FSX ran out of memory Options

[TimS]

Use this from NickN as a guide below copied from http://www.simforums.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=29041 . If you go to the link there are pictures as well that go to the post that I copied. If you follow this and still have problems then it could be due to one of your addons, your operating system, a driver, or one the the computers components. After FSX in fully installed do your UTX and other addon sceneries then the planes.


NOTE:

IF I DID NOT POST A TWEAK IN THIS THREAD THEN MORE THAN LIKELY THE TWEAK IS FALSE, PRESENTS PLACEBO RESULTS OR MAY RESULT IN POORER VISUAL QUALITY and PERFORMANCE.

THERE ARE TWEAKS THAT ARE ONLY GOOD FOR THE DVD RELEASE VERSION OF FSX AND WITH SP1/SP2 THOSE TWEAKS ARE USELESS.. THOSE OLD TWEAKS ARE NOT INCLUDED IN THIS LIST.





There is a change/edit log at the bottom of this thread which will show the date and subject of change. Please refer to it when you may revist this list to be sure you have the most up to date infomation.









What I have posted in FSX tuning is to get people in the RIGHT ballpark so they can tune their system in with a good methodology in starting off. There can be differences and there can be some variations but for the most part what I posted should get most systems tuned correctly.

Your Mileage May Vary





SETTING UP FSX and HOW TO TUNE IT



This information is a complete guide to installing, setting up and tuning FSX. It will cover everything you need to know about how to get the most out of your simulator.

DO NOTE: The results good or bad depend on the type and condition of your hardware, your ability to run a clean, spyware, virus and reasonable amount of boot programs in your OS, and, your ability to maintain good maintenance on your system



And please excuse typos in this.. I put this together very fast

Anyone is welcome to use (without duplication) the information in this thread and supporting links however like anything else you read, you use this information at your own risk.



F1 nor myself is responsible for anything that may go wrong.









FSX INSTALLATION

It is VERY important that you heed this install method. You can not install FSX patches back to back without first booting FSX and its default flight, then close the sim, reboot the computer and install the next patch.

To install FSX from the DVD and not follow this list may result in performace issues, scenery issues and errors



NOTE: If you are not having any problems with FSX you can not seem to lock down and did not follow the correct method of install you do not need to reinstall FSX however DO keep this list in mind should you ever find yourself in a position where you are reinstalling the software and use it.



1. Install form the DVD, fire up the sim and let it complete the install and then boot the default flight.

2. Close the sim

If you have the Deluxe version and want the SDK installed, install it off the DVD now.

3. Reboot the computer

4. Install Acceleration which will install SP2 automatically. Boot the sim and allow it to complete the install and boot the default flight.

5. Close the sim

If you want the Acceleration SDK install it from the disk.

6. Reboot the computer

Make sure you have the latest DirectX UPDATE installed.

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...;displaylang=en


Make sure you have the C++ library update installed.

You can download the stand alone library updates from Microsoft which upgrade the one installed with Acceleration

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...;displaylang=en



The C++ Library update is ineeded for some 3rd party support and is installed with Acceleration. The links above are to the Library SP1 update which did not ship with Accel

I suggest you install the update regardless of what version of FSX you run to be sure you are covered as you may add items to your sim over time.



It will NOT change performance



You can activate FSX now at anytime


8. Start the sim, set up the sliders/checkboxes as you had them. Close the sim

9. Install your addons one at a time, reboot in between and make sure you have the updates for them.


DO NOT MIGRATE or use a old FSX.cfg file!


Use it to copy/paste edits but do not overwrite the new file.



Acceleration takes care of both SP1 and SP2 in one shot

If installing for a 'non' Acceleration with SP2 its the same process except:

After you complete STEP 1, 2 and 3 above, replace STEP 4 with:

Install SP1, boot the sim default flight, close and reboot the computer

Install SP2, boot the sim default flight, close and reboot the computer





USING MORE/LESS or EQUAL to 2GIGS OF SYSTEM MEMORY IN WINDOWS XP x32 OR VISTA X32 with OOM

-OR-

HOW TO PROPERLY TUNE VIRTUAL ADDRESS SPACE IN WINDOWS (x32) FOR OUT OF MEMORY ERRORS

x64 operating systems do not need the following changes



BE ADVISED OUT OF MEMORY ERRORS CAN ALSO DISPLAY GRAPHIC ERRORS IN FSX ON THE SCREEN WITHOUT ANY SYSTEM ERROR MESSAGE. SEE THIS THREAD FOR DETAILS:

http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/Ya...?num=1233114601

YOU MAY NEED TO TUNE THE AMOUNT SET FOR ADDRESS SPACE AS DESCRIBED BELOW IF THE PROBLEM PERSISTS WITH THE SETTING OF 2560



PLEASE NOTE: This section is for anyone who sees out of memory error while using FSX. It applies to ALL circumstances.

To clear up confusion about this change.. the amount reserved for the cache is NOT and DOES NOT have anything to do with the amount of memory in the system or how much memory you are allowing access to the system!!

This change only tweaks the address space, relieving the OOM error. The 32bit system will use the physical memory installed up to 4GB regardless!




ONLY FSX SP2 HAS THE ABILITY TO ADDRESS MORE THAN 2GB OF SYSTEM MEMORY. THE DVD AND SP1 VERSIONS CAN ADDRESS MORE THAN 2GB HOWEVER IT REQUIRES MANUAL EDITING OF THE DVD OR SP1 FSX.EXE FILE USING SPECIAL SOFTWARE WHICH WILL ALLOW >2GB SUPPORT.

The method of removing out of memory and other errors on a 32bit Operating system and allow fsx access to memory amounts greater than 2GB is listed here:


For XP:

disable hidden files and folder, then on the root C:\ you will find a file named: boot.ini

Open it in notepad and add the follwoing to the end of the OS boot line:


/3GB/Userva=2560



EXAMPLE LINE EDIT:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\WINNT="Microsoft Windows XP Professsional" /fastdetect /3GB /Userva=2560 <---- add it here


save and close the file

reboot

to set that back to default, simply remove the edit


If you are using XP SP2 and are running a dual, quad, OR a single core Intel HYPERTHREAD processor, make sure this update is applied


http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details...;displaylang=en


XP SP3 users do not need that update



For Vista:
WINDOWS VISTA ONLY:

1. Open a command prompt with Administration rights. You find the command prompt box under "Programs-Accessories-Command prompt"

2. Right Click the command prompt and select "run as administrator".

3. Enter in the box at the prompt: (copy/paste if you wish)

bcdedit /set IncreaseUserVA 2560

and press enter

4. Reboot

TO set that back to default in VISTA just start the command line prompt with Admin right again and type:

bcdedit /set IncreaseUserVA 2048

Hit enter and reboot



NOTE: It is possible you may need to TUNE this value if out of memory errors still display, especially with large video memory video cards (640mb and above)

If you sill see OOM errors, do the following:

Depending on your OS follow the directions above about editing the system for the cache value. What you will do is LOWER the value edited to the system originally. The amount should be DROPPED in lots of 64.



EXAMPLE:

Original Edit = 2560

LOWER this to 2496, reboot and retest.

If OOM still appears

LOWER the edit to 2432, reboot and retest.



If OOM still appears

LOWER the edit to 2368, reboot and retest.



If OOM still appears

LOWER the edit to 2304, reboot and retest.



If OOM still appears, one of 2 problems are possible

1. There is a addon in FSX which is not made correctly or has an error in it forcing the OOM.

2. Your system (motherboard) simply does not play well with this edit and possibly more than 2GB in the system.



The solution to #1 is to locate the addon causing the error through a process of elimination. See if you can ID what addon be it aircraft or scenery may be in use with the error appears and eliminate them as possibilites.



The solution to #2 when the memory and the motherboard memory slots are confirmed as correct in use is switch to a 64bit (x64) OS (Vista or XP) which I suggest eveyone use anyway for FSX









ABOUT ADDING MEMORY TO A SYSTEM

FSX will run better on greater than 2gigs of memory in a 32 or 64bit OS and you should select the right memory to do the job based on your system

Do note that some motherboards do not play well with more than 2GB of system memory and a 32bit OS.

As for adding memory.. this is one you MUST be careful with

Typically when you add memory your motherboard will automatically try to DOWNCLOCK the memory and RAISE its timing. This is true of going from one stick to two, two sticks to three, etc

HOWEVER

There is such a thing a DUAL CHANNEL memory operation which kicks in when you installed a MATCH SET of memory sticks. (2 or 4)

When ever you consider a memory upgrade you should try to follow this guideline:

NOTE: This is NOT for the new i7 systems or newer DDR3!

1. NEVER install more than 2 sticks of memory, be them 512, 1024, 2048, 4096 unless you need the system for engineering purposes and are running a 64bit OS (you will lose performace for >4GB)

2. Always check to be sure you are running the highest memory SPEED your system will allow with the clock and processor you are using. This means if you motherboard will support and run higher memory speeds with the processor clocked, or not clocked such as Nvidia, the highest speed with the lowest timing is the best choice.

If you do not wish to overclock the system at all, or, your motherboard will not support faster memory speeds then you do not need memory that exceeds FSB/2 of the processor. In example, if your processor is a 1333 QDR FSB processor then your un-clocked memory speed should be 1333/2 or DDR2-667 which has a dram frequency of 333.5MHz


But do be aware with FSX memory speeds of 266 (DDR2 533) and 333 (DDR2 667) are slow. You should strive for at the very least 400Mhz (DDR2 800) with a timing of 4-4-4, no higher on the DDR2 800 timing. In reality the days of DDR2 are coming to an end so if you intend to build a new system I highly suggest you skip DDR2 and build a Intel i7 940 running 3x2GB of DDR3 1600 and plan on clocking it.

Make sure you understand how your motherboard works and if it supports higher memory speeds, use them. CPU and memory clocking in FSX is practically a prerequisite if you wish to obtain high scenery and visual goals

3. Always purchase the LOWEST timing memory possible for the memory speed you wish to purchase in the amount you wish to purchase

4. Always purchase the memory in SETS and never singles



OVERCLOCKERS: When you purchase memory you should follow the same basic guidelines however you MUST calculate the memory speed you need to purchase based on your clock. That calculation is based on the CPU speed you will run, what FSB it will take to run it, the CPU STRAP setting and finally what the BIOS will allow in memory speed at clocked settings.

In example, if you wish to clock a Q9650 to 3.6-4GHz you want your memory to run as fast as possible. In the case of DDR2 that would be DDR2 1066 (or higher). The same guideline for purchasing memory is followed. The LOWEST timing at the speed you wish to run is how it is selected but you should always purchase 2x1 or 2x2GB product.

With 1st Generation DDR3 (not i7) an example of a good CPU and memory system for FSX would be a Q9650 running a 400MHz FSB (3.6GHz) @ DDR3 1600 (2x2GB) and 7-7-7 timing. That processor can run 4GHz if the user runs FSB at 450 but the memory must then be DDR3 1800 to match the speed in relation to FSB/STRAP. In a overclock one must know how to calculate their memory for clock needs.


If a system is to be used for engineering or other which requires higher memory amounts than 4GB you MUST be using a 64bit (x64) OS. Windows (XP or VISTA) x32 CAN NOT USE more than 4GB.

When purchasing more than 4GB, the same guidelines apply from above however you will need to purchase MORE than 2 sticks. Be aware that WILL MEAN timing and speed will most likely be affected and you do want to purchase 4 matched sticks (4x2GB) not 2x2GB + 2x1GB for dual channel operation.

Some motherboards will allow dual channel operation with mismached memory installed, some will not. Some motherboards will run lower timing and higher speeds with all 4 memory slots populated however many will NOT. You must research your motherboard and memory to decide what is best for your needs when running >2 or >4GB

However., If you are building or upgrading a gaming rig DO NOT RUN more than 4GB for best performance in x32 OR x64! (i7 excluded)



Intel i7 - YOU CAN run more than 4GB without the performance loss and the same applies to the timing/speed as I posted above except you are working with TRI CHANNEL instead of DUAL. With i7 unclocked you want 3x1 or (prefered)3x2 DDR3 1333 memory on the LOWEST timing possible.

When clocking - 3x2GB DDR3 1600 to DDR3 2000

NOTE: WITH i7 YOU MUST PURCHASE MEMORY DESIGNED FOR i7 IN TRI-CHANNEL KITS RATED AT NO MORE THAN 1.65V



FSX is a 32bit application and as such even when run in a 64bit operating system memory amounts greater than 4GB will be of little use to FSX directly, however, when applied with a 64bit OS and i7 FSX SP2 (or RTM/SP1 with edited fsx.exe files) will be allowed access to a full 4GB with other processes and applications running along side having access to more (over and above). Therefore 6GB (3x2GB) i7 systems as addons and aircraft become more complicated will benefit FSX on a 64bit OS. If you switch to i7 you are far better off on 3x2GB than 3x1GB in system memory.



With i7 (which is 2nd Generation DDR3) greater memory amounts (over 4GB) do not hit the performance of a system like >4GB in DDR2 and 1st generation DDR3.





SAMPLES OF MEMORY SPEED/TIMING



Here is a list of MAX memory timing per speed a user should strive for.. lower than posted is better and there are memory product out there that run lower timing than posted.. they are typically expensive and that is what you pay for


DDR2 800 4-4-4

DDR2 1066 5-5-5

DDR3 1333 6-6-6 (1st or 2nd Generation)

DDR3 1600 7-7-7 (1st or 2nd Generation)

DDR3 1800/1866 8-8-8 (1st or 2nd Generation)

DDR3 2000 (and up) 9-9-9 (1st or 2nd Generation)



That being said here are the values a user SHOULD look for in order to obtain highest FSX performance with respect to CPU/Memory communication

DDR2 800 3-3-3

DDR2 1066 4-4-4

DDR3 1333 5-5-5 (1st or 2nd Generation)

DDR3 1600 6-6-6 (1st or 2nd Generation)

DDR3 1800/1866 7-7-7 (1st or 2nd Generation)

Note: 1800/1866 is really useless compared to 1600 with respect to the right memory timing. If a user wishes to run very high memory speed, opt for 2000 with tighter timing especially running i7. 1st generation DDR3 has issues with the northbridge running large amounts of memory (2x2GB or more). i7 D0 stepping processors and the x58 chipset do not have those issues.

DDR3 2000 7-7-7 (1st or 2nd Generation) 8-8-8 can be used however 7-7-7 is FAR better.













=======================



MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ALL YOUR CRITICAL WINDOWS UPDATES AS SEVERAL OF THEM DO ADDRESS MEMORY AND PERFORMANCE ISSUES





You are now ready to make your FSX.cfg edits and TUNE FSX





What I have posted in FSX tuning is to get people in the RIGHT ballpark so they can tune their system in with a good methodology in starting off. There can be differences and there can be some variations but for the most part what I posted should get most systems tuned correctly.

Your Mileage May Vary

But do try to follow along without adding in any tweaks off the net. Try this and then after should you find what you had ran better, simply restore your FSX.cfg file



PLEASE BACK UP YOUR CURRENT FSX.CFG SO YOU MAY RESTORE QUICKLY



The FSX.cfg file and how I set up a system

If you do not know where the FSX.cfg file is:

NOTE: You must have HIDDEN FILES AND FOLDERS disabled in Windows

XP

C:\Documents and Settings\YOUR ACCOUNT NAME\Application Data\Microsoft\FSX\fsx.cfg

VISTA

C:\Users\YOUR ACCOUNT NAME\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\FSX\fsx.CFG



Right click the FSX.cfg file, select OPEN WITH and in the box that appears select NOTEPAD. You may opt to 'ALWAYS USE THIS PROGRAM TO OPEN THIS FILE TYPE From that point on it will open by double clicking the file.

NOTE: IN VISTA editing the file may require ADMIN RIGHTS. Right click the file and select RUN AS ADMINISTRATOR or DISABLE UAC in VISTA to get rid of such nags.



As for FSX.cfg edits.. these are the only ones I use:

TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=XX I use 70 to 80 depending on the system

NOTE: I have never set up a system that I did not use either 70 or 80 for TBM. This setting is always changed before I tune the system however I may drop or raise it while tuning to find which one works better (70 or 80)

IMPORTANT: This setting IS NOT THE SAME AS FS9! The amount of data being tasked is MASSIVE compared to FS9.

DO NOT SET THIS TO 400! SETTING THIS TO 400 IS A MYTH IN FSX!

Even the best quads and cards should only run between 70 and 90

However I HAVE seen a few older systems use 100 with good results.. I would not run 100 or higher on modern systems which are pushing higher autogen and scenery

If you set that to 400 you will NOT be able to tune the system correctly as I have specified below. 70 to 80 should get you in the ballpark and most will run 70




WideViewAspect=True Because I use a widescreen monitor.

If you do not use a widescreen monitor that should be set to FALSE



DisablePreload=1 Which disables FSX from loading the default flight when FSX is first launched

Unless you fly the same extact flight over and over every time you boot the sim (DAY-DATE-TIME-WEATHER-HUB all the same), setting this to 1 offloads the memory from preloading that flight when FSX boots.

Bufferpools: Poolsize=xxxxx Which is the bufferpool reserved video memory for scenery geometry around the aircraft. 512 cards really cant make much use of it and should never reserve more than 15MB, 640 cards 35MB and 768 cards 70-80MB. 1GB cards can reserve more.

Many find leaving this edit out of the config is the best way to run. You must experiment with this setting to see if it will or will not help.

640MB and above cards CAN take advantage of Bufferpools however do be careful with this edit.

Bufferpools added to the fsx.cfg file can cause scenery 'spikes' even if the card has enough video memory. This edit to the configuration file works for some and does not work for others. If you see strange graphics errors that do not clear up by visually panning around the outside of the aircraft then you should REMOVE the bufferpool entry from your config file.

Do note that with SP2 for FSX running high sliders depending on the drivers may bring on visual graphic 'spikes' from autogen when a flight is first loaded. If visually panning around the aircraft does not clear them, the bufferpool entry should be reduced or removed completely.



NEW:

SOUND CRACKING AND DISTORTION – SMOOTHER FLIGHT



Based on research done by Sargeski on sound crackle issues and latency, he discovered raising bufferpools on a 1GB single core Nvidia card will eliminate such sound problems. They are related to high autogen slider and latency on buss.

To resolve the issue the user MUST have a 1GB SINGLE CORE Nvidia card such as the GTX 280 or GTX 285:

[Bufferpools]
poolsize=490000000 <--- that will be somewhere between 450 and 490MB

NOTE:

A side effect to this discover is that larger VM cards which DO NOT display the sound crackle issue may RAISE bufferpools for a smoother flight result. For larger VM memory cards (1GB) this value can be anywhere from 100000000 (100MB) to 400000000 (400MB)

It is a 'trial and error" setting. Most find 200000000 (200MB) works very well.



NOTE:

THE HIGH BUFFERPOOL SETTINGS MENTIONED ABOVE ARE NOT TYPICAL. IN MANY CASES SUCH HIGH SETTINGS (ABOVE 100MB EVEN WITH LARGE VM CARDS) CAN CAUSE VISUAL GRAPHIC ERRORS IN FSX.

NOT EVERYONE WILL SEE SUCCESS WITH TRYING BUFFERPOOLS ABOVE 100MB

YMMV!

---------------------------------


For visuals I also use the 4 RUNWAY_LIGHTS_ edits we know from FS9 to make airport light more realistic in scale with my resolution and monitor



other than that the FSX.cfg file never gets touched



Here are how the edits are used in the FSX.cfg file as you scroll down the file:

NOTE: SOME YOU EDIT THE VALUE AND SOME YOU ADD THE ENTIRE LINE AS SHOWN BELOW UNDER EACH HEADING



[Main]
DisablePreload=1



[Display]

WideViewAspect=True //If widescreen monitor in use otherwise False

TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=xx //Most will use 70 to 80

RUNWAY_LIGHTS_SURFACE_SCALAR=1.2 //adjust values to suit your scale
RUNWAY_LIGHTS_VASI_SCALAR=1.2
RUNWAY_LIGHTS_APPROACH_SCALAR=1.2
RUNWAY_LIGHTS_STROBE_SCALAR=1.0



[BUFFERPOOLS]
Poolsize=XXXXXXXX // 10000000 - 15000000 for 512MB cards, 35000000 for 640MB cards, 70000000 for 768MB cards and between 100000000 and 490000000 (100 to 490MB) for larger VM memory SINGLE CORE video cards.



NOTE: Please remember! BUFFERPOOLS only helps with smoothness in banks/turns when flying low over urban autogen and flying low in bush over large amounts of autogen trees.

I highly suggest on a 512MB card you LEAVE BUFFERPOOLS out of the config file and after everything else is tuned, then try adding it in. For higher memory cards you can use the scale I posted however DO be aware this setting can be LOWER than the MAX values I posted. In some cases adding this to the config file causes stutters however I have yet to find that the case on any 640-1GB video memory card.



And do remember... Your Mileage May Vary with Bufferpools! Some cards simply do not like the edit in the config file no matter how much video memory they have and I have seen this vary from driver to driver as well.





AFFINITY MASK:

This is ONLY for quad core processors. I have never seen a dual core make use of this tweak

i7.. Do not bother setting more than a 4 core affinity mask

Please reserve using this tweak until you have completed all other tuning. Once you have your sim running the best you can, then you may try this. It tends to not work well with Intel i7 and DO NOTE, Hyperthread is USELESS to FSX and therefore trying to set a high affinity mask for 8 cores is USELESS. 4 of the 8 i7 cores are virtual and FSX will not use them, at all, regardless of what you see on the CPU monitor.

In the FSX.cfg add the following if it is not already there

[JOBSCHEDULER]
AffinityMask=n

use these settings for N as you test and you must EXIT the sim and relaunch between changes

n=14

n=7


Here is how it works.. the setting converts 1s and 0s representing you processor cores. 4 cores active are 'binary' 1111, two cores 11

With a setting of 14 that means we convert 14 to binary or 1110

The LAST value is the FIRST core.. its backwards!

Therefore a setting of 7 or binary 0111 means the LAST core is disabled to FSX and with 14 1110 the FIRST core is disabled to FSX

I have never needed this tweak in any system I have tuned however with all the different hardware out there the tweak does have merit and it is a 'try and see' tweak for smoothness. However please DO reserve this test for last after all other tuning is complete.





FIBER FRAME TIME FRACTION - With ANY multicore processor AFTER SP1 TOTALLY USELESS

http://www.simforums.com/forums/forum_post...D=170479#170479


[SCENERY]
SmallPartRejectRadius=x AFTER SP1 TOTALLY USELESS







Save and close the FSX.cfg file







Nvidia Cards and the Tool Nhancer



Nvidia users should use this tool.. you do NOT have control of FSX with the Nvidia 3D control panel. This tool will correct that!

NOTE: New NHancer on its way which is a must for Nvidia driver 182.xx or above

NOTE: If you are using Nvidia driver 182.xx or HIGHER you must use Nhancer 2.5.1 or above.

If you are a using Nvidia driver LOWER than 182.xx you MUST USE Nhancer version 2.4.5

You can get older versions of Nhancer here: (scroll down)

http://www.nhancer.com/?dat=downloads



Driver Installs or upgrades REQUIRE Nhancer be set back up correctly after each driver change!

NOTE: XP USERS You must have .nET Framework 2.0 or above installed to use Nhancer 2.4.5. The new version (2.5.1) requires NET 3.5. If you have 3.5 installed it will run any version of Nhancer.

and DO check for Nhancer updates periodically as new drivers may need updated support.

http://www.nhancer.com/

VISTA USERS MUST INSTALL THE NHANCER SERVICE DURING THE SETUP PROCESS. XP USERS DO NOT

VISTA Does not require .NET 2.0 for Nhancer to work. Make sure you have Net 3.5

Nhancer is an important part of gaining the best image and with many systems it does help with performance. Nhancer use MUST BE FOLLOWED as I posted here:



Nhancer overrides the Nv control panel and GAME profiles. Install it and set it up as I specified in that link above. You make the SAME settings for the FSX PROFILE and GLOBAL in Nhancer and the NV control panel no longer has control

Driver Installs or upgrades REQUIRE Nhancer be set back up correctly after each driver change!





IMPORTANT!!

In the OPTIONS menu.. make sure to select "ALLOW OVERRIDE OF PREDEFINED PROFILES" is selected
















NOTE: NEVER check tyhe Enhance in-game AA setting as that WILL OVERRIDE Nhancer AA control in the game



















NOTE: Just so you understand.. Multicore support is for the DRIVERS and not the GAME. Setting this to ON for Windows XP will not in any way make a difference in FSX.











THE SETTINGS IN THE NEW NHANCER THAT MAY LOOK DIFFERENT THAN THE OLD:

NOTE: There is a new tab named OpenGL which these settings appear. Be aware MSFS is a Direct 3D applciation and none of the settings under the OpenGL tab in Nhancer will make any difference to FSX

OPENGL Support

DEFAULT or General Comaptibilty IS CORRECT



CONFORMANT TEXTURE CLAMP –

HARDWARE IS CORRECT (SAME AS 'ON')



EVERYTHING ELSE IS EXACTLY THE SAME AS I POSTED FOR NHANCER SETTINGS




There is NO "APPLY" or "SAVE" button. Once you make a setting in Nhancer, its changed and thats it



Do not make any changes in the Nv Control panel for AA and AF after this... you can use the NV control panel for other settings such as color, etc but NOT 3D control.



If you need to make changes other than 3D in the Nv Control Panel, you must still make those changes.. the 3D settings are never touched in the Nv Control panel but anything else you may need for your monitor layout support must still be made



FSX graphics settings:

AA UNCHECKED

FILTERING: Trilinear

Global texture resolution 100%


You can use MULTISAMPLE 4x instead of COMBINED 8xS however the COMBINED setting reduces tree and AG shimmer. I run 8xS. Users can try 2xS and 4xS as well

The 4x MULTISAMPLE setting will allow better performance at a cost to visuals as it will not stop shimmer.


When ever you make a change like that it must be done in BOTH profile (Flight Simulator X) AND Global in Nhancer.. not just the profile



Vista and DX10? If so Nhancer has no control, neither will the Nvidia control panel. DX10 is broken in FSX and will only respect the DX flag Aces put into it for AA.. For DX10 you must CHECK AA and set filtering to anisotropic in FSX.. do not forget to reverse that if you switch back to DX9 mode.




THERE IS NO NEED TO RUN NHANCER AT WINDOWS BOOT OR RUN IT IN THE TRAY







ATI Video Cards in FSX

ATI cards can not use Nhancer and do be aware,.. the best ATI card in the world, the 4870 x2 can be overcome by a clocked 2 year old 8800GTX in FSX weather

They rule in Crysis... ATI cards can fall flat on their face in FSX weather and large scenery environments due to how they are designed.

ATI can be hit and miss in FSX depending on their drivers. I would not use a 4870x2 for FSX and if I was going to use a ATI card it would be the single 4870 as of this date 1/09. I use Nvidia cards (8800GTX 768 and GTX 280/285)

That may or may not change in the future

Of course other sliders and how you run them can compensate for the cloud hit however the x2 although a very good card and the best one can get for other games which are 'shader engine' technology I placed this 'heads-up' message here for people who are looking to upgrade specifically for FSX and no other modern game such as Crysis.

If other games are used then the x2 becomes an option in a give and take between FSX and other titles however it will not outperform a Nvidia card in overcast weather conditions especially when using a hard hitting payware aircraft.

Newer drivers for that card may help as well and if you are having problems with the 4870 cards, a driver change or upgrade is something a user should look into if they are having trouble with the card.

However

The X2 is not firing on both cards in FSX and if that card is purchased specifically for FSX use a user can get the SAME performance from the 4780 single card as they can from the X2. If the motherboard and BIOS are old and are not suited for the X2 that can also play into issues as well.


It has been noted over and over again in the hardware forums that ATI cards have difficulty in FSX with clouds. The older 3xxx series was very poorly designed and although they did fix many of the issues with the 4870 series release their method of AA and the lower TMU's of the ATI card over Nvidia still keeps them behind the 8-ball in FSX

=======================================





NOTE: NO DUAL CARD HAS ANY BENEFIT IN FSX.. NVIDIA OR ATI


And do be aware you can make profile settings changes 'on the fly' by dropping to the desktop, opening Nhancer.. editing a setting.. close Nhancer and continue the flight

Another thing to be aware of is the ONLY item in Nhancer anyone needs to 'work' (AFTER MAKING THE INITIAL SETTINGS I POSTED) is the "top box" AA setting. Shimmering is significantly reduced by using the COMBINED 4xS and 8xS options but that can come with a price in heavy weather



GLOBAL and PROFILE - BOTH must be changed for a reason. If you run another game then EDIT or MAKE a profile for that game which will override GLOBAL.... but ALWAYS keep GLOBAL the same settings for FSX as the FSX PROFILE





FSX TUNING

The Primary Performance Killers in FSX and How to work them for your system



1. SET UP FSX EXACTLY AS I POSTED BY THE IMAGES BELOW

2. USING THE INFORMATION ABOVE, and, BELOW THE IMAGES TUNE YOUR SYSTEM BASED ON THE SUGGESTIONS FOR LOW-MED-HI PERF COMPUTER

3. BE AWARE THAT THE SUGGESTED SETTINGS AND YOUR SYSTEM MAY STILL NEED A BIT OF TWEAKING. FSX TUNING IS ALL ABOUT RESOURCES AND EVERY SYSTEM (EVEN THOSE WHICH HAVE AN EXACT MATCH FOR HARDWARE) WILL DISPLAY DIFFERENT RESULTS

4. THERE IS A FLIGHT I USE FOR TUNING THE SIM.. IT IS LISTED BELOW THE NEXT SECTION UNDER: FLIGHT CHECK DURING TUNING

These are listed in the order of performance loss from the highest performance loss to the lowest depending on how high your sliders are set and which checkboxes are enabled

Window mode is problematical in FSX. I always run full screen however tuning should be done full screen first to make sure you have properly set up the application... after that if Window Mode presents issues you will know what the problem is

Window mode WILL NOT ALLOW Vsync to work in FSX which means you can get tears and jitters in Window mode you wont get in full screen



DX9 and BLOOM/ shader passes #1

We all know that bloom is a 800lb gorilla for DX9. That is just the way it is however all the shader passes involved add up.

Water has 4 primary shader passes involved. Keeping water at 2XLow is the best way to gain looks and perf. Boosting that to 3/4 in bush flying is possible on better system however forget bloom and high water in just about any other situation. Those on older systems (very old without the reflection/shader support) should keep water at 1xHigh and there are replacement water maps for 1x I posted here:

http://www.fswaterconfigurator.com/downloads.htm

Nick's edited ENV Water Reflection maps

They will not change the color just help get rid of the digital look. They are ONLY for 1x water.

Ground Scenery Shadows (Checkbox on the SCENERY TAB) should be disabled on everyone's system

Aircraft shadows are discussed further down and equate to another shader pass

DX10 will allow much greater use of these features without the cost in performance however we all know DX10 has its own issues and primary are the lack of AA control. In DX10 Nhancer will not help and AA must be set VIA the FSX graphics tab along with filtering.

I personally do not run DX10, only DX9 in Windows XP x64



GLOBAL TEXTURE RESOLUTION in the FSX GRAPHICS settings is ALWAYS 100% ... no exceptions!

Advanced Animations is required for many animated functions.. very slow hardware may DISABLE this however you may not like the visual result







Set your MONITOR RESOLUTION up correctly. This should be the same as the Windows Desktop. Forcing higher will result in perf loss. You should always run the NATIVE resolution of your monitor in Windows and in FSX

Clarification/Example: If your monitor is designed for 1920x1200x32 from the factory and you are 'down-sizing' it in Windows for your visual needs, thats fine and it will work, my point was to say that you should not force the monitor to run higher than the factory designed it to run by default in FSX. Forcing higher than the native resolution can be done but it may come with a performance cost.

Unless running DX10 leave AA UNCHECKED and Set Filtering to Trilinear. (DX10 requires AA be checked in FSX) These settings are made so NHANCER (Nvidia cards only) can take control and deliver a better image on the screen.

NOTE TO SLI USERS: THAT SLI DOES ABSOLUTELY NOTHING FOR RAISING FSX PERFORMANCE WITH TYPICAL SYSTEMS. IT DOES ALLOWS 16-32AA ON HIGHER THAN 2xxxx RESOLUTIONS. OTHERWISE DISABLE SLI BEFORE USING FSX

NOTE: Nvidia has released SLI drivers which may help you muilti-monitor SLi users... the 181.xx drivers introduced that support



FRAME LOCK:

PLEASE SEE THE ENTRY "FSX FPS LIMITER" BELOW FOR IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT FRAME RATE



The suggestions about frame lock have nothing to do with what the human eye can or can not see they are about how you push your hardware to place priority on keeping things smooth while the PCIe buss is saturated by FSX especially with autogen. The scene and your sliders will make that call. In the same flight on the same settings you can go from a partially saturated PCIe buss to a completely saturated buss as the scenery changes and you fly from one place to another. In that the frame lock may need to be changed IN MID-FLIGHT

In most systems I have usually found 2 frame options that work best (switched to as needed in-flight) especially with LCD monitors

Locked 30 - outside of large airports and cities (Note: may need to be trimmed to between 24 and 30 depending on the system)

Unlimited - usually best around airports and large cities but may ALSO be of benefit in heavy weather in areas with a large amount of autogen trees

that is a 'try and see' setting and success with it depends on the system

In FSX there were changes to the rendering engine and unlike FS9 a lower frame rate can be used and still maintain a smooth visual result. FSX and FS9 are different in that respect.

In FS9 many claimed you had to see at least 35-45FPS for smooth flight and the reason for that was simple they were robbing Peter to pay Paul and were losing elsewhere for that high frame lock. Its the same with FSX but unlike FS9, with FSX UNLIMITED frame lock sometimes works to smooth out the image when the buss is saturated in large urban areas depending on the system

You can be running 35-45FPS and stutter or 24-30 and run smooth and with FSX and the changes to the rendering engine even UNLIMIED FPS can present a smooth solution when certain criteria are being rendered to a scene.





NEW:

FSX FPS LIMITER:

IT IS NOT SUGGESTED THIS BE USED WITH PHOTO SCENERY AT ALL or TO USE IT BEFORE PROPERLY TUNING FSX FOR YOUR SYSTEM. THIS TOOL IS A LAST RESORT TO TRY AND GET SMOOTH FLIGHT

Which I actually like to call FSX FPS GOVERNOR which better describes its use.

The issue of running UNLIMITED –OR- LOCKED frames and seeing stutters has been addressed. This tool can remove both large stammers and micro-stutters.

NOTE: Slower systems may not be able to make use of this tweak as well as very fast i7 systems. I do however suggest you try it AFTER all other tuning is completed, not before

It is best to get the system tuned and running as smooth as possible before applying this, and, if you are running smooth without it.. you do not need it.

NOTE: Do not use this tool if you are running smooth and TUNE FIRST!

This was introduced in another forum



Credit goes to Gizmo and Noel for bringing to our attention

http://forums1.avsim.net/index.php?showtopic=245251

Download this tool


http://rapidshare.com/files/205205148/FPS_Limiter_0.2.rar

or from here

http://files.filefront.com/FPS+Limiter+02r...;/fileinfo.html


Unrar/unzip

Be aware that where you place the folder must remain or it will break its use and you will need to reconfigure the bat file

USE:

Run FPS_Limiter_GUI.jar and click SEARCH EXECUTABLE

browse for and select FSX.exe

set frame limit to 30 under MAXIMUM FPS

Click CREATE BAT

Once complete close the interface and use the created file fsx.exe.limited.bat to start FSX (double click it)

set frame lock to UNLIMTED in FSX and use the AG slider to tune


You MUST have JAVA installed to use that interface

http://www.java.com/en/



Now here is the deal... this attacks the UNLIMITED FRAME LOCK problem related to Vsync introduced by Aces in SP1/SP2. Instead of tuning the FRAME LOCK you will tune the AUTOGEN slider for smooth results where you are flying. Leave the FSX frame lock slider at UNLIMITED at all times.

You can fine tune this app as well...

I found 30 was the sweet spot for all occasions. I would suggest no less than 24 and no more than 30 but start with 30.




FSX must always be started by clicking the created command line BAT file.. NOT the FSX desktop icon. You can replace the FSX desktop icon with a shortcut to the BAT file and assign the FSX icon to it.


and try this WITHOUT the affinity mask setting in the config file (It wont be there if you did not add the affinity mask line)



There is no need to change ANYTHING else. You must make sure to start FSX with the BAT file and not the desktop shortcut

Tune using the autogen slider.. do not change frame lock.. leave it at unlimited








The issue this tool attacks is the one introduced with SP1/SP2 whereby Vsync creates HI/LOW stammer in the frame rate. Using this tool as posted will allow the full priority of UNLIMITED to the application by the hardware but governs the frame rate stammer.



and DO NOTE: This may not work for everyone. It is a 'test and see' tool and PLEASE do NOT set up the system using this tool... set the system up first using the frame lock slider in FSX and save this test for LAST... same as Affinity Mask in the FSX.cfg







Driver Setting, Vertical Sync in FSX:

MYTH: Turning Vsync OFF will increase frame rates

FALSE

Turning Vsync off creates image tears and microstutters in FSX and DOES NOT increase performance.

If you are correctly set up in your drivers with Vsync enabled your frame rate will never go over the refresh rate of the monitor. With LCD that refresh rate is typically 60 (meaning 60FPS is the highest FSX will run) and that is the correct way to run FSX, with Vsync always ENABLED. Vsync locks the image and keeps it from jittering and tearing in FSX.







SHUT DOWN TOOTIPS: KNOWN BUG When switching from VC to 2D this fixes the 'hang' and white 'flash' that can occur

Aircraft Shadows are another shader pass. Aircraft casting shadows on itself are very hard on the system. Casting shadows on the ground produces much less of an impact and a good trade for those setting. Those on slower systems should disable all aircaft shadow features



WEATHER (clouds) #2

There is no such thing as a FREE LUNCH and this is especially true of weather in FSX.

Clouds in FSX are much more complicated than they were in FS9 but they did make some changes in that area in which cloud rendering is much better optimzed than it was in FS9.

Cloud cover and weather is a primary performace killer. Increasing anything in this area is going to result in a loss.

Addons that install 2048 and 4096 cloud textures come with a perf price. How much depends on your installed hardware, possibly drivers in some cases, level of AA in use (I refuse to use less than Combined 8xS to control shimmer) and, how low you are willing to reduce other settings, and, where you typically fly.

If you are running 2048-4096 cloud textures you are going to pay the price of running them and large hubs in heavy weather on high scenery settings will definitely prove what I said about them is true.

They are beautiful in many scenes and impressive but like most perks in life, they do cost. Be aware of that when tuning. I use 1024 textures when tuning but you may do as you like.

If you wish to run hi res clouds (2048-4096) all the time I suggest you tune your system with them installed to be sure your tuning includes higher resolution texture use around your favorite hubs in weather conditions.

While tuning the system please make sure the edit:

[GRAPHICS]
TEXTURE_MAX_LOAD=xxxx (xxxx= 1024 - 2048 - 4096 depending on the resolution of cloud texture you use)

That edit will change BACK to 1024 while you are testing and making changes in sliders which sometimes makes it difficult to tune a system and maintain the correct resolution in real time

It is my undestanding FEX will automatically re-edit that line when the FEX Interface is booted and run... Since we do not usually launch FSX from our addons I would verify it in the config file before restarting a test flight the correct resolution for TEXTURE_MAX_LOAD= is in place since you may be making changes in-flight that could alter the setting.






WEATHER TAB -

Leave the distance slider at 0 or 60 Miles

THERMAL EFFECTS can hit slower systems HARD. I run NATURAL however this can be set to OFF

The best perf change you can make on that tab is the CLOUD COVERAGE DENSITY. Setting it down to HIGH can deliver a nice boost in weather and not remove the visual impact however better systems can run 100%



Another trick: you can reduce this setting in the FSX.cfg file

[Weather]

CLOUD_DRAW_DISTANCE=x

X= 1 or 2 (40-50mi) instead of 3 (60mi)

1 = 40mi

2 = 50mi

3 = 60mi <----------------- ZERO SLIDER

4 = 70mi

5 = 80mi

6 = 90mi

7 = 100mi

8 = 110mi <----------------100% SLIDER

DO BE AWARE that any change made in the FSX SETTINGS in ANY area will revert this back to 3 (60mi) or ZERO slider and the setting must be made again manually



I DONT USE THAT TWEAK.. its only for VERY OLD SYSTEMS



POPPING or ANNOYING CLOUDS APPEARING IN/OUT OF THE SCENE AS YOU FLY

HOW TO FIX:

http://www.simforums.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=24830






AUTOGEN #3:

FSX is strange when it comes to autogen simply because they have changed how it works 3 time now, from RTM to SP2







I can relay this advice:



One of the biggest mistakes people make is the thought that lower sliders = better perfomance. FSX is NOT a game, its a simulator and requires thinking a bit outside the box to tickle the hardware by the software settings and get it to run sweet

1. DO NOT use the autogen restriction lines in the configuration file for buildings and trees if you are using SP1/SP2. In most cases those lines will throw off the priority system and make the sim run/stutter worse.

2. Believe it or not, ZERO autogen slider can make frames drop, how? Same reason as above. Try to maintain at least 50+% (DENSE) however very slow systems may need to limit that to NORMAL/SPARCE or even OFF (off = rare must be very slow hardware)

Keeping the autogen slider at DENSE or greater actually tends to raise frames. Going too high for the installed hardware and Scenery Complexity/weather is where perf starts to really drop

Many can run a 3/4 (very Dense) Scenery Complexity with a 3/4 (very dense) autogen silder however your mileage may vary.

The important part about this slider is if your hardware is not very slow, keep it at a minimum of DENSE

This slider can also be changed mid-flight as well. There are times when you may fly out of a scenery friendly hub, into a very large urban area hub which may require this slider to be dropped a notch



Good systems can run 3/4 to 100% depending on the scenery involved and GEX USCAN can go a long way in helping with that performance. Autogen was laid out in a optimal way to reduce CPU overhead.









TRAFFIC #4:

Default AI hits a system hard. Replacing the AI with friendly models that do not use the gate 'jetway' calls and are much easier on the system can go a long way in perf

I do not use replacement AI simply because I must develop GEX for everyone and not just myself

The Scenery Complexity slider is tied DIRECTLY to traffic, how? If the SCENERY COMPLEXITY slider is set to 3/4 or higher the sim will automatically scan a radius around the aircraft for all gates at every airport around you and not only calculate the jetways but update that information constantly. The gate/jetway calculations are based on the EXIT section of the aircraft configuration files.

If the EXITS for AI aircraft are not in their configuration files the sim will skip those calculations and therefore replacement AI such as WOAI will not hit a system like the default. Yes, the models are also less complex but a primary perf issue with default AI is not only the models, its the calculations going on behind the scenes in FSX to make it 'as real as it gets' with higer scenery complexity.

With default AI and very slow systems... 15-20, typical systems 25-35 and better systems 40-59 (MAX)

NOTE: If you do replace AI with another package make sure the DEFAULT AI is disabled correctly. Most professional packages do this automatically however freeware may not and if you do not disable the default AI you are simply compounding the problem.

LEAVE aircraft labels OFF. Unless you absolutely must have them on, that is another source of 'strange' stutters and perf changes that varies with the scene. Its best to disable those labels





AIRPORT VEHICLES #5:

These little buggers when you add in the AI and the complexity around a hub will also nail a system. The primary problem is if you wish to have 'services' such as fuel and baggage you must be set to MEDIUM which will add another hit to perf. These items can also be a reason why when you enter a final for a hub the perf may start to drop, be aware of that. LOW is a give and take setting however you can not use any services at that setting

The slower the system, the LOWER that slider should be set with MEDIUM being the MAX on most high end hardware right now.



CARS BOATS AND SHIPS #6:

Cars are the primary perf killer. Ships and boats do present more for the system to deal with but most can run ships and boats between 15-25% without any problems. Cars on the other hand will create micro stutters in some areas depending on the hardware and addons like UTX must be used with caution due to how they can change car traffic behavior with their updates. Their UTX USA 1.2 update added cars to all side roads and in order to make that work they had to deal with a bug in FSX which removed the ability of FSX to take the footprint of cars off the system with the slider set to ZERO, therefore with UTX USA/CAN you must DISABLE ALL moving traffic in the UTX configuration tool to check or eliminate the source of micro stutters related to car traffic. If you find your sim smooth with it DISABLED in UTX then you need to evaluate CAR traffic use with your hardware.

Typically I suggest a MAX of 2-5 for slower systems (or OFF/ZERO), 5-8 for medium systems and 8-12 for very high end systems. This is a TEST AND SEE setting. I would not run it any higher than 12 until next gen clocked hardware is in your tower



PLEASE SEE THE UTX SECTION AT THE VERY END OF THIS LIST FOR SPECIFIC UTX SETTINGS I USE FOR BEST PERFORMANCE







WATER SLIDER:

As I mentioned above keeping water at 2XLow is the best way to gain looks and perf. Boosting that to 3/4 in bush flying is possible on better system however forget bloom and high water in just about any other situation. Those on older systems (very old without the reflection/shader support) should keep water at 1xHigh



SCENERY COMPLEXITY #7:

Scenery Complexity is actually a cross between large city and airport scenery and AI traffic. Lowering this below 50% tends to display erratic perf behavior and at ¾ and above it affects default AI or any AI traffic that uses the jetways and EXIT data. Most should be able to run ½ to ¾ with exceptions for those who are running clocked hardware in the 3.6-4GHz range and/or clocked i7's who can stretch that to 100% depending on the scene and hub.

IF you run replacement AI traffic most on modern Core2 and quads should be able to run 3/4 to 100% but this may need to be tweaked in flight a bit.

Do not set this slider to less than 50%.. most can run at least 50% with autogen at 50% as well.



SCENERY RADIUS #8:

This one is a combination of just about all of the above however unless you are on a VERY slow system and refuse to drop a slider mentioned above to compensate, leave it at 100%!

SOME systems MAY benefit by editing the FSX.cfg file to 5.5000000 instead of 4.5000000. You must experiment to see if this may or may not work for you. In some cases increasing this in the config file may help with distance scenery however I would use it in combination with the TEXTURE BANDWITH MULTIPLER being 70 or 80 (MAX)

NOTE that if you enter the FSX settings this will REVERT to 4.5000000 automatically and must be manually re-edited into the FSX.cfg file.

And do remember.. there is NO SUCH THING as a free lunch. To increase this radius manually in the config will increase the terrain and autogen load on a system

I do not run extended past 100% slider


MESH COMPLEXITY #9:

To be quite honest.. unless you are really running slow hardware, leave it at 100%. 85 would be the lowest I would set it and even with very slow systems, 70 is rock bottom. I have rarely set this to less than 100 on any system I have tuned in the last 2 years




Texture/Mesh Resolution:

MYTH:

The texture and mesh resolution sliders above 36m/1m will hit perf

FALSE unless you are on hardware even FS9 would have trouble with in performance

You can run 7cm texture and 10m mesh resolution unless you are on hardware better suited for FS9

You will NEVER see a performace hit at 10m mesh resolution if the installed mesh is the default 38m, why? Because if the mesh resolution does not exist.. there are NO calculation taking place.

So why change it without 10m mesh? Because the rendering engine changes priority with the Texture Resolution slider at 7cm and automatically sets the Mesh Resolution at 10m.

Visually, 7cm makes vector road surfaces clearer along with taxiways and a few other surfaces in FSX since they DO have a basis in that resolution.

The minimums on this for all systems are 76m and 38m Mesh Res and 1m Texture Res based on the FSX installed meshs (note: Acceleration mesh for Mt. St. Helens is 3m) and majority of the textures and you can run any resolution you like however I have always found the settings 10M / 7cm to help with clarity in the high LOD radius when flying over textures @ airspeed.

Your Milage May Vary - !

FSGenesis USA mesh is 10m.. other products can vary



Mine is set to 10m/7cm and remains there for any area/scene






SPECIAL EFFECTS

This is a by choice setting. I would always run 100% but even the slowest system should not have any problem with 50%








I hope this helps explain perf and settings in FSX. You can use it to evaluate your system and tune FSX for best looks and performance.



FLIGHT CHECK DURING TUNING



I use KSEA (SEATTLE) s the benchmark flight when I use the list above to tune a system, and, I DO NOT use any payware aircraft to tune... I use either the default Cessna, Baron or the default 747 for initial setup.

I fly strait out runway 34 past Seattle, maintain 340 and 3000ft all the way down to the water past the next airport, then turn around to the east and land back as KSEA , RNY 16

3 areas I work the sliders and in that are I DO run UNLIMITED frame lock (your mileage may vary)

a. On the runway at KSEA

b. Just before the city of Seattle over the highways (just before the port around Boeing Field)

c. Aprox 5 more miles north just past Lake Washington where massive scenery boundary files load up

I REPEAT the above flight with 2 weather settings;

1. Fair Weather

2. Building Storms

I use those 2 'constant' weather themes to establish the sim settings with the 3 aircraft I mentioned and I do reboot the system between test flights

Once I have that smooth and a clear as I can get it.. I then try payware aircraft and remember you may still need to trim a bit on scenery complexity or autogen if your hardware is not clocked with payware products due to how complex they can be.





FRAME RATES DURING TUNING:

If you are going to sit there and stare at the frame counter using it to judge performance.. you will be beating your head against the desk forever. Yes, you can use that number when the frame lock is set to UNLIMITED ONLY to get a feel for performance after making a change ASSUMING Unlimited frame lock does not cause microstutters in the area you are flying/testing but DO NOT use the number as a primary target goal LOCKED or UNLOCKED!

In FSX its about SMOOTH flight with CLEAR terrain. If you are seeing that on the screen it does not matter WHAT the frame rate number displays!

You can be set to UNLIMITED and have perfect results and the frame counter showing 18-24.. forget the counter, TUNE BY SMOOTH FLIGHT AND SHARP/CLEAR SCENERY

If you are correctly set up in your drivers with Vsync enabled your frame rate will never go over the refresh rate of the monitor. With LCD that refresh rate is typically 60 (meaning 60FPS is the highest FSX will run) and that is the correct way to run FSX, with Vsync always ENABLED.



When I test for tuning I try both locked and UNLIMITED. With the Seattle flight I listed above I always use 'unlimited'

Locked 30 - outside of large airports and cities (Note: may need to be trimmed to between 24 and 30 depending on the system)

Unlimited - usually best around airports and large cities but may ALSO be of benefit in heavy weather in areas with a large amount of autogen trees

that is a 'try and see' setting and success with it depends on the system





SYSTEM AND OS TUNING

System Tuning and making sure your Windows environment is performance oriented is another story

There are more myths and nonsense in forums and on the internet about how to properly tweak Windows and hardware than there was in the financial markets in the last 8 years. One of the biggest problems I have seen since FS2004 is going through someones system after they visited BLACK VIPER. I cant even count the number of people I have watched in awe after fixing the mess they made screwing with the wrong services and arguing about how they KNOW better to make a system run clean.

A simple methodology to OS tuning and system prep for performance can be found here:

http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/Ya...?num=1208959973

READ THE WARNINGS: THOSE ON OLDER DELLS OR SYSTEMS WHICH UPGRADED TO WINDOWS XP SP2 VIA THE SP2 WEB PATCH SHOULD NOT PERFORM THOSE TWEAKS. ONLY SYSTEMS THAT INSTALLED WINDOWS XP SP2 CLEAN FROM A WINDOWS XP SP2 DISK ARE SAFE TO USE THAT LIST.

THE ISSUE IS NOTED IN THE LINK TO MICROSOFT

Those on the mentioned systems only have once choice and that is to SLIPSTREAM SP2 (or SP3) and make a WindowsXP SP2/3 install disk, then wipe the system clean and reinstall Windows from that new disk. From that point on you are no longer affected by the Microsoft issue.


If you decide to try the list I posted please do NOT substitute any DEFRAG program for O&O. Ultimate Defrag can make FSX run worse if you do not know how to use it properly. O&O is strait forward if you follow the directions

BOTH O&O DEFRAG VERSIONS 8.6 AND 11 ARE FINE TO USE. DO NOT USE VERSION 10 AND IF YOU DO PLEASE READ THE WARNINGS ABOUT USING THE SPACE DEFRAG MORE THAT ONCE.



PLEASE NOTE: CLEANING OUT YOUR STARTUP SYSTEM IS SOMETHING I CAN NOT LIST HERE BECAUSE THERE ARE SO MANY DIFFERENT SYSTEMS OUT THERE IT IS NOT POSSIBLE FOR ME TO POST A 'SAFE-LIST'

THIS IS AN AREA THAT IS VERY CRITICAL TO SYSTEM PERFORMANCE AND ONE YOU SHOULD RESEARCH AND DISCOVER WHAT YOU NEED TO BOOT YOUR COMPUTER WITH HARDWARE/SECURITY SUPPORT AND WHAT YOU DO NOT NEED

Go through your start registry (START - RUN - Type: MSCONFIG - STARTUP TAB) and make sure nothing is booting not needed... like Real player, MS messenger, Adobe Reader, etc.. those do not need to start with Windows and can be launched from a shortcut on the desktop if desired.

Many software packages install unneeded startup keys. Adobe Acrobat is one, useless startup that does not need to be there.. and many software packages have "automatic monthly updating' features that are also not necessary and clog up the works. You should always enter the settings for newly installed software and check to see if it has 'auto update' and 'start with windows' enabled.. if so, kill those features.




A note about texture and autogen 'hacks'

Using texture reduction and autogen 'hacks' with decent hardware one of the worse things you can do to FSX. There are reasons for that and they are tied back to what the engine expects and does not see. Those 'hacks' may help hardware that would be mediocre or slow in FS9 but I would not use them otherwise.







ABOUT STORAGE PERFORMANCE

Read this post about how to gain the most out of the drive(s) you have in your system regardless of a professional SATA card or motherboard SATA ports in use:

http://www.simforums.com/forums/forum_post...D=174413#174413

You do not need the best solution for good FSX perf however you do need to look at the list below and take heed of the precautions when setting up a system for FSX perf.

The storage system presents one of the greatest perf reductions to FSX simply because of the latency and CPU time they consume



About RAID0 in FSX

MOTHERBOARD BASED SATA RAID0 CAN KILL FSX PERF and CREATE SCENERY LOAD STUTTERS in FSX

Due too the file size increases from FS9 to FSX the use of motherboard based software solutions actually REDUCE the number of CPU cycles available to FSX and increases latency in calling file chunks from such arrays.

When you set up a RAID array you set up the STRIPE or BLOCK during the array creation process. That STRIPE or BLOCK size will set the performance of the array based on the average file size of the application to be used. With FS9 the average file size was small and therefore a 64 to 128K STRIPE or BLOCK was fine however with FSX the average file size is 4-5 times that of FS9 and therefore the typical motherboard RAID BLOCK size is FAR too small for the application. A minimum of 256K is required for FSX or the files will be broken into so many small chunks what you are effectively doing is increasing the number of access EACH drive must make to recall a single file, effectively removing and even LOWERING the performance of the storage system... add to that, each time a chuck in called the CPU is polled... double whammy

Drop the motherboard RAID and place FSX on its own drive which has a good chunk of free space left after all addons are installed.

The ONLY RAID that will enhance FSX is HARDWARD RAID on the RIGHT professional PCIe solution which allows a 256K BLOCK OR STRIPE with the RIGHT controller card settings to eliminate features such as NCQ

The best hard drive solution on the market for FSX is the Western Digial VelociRaptor. Its design allows users to enjoy stoage performance only available in the past on professional hardware SATA cards. Here is some information about those drives and how to judge what is right for your budget and your needs.



2 Velociraptors in RAID0 (256K STRIPE) on the right card are very close to SCSI performance HOWEVER UNLESSYOU ARE USING IT FOR A LARGE PHOTSCENERY DATABASE IT IS NOT NEEDED AS A SINGLE VRAP WILL PROVIDE ALL THE PERFORMANCE YOU NEED WITH A TYPICAL FSX INSTALL

2 Velociraptors in RAID0 (or SCSI/SAS) on the right card are overkill for todays processors and memory subsystems in conjunction with the video adapter in FSX and will deliver very large amounts of data faster than the system can process/render it

The best (top of the line) solution(s) for FSX with a Professional SATAII PCIe 256-512MB card based on highest to lowest perf are:

a. 2 VelociRaptors on RAID0

b. A single VelociRapor

c. 2 32MB Cache SATAII HDD in RAID0

d. A single 1st Generation 150GB Raptor

e. A single 32MB cache SATAII


All of which will do the job but the VelociRapor RAID0 configuration on the right card with those drives will do the job and then some.. very overkill

The OS drive should be on another single drive connected to the same card.. does not have to be RAID0 and does not have to be a VRap but should be a decent spec cache SATAII drive




MOTHERBOARD SOLUTIONS based on highest to lowest perf



a. A single VelociRapor on Motherboard SATAII

b. 2 VelociRapor in RAID0 on Motherboard RAID ... NOTE: Due to the Vrap design the single and RAID version of motherboard based storage is about equal

c. A single 1st Generation Raptor on Motherboard SATAII

d. A single 32MB cache large platter hard drive on SATAII

NOTE: If the 32MB cache drive has a very large platter the performance can be equal to and greater than the 1st gen Raptor if the Raptor has less than 30% free space after all addons are installed to it. This drive will not exceed the 2nd generation VelociRaptor in a single or RAID drive motherboard SATA setup

e. 2 1st Generation Raptors in RAID0 on motherboard RAID

f. 2 of any other drive in RAID0 on motherboard RAID



Notice where RAID0 sits on that list for Motherboard SATA RAID controllers and do note 2 VRaps in RAID are not going to do anything for you over a single drive due to the resources consumed by the motherboard software RAID system.




So there is your list to consider when planning for a FSX system



I wish to make something perfectly clear:

What the better card and drive solutions provide is help remove the CPU and latency issues from high scenery file reads and that translates to the screen.

You do not 'absolutely' need to use a SATA PCIe controller card.. a single VelociRaptor will do a very good job on motherboard ports.. the 2nd choice is the 32MB cache large platter drive which will also work but depending on the workload being requested, amount of data on the drive and the condition of the data in terms of defrag that drive can show scenery load issues under certain criteria. They do a good job for the most part and are a good trade off if money is very tight

You do not 'ABSOLUTELY' need the controller card do get good results in FSX but I would suggest the 300GB VelociRaptor on motherboard SATA as it will provide the best support for the least amount spent.

The card will make ANY SATA drive run better in a system and allow CPU 'free' RAID to function. Every CPU cycle freed up goes back to FSX for other things.




If you may be interested in high end storage solutions 3ware makes a great card for under 400 bucks. They have them in 256 or 512MB onboard DDR2 PCIe and you must use the battery backup for the card to ensure safe operation in 'high performance' mode as I assisted someone in this thread set up correctly on the 256MB model card

http://www.simforums.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=28350



You must have a motherboard with a 2nd PCIe x8 or x16 slot to use those cards

Standard PCI RAID cards are NO BETTER than Motherboard RAID



RULES WHEN SETTING UP STORAGE:

DO NOT PARTITION A DRIVE AND PLACE A OS OR FSX ON A PARTITION OTHER THAN THE FIRST PHYSICAL PARITION OF THE DRIVE

ALWAYS MAKE SURE THERE IS A MINIMUM OF 40-50% FREESPACE ON ANY PERFORMANCE DRIVE OR PARTITION (OS or FSX)

NEVER PARTITION A RAID ARRAY - EVER!

BEST SETUP IS TO PLACE FSX ON ITS OWN DEDICATED DRIVE WITH NO 2ND PARTITION



MYTH: NCQ and advanced BIOS SATA functions such as AHCI increase FSX performance

TRUTH: TRUE for network servers and workstations, UTTERLY FALSE for high performance drives such as the Rap, Vrap and gaming system use.



A Western Digital VelociRaptor is the best investment you can make for a FSX system. Even without an expensive controller card those drives will deliver the goods where others can fall short under very high LOD scenery file calls.

Here is a chart which shows how the WD VelociRaptor fairs against SAS drives and typical SATA drives... the RED is the winner but note the READ/WRITE RANDOM ACCESS time... its equal to SAS, AND... FSX is a RANDOM READ application, not SEQUENTIAL READ which is what most benchmark programs such as HDTUNE and HDTACH use to test HDD speed and performance. Those mentioned benchmark speed tests are NOT indicative of what MSFS needs from the storage solution.. I/O meter results, are:











UTX SETTINGS FOR BEST PERFORMANCE vs BEST VISUALS



========================================================

UTX is a wonderful addon however it incorporates items by default that may choke a slower system… but they give you options to work with.

You may be seeing degraded performance due to some of your UTX settings. I will give you the settings that I use so you can try them and see if they help or not.

The UTX NIGHT LIGHTING (and Cars) feature has the most impact on performance.

I highly recommend you enter the UTX settings and make the following changes..

FOR USA and CANADA

NIGHT LIGHTING – DISABLE NIGHT LIGHTING for MAJOR ROADS but if you have a decent system leave night lighting enabled for INTERSECTIONS. If you disable Intersection lighting you will get even better performance however I like the feature and it works well with the GEX patch for UTX and GEX night lighting.

FOR EUROPE – There is only ONE night lighting option… you will need to decide if you want this on or off but be aware, night lighting is a major performance killer.



FOR ALL PRODUCTS:

These are my settings.. it's up to you what you wish to run

On the list on the right: OTHER TERRAIN FEATURES

DISABLE
Highway Interchanges
Railyards
Glaciers


With UTX EUROPE I prefer the RD5 MINOR RURAL ROADS disabled I leave then enabled in Canada and USA however sometimes I even shut those down in the USA as well, your option.

The next settings changes ONLY need to be made in ONE version of UTX… I use the USA interface to make these settings changes and thy will follow for all versions without having to make the changes in every interface:

Open UTX USA. Go to ADVANCED - MODIFY FLATTENING. Place a bullet in STREAMS

Under the 2 RIVER entries, make them OFFSET and -3 Meters, click SAVE
Under the 2 STREAM entries, make them OFFSET and -2 Meters click SAVE

Click DONE

ADVANCED - MODIFY WIDTHS

Scroll down and make the following changes



WIDTHS

UT OCEAN PIER 3
UT RAIL ENC DRY 14
UT RAIL ENC SEASONAL 14
UT RAIL ENC TROPICAL 14
UT RAIL ENC BRIDGE 14
UT RAIL ENC TRACKS 12
UT ROAD ENC DRY 28
UT ROAD ENC SEASONAL 28
UT ROAD ENC TROPICAL 28
UT ROAD ENC2 DRY 16
UT ROAD ENC2 SEASONAL 16

Click SAVE – DONE

That will change all versions of UTX at the same time


OPTIONAL:

I do not like the static traffic on the roads so I remove it.. open each UTX interface and make the following changes



Menu- ULTIMATE TERRAIN - Change Road surface colors

UNCHECK all the "add auto imprint to roads" options

From there you can also change the road surface color from concrete to asphalt and visa-versa.. your choice.


Be aware that the UTX 1.2 patch increased car traffic for the USA on side streets.. many systems may find this a hard drag on perf especially in urban. The MAX car slider I would use with this is 5-7% and some older systems need to shut cars down completely by entering the UTX configuration Tool and under the ROAD SURFACE heading DISABLE moving traffic as that is the only way to remove the footprint of cars off the system.. the FSX slider for cars will not remove that footprint even when set to zero

===============================================









I hope this information has been helpful



Good Luck!

So I do not activate fsx untill step 6

[cmpbellsjc]

Well, that's what it says, so thats what I would do. It's been since April of '08 since I installed and I used FS-GS to set everything up and I dont recall what I did, but if I were you I would follow this list to the "T" since you have had so many problems.

[TimS]

Well, that's what it says, so thats what I would do. It's been since April of '08 since I installed and I used FS-GS to set everything up and I dont recall what I did, but if I were you I would follow this list to the "T" since you have had so many problems.

OK I'll do that, sorry for late response I am running a little bit low on time

Thanks, Tim

[TimS]

Thanks you guys its working finally special thanks goes to cmpbellsjc but I would like to thank everybody who posted and tried to help me


Thanks you very much, Tim

[cmpbellsjc]

Thanks you guys its working finally special thanks goes to cmpbellsjc but I would like to thank everybody who posted and tried to help me


Thanks you very much, Tim

Glad you got it sorted out and glad that I could help little. Keep this stuff in mind for future reference if you have problems and remember to always run the uninstallers when you want to remove a product. BTW, sorry I never posted my name, but it's Sean.

Regards

[fefeal]

To whom I may help, in my case 12gbs did the trick !!! .

I´ve gone through vista x32 then vista x64 and finally Win7 x64 but adding another 6gbs tri+tri channel on my system solved the horrible frequent OOM errors !!!!

I think sweet point could be 8Gbs because my peak ram memory use is about 7Gbs according to ProcessExplorer (but I´m glad with the investment and because FSX OOMs at about 1-2 hour flight were driving me nuts !!!

Hard:
i7 920 @ 4ghz (no HT enabled)
Asus P6T Deluxe
Nvidia 280GTX 1Gb
Xonar DX

Soft:
FSX Acceleration (+FPS Limiter)
MyTraffic X (traffic set to 91% commercial, 10% rest)
REX 2.0 (using also weather engine)
FS Global 2008
UTX Europe
UTX USA
UTX Canada
GEX USA&Canada
(waiting for GEX Europe!)
Citation Mustang
737 PIC
Level-D 767-300
Carenado Cessna Stationair
L39 Albatross
(going to reinstall rigth now my beloved PMDG MD11 who was uninstalled as suspect for the OOMs!)

[loybond]

Isn't the OOM error graphics memory-related?  And I'm pretty sure that FSX can't address more than 4GB of memory, so that 7GB of usage that you see is at least partly Win7 pre-caching.  

I have a 4.2 GHz i7 and GTX 275 (896 MB) and on a new reinstallation, I'm getting the OOM problem.  I don't know if it's UTX, GEX or REX, but it could also be me using SP1 and not Acceleration.  I decided not to use Acceleration this time around because it introduces a "wobble" at 16x autopilot.  

Any solutions would be awesome...

To whom I may help, in my case 12gbs did the trick !!! .

I´ve gone through vista x32 then vista x64 and finally Win7 x64 but adding another 6gbs tri+tri channel on my system solved the horrible frequent OOM errors !!!!

I think sweet point could be 8Gbs because my peak ram memory use is about 7Gbs according to ProcessExplorer (but I´m glad with the investment and because FSX OOMs at about 1-2 hour flight were driving me nuts !!!

Hard:
i7 920 @ 4ghz (no HT enabled)
Asus P6T Deluxe
Nvidia 280GTX 1Gb
Xonar DX

Soft:
FSX Acceleration (+FPS Limiter)
MyTraffic X (traffic set to 91% commercial, 10% rest)
REX 2.0 (using also weather engine)
FS Global 2008
UTX Europe
UTX USA
UTX Canada
GEX USA&Canada
(waiting for GEX Europe!)
Citation Mustang
737 PIC
Level-D 767-300
Carenado Cessna Stationair
L39 Albatross
(going to reinstall rigth now my beloved PMDG MD11 who was uninstalled as suspect for the OOMs!)