FSX FPS sudden loss

[gavoon1 19]

I am starting a topic specific to my FPS loss in FSX SE. Now I have never had performance issues with FPS for the year I have owned the game. I would never pay much attention to FPS crazy people so to say. I would get great performance and that was that. Now I have invested in many addons the main ones I use:

• Aerosoft Airbus x 
• ASN Steam edition
• Rex 4 TD
• FTX GLOBAL ( As you will know )
• GSX 
• And many airport sceneries.

And for a while everything was fine and I had that light issue with FTX global but that was it. However when I got lights back from FTX Global and when I fixed that issue I noticed A serious drop in performance now I dont believe it is related to that because even in day performance is effected ( Also aware that FTX global use the day night tool thing which has option that effects performance. ) 

 

I am also complete aware that all my addons effect my performance in someway.  There must be a reason that I have faced a considerable drop in performance. I have looked at my settings and tried tweeking things. Something that is interesting is that I get best performance at VHHH ( Hong kong ) with the airport scenery and airbus x everything else at the moment around mid 20's on the ground around the gate.

 

I have put together some average FPS I have collected from different airports Note: Taken from airbus x VC captain seat where I get lowest FPS:

EGLL: 9 FPS

EDDM: 8-9 FPS

YSSY: GATE: 15 FPS RWY: 12 FPS

LSZH: GATE: 13 FPS RWY: 16 FPS

CYYZ: GATE: 11 FPS RWY: 10-12 FPS

 

This is poor performance for most, I consider London, Munich and Toronto un-flyable something in the airbus x something I have never faced before. One option for me is to uninstall some addons and see if one of them is really making a big impact. ( I do not want to do that ). I had an error message about a driver issue and could find that in my event view log thing a few weeks later when I got back. And I am experience some shutter when moving around the cockpit with EZDOK.

 

specs:

 

i5-4690 CPU @ 3.50HZ

8 GB ram

GTX 960

64-bit 

windows 10

 

Ideas? I think we can fix this one!

 

Gavin

 

Edited July 14, 2016 by gavoon1

[UKJim 502]

I'll say the obvious usual answer but have you tried deleting your fsx.cfg and letting fsx regenerate it? Don't forget to backup old on and also add any tweaks in after.

[brett 2,315]

What is your fps set to, unlimited, 30? I found that my PC works better at 40fps than the recommended setting of 30fps, it took some time to figure out what setting worked for me but I still get a big slowdown in big cities using a high end aircraft, it just happens because of the way FSX is coded. I also spent a lot of time adjusting all my FSX settings to get the best smoothness.

 

The biggest fps hogs are Tool Tips, Autogen, Water, Scenery, Aircraft & Airport Vehicles and cloud draws. Following most of the tips in Kosta's tweaking guide helped make my system run smoother but again some testing needs to be done as each PC works slightly different. Still my PC gets slow when I tax it with many high end addons.

 

You might also like to check out Jess B's latest review on SIMstarter NG, one of the things this product has the ability to do is turn off unused scenery and unneeded computer processes.

 

 

 

  

[gavoon1 19]

 I have set my FPS to 32, I will try 40 FPS does Kosta's tweaking guide work with FSX Steam? I have updated my Nvidia driver with no FPS increase. I have deleted my cfg and with no FSX increase and when clicking out of the window and faced several crashes... I wasn't happy with that. ( I realize that kosta's tweaks involve deleting FSX cfg.)  I am no so keen to spend more money on addons at the moment however I will consider SIMstarter NG if I really am despite later on. Any points ideas?

[brett 2,315]

40fps works for me but not others so test different fps settings and see what works best for you.

 

Kosta's tweaking guide helped me and that why I mentioned it, there is also a section for Nvidia settings too.

 

I believe FSXSE has some changes already made but am not sure what they are so you might even come across something that has already been changed.  

 

Backup what you have now and try it out, it doesn't work for everybody and even Kosta says that one needs to try different settings and see what works best for them, he is just showing you what worked best for him. Take your time, check and see how things are working in the sim between changes so you can see if any specific change doesn't work well for you.

 

Above all, if you are going to fly a high end aircraft over a large city, lower your scenery settings. I have also found that flying in windowed mode works better for me too.

 

Keep in mind that there is not just one cure all to all your FSX woe's, it takes time and love to get it working right on a particular PC.    

[Corsaire31 419]

When you updated your graphics card driver, did you delete the shaders to let FSX rebuild them ?

Edited July 15, 2016 by Corsaire31

[brett 2,315]

Learn something new everyday, thanks Loic, never heard of that before. https://fsxtimes.wordpress.com/2011/07/11/clean-up-shader-cache/

[Andrew Godden 943]

In the case of some of the airports listed in this problem, there is a simpler answer...nothing can be done! 

 

There are a number of airports / cities in FSX which are known to suffer from a major memory issue, causing a significant drop in frame rates in the area. London, Sydney, Berlin, and Paris are just a few, and it is highly possible that Toronto, Munich, and Zurich are also affected, though I have done very little flying in these areas to be able to confirm this. 

 

This problem exists even with a default base install of FSX and is not caused by other add-ons, though other add-ons will compound the problem.

 

I am not sure that FSX SE addressed this issue which will explain why it is still happening. 

 

The above suggestions may work, but I think you are chasing a level of Utopia which is unattainable in FSX SE in these areas, regardless of your hardware and any configuration adjustments you make.

[gavoon1 19]

Thing is I have had good performance at these airports and smooth performance in the past this is something relatively new. I have updated my gtx 960 drivers with an increase in performance in some airports. However still not great I think I am going to try kosta's thing any other ideas?

Edited July 16, 2016 by gavoon1

[Corsaire31 419]

You should really try regenerating shaders !   It is strongly advised to do it after updating graphic card drivers.

 

( see link on Brett's post and replace FSX folder by FSX SE )

Edited July 16, 2016 by Corsaire31

[gavoon1 19]

I dont see the shaders in appdata-Microsoft-FSX or FSX SE... Can I download them? Could you explain a little more about how these with help my performance.

[wain 879]

if you follow the steps to get to that folder you should see something like the pic in Bretts link showing a folder called 'shaders'....when you change a GPU some people recommencd you delete that folders contents, when you start FSX it will recompile that folders contents.....

[Corsaire31 419]

It's in C:\Users\Your name\Appdata\Local\Microsoft\FSX SE

 

You have two folders in there : Shaders and Shaders 10

 

It's all explained in the link given by Brett in his post above. May be it won't solve your problem but sometimes it does miracles after GPU drivers have been changed, so I think it's worth a try. But it's up to you to decide...

Edited July 17, 2016 by Corsaire31

[gavoon1 19]

I dont see it in the folder... I have never touched them either. 

[brett 2,315]

Are you following the above path, it is in a different place than where your fsx.cfg file is.

[gavoon1 19]

I have found them I deleted them and then i guess FSX re-generated them I have found maybe a 1 or 2 frame raise a little better, anything else cause if I can remind you folks my system has ran these addons all together with good performance so it was a bit of a shock I just wonder if I could get it back to how it was.

Edited July 17, 2016 by gavoon1

[brett 2,315]

We all have fps loss around big cities using a some high end aircraft, add to that HD cloud textures and other addons and it will tax FSX and bring it to it's knees, not sure how else to explain this to you.

 

When your fps lowers down to 8, 9 or 12 do you get the studders or is the flight on screen still smooth?

 

Have you gone through the Kosta guide and made the recommended changes yet?

 

I'm with Andrew's posting above, you might be asking too much from FSX and your system.

[gavoon1 19]

But my system has ran these addons and everything smoothly about a month and a half ago! If this issue came up after purchasing more addons I would have agreed that it would be too much but I know that my system can run this airports and other stuff cause I have flown in and out tof these cities for months. Do see my point?

[Corsaire31 419]

Then if you're sure nothing has changed in your software install, you have to look at hardware problems, and if nothing there you're good for the ultimate solution and re-install the whole darn thing !  FSX SE can be uninstalled through the usual Steam games process.

[gavoon1 19]

Okay so your suggestions are as follows:

• Try kosta's tweaking guide 
• Look over my settings
• Re-install fsx and all addons

 

Edited July 17, 2016 by gavoon1

[brett 2,315]

Could you please also answer my question about how well your flight looks on the screen when your fps's lower to single digits, do you get the studders or does it still fly well?

 

If it ran so well before what exactly happened when things did not? You did have a few problems lately that although fixed now could still be causing a problem.

 

To note: When uninstalling addon scenery remember that there could also some files left behind that might cause problems when doing a reinstall, make sure nothing is left behind. Also download new installers from point of purchase before reinstalling, and make sure everything is updated. Close out FSX and restart between installs and even fly for a bit to see if anything problems arise so you can tell which addon causes it.

 

We want to try and help but we do not have access to your computer so all we can do is guess at what the problem could be using the information you give us and past experience. 

[gavoon1 19]

To answer your question Brett in regards to shutters I do NOT get shutters when flying I get a bit of shutters when I am moving side to side seat to seat manually with EZDOK but nothing to bad. The big airports like YSSY and EGLL still have weak performance London being the worst unlike in the past which is frustrating but I may just not fly there anymore. 

 

Some good news I have testing my FPS around in different airports and have noticed a slight increase in FPS and more smooth experience. Airbus x with all addons at the gate at Zurich cold and dark in the VC  19- 25 frames which is smooth not a high high number but very smooth. Down by the MCDU'S I get 29 frames. On the runway getting 15-19 frames with no shutters, I consider this fly able. I believe that the updating of my drivers was the reason for this increase. 

 

Conclusion things are not the way they use to be performance is flyable I just want to have a good experience every time I do a proper flight and when I get the PMDG 777 for long haul. I will try kosta's guide and let you folks know if things get any worse.

 

Thanks in advance Gavin