What should I expect in FPS

Hi,

I have an ASUS i7-2600 CPU@3.4Ghz, 12 Gig of Ram, Windows 10 64 bit, Nvidia 640GT, Samsung SSD 500GB. I'm running ORBX, Active Sky for P3D 4.3, Global Traffic, and my frame rates are worse than they were using the same set up in FSX. I get around 15 fps with default aircraft, sometimes 20 if I'm flying in Asia or somewhere less detailed than the U.S. or Europe. With my PMDG 737NGX, rates drop 2 or 3 fps. I just purchased the Aerosoft A318/319 for P3D v4.3 and it is supposed to be easy on frame rates, but it is worse than the PMDG. I'm talking single digits. Active Sky does take a considerable hit to the fps as well, and as to be expected I suppose. I have my settings pretty much set to default. I don't have them cranked up near as much as I did in FSX, but have worse performance. I've installed all of my add-ons in the suggested locations. I have Lockheed Martin in the root directory and I have everything turned off in the background including anti-virus scans. Maybe I'm expecting too much, but it seems like there are videos on YouTube of comparable systems running a lot better than mine. Any suggestions or ideas will be much appreciated.

You need to overclock that i7-2600 to at least 4GHz to get FPS improvement. Not sure how far you can OC a 2600. I have a 2600k (the k is important), as it allows me to OC to 4.8GHz.

Thank you. I have mine set on the highest performance level in the BiOS. Looks like I need to save up for a new system.

Note: I do not have or use P3D...

This advice is based on what I read about it here and there, and based on checking specs of 2600 and GT640.

 

GT640

various versions. One with 1 or 2 gb DDR5.

Also versions with 1, 2, or 3 gb DDR3 memory.

Don't know which one you have.

 

In P3D it is very important to have a good graphics card. (much more important then in fsx)

By getting a better graphics card (more VRam, Gddr5) you can probably get some improvement. Especially if your current card has Gddr3 Vram.

I would think one with 4Gb Gddr5 Vram would be a good start. Maybe more.

 

With your processor you only have PCIexpress 2.0 ports to plug the videocard in, but a PCIexpress 3.0 videocard will run in that as well.

Some other things may be worth upgrading too.

Replacing the HDD with an SSD for example. (You can transfer your system onto that with a system image.)

 

 

System Requirements – Prepar3D v4

------------------------------Minimum -- Recommended

OS: Microsoft Windows 7 SP1 (64-bit) -- Microsoft Windows 10 (64-bit)

[N editions require Media Feature Pack]

 

Computer Processor 2.2 GHz -- Quad Core 3.5 GHz (Per Core) +

Computer Memory 4 GB 16 GB DDR4/2666MHz +

Hard Drive Space 40 GB, with at least 15 GB on C:\ (3 GB for the SDK)

M.2 or Solid State Drive (SSD) is strongly recommended

Graphics Card Video Memory 2 GB ----- 8 GB +

Graphics Card Other Full DirectX 11 Support

Other Administrator Rights (for installation only)

Microsoft Core XML Services (MSXML) 6.0

Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6.2

DirectX 11

1024×768 minimum screen resolution for primary display

 

https://www.prepar3d.com/system-requirements/

For what it's worth I have an i7-4790k running at stock speeds (4Ghz but 4.37Ghz with turbo), a Nvidia 1070ti, 32GB RAM and I just updated to Windows 10. I have P3D 4.3, Rex Sky Force 3D, Rex Worldwide Airports HD, Traffic Global and Ultimate Traffic Live.

 

Coming from FSX where the CPU was the most important part of the entire computer I was pleasantly surprised when I changed my graphics card after installing P3D v4 and finding my fps increase with the new graphics card.

 

I just did a tweaking flight over Manhattan, NY and I originally was getting 8.3fps. I lowered all my settings and got it up to 30fps. I then started turning everything on except the airplanes from Traffic Global and Ultimate Traffic Live. I did turn on auto traffic and boats which knocked down my fps. After turning everything on I was able to get about 16 - 20fps. Once I turned UTL and Traffic Global my frame rates dropped. I now use UTL at 40% traffic and Traffic Global around 20%. I figured one has more liveries than the other and since I purchased both I might as well use them. My framerates vary from 8fps - 12fps. Horrible in my view.

 

Unfortunately whenever I tried overclocking, even increasing the voltage it appeared to work until I rebooted my computer and my monitors wouldn't even come on. I ended up just putting it back at stock/turbo.

Thanks guys for your input. I didn't realize that the CPU speed was not like FSX and it's limitations. I just updated recently to P3D and so far I like it. Just need to get a new rig.

Unfortunately, the P3D CPU speed issue is almost exactly like that in FSX. P3D uses the same basically-single-thread rendering engine. LM have off-loaded some of the workload to the GPU but the CPU is still going to be the ultimate determinant of FPS..........Doug

Unfortunately, the P3D CPU speed issue is almost exactly like that in FSX. P3D uses the same basically-single-thread rendering engine. LM have off-loaded some of the workload to the GPU but the CPU is still going to be the ultimate determinant of FPS..........Doug

 

You can move the bottleneck, but that's about it. As said earlier, new hardware is required