don't put it all on Nick, he has nothing to do with this

if you're still stuttering after tuning the OS and FSX, try adding the BUFFERPOOLS entry into your fsx.cfg

[BUFFERPOOLS]
PoolSize=70000000

try that, or 80000000

see what happens. make sure you are well defragged. you may also want to try the JOBSCHEDULER entry, that helps in some systems

[JOBSCHEDULER]
AffinityMask=15

try those on and off and see how it goes. make sure you restart between tests for best results

stevehookem wrote on Feb 19^th, 2009 at 3:46pm:


Hi,

You might find some good tips here, I found a few things in there that I hadn't seen elsewhere.

http://www.highflightsimulations.com/recommended.html

Let me know how you get on, that system is very much like the one I'm currently building.

Ric B.

i7 for FSX is still being worked out. Some people are finding that some of the tweaks that used to work are causing stutters. First delete your FSX.cfg and let it rebuild a new one. Don't add any tweaks and see how it flys. Next, do NOT set unlimited as it does cause stutters, setting it at a rate that is easily divisible by your monitors refresh rate, usually 60, is a good idea. Possibilities are 20, 30, 60. Also try going one FPS above and below. You can try the buffer pools entry but if you read around a lot people are finding that leaving it out is producing better results. TBM is being set quite low compared to old recommendations. Stick with default then raise it in steps of 10 and see how it goes but you shouldn't be going higher than 110. If you take a duck over to the Tweaking and Overclocking board you'll find this thread: http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1233017567
Nick is asking people with i7s to try different combinations of AffinityMask and hyper threading. The one people are reoprting best results on are hyper threading off and AffinityMask=15. If you don't know where to place it, go down to the very bottom of the cfg and on the last line paste in:

[JOBSCHEDULER]
AffinityMask=15

If you want to use buffer pools paste this underneath on the very bottom line.

[BUFFERPOOLS]
PoolSize=35000000

Again, a few people are reporting that leaving it out is best. Give no buffer pools, 35000000 and 70000000 a shot and see which is best for you.

Last is the sliders. Don't max everything out. Be reasonable and strike a balance. If you're using default traffic, turn it way down or off or find some third party stuff which is easier on frames. Autogen seems to be a big slow done on my system, so I leave it down a bit for smooth flights. Don't bother with DX10 or light bloom. Let us know how you go after this.

jwenham wrote on Feb 19^th, 2009 at 5:40pm:


I think if you use any landclass with UT, you must layer it between the UT Urban and UT Vegetation. Here's a good post from Nick: http://www.simforums.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=24965

I read that 60 is best for TBM but I haven't touched it. What is the default?

I use a projector for our sim. I can set 60, 75, 80 (and I think) 85 as the refresh rate. What should I use and what should I set the FPS at?

stevehookem wrote on Feb 19^th, 2009 at 8:51pm:


TBM is highly system dependent. Just keep trying values until it is smooth and stutter free. Set you refresh to 60, it will help with calculating the frame lock to use. I suggest a lock of 30 as any more than that is just a number, not that much of a noticeable difference. Also, in nHancer make sure Vsync is on for FSX.

what is the resolution being run on this projector?


Please dont ever try to suggest a Q6600 and a i7 are in the same league with FSX. LOL...   If you cant see the difference there is something out of whack

Now, When it comes to i7 you will be more susceptible to the issue SP1/SP2 created which is a Vsync problem introduced by Aces with the patch. In the past setting to unlimited frame lock would help quite a bit in large cities and around hubs but even then I NEVER said that frame lock was set in stone. Usually one must set to unlimited in cities and locked 30 outside of cities but that can vary too depending on the scene.

Have you attempted to set this up on a decent monitor first before slamming it into a projection system in order to eliminate the display as the problem?

Bottom line with FSX.cfg tweaks is test and see... I have never seen a system use less than 70 TBM or greater than 100 in FSX. At the same time bufferpools are problematical. The setting may make things worse. The reserved VM is used to smooth out flight over large amounts of AG trees or in turns over large scenery areas however the hardware and drivers can play into the issue to so BP is not set in stone.

Hyperthread has NO use with FSX.. disable it in the BIOS unless the system is being used with an application which will make use of the feature such as video encoding.

Affinity Mask has been shown to help with thread collisions which create stutters with i7 and FSX. A setting of either 7 or 14 tends to be the sweet spot. Again.. that’s not always the case. The 2 AM settings I mentioned removes one core from FSX and cuts down on thread collisions if present which in turn can smooth stutters.


Addons like UTX which change car traffic and how it works can create stutters. Their 1.2 update changes the FSX car traffic system which makes it impossible to set a ZERO slider and remove the CPU and memory footprint off the system. The only way to test for car traffic stutters is to shut down moving traffic in the UTX configuration tool.

Different drivers can produce different results.


Now, one last thing... i7 is not a free pass to jack up the settings, especially traffic. FSX incorporates a backwards compatibility rendering engine and is so freaking old it will never catch up with the hardware. As such the user must tune FSX correctly which my list at simforums provides.

I've tried all the combinations or bufferpools, affinity masks, TBM, and so on and I am still getting stuttering. I think bufferpools on is worse than off.

On take off, I see drops of 10-15 frames, on depature they seem to hold more steady right at 30fps but then drop fast to 16 or 17 and back up again. This causes a quick "jerk" and then back to smooth. I am also getting random flashes of black vertical lines or slightly diagonal lines that look like "rips" in the scene before going off again. They are very fast flashes. When I bank into a turn the FPS really goes all over the place somtimes hitting 7-10, back up to 30, down again, etc, etc. This is very frustrating and--really--I'm about to give up. I've thrown so much money at the hardware for this and it's just not too much fun anymore.

Here's my latest settings:

[SOUND]
AmbientUIMusicVolume=-6.000000
SOUND_FADER1=0.500000
SOUND_FADER2=0.500000
SOUND_FADER3=0.500000
SOUND_FADER4=0.500000
AmbientUIMusic=FSX01
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=70
UPPER_FRAMERATE_LIMIT=30
WideViewAspect=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=14248
PerfBucket=7
Maximized=1
Location=124,46,900,676,\\.\DISPLAY1
HideMenuNormal=0
HideMenuFullscreen=1
[PANELS]
IMAGE_QUALITY=1
DEFAULT_VIEW=0
QUICKTIPS=0
PANEL_OPACITY=100
PANEL_MASKING=1
PANEL_STRETCHING=1
UNITS_OF_MEASURE=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=2
DownloadWindsAloft=1
DisableTurbulence=0
CLOUD_DRAW_DISTANCE=3
DETAILED_CLOUDS=1
CLOUD_COVERAGE_DENSITY=6
THERMAL_VISUALS=0
[DISPLAY.Device.NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280.0]
Mode=1024x768x32
TriLinear=1
[AccelerationPack]
ControlsFirstRun=0
HomePageFirstRun=0
[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
[Trusted]
C:\Program Files (x86)\GoFlight\GFDevFSX.exe.wqawoaehcoqeaiknelhktbzcronkktawhzactaue=1
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\PMDG\DLLs\PMDGOptions.dll.ohaknobakatnotcehtarntqrbwnokznlecqbqhzh=1
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\PMDG\DLLs\PMDGEvents.dll.ubahlhirckczrtbunibnkkrnakwqunizqbarlnoh=1
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\PMDG\DLLs\PMDGSounds.dll.irkiwibkorchkhhenbenrqnuebkabazirzrkenkw=1
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\Modules\LVLD.dll.kozwqlonkhbcqliuahbibuboizwwrhbqueruulqu=1
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\FeelThere\E170\EJetH.dll.ohkaiuocihcaaquwbklzequqeezztikniwtlwini=1
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\Modules\FSUIPC4.dll.qioeeooebcelziileqthztkzhribirboukuzktuw=1
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Games\Microsoft Flight Simulator X\GAUGES\737-400.DLL.kkowwoawcwerulbutrzwaallarucnweewaahbauw=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
[GRAPHICS]
SHADER_CACHE_PRIMED=1693500672
D3D10=0
TEXTURE_MAX_LOAD=1024
NUM_LIGHTS=8
AIRCRAFT_SHADOWS=1
AIRCRAFT_REFLECTIONS=1
COCKPIT_HIGH_LOD=1
LANDING_LIGHTS=1
AC_SELF_SHADOW=0
EFFECTS_QUALITY=2
GROUND_SHADOWS=0
TEXTURE_QUALITY=3
IMAGE_QUALITY=0
See_Self=1
Text_Scroll=1
[USERINTERFACE]
ShowAllACPaintSchemes=0
SelectAircraftManufacturer=All
SelectAircraftPublisher=All
SelectAircraftType=All
PageID=1
OpenATCOnCreate=0
SHOW_MISSION_CAPTIONS=0
PAUSE_ON_LOST_FOCUS=1
PROMPT_ON_EXIT=0
SITUATION=C:\Documents and Settings\Administrator\My Documents\Flight Simulator X Files\paris-cdg
Map_Orientation=2
[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=1
DAWN_DUSK_SMOOTHING=1
IMAGE_COMPLEXITY=5
[TrafficManager]
AirlineDensity=20
GADensity=4
FreewayDensity=4
ShipsAndFerriesDensity=0
LeisureBoatsDensity=0
IFROnly=0
AIRPORT_SCENERY_DENSITY=1
[TERRAIN]
LOD_RADIUS=4.500000
MESH_COMPLEXITY=100
MESH_RESOLUTION=22
TEXTURE_RESOLUTION=29
AUTOGEN_DENSITY=5
DETAIL_TEXTURE=1
WATER_EFFECTS=4
[AContain]
ShowLabels=0
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=0
MEASURE=0
[REALISM]
PFactor=1.000000
Torque=1.000000
GyroEffect=1.000000
CrashTolerance=1.000000
General=1.000000
UnlimitedFuel=False
AllowEngineDamage=False
TrueAirspeed=False
AutoCoord=False
RealMixture=True
StressDamage=False
GEffect=True
ManualLights=True
GyroDrift=False
CrashWithDyn=True
CrashDetection=True
AutoTrim=False
[SIM]
SYSCLOCK=1
[STARTUP]
DEMO=0
SHOW_OPENING_SCREEN=1
STARTUP_DEMO=
LoadWindow=1
[FACILITIES]
COUNTRY=
STATE=
CITY=
GTL_BUTTON=1575
[Misc]
Com_Rate=7
[JOBSCHEDULER]
AffinityMask=14
[MULTIPLAYER]
condAccoutPassword=0