Whats Your FSX Relationship Like? [Archive]

harleyman

April 8th, 2009, 15:01

datter

April 8th, 2009, 15:15

That is odd. Mine got a bit weird lately but only because I never stop screwing with it. Tweaking this, tweaking that, installing things, uninstalling things. It's an ever shifting mass of potential frustration. Last time I just ditched my FSX.CFG and that sorted me out. Going to be much more careful about what I do with it from now on. No more installing random freeware AC I'll never fly, or missions with a ton of weird addon scenery etc.

Did you do anything that might have made it go south this time? Have you considered overheating as a possible cause of trouble?

harleyman

April 8th, 2009, 15:22

Have not done anything or changed anything...

My temps should be fine as I just added a Northbridge fn to keep it cool....But for giggles i'm going into the bios and see the temps...

harleyman

April 8th, 2009, 15:26

The temps are slightly high according to HWMonitor..Nothing out of the unusual ..Its been ideling all day as of 5 AM and its hot in the room...But its been the same for ever...

heywooood

April 8th, 2009, 15:29

this is exactly the nature of FSX....sadly

you can get it loaded with all your addons and tweaks...or none...

I have tried alot of different combinations over the last few weeks, to no avail.

I have eliminated UTX and FS Genesis and now run FSX with only REX, FSWater Configurator, and GEX and a handfull of 3rd party planes and it just won't run consistently - whether I restart windows or FSX or run the defragger / disc cleaner before flying - none of it seems to matter.

I either have a marginally better than usual experience or a worse experience than usual...but there is never a genuine baseline performance - just a general area or window of functional performance with FSX.

I am to the point where I only use FSX once in a while and I am happy if it just loads without errors and I can fly one or two short hops. thats it.
Go out and do a little yard work after I get home from my job...maybe catch part of a ballgame...check the internet for a half hour or so...then fly my one or two hops and then shut her down for the night.

Its a beautiful sim when you hit a sweet spot but I just don't think its worth all the aggravation...I can go to work and get that.

lucas81

April 8th, 2009, 15:30

I changed my rig year ago. Bought E8200 which I overclocked from 2,6 to 3,2. Through the last 11 months I used stock fan for the proc. Last month I bought good case and additional proc. fan. I have never had any problems with my FSX, but this is because I run it on pretty medium settings. My goal is to have at least 20 fps everywhere I fly - from some bush flying to Heathrow. Moreover I have created few configs for the scenery complexity: regular utx, tubeliner and africa. The tubeliner settings has reduced autogen and ground texture resolution, the africa setting has increased autogen and few additional goodies, the regular utx is for my daily flying over Europe with some GA planes which I fly most.
I have never messed with all those fsx tweaks. Honestly I run stock config and I have not reinstalled fsx for about half a year.

Lucas

kilo delta

April 8th, 2009, 16:01

I have a confession to make.............................

....... I haven't been simming since Xmas.:faint: I snatched a five minute flight a few weeks ago, but got bored and went back to FarCry2. I think the spark that I once had for fsx is gone, and we are destined to drift apart. To be honest the writing has been on the wall for years now....but i've been ignoring the signs... ie my missus yelling at me to "get off my arse and turn off that f@**ing computer!".
Re-adjusting to normal life had been difficult at first, my eyes had to adjust to natural light compared to the glare from a large screen lcd. And I'm slowly becoming used to life without my gaming headphones been constantly attached to my head. When i'm driving, I no longer reach for a hat-switch on the gearstick in order to see around me.....nor do I feel the need to "buzz" the AI.........er, I mean the other motorists.:help:
But there is hope at the end of the tunnel for my life with FSX. Following a long consultation with a therapist, he has suggested that I try out new things to spice up this relationship. I've decided to look for a new partner to share the sim experience.........the A2A Phantom. ....but alas until she arrives I feel that i'll be unable to consumate my relationship with FSX.

I NEED HELP :help:

Kiwikat

April 8th, 2009, 16:20

My relationship with FSX has never been better. I stay interested in it by balancing flight time with counter-strike: source time.

Those of you who are getting sick of FS in general should try multiplayer sometime. :gossip: It is a lot more interesting when flying with real people.:amen:

papab

April 8th, 2009, 16:23

Right now I hate mine... I parked all aircraft on Monday morning , and have not flown since..Been busy as heck lately...

It was running smooth as heck...Loaded a flight just now...Chop shop ..Stuttering like crazy....

WTF causes this to continue to happen I wonder.....

Just don't get it at all.... I have a nice stable OC @ 3.6 too...

Its a defragged... Good drivers..Clean OS install...26 processes running....This bites......

I want my mommy....Man...Just can't win with this ....:faint:
Hey Harleyman,
I had the same thing happen but it was the aircraft!!!

I had a piece of payware (DC2) and it used to fly perfect -great with frame rates. Had not flown it for 6 months...Loaded it up an wham 3-7fps and stutters all over the place. Rebooted the rig and tried again -same problem.
Went to the A2A P-47 and smooth as silk-great FPS Tried several other proven aircraft( RealFlight F6, Alphasim Harvard) and all worked great!!!

Have you tried a proven payware aircraft on your rig-try several, let me know the results

Also stay away from dowloading every piece of freeware, be real selective about what you load into your FSX simobjects.....I got fried before with some bad stuff and had to do a complete reinstall

Another thing to check-If you are using Nvidia and did you recently update your drivers?

If you are using nhancer- check your settings after a driver update.
Last driver update I did all my nhancer settings had changed... caused all kind of problems...

If you have not seen Nick's suggested nhancer settings read this thread:

http://www.simforums.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=27540&PID=156769#156769

hey_moe

April 8th, 2009, 16:35

scoutII

April 8th, 2009, 16:45

I split my time up between FSX(awesome), CFS3(awesome with bullets) , OFF(awesome with less bullets) with and the Wife/Life(awesome)... in case she reads this:whistle:....seems to be working well:typing:

harleyman

April 8th, 2009, 18:40

Scott11 You are a smart man.....LOL

I might just dump FSX again for FS9 for a while...This rig rocks FS9 , constantly without any problems, and with my scenery addons it looks nice too...

I am unsure about this though..I will tinker more tommorrow.....It just sucks that when its great, its soon to fall flat on its face again .....:applause:

Just like a motor...They run fantastic just before they blow up......:amen:

ryanbatc

April 8th, 2009, 18:47

Mine is like the movie Star Wars:

http://i141.photobucket.com/albums/r43/ryanbatc/bring-me-solo-and-the-wookiee-they-.jpg

I just had to post that pic it cracks me up everytime!

limjack

April 8th, 2009, 22:52

Well, lets see here.
Spring is here and I own a home and things need to get done. In fact I ripped up my deck, digging a drainage ditch then need to rebuild the deck so FSX has stepped aside for awhile but I still love my FSX. So when I get moments my first FSX addiction takes me to the Outhouse first and then that usally motivates me to take a short flight if I have time.

Jim

calypsos

April 8th, 2009, 23:23

I use a simple rule, if it is not fully FSX (SP2) native, I do not use it! That way, I have a smooth running system 99% of the time:amen:

airfighterjohn

April 9th, 2009, 01:37

In the 2 1/2 years I've had FSX installed, I have only had to reinstall twice--once because I had to reformat my HD and another because of a virus. Other than that, FSX has always run well for me, and i have a pretty weak system compared to you guys. My settings are almost maxed (except for water which is set low, since I rarely do the water thing.) Like Calypsos my system runs great 99% of the time. One thing I DO make a point of using, though is a good firewalled router, hardwired, not wireless. This gives great security, while allowing me to turn off my AV and Defender, which REALLY improves performance. I guess it all depends on the individual machine, tho.

Athlon 64X2 @2.4G oc to 2.88G, 4GB PC6400 DDR2 RAM, nVidia 9500GT @ 512MB, 480GB HDD, Vista Home Premium 64 Bit

hey_moe

April 9th, 2009, 02:49

Well don't get me wrong here guys. I like flying FSX but I am more into the performance of computers. I enjoy and like FSX way better than FS9 but thats me.I haven't reinstalled F9 in the last few years. When FSX first came out I had FS9 installed but as time went on I came to a point that I was just not using it any more.

stiz

April 9th, 2009, 02:58

working fine here, only problem i get is i get an error when i close it useing the fps limiter, but thats no biggy. Most of the troubles i've had before where due to 3rd party stuff :engel016:

Brett_Henderson

April 9th, 2009, 03:34

I use a simple rule, if it is not fully FSX (SP2) native, I do not use it! That way, I have a smooth running system 99% of the time:amen:

That's the trick, and it's not even a trick.

Fast, modern hardware, and ONLY 100% FSX native software.. and it runs wonderfully..

:wiggle:

scoutII

April 9th, 2009, 03:47

I give myself some time before dinner for a flight - My dad had his private license and I soloed at 16 - then the divorce fouled things up...since FS98 this simulator gives a good feeling of what its like(w/FF) - minus the sweaty palms....Last nite I was somewhere in Hawaii with the Kodiak and almost hit some birds on takeoff - Now how neat is that!! - Tonight I will take out some ships with CFS3 and the ETO add-on and enjoy the fireworks...My time away from reality - Then I get the call for dinner:amen:
Ya sometimes the fps are lower some days(???), but over all it can't be beat

guzler

April 9th, 2009, 04:13

I like the water and the boat / car traffic in FSX, other than that I prefer FS9. I uninstalled it a couple of months ago due to an error I couldn't cure, but may reinstall to enjoy those smooth flights with lots and lots of WOAI traffic. I can't afford a new rig, but from what I am reading, you guys are worse off from me. My only problem is FPS and blurries, oh and real life getting in the way :typing:

harleyman

April 9th, 2009, 04:18

That's the trick, and it's not even a trick.

Fast, modern hardware, and ONLY 100% FSX native software.. and it runs wonderfully..

:wiggle:

Thats my set up exaztly..... A super fast top shelf rig...Only a couple addons that are all FSX native.. Nothing else...

I'm going to reinstall Alricity today and kill everything and see if it improves..then I know if its being interfered with...:whistle:

MCDesigns

April 9th, 2009, 04:40

I haven't really flown as much as I used to. It just doesn't seem as fun as it used to be. This new build I have now is really smooth on the FPS. I have been playing with the Sony Play station on gaming.
BLASPHEMY!!!:argue:

I have a fine relationship with FSX. My expectations for performance don't exceed what I know my system will do, even though it performs better than I would expect. When not working on outside FS projects my PC time is probably at the moment 20% flying time, 50% design time (which means it is started and stopped about 2 million times a night), 15% Ghost Recon and 15% SIMS2.

I had to take a break from my PC stuff earlier last year because my Dad took ill, made me appreciate the things I did more when I wasn't able to do them

I have never had to reinstall FSX for corruption or to try and make it run better, but then again, I don't add tons of things to it to change it into something other than what it is. Threads like this scare me as I plan to upgrade soon and if I had to go thru even a 10th of what harleyman has gone thru with FSX, I'd be done with it (would never go back to FS9 though ;) , probably Pacific Fighters then as I really never explored all it's possibilities)

GT182

April 9th, 2009, 04:41

I've had no problem with FSX/SP2?Acceleration. Not alot of addons installed but they are FSX only. And my computer is 4 years old now. Plus FS9 is still running strong.

Even what I'm beta testing runs fine on FSX. Don't ask, or I'll have to shoot you. ;)

FLighT01

April 9th, 2009, 04:56

Every time you think youv'e finally zero'd in on correcting a problem and your finally running in the "zone", another one takes it's place, or the same one returns unexpectedly at some later date, generally sooner rather than later. And then I'm always guessing, is this a hardware or software problem, or does one precipitate the other.

Strangely, it's not unlike a living entity, it has its good days and bad days but that makes absolutely no sense to me. Perhaps its like I've read before on the matter, a poorly written piece of software, as simple as that.

Maybe this is what a sub $100.00US piece of programing gets you. While not a good comparison perhaps but Word 2003 - I've used it since it was introduced, it's never failed to work properly, but, it did cost several hundred dollars when I bought it, but I feel it was an excellent value. Again, maybe not a good comparison but I still believe in the old addage "you get what you pay for". And MS built the FS programs to a price point for a lot of reasons. Some could argue that for under $100.00 it offers a lot of value bugs and all, given all the complexity and what it can do until it fails and you have to stat over. Personally, and I've always felt strongly about this, I'd pay hundreds of dollars for a flight sim program that works as well as MS Word, but that's just me, and they probably couldn't sell enough to make it a profitable project.

So it is what it is. I've spent more time with X-Plane recently but still not my cup of tea for a lot of reasons. But who knows, over time it could develop in ways I can't imagine at this point. FS9? Runs great on my current rigs but I just can't stay involved and I don't know why. Maybe in some twisted way the challenge of just getting FSX to run with stability is what find compelling, LOL. NOT!!!

Fortunately I have plenty of other ways to divert my time so no reason to stress for me. And given that I only use my home PC's for FSX'ing and a little E-Mail/Internet stuff, and with summer "a cummin in' my mind is turning to thoughts of golf, fishing, generally being outdoors more. There is life after FSX.

I guess after all this time and money spent and hours put in trying to get FSX to run without problemss, I'm more disappointed than anything.

But that's life.

GT182

April 9th, 2009, 04:59

FT01, it's called "burnt out". I've gotten that way with alot of sims I was into. Besides, the GTO is more fun these days..... FPS are a blast. :costumes:

FLighT01

April 9th, 2009, 05:17

FT01, it's called "burnt out". I've gotten that way with alot of sims I was into. Besides, the GTO is more fun these days..... FPS are a blast. :costumes:

You may be right. I don't play any other games, I've tried some but they couldn't keep me involved for long so it's just flight sims for me. Had some kicks with the Doom series but that was it. I do spend some time in IL2 when I just feel like shooting the crap outta' stuff.

Over the past year I finally took CFS2 and Falcon off as I was not flying them anymore and just wasting HD space. Actually, as I think back, CFS2 was one of the more enjoyable sims. The IL series took that genre to the limit.

Cazzie

April 9th, 2009, 05:41

FSX is a fickle mistress for sure. I find that mornings after a cold boot are the best times to fly. Behaps because all is cool and nothing else has been done. Aftyer a day with the computer on and back and forth checks, even after cleaning and defragging, FSX runs slower. It take a lot of reserves and has crashed to blue screen on occasion, mostly due to some stupid thing I did, like escape a flight while still recording.

But overall, it's a good experience, I juyst know that if I am going to take a dedicated flight, plan it for morning. Most times, I am taking short hops of just taking svreens captures or testing the look of a paint.

Caz

harleyman

April 9th, 2009, 17:17

RyanJames170

April 9th, 2009, 18:06

GT182

April 9th, 2009, 18:11

HM, no one here would do that to you. Must have been the cat or dog that did it. :rolleyes: :costumes:

FT01, give MOH Airborne a try. It is definitely a challenge. And the price is right too.... $9.99 at WalMart.

EgoR64

April 9th, 2009, 18:36

:wavey:

I fallen and I cannot get up !!

:ernae:

pointy31

April 9th, 2009, 19:50

I haven't had any problems.....til today...:isadizzy:
no recent additions or deletions...

spotlope

April 9th, 2009, 20:54

You either lost an effects texture or it got corrupted.

Lionheart

April 9th, 2009, 21:20

I haven't had any problems.....til today...:isadizzy:
no recent additions or deletions...

Low memory at that particular point. Give it a moment and it catches up and appears proper. (should that is)...

Lionheart

April 9th, 2009, 21:20

Right now I hate mine... I parked all aircraft on Monday morning , and have not flown since..Been busy as heck lately...

I want my mommy....Man...Just can't win with this ....:faint:

LOLOLOLOLOL.......

I thought I was the only one who thought this at times when it comes to the program running smoothly.

:faint:

When this happens, for relief, I purchase a copy of FSX, put it in the driveway, and drive over it about 1,000 repetitions. Might cost you a tank of gas, but it relieves your pent up frustrations...

Note; change directions and tire sides so you do not wear out one side prematurely.

Note to all, kidding aside.

* Check system by loading a different aircraft
* Check system by loading a different airfield/airport
* Note any systems running in the background (like Gmax, system virus scan, etc)

Might be something else and not FSX....

...ok, well, it might be.. cant it?

FLighT01

April 10th, 2009, 04:11

OK...I fixed my FSX,.......

I only have one question....

Who turned ALL my sliders right???????????

Come on, admit it, someone snuck in my house and did it, or had it done remotely, cause I sure as heck know better than to do that to FSX.....:faint:

BTW...Its beautiful again......:caked:

LOL, when it's running properly and in harmony with the associated hardware it's an incredible achievement. What makes it go out of sync? Especially in my case as I don't use the A rig for anything but FSX. I keep searching for a startup/operational procedure that prevents issues. A ritual, if you like, LOL.

Sometimes I can fly for several hours on the same flight and cover a lot of distance from my start point without issue. But, if I should end a flight and start a new one in a new location, after 2 changes of location, sometimes 3, smoothness is lost, stuttering is introduced and on ocassion the whole rig "may" freeze hard. Also, lately I've been intentionally starting flights from locations I've never flown from in the past. New locales seem to cause problems the first time those scenery files are loaded, but less or none on subsequent use(?). Flying on reduced graphics settings doesn't necessarily mean smoother flights. As Autogen turns on/off fps can dip dramatically but it doesn't "always" result in a stutter or pause. I've also noticed that even if I close FSX and restart it before loading a new flight that some of my cached physical memory is still being retained over what was free and available after a clean boot (per Task Mgr). Yet memory always test okay, temps are always okay, it's a head scratcher. If I could get the problems to repeat reliably I'd be getting closer to solutions, but I can't.

LOL, after re-reading this it's starting to sound like voodoo or something is in play!

I can see no reason that would cause a problem one day but not the next with no changes being made to anything. Well, time for my meds, later.:help:

FLighT01

April 10th, 2009, 04:19

Might be something else and not FSX....

...ok, well, it might be.. cant it?

Yes, but what? I've run FSX in Windowed mode (which puts a heavier load on the system), so I can run Task Manager and Resource Monitor to monitor all the processes turning on/off , memory use, etc., and CPUID to monitor temps. Never found a smoking gun. Sigh.

Okay, the meds are kicking in.

I feel much better now.

Odie

April 10th, 2009, 11:05

pointy31

April 10th, 2009, 17:10

Low memory at that particular point. Give it a moment and it catches up and appears proper. (should that is)...

Bill, I don't think that is/was the problem, 8GB of RAM should be more than enough memory, lol...I evidently lost something critical, a "simple" re-install brought it back up to it's former state of "splendor"...:costumes:

Thanks for the help guys...:ernae:

Major_Spittle

April 10th, 2009, 17:43

FSX got real boring so I had an affair with X-Plane 9. Unforunately X-Plane wasn't into Multiplayer like FSX was so X-Plane got boring. Don't spend as much time with FSX lately due to lack of combat or purpose. Now I just wander the wastelands of Washington D.C. with my dog shooting mutants and raiders when I am bored with reality.

Man I can't wait for spring to spring in Oregon so I can get outside. :sleep:

CodyValkyrie

April 10th, 2009, 19:30

A month ago she was a nagging wife. Today she is a sweetheart that sometimes farts when she sleeps.

RyanJames170

April 10th, 2009, 19:35

my FSX is good just my monitor sucks lol

heywooood

April 10th, 2009, 19:59

A month ago she was a nagging wife. Today she is a sweetheart that sometimes farts when she sleeps.

my experience to date is the chronological reverse...I miss those sweet subtle farts...

scotsman

April 11th, 2009, 08:42

I learned to hate it!

The first time, FSX wasn't bad with some add-ons and very good freeware planes.
One day, after I bought one of my few payware birds, it suffered from sudden black outs (switching my rig completely off). This phenomenon became worse and worse and now, the black out comes as soon as I hit the free flight button. I erased all fsx related programs and files from my disc in the meantime and reinstalled fsx, sp1 and sp2 (third time today!) Still the same.
I will buy myself a new bike or walk the dogs but fsx will not longer take my time, I think.

Mike

grunau_baby

April 11th, 2009, 08:50

relationship = difficult throughout!

Tweaking all the time enjoyment maybe 20%. Still looking for improvements which most probably won´t work or give me other trouble!
Believe me even italian cars are less touchy as this sim.

But sometimes it just looks and feels sooo great...

Alex

FLighT01

April 11th, 2009, 09:52

Okay, so this makes no sense at all. Yesterday I couldn't complete a flight of more than a few minutes out of Sante Fe NM, after a few minutes it would freeze up solid. This morning I flew from Santa Fe to Albuquereque and after landing on to Las Vegas NV. Not one freeze. What the ----? Took several hours. Next at bat, Aerosofts Tahiti X, around Tahiti proper and over to Moorea where I landed, no problems. Finally, flew out of and around Biggin Hill UK chasing a half dozen GA AI aircraft at sunset, again, no problem. Total time flying: from 7:30 AM to 1:00 PM, a few pauses to get more coffee... and offload coffee. While flying each of the hops I would change cloud settings, time of day settings, the plane, and views. Why no failure today? All graphic settings untouched and at ridiculously high settings and I made no in flight adjustments in frame lock, whether city or rural it was left at unlimited at all times with the Bufferpools addition to the CFG which has been there a few weeks.

The one and only thing I did do differently, I completely shut down the computer for a minute between the US, Tahiti, and UK flights. I always noted in Task Mgr that even that if I exited the FSX program and back to the desk top, after a few minutes physical memory use was still at 18% of total RAM instead of 14% on a cold restart. While it didn't sound like a lot to me I figured anythings worth a try.

Enough for now, my --- is gettin' sore. I'll see what tomorrow brings with 3 different locales and see what happens. Fickle doesn't quite convey it. Sheesh.

abrussell

April 11th, 2009, 10:30

My relationship with Fsx is great. I have been using it since it came out with very few problems. The few that I have had were the result of hardware or my own stupidity. One thing that I think a lot of people overlook is maintenance. Your computer is a piece of hardware. No one would drive their car for 50,000 miles without an oil change, tuneup, or throwing out the accumulated gum wrappers, cardboard coffee cups, etc., yet people expect their computers to hum away forever without any basic maintenance. I had a relative call me up because his three year old computer had slowed to a complete crawl. Turfing out 3 years of temp files and unused programs worked wonders.
I have a weekly routine that works well for me.
Bruce