FSPS - Multicore Environment Advanced

[italoc]

Hi everybody
I would like to hear some comments on FSPS - Multicore Environment Advanced software
advertised by FlightSimCom http://www.sim-outhouse.com/sohforums/images/icons/icon28.gif
Thanks in advance
Italo

[rohan]

There is at least one freeware alternative - PriFinitty 2 - which is available in a few different versions at the moment. You could always try the freeware product first to see if it gives you what you want before spending that much money.

PriFinitty 2 is available here - http://edgemeal.110mb.com/index.htm

Hope that helps,
Ro

[falcon409]

Never heard of it before now. I just went over to the site to read about it. Stuff like this. . . .I always cast a wary eye on, only because even though the price is reasonable. . .once I've purchased it will I really see any benefit or is it simply a lot of fancy graphs and charts and no real tangible results? The average person might jump at this because, after all, we are all chasing the elusive "smooth flight in FSX" and if this will do what it claims. . .it should be just what the Doctor ordered. Someone who is pretty computer savvy, like Ted or Harleyman or some of our other tech pro's might understand more about it and post there thoughts here as well.

I have become very hesitant to simply jump on the "Snake Oil" bandwagon any more.:salute:

[rohan]

The usefulness of tools like these depends largely on how many cores your processor has. Having said that, some Orbx FTX users claim their FSX installs run a little smoother as a result of using one of these tools on a twin core processor in association with increasing the priority at which add-ons like TIR run. Like everything FSX, it's a balancing game, which is why I recommend the try-before-buy approach,
Ro

[Dain Arns]

I have affinity set in my fsx.cfg file, but it would be handy to have the TIR on another core.
I've tried to network Active Sky Evolution, but ran into problems. It just wouldn't connect.
Setting that on another core would be handy as well.
Thanks for the heads up on the freeware version.

[dswo]

I'm setting FSX.cfg to use cores 1-3 and the freeware program "Set Affinity" to run TrackIR and ActiveSky on core 0. I don't know if this helps. According to Jesus Altuve (Bojote on AVSIM), FSX will use core 0 for some things anyway.

Set Affinity: http://edgemeal.110mb.com/SetAffinity/index.htm

[rohan]

OK, here's the detail. Multiprocessing is a complicated subject and the terminology makes it worse because there are now so many different types of "thread"; it can be difficult to follow even when the correct terminology is used all the time (which even the experts can fail to do). I'll try to keep it simple so I'll only be talking about one type of thread. When a program is designed to run in more than one processor (core), the different parts of the program that are capable of being run at the same time are called threads, and the program needs a thread handler to make sure that the threads work together correctly (are effectively synchronised). Even today, there are not that many Windows programs which have been designed to run on more than one processor / in more than one core.

For FSX, there are two types of affinity control, and even though both control which processes run in which processor core, they don't do the same thing. A process here is either a program or a program thread if it has them.

There is the internal FSX affinity control which allows you to tell the program which of its internal threads to run in which core. This control is the affinity mask setting in FSX.cfg. Note that FSX actually has just 3 of these threads, plus a thread handler.

External to FSX are programs like Multicore Environment, PriFinitty and Set Affinity. These can assign programs to run in specific processor cores but, AFAIK, they cannot assign a specific program thread to run in a specific core. This means that to get the best FSX performance from using affinity tools, you need to use one or both depending on how you choose to fly in FSX.

If you fly with add-ons which run externally to FSX like TrackIR, then you need a program like PriFinitty so that you can force those add-ons to run in different cores from FSX. If you only have two cores, this is your best option.

If your add-ons are all run internally by FSX or you don't have any of this type of add-on, then you only need to use the internal FSX affinity mask. As I understand it, add-ons like Active Sky fall into this category, but I cannot be sure as I don't use that add-on. If you have either 2 or 4 cores, then I believe the best advice comes from Jesus Altuve and echo his recommendation that you use a mask setting of 14.

If you have more than 4 cores, then I would say the best option is to use a mask of 14 along with PriFinitty to force everything else to use different cores from FSX.

That's it. As with all things FSX, what works on one system will not necessarily give the same results when used on another system. If your current FSX settings give you results that you're happy with, I doubt that you'll gain much from the above, unless perhaps you're a TrackIR user.

Finally, a comment about all those programs that are NOT multi-threaded by design. Setting one of these to use more than one core will not necessarily give you better performance - in fact, doing so will increase the probability that the program will crash, and it's by no means certain that the program will actually give you the correct results.

Hope that helps,
Ro

[italoc]

For FSX, there are two types of affinity control, and even though both control which processes run in which processor core, they don't do the same thing. A process here is either a program or a program thread if it has them.

There is the internal FSX affinity control which allows you to tell the program which of its internal threads to run in which core. This control is the affinity mask setting in FSX.cfg. Note that FSX actually has just 3 of these threads, plus a thread handler.

Hope that helps,
Ro
Hi Rohan
thank for your very interesting technical explanation :salute:
How this internal FSX.cfg feature works (if I am not too boring asking:frown:)???
Italo

[falcon409]

Well, I've tried the freeware version and read enough information here that I know this isn't anything I need to mess with. I kinda liken this to NHancer, If you don't know what you're doing, you can make things worse instead of better. Since every system will react differently based on core numbers, and so on and so forth. . .it's real advantages on many systems might be minimal at best. . .or you could end up with a CTD, lol. For the slight advantage, it isn't worth messing with.:salute:

[txnetcop]

OK, here's the detail. Multiprocessing is a complicated subject and the terminology makes it worse because there are now so many different types of "thread"; it can be difficult to follow even when the correct terminology is used all the time (which even the experts can fail to do). I'll try to keep it simple so I'll only be talking about one type of thread. When a program is designed to run in more than one processor (core), the different parts of the program that are capable of being run at the same time are called threads, and the program needs a thread handler to make sure that the threads work together correctly (are effectively synchronised). Even today, there are not that many Windows programs which have been designed to run on more than one processor / in more than one core.

For FSX, there are two types of affinity control, and even though both control which processes run in which processor core, they don't do the same thing. A process here is either a program or a program thread if it has them.

There is the internal FSX affinity control which allows you to tell the program which of its internal threads to run in which core. This control is the affinity mask setting in FSX.cfg. Note that FSX actually has just 3 of these threads, plus a thread handler.

External to FSX are programs like Multicore Environment, PriFinitty and Set Affinity. These can assign programs to run in specific processor cores but, AFAIK, they cannot assign a specific program thread to run in a specific core. This means that to get the best FSX performance from using affinity tools, you need to use one or both depending on how you choose to fly in FSX.

If you fly with add-ons which run externally to FSX like TrackIR, then you need a program like PriFinitty so that you can force those add-ons to run in different cores from FSX. If you only have two cores, this is your best option.

If your add-ons are all run internally by FSX or you don't have any of this type of add-on, then you only need to use the internal FSX affinity mask. As I understand it, add-ons like Active Sky fall into this category, but I cannot be sure as I don't use that add-on. If you have either 2 or 4 cores, then I believe the best advice comes from Jesus Altuve and echo his recommendation that you use a mask setting of 14.

If you have more than 4 cores, then I would say the best option is to use a mask of 14 along with PriFinitty to force everything else to use different cores from FSX.

That's it. As with all things FSX, what works on one system will not necessarily give the same results when used on another system. If your current FSX settings give you results that you're happy with, I doubt that you'll gain much from the above, unless perhaps you're a TrackIR user.

Finally, a comment about all those programs that are NOT multi-threaded by design. Setting one of these to use more than one core will not necessarily give you better performance - in fact, doing so will increase the probability that the program will crash, and it's by no means certain that the program will actually give you the correct results.

Hope that helps,
Ro

Ro ya beat me to it...well said and absolutely correct!
Ted

[rohan]

Italo,
to set the FSX internal affinity mask, you need a job scheduler section in your FSX.cfg as follows -

[JOBSCHEDULER]
AffinityMask=14

The mask setting is actually used as a binary map to control which cores are used by FSX, so -

decimal 14 = binary 1110 = use core 3, core 2 and core 1 but not core 0
or
decimal 9 = binary 1001 = use core 3 and core 0 but not cores 2 or 1

If you'd like even more detail, this is a link to a copy of the original post by Jesus Altuve with a few minor updates compared to his original post at Avsim -
http://www.hovercontrol.com/artman/publish/article_122.shtml

The (brief) discussion of the mask setting comes just over half way down the page,
hope that helps,
Ro
:ernae:

[rohan]

Ted,
your comment is very much appreciated - thank you so much,
regards,
Ro
:ernae:

[stansdds]

Good information if I build a quad-core, but based on what I've read here, there is little benefit to be gained when using a dual core CPU.

[rohan]

stansdds,
... unless you use TrackIR ...
Ro

[italoc]

Italo,
to set the FSX internal affinity mask, you need a job scheduler section in your FSX.cfg as follows -

[JOBSCHEDULER]
AffinityMask=14

The mask setting is actually used as a binary map to control which cores are used by FSX, so -

decimal 14 = binary 1110 = use core 3, core 2 and core 1 but not core 0
or
decimal 9 = binary 1001 = use core 3 and core 0 but not cores 2 or 1

If you'd like even more detail, this is a link to a copy of the original post by Jesus Altuve with a few minor updates compared to his original post at Avsim -
http://www.hovercontrol.com/artman/publish/article_122.shtml

The (brief) discussion of the mask setting comes just over half way down the page,
hope that helps,
Ro
:ernae:

Hi Rohan
I've just printed the pages you indicate, on Hovercontrol: I will read them before going to bed tonight to understand little bit more on the subject . :jump:
Thanks for the advice
Italo