Flight Sim expert?

Hi

 

I have used FS2004 for many years until recently, when I decided to take the leap to FSX (mainly because not many developers produce for FS2004 anymore). As like many of you already know, FSX is a different beast and there are countless tweak guides for the cfg file, GPU, CPU and other suggestions to get the most from your PC.

 

I like to think I have quite a high-end spec PC. I have tried many of these suggestions and have had little success, often with no or very little improvement. Whereas I have reached a point with both sims where they are playable, I struggle to achieve more than 20FPS on either. I believe however that I could achieve a lot better with my system though.

 

Basically I am tired of going through countless websites trying to find what is holding me back, as I now have very limited time and could spend days with some of these. I'm sure many of you have probably thought of this, or even previously asked, but what I would love to do is pay for someone who knows exactly what they are doing, to take my PC away and work on it to get the best that it can offer. I know there are many PC repair companies out there, but they will not have an in depth knowledge of Flight Simulator.

 

Is anybody aware of such a person/company who offer this service?

 

Rich

While waiting for a post from someone who does this or is willing, how about posting your computers specs to give everyone a clue to what you are actually dealing with. Keep in mind that CPU speed for FSX is the critical point. It also won't hurt to list any addons payware or freeware that you have.

There is no clear-cut path to set up a flight simulator system to maximum performance. Each PC and each config is different, addons to the simulator make it even more of a gamble. So whoever does this has to use trial & error until you are satisfied. And he won't give any guarantee of success, because maybe what you want just isn't possible with your computer. But you will have to pay her/him anyway. TBH, if both sims perform badly, then it is possibly the computer itself that is "holding you back", not the sim setup.

 

Say a competent FS and PC specialist would sit down at your machine. Tweaking it to maximum performance will take at least a day, maybe as many as 40 hours. A typical professional rate would be 50-150$ per hour, depending on skill level. I estimate the effort that it took me to tweak my system to an acceptable pace to be more than 100 hours since I started with FSX in 2013, maybe more. And I am doing this since 1982.

 

When using complex simulator setups, your best option is to learn the tools of the (FS) trade, so you can react to any changes yourself. If you buy a new computer component or even a whole new system, you will have to rebuild the simulator too - and it will have to be reconfigured as well.

Yup, FSX is enough to make my piles throb! (& I'm 63!)

& FS2004 just works! (without the headaches & heartaches)

Have you seen the add-ons from http://www.ford-tri-motor.net/ (sloping runways & ramps, amongst other things) & Howard's http://biggles11.wixsite.com/the-natural-world

 

Awesome stuff for FS2004, if you want to fly there, very much still being developed for!!

One of the first things to remember is that the frame rate is NOT that important. The important part is that you have a smooth flying experience. And certainly the frame rate IS an important part of that, but it is not all there is to it.

 

In absence of your computer specs I can only make some assumptions, so here they are for what they are worth.

 

First of all, if you have a 64-bit version of Windows, your system should have at least 8 GB of RAM. More is OK, but not necessary. Keep Windows fully updated, using Windows Update - new updates come out every second Tuesday of the month, US time.

 

Stop unnecessary background processes. No real-world pilot listens to music while he flies, for instance, so why have something like iTunes running? Background processes STEAL CPU ticks from FSX, and FSX IS notoriously CPU-hungry.

 

If you have everything installed on one HDD, consider splitting things so your OS and everything else except FSX is on one drive, and then FSX on another. For instance, I have my OS on C:, my FSX on F: and my photoscenery on E: - you get the idea. I am considering migrating to SSDs (damn they ARE expensive, especially the large ones), but I'll keep the drive setup to keep things organised.

 

If you have HDD(s), then defrag them regularly.

 

And now the basic setup is OK, you might want to consider overclocking your CPU.... but here is where you really really need to be careful. Did I say really careful? And no, I have not overclocked, yet....

 

Jorgen

Hi

 

Thanks for the responses. I am aware that FPS is not the only answer to smooth flying, which is why I think with my PC I am missing something somewhere.

 

As requested, first here are my specs:

 

Processor - Intel® Core™ i7 CPU 950 @ 3.07GHz

Video Card - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 - Dedicated Memory - 4.0 GB

RAM - 6.0 GB

Operating System - Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition Service Pack 1 (build 7601), 64-bit

Number of Cores - 4 (Hyperthread)

Memory RAM - 6.0 GB

Pixel Shader Version - 5.1

Vertex Shader Version - 5.1

Hardware T & L - Yes

Vendor ID - 10DE

Device - 13C2

Plug and Play ID - VEN_10DE&DEV_13C2&SUBSYS_31601462&REV_A1

Driver Version - 10.18.13.6519

Sound Device - Realtek High Definition Audio

 

CPU - this has been overclocked but has a limiter on it so will only allow me to clock it at 3.06 Ghz. I have a tool called Core Parking Manager which allows me to ensure I get 100% of the 3.06 Ghz.

 

GPU - this has also been overclocked using MSI Afterburner as shown by someone on a forum (I think - it was some time ago!). I also use NVidia Inspector for both sims, but with FSX there are so many do's and dont's that I am no longer sure what works and what doesn't. I also have it set in the middle balance of performance and quality.

 

I monitor both GPU and CPU temperatures whilst using FS and both are always well within their limits.

 

I have the boxed version of FSX. Major add-ons are as follows:

FS Global 2010

Orbx FTX Global Base Pack

Orbx FTX Global Vector

Orbx FTX Global OpenLC Europe

Orbx FTX Global OpenLC NA Alaska/Canada

Orbx FTX Trees HD

Various payware airports all over the globe (98 airports in total)

I use REX4 Texture Direct with Soft Clouds and Active Sky Next.

I also use SKYAI for my AI traffic (all aircraft have jet exhaust effect, contrail effects and Shockwave 3D lights).

 

I only fly commercial flights from international to international airport, usually above 30,000 feet. Hence why I like my AI traffic to be realistic in airports (although I only have it set at 30%) and the clouds/weather to be as realistic as possible. I also have a tool called Air Traffic Manager Radar, which is supposed I believe meant to restrict the AI traffic in the FS overall and to only allow traffic around you of normal levels?

 

When I start up a flight I use FSPS Multicore Next so that ASN is not using the same core as FSX. My individual FSX settings are as follows:

GRAPHICS

Target Frame Rate = 30

Full Screen Resolution = 1920x1080x32

Filtering = Trilinear

Anti-aliasing = yes

Global Texture Resolution = very high

Preview DirectX 10 = yes (I also have Steve's DX10 Controller installed)

Advanced animations = yes

 

AIRCRAFT

Default Cockpit View = 3-D virtual cockpit

High-resolution 3-D virtual cockpit = yes

Aircraft Landing Lights Illuminate Ground = yes

 

SCENERY

Level of Detail Radius = Large

Mesh Complexity = 50

Mesh resolution = 19m

Texture Resolution = 1m

Water Effects = High 2.x

Land Detail Textures = yes

Scenery Complexity = Very Dense

Autogen Density = Very Dense

Special Effects Details = Medium

 

WEATHER

Cloud Draw Distance = 80mi

Thermal Visualization = None

Cloud Detail = Detailed Clouds (cloud coverage density = maximum)

 

TRAFFIC

Airline Traffic density = 30

General Aviation = 0

Airport Vehicle Density = 0

Road Vehicles = 10

Ships and Ferries = 10

Leisure Boats = 10

 

Any sections which I have not listed above mean they are not ticked.

 

I have the various adjustments in my cfg such as bufferpools, higmem fix etc etc.

 

Overall my FSX runs OK, has no spikes or CTD's, but has a slight stuttering problem here and there, especially close to the ground and in airports, where you need it to be smooth when taxiing and taking off/landing. I did once get it to run with 65fps and it was lovely and smooth, but it would always CTD after about 1 hour! When flying I like to have spot view and see the clouds and ground detail when cruising along, as this for me is where you can get an idea of the realism.

 

I have read many forums about the use of DX10 as well. Yet again I have no idea what is really better. My graphics card is capable of handling this, and the general opinion is that it is far better to have. The only down side I find is you cannot get the aircraft to cast shadows whilst on the ground, as this causes a problem with AI traffic becoming invisible (which I have encountered).

 

My overall confusion is that I do not know what is controlling what. Are my settings in DX10 controller compatible with what I have set up in NVidia Inspector? Are these compatible with my FSX cfg file? Is this compatible with my PC specs? Is it better to use all cores, only the main cores (and not the hyperthreaded), or a fancy combination?

 

Finally I do not have a partitioned hard drive, so everything runs through the C drive. Would this help if it was partitioned?

 

Lastly I am not a computer expert, and many of the tools and suggestions have area's which I do not understand either the meaning of or consequences of. Hence it could well be just one thing I have ticked or not ticked that could suddenly release the full potential of my PC and FSX to work together! Hence why I would like someone who knows to look and could potentially spot such a problem/mistake.

FSX is generally a single-threaded application, meaning it uses one core only. It can, I have read, use another core for some stuff, but mainly you should think of FSX as using only one core. To rewrite it to use multiple cores is a major task, something for Microsoft... or Lockheed-Martin!

 

A partitioned hard drive will not help. My setup is 3 physical HDDs, 1 TB each.

 

Have you looked through Kosta's tuning guide at the top of this forum?

 

Jorgen

FSX is generally a single-threaded application, meaning it uses one core only. It can, I have read, use another core for some stuff, but mainly you should think of FSX as using only one core. To rewrite it to use multiple cores is a major task, something for Microsoft... or Lockheed-Martin!

 

A partitioned hard drive will not help. My setup is 3 physical HDDs, 1 TB each.

 

Have you looked through Kosta's tuning guide at the top of this forum?

 

Jorgen

 

While core sim functions are limited to one core, SP1 added support for using additional cores to load terrain and scenery data. Depending on how the sim is setup and where you fly, it can easily use 2-3 additional cores.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

These are too high:

Water Effects = High 2.x

(Land Detail Textures = yes)

Scenery Complexity = Very Dense

Autogen Density = Very Dense

 

For that you'll need a faster CPU (Which means different mainboard, Ram as well.)

It's a pre-Sandy Bridge CPU. That would explain a lot.

 

Cheers!

 

Luke

Thanks to Loki for explaining core usage better than I could!

 

It looks like the OP is leaning against a new system here... at least the current one seems to be maxed out.

 

Jorgen

These are too high:

Water Effects = High 2.x

(Land Detail Textures = yes)

Scenery Complexity = Very Dense

Autogen Density = Very Dense

 

For that you'll need a faster CPU (Which means different mainboard, Ram as well.)

 

I agree. You are CPU-limited...it's just too slow for those settings. What you are seeing is the best that you can do. You do not have a "quite a high-end spec PC". As above, there is not a much you can do without changing the CPU/Motherboard/RAM.

 

Doug

Your processor is too slow , and your GPU is wasted..bottleneck . You run about as much scenery as me at 4.3 GHZ. turn it all down and use Kostas Guide.

Thanks for the replies guys

 

Having only purchased the motherboard some 3-4 years ago I thought it was still capable, but seeing recent figures for CPU and also RAM figures of over 2400Mhz (whereas mine will only accept 1600) is obviously a major stumbling block.

 

I have just purchased another 2GB of RAM (it's only cheap, so nothing lost nothing gained) and am working my way through Nick's bible to see if I can gain better performance. Turning down the textures from 2048 to 1024 and repairing scenery files I hope will be a start.

 

I will also turn down some of the other settings and see if I notice much difference. I can see the point of turning down AI to 10% - but as I said already, I enjoy commercial flights in and out of international airports. With only 10% AI this will be totally unrealistic. This is one reason why I love FS2004 and have withheld moving to FSX, as I can have AI up to 90% and still get good performance, but can enjoy a busy bustling airport as well (which is what it is like in the real world).

 

I have also been using DX10 with Steve's DX10 scenery fixer, but I will try to set up from fresh without DX10 based on Nick's settings. Then if I get acceptable performance I may try with DX10 switched on again.

 

If and when I can purchase a new motherboard without the other-half noticing then I will ask you guys for your opinion of what you would recommend :-) Maybe I should persuade her to go on holiday without me again!!

Personally, I have an ASUS Z170-A motherboard with an Intel i7-6700 CPU running at 3.4 GHz. This is combined with 16 GB of 2400 MHz RAM, a nVidia GTX 960 graphics card and, as mentioned before, 3 x 1 TB HDDs.

 

This setup runs FSX Acceleration under Windows 10 Single-language 64-bit, with AI Airline, GA and Ship/Boat traffic at 100%, leisure craft at 40% and road traffic at 10%. There is a small amount of stutter at times, which I attribute to the slow loading time of the HDDs. Next project is to migrate the F: drive, where FSX and all the AI is, to a SSD, when I can find a store that will get a Samsung 4 TB one for me. After that comes the E: drive, and finally C: - what fun we have!!!

 

Jorgen

These are too high:

Water Effects = High 2.x

(Land Detail Textures = yes)

Scenery Complexity = Very Dense

Autogen Density = Very Dense

For that you'll need a faster CPU (Which means different mainboard, Ram as well.)

 

Yes I agree totally with il88pp.

My PC is pretty good and I could have all my graphics settings cranked up to 'Ultra-high' or 'Very high' but I prefer to set them lower around 'High' for a smoother experience with good framerates.

My aircraft and ship traffic I set at around only a minimal 10 per cent.

PS- Also, I play FSX at 1360 x 768 resolution for smooth easy-on-the-eye play, even though I could use 1920 x 1080 if I wanted to.

FSX game resolution should always be set to the resolution of your monitor.

Just thought I would give an update to this thread.

 

I did work out how to overclock my CPU so have now pushed it up to 4.0ghz. To help with cooling I bought a Maelstrom 120T Liquid CPU cooler for only £40, which reduced temperatures by about 20 degrees. I also added another 2gb on RAM (only £10) to bring it up to 8gb.

 

I deleted the original FSX.cfg file and reset defaults. I then spent several days working my way through Nick's FSX bible, following every step (whereas previously I had only paid attention to the sections which were of interest to me).

 

I am pleased to say that I now have a super smooth flight sim. I get no blurries, stutters or shimmers, textures load immediately, and this is with air traffic AI set at 65%. I even did a night flight (which I have never been a fan of) and found I had a huge grin on my face, such was the enjoyment and relief of getting FSX to finally work well!

As usual, il is absolutely correct. With a 3 GHz CPU, your settings in some area's are too high. Not only the settings he mentioned, but your scenery settings as well. Try turning the cloud draw radius down to 60, and the cloud coverage density down some. I have found clouds really can eat CPU cycles greatly.

AI traffic eats CPU cycles too. Try turning those down some. Might help...

Pat☺

I'll give DX10 another go soon. Just want to get some quality flying time before I potentially start tinkering again :-)

..what I would love to do is pay for someone who knows exactly what they are doing, Is anybody aware of such a person/company who offer this service?

 

No, but if you included your location in your profile we'd know where you are in the world and there might be an FSX hotshot living within easy reach of you and willing to pop over.

Meanwhile, try contacting various computer clubs and shops in your area til you find somebody who'd be glad to pop over. Also look in the local paper's computer adverts column to see if any hotshots are offering their services.

PS, I'm the biggest computer dummy around, yet in all the years I've had FSX it's run fine for me on various PC's and a laptop without any serious tweaking and fiddling, so if I can do it, anybody can..:)