) that my processor was usually running at 1600Mhz when ideling with no windows open (but some things running in tray).

(This even happened if I tried overclocking the processor by setting the frequency to 3.9 Ghz. It would run faster under load, but go back to 1600 on idle.)

 

After MBKHOU's post I had a look in the Bios.

I could not find the VT-D setting, but did find C1E state, and C3-C6 state. I disabeled both.

After booting to the desktop, HWmonitor showed all cores running at 3600 MHz in idle. And everything responded much faster. Programs opened faster.

FSX did not seem to start much faster. The main bottleneck for that is my slow mech HD, and starting FSX is always preceded by a lot of ratteling sounds.

FSX did not run faster either that I noticed. But it's hard to say. I just rstored my PC, there was system file corruption. I had to restore it to a month ago (system image). I did that over the last 3 days, updating and reinstalling stuff. FSX runs much better now. I only did one or two longer flights since that. Now, with the new CPU settings with C state disabled it still looks great, at high settings, but I don't really have anything to compare to.

(I was not expecting it to run faster/better. The maximum frequency has not changed.)

 

I saw then the post #6 by loki. I decided to try it out. I set the C states to auto again, and this time disabeled EIST. (It was named the same, mine is also a Gigabyte mainboard.) This did not have the result I expected. HWMonitor showed all cores ideling at 1600 MHz again.

(Maybe I did something wrong? Or I was expecting the wrong result?)

 

I liked the faster responding system a lot. I went back into the BIOS, and enabeled EIST and disabeled C1E and C3-C6 state.

Looking closer in HWmonitor I see the frequency is fluctuating between 3600Mhz and 3800Mz.

 

I'm wondering now, how safe is this??

 

There is an option enabeled in bios, 'reduce frequency depending on temperature'. I have this set to enabled. But, is this still working now? Or have I effectively disabeled it by fixing the frequency to a minimum of 3.6 GHz??

 

Also, Does having the processor constantly at 3.6 Ghz reduce the lifespan of the processor??

Is having the processor throttle down at times going to increase the lifespan?

Or does the lifespan depend more on the amount of data you make the thing process in total?

 

Or does lifespan only depend on temperature?

I have set the bios temp warning to 60 degrees Celcius (lowest value available), and have yet to hear the first beep.

(Fan failure warnings switched on also of course.)

 

Or is it different altogether?

 

il88pp.

 

Thanks for the tip, If it won't harm the processor , this is a great find.

[loki]

I could not find the VT-D setting

 

Not all Intel CPUs have this feature. If you want to see what features your CPU has, check Intel's Ark site.

 

Also, Does having the processor constantly at 3.6 Ghz reduce the lifespan of the processor??

 

No, it doesn't, as long as it is properly cooled. Running the CPU at or beyond its thermal design limit will shorten its life. If yours never goes above 60C, you have nothing to worry about.

 

The main point for decreasing the CPU speed is to reduce power use and generated heat. This originated in laptops to help improve battery life, and was eventually brought over to desktop models to help reduce power usage.

[il88pp]

Thank you loki, and sorry I keep asking questions that result in "temp is all that matters" ;).

 

(To be honest, adequate cooling is Always in the back of my mind. I'm still using the case my old celeron 1 core 1,7 or so ghz was in. A midi case. It has only one small intake on the front, and the PSU, top mounted, is the only heat exit fan. I should get a new case but it's hard to choose.)

 

As you say, despite the case, the temps are ok, so I may put off buying a new case a bit longer.

 

I've just landed the default 737 at default KDEN, and got nice framerates, all settings to very high, not many clouds but fsrealwx running, and medium traffic. I got great Visuals, aircraft after parking showed their textures even when parked very far away. Framerate was around 32 (fixed at 35 in fsx, no external limiter) most of the time. After landing it dropped to around 23 at times.

 

No mainboard beeps during all that, so I'll keep using these settings. Thanks.

il88pp.

 

(oh, no vt-D in the 3570k. I suddenly remember quickly looking up that spec (on ark!) when choosing this cpu. But, I never used virtualisation, so I forgot just as quickly.... thanks anyway :) )

[fireartist]

This is for il88pp, I have the 3570k and it came clocked at 4.3ghz which seems to be its sweet spot for temperature. I have managed to get it to 4.5ghz but the temperature is in the 80s. I think if you get your processor at the 4ghz and above this certainly helps with FSX. I have run my i5 3570k for 2+ years now with no problems and I am very happy with how it runs FSX.

To chip 5813, welcome to the tweaking of FSX, I find it great fun at trying to get the best out of my hardware and you certainly have started well. You will find though you always want more.

 

My Spec: i5 3570k clocked 4.3ghz Asus pz777 motherboard, Zotac GTX 660 Graphics, 8Gb 1600 MHz ram

[il88pp]

Thanks fireartist, good to know there's some legroom.

I've had this pc for 1.5 years. I'm very happy with it as is. I pushed it as high as 4.1 at one time I think, but didn't notice much difference. And keeping this PC running, is more important to me then pushing things as far as possible. There's more on it then fsx.

One day it will start to feel sluggish, and I'll start thinking more towards overclocking further perhaps. Before that I will definitely need a new case though!

This cpu has put a smile on my face that hasn't left me since I bought it! I'm sure you know the feeling.

Happy flights,:)

il88pp.:)

[pvarn]

"Also, Does having the processor constantly at 3.6 Ghz reduce the lifespan of the processor??

Is having the processor throttle down at times going to increase the lifespan?

Or does the lifespan depend more on the amount of data you make the thing process in total?

Or does lifespan only depend on temperature?"

 

I don't think "lifespan" is a practical consideration. There is no cycle count or years stamped into the CPU.

Keeping the thermal limits within specification is the primary factor. Otherwise, the CPU is likely to outlive you by an indefinite time.

You will likely burn through 10 mechanical hard drives before your CPU dies.

 

Your mainboard and OS will shut down when the CPU thermal is exceeded. Afterward, the likelihood the CPU will continue to operate after cooling is high.

 

The clock throttling built into most mainboards is to reduce unnecessary heat, and thus fan noise on variable cooling fans when running undemanding 2D desktop applications.

 

Most gamers eventually get around to disabling throttling (Intel or AMD) because these applications are not efficient. They do not ramp up or down fast enough to allow for the rapid changes in calculation load FSX provides which is a big contribution to stuttering.

 

Most hardcore gamers upgrade to new CPUs every 3-5 years anyway.

 

-Pv-

[MBKHOU]

Intel VT-d has to do with virtualization, not clock speed control. For the setting that reduces clock speeds when the system is idle or under a lite load, look for the Intel Speed Step setting. My Gigabyte board has it labelled as "CPU EIST Function", for example. Check the manual for your MB to see what the manufacturer calls it.

 

Yep, that's what mine is. I got the settings mixed up some way or another..

Mine is also CPU EIST for the idle control, and my Intel VT-D is still on.

[il88pp]

Sorry, I know the thread is old. And no need to resurrect it.

Just wanted to say thanks to pvarn for the clear reply. That info was very helpful. Forgot to do so earlier.

 

Also wanted to say, I just got a new case, fractal design r5 black. At oc 4.1 - temp is now a chill 61C max on one core with the other 3 lower. Videocard 65C. That's after running fsx for over an hour. Fps improved a lot.

 

I had done a bios reset once and hadn't messed with the advanced cpu options yet since. Completely forgot. Plus it made the pc run just a bit too hot because of my cramped old case.

 

Good thing I just stumbeled upon this thread. I'll re-read it and try some tings out again.

Thank you all.

il.