i7 + FSX = :(

elevate · 27 Mar 2009 at 10:30

Hi,

My new PC finally arrived today after setting me back more than enough money :faint: .

I've installed FSX, SP1 and SP2 and regardless of settings i'm getting very low frames, with high bursts for a fraction of a second... Where did it all go wrong! :cray:

I could get that sort of amount on my old PC... I wouldn't expect it from an i7 920 @ 3.4GHz, Nvidia 260 and 6GB of ram. (Purchased from OverClockers)

Hardware failure?
Is vista limiting me and I need to disable something?

Here are some shots showing you my performance on the default 'free flight'... (Images resized/compression through Photobucket)

With AA

With AA

Without AA

Ufff,
Sam...

smogsy · 27 Mar 2009 at 10:41

could be bad drivers please tell us your full spec and driver versions otherwise we can not help you.

elevate · 27 Mar 2009 at 10:46

- Intel Core i7 920 2.66Ghz Overclocked to 3.40GHz! (Nehalem) (Socket LGA1366)
- Gigabyte EX58-UD3R Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard
- OCZ 6GB DDR3 PC3-10666C9 Gold Low-Voltage Triple Channel Kit
- Akasa AK-967 Nero Direct Contact Heatpipe CPU Cooler
- GeForce GTX 260 "216" 896MB
- Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA-II 32MB Cache
- Samsung SH-S223F/BEBE 22x DVD±RW SATA Dual Layer ReWriter (Black)
- Corsair TX 650W ATX2.2 SLI Compliant PSU
- Arctic Silver 5 Heatsink compound professionally hand installed by our technicians
- Vista Home Premium 64 Bit

I download the latest Nvidia driver last night as well as Vista updates - apart from that, nothing.

eyetrip · 27 Mar 2009 at 10:47

Have you tried any other games or anything? If so, what sort of performance are you getting out of thoese?

elevate · 27 Mar 2009 at 10:52

I tried FS9,

Default a/c and scenery = 60 frames per second.
Level D 767 + UK2000 scenery = 20-40 frames per second,

So aswell quite low.

mmj_uk · 27 Mar 2009 at 11:32

Is the CPU temperature alright?

Slow performance with occasional high bursts could be thermal throttling.

elevate · 27 Mar 2009 at 13:02

mmj_uk said:
Is the CPU temperature alright?

Slow performance with occasional high bursts could be thermal throttling.

According to EasyTune6,

At rest (now) it's 22*c. With FSX running it's 24*c...

My CPU isn't exactly been used much either (I usually run FS in full screen)

I'll be the first to admit I don't know that much about computers so any help is much appreciated!

Yesterday my screen went black every now and again and I got a Vista msg saying the driver had failed but had been recovered - could this be causing the poor performance?

Is it worth contacting OC's?

npjnpj · 27 Mar 2009 at 13:31

FSX has a big problem, and even as old as it is by now, don't set everything to max.
As far as I've experienced, it takes the biggest hit from air- and ground traffic. Try turning those down and see what happens.

elevate · 27 Mar 2009 at 13:41

It's basicly the same frames no matter what settings I use... Is there anyway to check what my cores are up to?

Kelt · 27 Mar 2009 at 13:57

elevate said:
It's basicly the same frames no matter what settings I use... Is there anyway to check what my cores are up to?

Install Rivatuner.

eyetrip · 27 Mar 2009 at 14:21

To get a better picture of how much your CPU is being used, open task manager, click on the performance tab (with the usage graphs). Leave it open and run FSX for a bit.

Minimise or close FSX and see what the graphs show you for CPU usage.

starfighter · 27 Mar 2009 at 14:27

need a 4870.

Matteysan · 27 Mar 2009 at 14:32

elevate said:
Yesterday my screen went black every now and again and I got a Vista msg saying the driver had failed but had been recovered - could this be causing the poor performance?

This sounds like a bad driver install, try reinstalling them again, Make sure they are fully removed before doing so though!

SirBaron · 27 Mar 2009 at 15:27

The flight simulator engines they use are some of the crappiest, most unoptimised peices of turd I have ever known.

They make Saints Row 2 for the PC look optimised. ¬¬

elevate · 27 Mar 2009 at 15:32

Even with the task manager running while flying around in FSX it never got anywhere near 50%, 20's was the highest...

I may try a restore to factory condition and just see what happens... if someone from OC could comment on where I stand in regards to their help/repairs it'd be much appreciated!

Mattey1 said:
This sounds like a bad driver install, try reinstalling them again, Make sure they are fully removed before doing so though!

Well it hasn't happened since I updated it, so I guess you maybe on the ball there!

eyetrip · 27 Mar 2009 at 16:14

elevate said:
Well it hasn't happened since I updated it, so I guess you maybe on the ball there!

So it's working ok now?

elevate · 27 Mar 2009 at 16:17

ffallic said:
So it's working ok now?

Well it's not getting the black screen, but it's still the same performance in FSX.

Capt Doufos · 27 Mar 2009 at 16:17

starfighter said:
need a 4870.

Actually the 8800/9800GTX are the best for FSX. It's crazy. Shame MS didn't sort it out before sacking all the staff resonsible for it.

As stated above, best bet is to play with the sliders, and resolutions. Turn off AA and AF, see if it helps.

M31 · 27 Mar 2009 at 16:47

What sort of results performance wise do you get in other games, you mention FS9 performs a bit poorly too? that's wrong, it should fly on your system.

Did you build the system yourself or did it come pre built by OcUK?

You really need to check if all the latest chipset and graphic drivers have been installed properly and also check your FSX settings ... on your spec and OS, its surprising how far right they can go.

Like it or not (and I agree FSX coding could have been better) you really need to tune your OS and FSX for optimum performance.

If you are using Bloom, get rid of it, its very pretty but unrealistic for a sim of this nature IMHO, it will drag any current system running FSX to its knee's.

I'm sure you are not expecting ridiculous frame rates into the 100's? but in the scenario you screen printed, it should be a lot better than that.

Have a look at this very good FSX and OS tuning for FSX guide, it helped me get the best out of FSX.

http://www.simforums.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=29041

Edit, now noticed your second screen shot with AA has 192 FPS? it seems the same as the first one apart from zoom?

elevate · 27 Mar 2009 at 16:51

Hi M13,

It was pre-built by OC.

As far as i'm aware i've updated everything...

I was expecting smooth frames, nothing crazy like that. On medium settings about 35+ - something that looks nice and is flyable.

Thanks for the link. If my frames changed when I changed FSX settings it'd more of a help, but they don't...

Something is deffinetly wrong, whether it be a software or hardware!