29 replies to this topic

[Gym_Class_Hero]

I think some of you will know how badly my FSX was performing previously, I was getting 10-15 frames/s on medium-low settings, and now with the help of many members here I had bumped that up to 20-30 frames/s on high settings .  I spent quite a bit of time tweaking and thought I would share to help others as well .

First of all my specs are, AMD Phenom II X6 @ 3.37 Ghz (Currently at this speed for the following), ATi Radeon HD5750 using Cat 9.11 Drivers (The 10 series drivers have been horrible on AA for me), 4GB of Dual Channel DDR3 1333 RAM with timings of 7-7-7-21, and an ASUS M4A87TD EVO Motherboard.  FSX Runs like this, but it runs like a dream for anything else; CODMW2 runs at 60fps with 24x (8x with filtering) AA at the default of 2.8Ghz, same with Far Cry 2.

But first, I would like you to see how my performance was before all this tweaking business, check this out ,Default everything and settings near zero.  And this.

I used help from over here,
uber-N69204 was very helpful, many thanks!

OK how it runs now,

I use REX with the highest resolution textures and the Shader 3.0 Mod.  The Shader 3.0 Mod gave me a HUGE boost in performance, the clouds ate away frames like crazy before and now clouds or no clouds same performance!

Settings in the Catalyst Control Center are:

AA: 2x with Wide Tent filtering to give 6x AA.
AF: 16x
Catalyst AI: Advanced
Mipmap: High Quality
Wait for vertical refresh: Always off
AA Mode: Supersampling

Settings:












Screenshots from LAX, used the Wilco A330 for these.

Resized from 1280*1024 and compressed a bit to make the file size smaller.















It's pretty smooth, no stutters or any problems!


FSX and CPU usage isn't all that impressive , primarily uses core 1 it uses all 6 cores sometimes, but most of the the time it won't.  I think I've seen it using all the other cores fully when loading scenery and other things in the beginning.


*Frames drop significantly in windowed mode.

And here's my cfg if anyone wants it:

[GRAPHICS]
ALLOW_SHADER_30=1
SHADER_CACHE_VERSION=9872430 
SHADER_CACHE_PRIMED_10=1693458478
SHADER_CACHE_PRIMED=1693458478
TEXTURE_MAX_LOAD=1024
NUM_LIGHTS=8
AIRCRAFT_SHADOWS=1
AIRCRAFT_REFLECTIONS=1
COCKPIT_HIGH_LOD=1
LANDING_LIGHTS=1
AC_SELF_SHADOW=1
EFFECTS_QUALITY=2
GROUND_SHADOWS=0
TEXTURE_QUALITY=3
IMAGE_QUALITY=0
See_Self=1
Text_Scroll=1
D3D10=0
[SOUND]
AmbientUIMusicVolume=-6.000000
PrimaryDevice={DEF00000-9C6D-47ED-AAF1-4DDA8F2B5C03}
VoiceDevice={DEF00002-9C6D-47ED-AAF1-4DDA8F2B5C03}
SOUND=1
SOUND_QUALITY=2
SOUND_LOD=0
UISound=1
AmbientUI=0
[Display]
ChangeTime=4.000000
TransitionTime=4.000000
ActiveWindowTitleTextColor=255,255,255
ActiveWindowTitleBackGroundColor=0,28,140,64
NonActiveWindowTitleTextColor=255,255,255
NonActiveWindowTitleBackGroundColor=24,33,87,64
InfoUpperRightTextColor=255,0,0
InfoUpperRightBackGroundColor=0,0,0,0
InfoLowerLeftTextColor=255,255,255
InfoLowerLeftBackGroundColor=255,0,0,128
InfoLowerRightTextColor=255,255,255
InfoLowerRightBackGroundColor=255,0,0,128
InfoBrakesEnable=True
InfoParkingBrakesEnable=True
InfoPauseEnable=True
InfoSlewEnable=True
InfoStallEnable=True
InfoOverspeedEnable=True
BLOOM_EFFECTS=0
SKINNED_ANIMATIONS=1
TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=40
UPPER_FRAMERATE_LIMIT=0
WideViewAspect=False
ForceFullScreenVSync=True
ForceVSync=False
[Main]
DisablePreload=1
User Objects=Airplane, Helicopter
SimObjectPaths.0=SimObjects\Airplanes
SimObjectPaths.1=SimObjects\Rotorcraft
SimObjectPaths.2=SimObjects\GroundVehicles
SimObjectPaths.3=SimObjects\Boats
SimObjectPaths.4=SimObjects\Animals
SimObjectPaths.5=SimObjects\Misc
ProcSpeed=9376
PerfBucket=7
HideMenuNormal=1
HideMenuFullscreen=1
Location=0,0,1280,1024,\\.\DISPLAY1
Maximized=0
SimObjectPaths.6=SimObjects\UT2 Aircraft
[PANELS]
IMAGE_QUALITY=1
QUICKTIPS=0
PANEL_OPACITY=100
PANEL_MASKING=1
PANEL_STRETCHING=1
UNITS_OF_MEASURE=0
DEFAULT_VIEW=0
[Weather]
WindshieldPrecipitationEffects=1
MinGustTime=10
MaxGustTime=500
MinGustRampSpeed=1
MaxGustRampSpeed=200
MinVarTime=5
MaxVarTime=50
MinVarRampSpeed=10
MaxVarRampSpeed=75
TurbulenceScale=1.000000
WeatherServerAddress=fs2k.zone.com
WeatherServerPort=80
WeatherGraphDataInDialog=0
AdjustForMagVarInDialog=1
DynamicWeather=1
DownloadWindsAloft=0
DisableTurbulence=0
CLOUD_DRAW_DISTANCE=4
DETAILED_CLOUDS=1
CLOUD_COVERAGE_DENSITY=7
THERMAL_VISUALS=0
[DISPLAY.Device.ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series .0]
Mode=1280x1024x32
Anisotropic=1
[CONTROLS]
Controls_Default=Standard
Controls_Current=Standard
KBDAIL=64
KBDELEV=64
KBDRUD=64
[TextInfo.1]
Latitude=1,1
Longitude=1,2
Altitude=1,3
Heading=1,4
AirSpeed=1,5
WindDirectionAndSpeed=1,6
[TextInfo.2]
FrameRate=1,1
LockedFrameRate=1,2
GForce=1,3
FuelPercentage=1,4
[TextInfo.3]
Latitude=1,1
Longitude=1,2
Altitude=1,3
Heading=1,4
AirSpeed=1,5
WindDirectionAndSpeed=1,6
FrameRate=2,1
LockedFrameRate=2,2
GForce=2,3
FuelPercentage=2,4
[SlewTextInfo.1]
Latitude=1,1
Longitude=1,2
Altitude=1,3
Heading=1,4
AirSpeed=1,5
[SlewTextInfo.2]
FrameRate=1,1
LockedFrameRate=1,2
[SlewTextInfo.3]
Latitude=1,1
Longitude=1,2
Altitude=1,3
Heading=1,4
AirSpeed=1,5
FrameRate=2,1
LockedFrameRate=2,2
[DynamicHeadMovement]
LonAccelOnHeadLon=-0.020000
LonAccelOnHeadPitch=-0.010000
RollAccelOnHeadLat=0.010000
YawAccelOnHeadLat=-0.100000
RollAccelOnHeadRoll=0.100000
MaxHeadAngle=5.000000
MaxHeadOffset=0.300000
HeadMoveTimeConstant=1.000000
[VirtualCopilot]
VirtualCopilotActive=0
[USERINTERFACE]
PageID=1
SHOW_MISSION_CAPTIONS=0
PAUSE_ON_LOST_FOCUS=0
PROMPT_ON_EXIT=1
SITUATION=C:\Users\Kushal\Documents\Flight Simulator X Files\test
Map_Orientation=2
ShowAllACPaintSchemes=1
SelectAircraftManufacturer=All
SelectAircraftPublisher=All
SelectAircraftType=All
OpenATCOnCreate=0
DisplayFuelAsWeight=0
[ATC]
ShowATCText=1
COMM_MSG_NONE_COLOR=FFFFFFFF
COMM_MSG_ATC_USER_COLOR=FFB6FFB6
COMM_MSG_USER_ATC_COLOR=FFFFD21B
COMM_MSG_ATC_AI_COLOR=FF00FF00
COMM_MSG_AI_ATC_COLOR=FFFF7840
AutoOpenAirTrafficWindow=1
UsePilotVoice=1
PilotVoice=0
[PointOfInterestSystem]
CycleSetting=0
[SCENERY]
LENSFLARE=0
DAWN_DUSK_SMOOTHING=1
IMAGE_COMPLEXITY=3
[TrafficManager]
AirlineDensity=61
GADensity=0
FreewayDensity=10
ShipsAndFerriesDensity=6
LeisureBoatsDensity=5
IFROnly=0
AIRPORT_SCENERY_DENSITY=3
[TERRAIN]
TERRAIN_MAX_AUTOGEN_TREES_PER_CELL=4500
TERRAIN_MAX_AUTOGEN_BUILDINGS_PER_CELL=1000
LOD_RADIUS=4.500000
MESH_COMPLEXITY=100
MESH_RESOLUTION=22
TEXTURE_RESOLUTION=27
AUTOGEN_DENSITY=3
DETAIL_TEXTURE=1
WATER_EFFECTS=4
[AContain]
ShowLabels=1
ShowUserLabel=0
ShowLabelManufacturer=1
ShowLabelModel=1
ShowLabelTailNumber=0
ShowLabelDistance=1
ShowLabelAltitude=1
ShowLabelAirline=0
ShowLabelAirlineAndFlightNumber=0
ShowLabelFlightPlan=0
ShowLabelContainerId=0
ShowLabelAirspeed=0
ShowLabelHeading=0
LabelDelay=1000
LabelColor=FFFF0000
[INTERNATIONAL]
ASLAT=2
ASLON=1
MEASURE=0
[REALISM]
PFactor=1.000000
Torque=1.000000
GyroEffect=1.000000
CrashTolerance=1.000000
General=1.000000
UnlimitedFuel=False
TrueAirspeed=False
AutoCoord=False
RealMixture=True
StressDamage=True
GEffect=True
ManualLights=True
GyroDrift=True
CrashWithDyn=False
CrashDetection=False
AutoTrim=False
[SIM]
SYSCLOCK=1
[STARTUP]
DEMO=0
SHOW_OPENING_SCREEN=1
STARTUP_DEMO=
LoadWindow=1
[FACILITIES]
COUNTRY=
STATE=
CITY=
GTL_BUTTON=1386
[Misc]
Com_Rate=7
[BufferPools]
PoolSize=10000000
[MAPVIEW_MAP]
SHOW_AIRPORTS=1
SHOW_VORS=1
SHOW_NDBS=1
SHOW_APPROACHES=1
SHOW_INTERSECTIONS=1
SHOW_VICTOR=0
SHOW_JET=0
SHOW_AIRSPACE=0
SHOW_FLIGHTPLAN=1
SHOW_WEATHERSTATIONS=1
SHOW_WEATHERSYSTEMS=1
SHOW_DATATAGS=1
SHOW_TERRAIN=1
show_flight_history=1
[WeatherMap]
SHOW_AIRPORTS=1
SHOW_VORS=1
SHOW_NDBS=1
SHOW_APPROACHES=1
SHOW_INTERSECTIONS=1
SHOW_VICTOR=0
SHOW_JET=0
SHOW_AIRSPACE=1
SHOW_FLIGHTPLAN=1
SHOW_WEATHERSTATIONS=1
SHOW_WEATHERSYSTEMS=1
SHOW_DATATAGS=1
SHOW_TERRAIN=1
[DISPLAY.Device.ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series .0.0]
Mode=1280x1024x32
Anisotropic=1
[JobScheduler]
AffinityMask=63
[RWW_WEATHER_MAP]
SHOW_AIRPORTS=0
SHOW_VORS=0
SHOW_NDBS=0
SHOW_APPROACHES=0
SHOW_INTERSECTIONS=0
SHOW_VICTOR=0
SHOW_JET=0
SHOW_AIRSPACE=0
SHOW_FLIGHTPLAN=1
SHOW_WEATHERSTATIONS=1
SHOW_WEATHERSYSTEMS=1
SHOW_DATATAGS=1
SHOW_TERRAIN=1
[FlightPlanMap]
LineWidth=2
SHOW_AIRPORTS=1
SHOW_VORS=1
SHOW_NDBS=1
SHOW_APPROACHES=1
SHOW_INTERSECTIONS=1
SHOW_VICTOR=0
SHOW_JET=0
SHOW_AIRSPACE=1
SHOW_FLIGHTPLAN=1
SHOW_WEATHERSTATIONS=1
SHOW_WEATHERSYSTEMS=1
SHOW_DATATAGS=1
SHOW_TERRAIN=1
show_waypoints=1
show_airways=1
show_markers=1
show_volume_boundaries=1
show_ac_twr=1
[MULTIPLAYER]
condAccoutPassword=0

Edited by ___, 05 November 2010 - 04:14 PM.

[bigflyersmallbyer]

Use paint.net for saving .JPEG. It keeps the file size small and quality really neat. Well done by the way , looks really nice.

Edited by bigflyersmallbyer, 05 November 2010 - 05:51 PM.

[Flying_Scotsman]

Medium settings, frames are ok, quality is ok.  Looks not bad.

[_NW_]

Just out of curiosity..  what would your FPS be if you tuned down Commercial AI to 30%, GA AI to 25%, airport traffic down to medium, and automotive and boat AI to 0%?

[-Dexter]

Looking good. Can you see what happens if you try DX10?

bigflyersmallbyer, on Nov 5 2010, 06:51 PM, said:

Use paint.net for saving .JPEG. It keeps the file size small and quality really neat.

Alternatively, just use a better hosting service.

[Gym_Class_Hero]

TheProfessor, on Nov 6 2010, 06:45 PM, said:

Just out of curiosity..  what would your FPS be if you tuned down Commercial AI to 30%, GA AI to 25%, airport traffic down to medium, and automotive and boat AI to 0%?

Not much of a improvement in frames if I drop the traffic down to 30% (Only a max of 5 frames more is all I see); that's why I have it set at 60%, if I make it more it drops the frames significantly.  And the Road traffic up to around 10% doesn't affect my frames much, that's why I use it.

pwn247, on Nov 6 2010, 07:44 PM, said:

Looking good. Can you see what happens if you try DX10?

Frame rates go up tremendously with DX10, but due to the texture problems, it's pretty much unusable

[Gym_Class_Hero]

UPDATE: I can now get 30fps at Aerosoft Frankfurt's heavy scenery.  Was getting like 12 before.

I wonder if there's more I can pull out of this sim.

[PrivateCustard]

Nice to see someone else with a hex-core, and how they manage their settings.

A couple of questions.

1) 1055t or 1090t?
2)Standard cooling or aftermarket?

Yesterday I fitted my new Velociraptor secondary drive, purely for FSX, which will hopefully speed up texture load times. I also did a little bit of light O.C'ing. Nothing too serious as I'm still running the standard cooling. With no voltage increase I'm now up to 3.1Ghz (2.8Ghz standard). It doesn't help that I've only been reading up on O.C'ing for a few days, so am not entirely confident with altering the BIOS!

I had 3.4Ghz with a tiny increase in voltage and it was running well (5 minutes of 100% load and it was running at 47 degrees). But on re-start yesterday morning, it froze up on me, so I had to wind it down  

[Gym_Class_Hero]

PrivateCustard, on Nov 14 2010, 04:09 PM, said:

Nice to see someone else with a hex-core, and how they manage their settings.

A couple of questions.

1) 1055t or 1090t?
2)Standard cooling or aftermarket?

I have the 1055T (stock 2.8Ghz)

Using the stock cooler, AMD packs it with a pretty good stock cooler; not wimpy little ones like Intel

I can get it up to 3.5 Ghz stable without requiring extra voltage, but it runs at about 67C at that temperature.  My ambient is high (over 30C every day ) so I don't really want to push it further.

FSX runs very smooth, 30FPS at Aerosoft Frankfurt (Which's some crazy hungry scenery) is all I need

[PrivateCustard]

Cool, at least I know how far I could push things with my CPU before I have to open her up again to replace the cooler! I did however read that the Phenom II X6's are only rated to 62 degrees, you could be taking a risk in pushing it too far.

I'm running fairly similar settings to you, just a little lower on the traffic. But I still manage 50fps over Kai Tak (Fly Tampa scenery) and over 100fps when at altitude and over open water.

I'm striving for a constant 60fps as FRAPS absolutely spanks it, although I am forcing it to record at 24fps so the avi's match the wmv profile in Movie Maker (smoother videos, I can't stand choppiness!).

[Gym_Class_Hero]

PrivateCustard, on Nov 14 2010, 04:24 PM, said:

Cool, at least I know how far I could push things with my CPU before I have to open her up again to replace the cooler! I did however read that the Phenom II X6's are only rated to 62 degrees, you could be taking a risk in pushing it too far.

I'm running fairly similar settings to you, just a little lower on the traffic. But I still manage 50fps over Kai Tak (Fly Tampa scenery) and over 100fps when at altitude and over open water.

I'm striving for a constant 60fps as FRAPS absolutely spanks it, although I am forcing it to record at 24fps so the avi's match the wmv profile in Movie Maker (smoother videos, I can't stand choppiness!).

The X6's should be able to get to 4Ghz on air (cite Mul), and 65C should be pretty fine, that's when it's fully loaded.

Bleh, FlyTampa's Kai Tak is easy on frames, I get 40-50 FPS over there (Consistently about 40, goes up to 50 at times), are you getting a steady 50FPS?  How

[PrivateCustard]

___, on Nov 14 2010, 11:20 AM, said:

are you getting a steady 50FPS?  How

I'm not running REX!!

But honestly, I'm not too sure. I have a few tweaks in my cfg file (which you seem to have too).

[Gym_Class_Hero]

PrivateCustard, on Nov 14 2010, 04:53 PM, said:

I'm not running REX!!

But honestly, I'm not too sure. I have a few tweaks in my cfg file (which you seem to have too).

REX increases frames for me, w/o OD it did.  But I use OD and HD textures now.

OK nevermind that, i forgot that my FSX starts with low frames and it builds up over time.  I'm getting a good amount over 50FPS now

[PrivateCustard]

I have a question as something's vexing me greatly!

I've been tinkering with the BIOS and have gotten a reliable 3.2Ghz on standard cooling, but, and that's a big but, my turbo core's gone mental. Turbo core is supposed to rest three cores and add a 16.5x multiplier to the remaining three cores, rather than the usual 14x. Mine's adding a 16.5x multiplier to all the cores, meaning I'm running at 3.8Ghz..........over all six cores!!

I'm confused!

[Gym_Class_Hero]

^ Launch 6 CPU-Z's and see if it shows the same thing.

[PrivateCustard]

It's stopped doing it now!!

I'm now OC'd to 3.3Ghz and running absolutely perfectly. The highest temp I've seen is 48 degrees, and that was after two and a half hours of FSX, including the flight and then recording the replay with FRAPS.

In the spring, I'll look into an aftermarket cooler to bring it down to 20-25 degrees and then thrown in 8Gb of Corsair DDR3. I hate FSX, it's given me a fiddling bug!

[Gym_Class_Hero]

PrivateCustard, on Nov 18 2010, 02:06 AM, said:

It's stopped doing it now!!

I'm now OC'd to 3.3Ghz and running absolutely perfectly. The highest temp I've seen is 48 degrees, and that was after two and a half hours of FSX, including the flight and then recording the replay with FRAPS.

In the spring, I'll look into an aftermarket cooler to bring it down to 20-25 degrees and then thrown in 8Gb of Corsair DDR3. I hate FSX, it's given me a fiddling bug!

Are you sure your monitoring those temperatures right?  If you're using the stock cooler, 48*C sounds very wrong for a 500Mhz OC.   What are you using to monitor your temperatures, and are you looking at the individual core temps or the CPU temp?

8GB of RAM is overkill for FSX, I can run photoshop, Firefox, messenger, FSX, and other programs and have nothing slow down, 8GB would be useful for very heavy duty tasks.  Doubt it'll be of any use to FSX.

[-Dexter]

PrivateCustard, on Nov 14 2010, 05:54 AM, said:

I'm striving for a constant 60fps as FRAPS absolutely spanks it, although I am forcing it to record at 24fps so the avi's match the wmv profile in Movie Maker (smoother videos, I can't stand choppiness!).

Protip: Decrease the simulation rate (I think it's R + (+) or (-)), record at that slower rate, and then speed it up again in your editor. I do this with a lot of my game videos. Although, I am uncertain as to Windows Movie Maker's abilities in terms of editing like that.

[Gym_Class_Hero]

pwn247, on Nov 21 2010, 12:49 AM, said:

Protip: Decrease the simulation rate (I think it's R + (+) or (-)), record at that slower rate, and then speed it up again in your editor. I do this with a lot of my game videos. Although, I am uncertain as to Windows Movie Maker's abilities in terms of editing like that.

I've thought of that as well

[PrivateCustard]

I had considered slowing the sim rate down, but that would cause havok with my manual method to get the handheld effect by holding down space and moving the mouse around!


With regards to temps, my CPU has been under seriously heavy load for around six hours now with a flight, FRAPS recording session and now video editing, it's currently at 41 degrees. I've been watching the individual core activity as Windows Movie Maker processes 22Gb of HD recordings and it seems to be shifting the load around the various cores, so no core ever carries more than 63% and the others are anywhere from 5% to 30%.

I think temperature-wise, I'm pretty safe. I didn't wind it up as far as you, I've stopped at 3.3 (until I get either a 1090t or an aftermarket cooler!)