Flight Simulator X. Any tips on speeding up the frame rate?

[Spitfire7]

I have Flight simulator X and I also downloaded the latest patch for it too and yet I still have to play at medium to high settings for good realistic frame rate. What computer are they using to have everything on max and still have it smooth. Must be testing it over at NASA. Anyone have any suggestions? Heres my computer specs. I am able to play HL2: Episode Two on max graphics, Crysis on everything High for XP, COD4 maxed out and all those games run perfect. Whats the deal with Flight Simulator? I know they have a lot to fill, but if Crysis can do it, I think Microsoft has some patch work to do. Please let me know, your tips and suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

Mother board EVGA 680i SLI
E6600 Core 2 Duo CPU
EVGA 8800GT Superclocked
Corsair XMS2 2GB DDR2-800 4-4-4-12
OCZ GamerXStream 700w PSU
Windows XP

 

[met_quota]

I think they did a pretty good job with the patch optimizing for multi coure support. Before I couldn't run even play it on 3800X2 with X1800XT Radeon, I could play it with on lower medium setting with managable frame rates after patch. I wonder if there's a difference running it on 2 vs. 4 cores. I'm looking to upgrade the video card, either to 3870 or 8800gt and was looking for flight simulator benches online, couldn't find anything. But from what I've read this game is more CPU dependent, you can look on one of those fligh sim sites how to tweak it, there are few things that can speed the game up.

 

[Spitfire7]

Yeah I ws impressed too when I installed the first patch on what a difference it made, but now 8 monthes later even with me 8800GT, I still have to keep everything on low to medium with nice frame rate. Thats good to know that its more CPU dependent. I will keep that in mind. Thanks

 

[mrmez]

Gfx card doesnt matter in FSX.
CPU does. Get the most expensive quad core u can afford, and OC the hell outta it. Simple.

 

[Spitfire7]

Oh thats it????? Piece of cake. Here I come ultra High graphics Flight Simulator X.

p.s. Mrmez, whats the story behind your picture?

 

[mrmez]

Hahaha!
Well... WCS (my motorbike stunt crew), i JUST got those hoodies made for the boys, picked them up that morning. Went to a bucks night, grabbed the 1st skimpy waitress i could find and told her to wear it LOL

Got more pix, there were 2 of them... the rest are quite naughty tho.
Shes actually totally nekkid below that

 

[monster1427]

yes..i know maibe the game asks too much on very high, but if you want it you can get it. I don't have the most turbocharged computer but i managed to increase fps in one week from 15-20 to 80-100fps. here is what i did.
1. Overclocked cpu amd phenom x4 9950BE from stock 2.62 GHz/core to 3.18 Ghz/core. I trully don't recomend to overclock a amd cpu unless you know what you are doing !!! (the increase of fps was not noticed)
2. Move the frame limiter in fps limit to unlimited. ( fps reached around 30)
3. Disable light bloom.
4. Buyed anoter 4GB ddr2 800MHz (total 8GB).
5. POWER OPTIONS AND CUSTOMIZE MINIMUM CPU TO 100% !!!!! AND ONE EYE ON TEMPS FOR STOCK COOLING....now all cores will run at 3.18GHz, there will be no speed drops , means that multiplier will be at maximum all times.
6. Raised resolution to 1680x1050 32bit.
7. All setings to high.

All the above give me the pleasure of playing this game.
Specs: AMD 9950BE (OC 3.18 GHz); 4x2GB DDR2 A-data X-treme edition 1066+
Asus M3A78-T motherboard ; Power color ATI 4850 GDDR3 (stock speeds) ; 2x500 GB Seagate HDD's in RAID 0 ; Huntkey PSU 600 W.
I will reply few days later with crossfirex performance of 2X4850 in FSX (and a new Huntkey X7 900W PSU)

 

[pat mcgroin]

What are you using to measure FPS and are you running DX10?

 

[monster1427]

What are you using to measure FPS and are you running DX10?

FSX stock frame rate extension (in game shift+z) , i didn't use fraps because it tends to drop a little the framerate.
i use DX9 for the simple reason that i have some strange small artifacts in DX10.

 

[Brett4u6]

Are you running any add ons like Traffic X or 3rd party aircraft? I can get those frame rates with the default program, but once Traffic X is on and I use an aircraft like 737 Pilot in Command or PMDG's 747 the rates drop to the low 20's. Still playable though.

 

[neo_virtual]

Flight Simulator X is in my opinion a technical disaster. That game is simply too slow and too heavy and the ONLY reason to that is that it is badly designed, badly built, and it is yet another unfinished piece of software released by Microsoft (Just like Windows Vista which is probably the biggest software disaster in history).

FSX performs terribly even on flagship hardware and it has many many bugs. I wasted my money on it. That is why I uninstalled it and continue to run FS 2004 Century of Flight.

 

[keepit_smpl]

"Go big or go home" that is what FSX did is go BIG

I disagree completely that FSX is a "Technical Disaster" but i will agree that it takes a beast of a machine to run it. I built a new computer specifically for FSX last month and I couldn't be more satisfied with the results. Start with the specs

i7 920 (OC @ 3.4GHZ w/stock cooling) HT DISABLED
msi x58 platinum SLI mobo 1366
3GB OCZ ddr3 1866mhz (running @ 6-6-6-18)
BFG GTS 250 OC 512mb
HD 7200rpm sata 700GB 32mb
750w ultra p.s.
$750 (tigerdirect)

Right now I'm running a dual monitor setup
1st "monitor" 32" 1080p (tv) that displays the outside world (or the local news)
2nd monitor is 17" for gauges

All this and i can hold solid 45fps @ KDFW with a few dips into the upper 30's during steep turns. I also have x-plane installed on this machine but i honestly can't stand playing that game for more than 20 seconds without wishing i was playing FSX instead.

I think that your fps are most affected by the following
1. Autogen density
2. Scenery complexity
3. Ground Shadows
try adjusting these until your frames meet your liking and i also recommend keeping your AI traffic under 50%

Another tip...look into photorealistic scenery (if you haven't already) .. it adds so much to the game and with Megasceneryearth I turn autogen OFF because it is completely unnecessary and that gives big fps gain!!!

oh BTW I'm running Winblows XP 64bit so needless to say DX9

 

[Captain_Blackadder]

FSX is a CPU heavy program.....but a good one, however try not to spend an arm and a leg on a Graphics card.

I have an example of how CPU reliant FSX is. Having bought a PC from mesh (good value) the INITIAL frame rates for Seattle Tacoma with sliders to the right (apart from AI Air traffic - 35%, GA, 35%, Traffic 30%) & light bloom off, frame rate UNLIMITED, with Traffic X installed, the system could only achieve 6-10FPS.

PC Spec:

Asus P6T Motherboard
i720@2.6Ghz
6 GB tripple channel 1600 RAM
1TB Samsung HD in Raid 0
ATI 5870 GPU
Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit
FSX SP1, SP2, Traffic X

After Overclocking the i720 to a stable 4.0Ghz the frame rates increased to 35 - 45 FPS at the airfield & higher in betwen and around downtown Seattle.

A couple of observations:

1. FSX is a great flight sim, which loves multicores and frequencies as close to 4.0GHz as you can get it.

2. What a good piece of hardware the i720 is for it's price.

Hope this has helped someone
Happy simming

 

[Redsoxfan93]

I have an OC quad core i7 at 3.2Ghz with 2 Radeon 5870s and heard that installing flight simulator on a seperate hard drive just for itself helps frame rate. I did this an still connot run the game at high settings and my system definatley blows away the requirements. I think the game just wont run above 30fps on any system when your landing and get closer to the ground. Who knows.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey