Getting rid of stutters!?

harleyman · January 8th, 2009, 02:36

You are using REX...Have you changed your FSX config for that to..

TEXTURE_MAX_LOAD=4096 (Required setting for REX )

**Alexraptor** · January 8th, 2009, 07:25

yes i have been playing around with the TEXTURE_MAX_LOAD setting.
Its not an HDD issue its a generic drop in framerate in stuttering for some unkown reason, there is no HDD activity going on with the FPS drop, in some instances the FPS stays low in a particular view angle even when paused.

I have a Creative X-FI XtremeGamer, no updates that recently.

harleyman · January 8th, 2009, 07:38

Hmm I know you have a all but virgin install...Do you have any add on sceneries?

Does this happen at any point or place you fly> Are you using a test airport ,or is it everywhere...

My thinking here was perhaps duplicate bgl files.....

**Alexraptor** · January 8th, 2009, 13:02

Actually i tested when i reinstalled FSX clean and the problem was still there before any addons had been installed.
Places i have been testing at has been primarily Jönköping(Jonkoping in FSX) and Orcas. But it tends to happen in general with any clouds.

harleyman · January 8th, 2009, 14:24

I think these answers might better be addressed at the REX site.... (maybe)

Correct me if I'm wrong

A clean install of FSX.....Does it run smooth then? (reread and see it does not)

Or only after you install REX ?

If its not smooth on just FSX,and you say it was perfect before then.....

I say you have a bad install of FSX....There is a proper way to install FSX ..

1. Defragg your HDDs
2. Install FSX...Load a flight..Fly a few minutes...Close
3. Defragg again....
4. Install Acceleration.....Load the sim...Fly a few...Close...
5. Defragg

Now then..A clean install of FSX means cleaning ALL regestry entries out too. I like to manually do that and with XP Pro I also use Reg Scrub XP..

After thats all done I reboot into a clean OS and regestry and begin my install process...

You may want to consider this too...

**Alexraptor** · January 8th, 2009, 17:53

No the problem still persists with FSX with a clean, no-addon, installation.

I have already done just that in reinstalling FSX including wiping the registry from FS related entries.

harleyman · January 8th, 2009, 20:14

Well Alexraptor..I am fast running out of ideas here....

Do you play any other games at all? if so do they stutter too?

Are your HDDS in Raid?

Do you Have your CPU OCed?

Is your GPU OCed?

Do you live over a burial ground? :help:

**Alexraptor** · January 9th, 2009, 02:10

No no burial ground lol
No RAID
No GPU OC
CPU OC'ed to 3Ghz(from 2.66)
I play Crysis, Crysis Warhead, Far Cry 2 amongst others and no problems period there.

**stansdds** · January 9th, 2009, 02:52

I'm getting micro stutters as well, no add-on scenery for me, just some freeware water and cloud textures and the free ground environment gift that was released during the holidays. I've tried just about everything except changing video drivers and that might be the issue, some cfg tweaks seem to help, but more often than not, the improvement is minimal. Il2 Sturmovik was designed around Java and OpenGL, only Nvidia cards can run that sim with all the graphics at max. Somewhere along the line, Nvidia either changed something in the drivers or in the hardware (or both) and introduced micro stutters into the sim. Some drivers seem better than others, but it always seems to be there. I'm begining to think the FSX may be suffering the same way.

I guess the question is, do ATI graphics card users have the same problem with stutters?

**txnetcop** · January 9th, 2009, 04:16

stansdds I have two ATIs and there are no micro stutters but neither should your Nvidia have microstutters of your system is set up correctly, have you flashed the BIOS on your motherboard or upgraded your video card drivers to the latest. NHancer will also do a very fine job at eliminating stutters, but if you use it please donate a small amount as it is a fine program for Nvidia users.
Ted

**stansdds** · January 9th, 2009, 10:04

I've used nHancer for about two years now, far better than the nVidia panel. I have not changed the BIOS on my computer since I built it last year. My motherboard is the Gigabyte GA-EP35C-DS3R with the F2 BIOS, at the time this was the most stable BIOS for this board. I'm still using the nVidia 178.24 WHQL driver, but the 181.20 WHQL just came out, so I may try that one. The remainder of my system is...

E6860 CPU overclocked to 3.6GHz
WD 320GB SATA 2 hard drive (one primary drive, the other used for back up copies)
2GB Corsair XMS PC-800 DDR2 RAM (not overclocked)
Windows XP Home SP2

**stansdds** · January 9th, 2009, 17:18

I've installed the 181.20 WHQL driver and it seems to be a keeper. I also messed with a couple of settings I was using for FSX and have greatly reduced the stutters. First, I jacked up the "Global Texture Resolution" slider to full (this allows 1024x1024 resolution textures) and the stutters were reduced and the world was a lot crisper. The next thing I did was to scale back the Anisotropic Filtering via nHancer from 16x down to 8x. I really didn't notice any difference in the image, but the frame rates became very stable.

Next, I messed with the target frame rate. "Unlimited" resulting in wildly oscillating frame rates and terrible stuttering. 30 was ok, but still a bit of stuttering and instability in frame rate. 24 seems to be the sweet spot. The stuttering is so minimal that it's really, really difficult to detect and the frame rates are stable. FSX stock Mooney locks in at 23 to 24 fps, the FS2004 Beechcraft B300 from AFG tends to run from 18 to 20 fps, but very, very smooth! Granted, 24 fps is nowhere near the 50+ I get with FS2004, but now FSX is smooth.

harleyman · January 9th, 2009, 18:37

Good deal...

Frames are a great way to see where you're at with your tweaking..Then when it gets smooth and nice...turn the dumb thing off....LOL

**stansdds** · January 10th, 2009, 02:35

Harleyman, I couldn't agree more. Another thing I noticed, or at least perceive, is that leaving the menu bar open slightly decreases frame rates. Maybe it's just me, but it all seems to be ever so slightly faster with the menu bar closed. And why do I have to tell FSX to close the menu bar twice before it closes?

harleyman · January 10th, 2009, 03:29

Many report that running in windowed mode hits their frames ..As to why it needs told twice,who knows,maybe it was a lack of parenting growing up....LOL

Really,I have no ideas on that...I guess whats important to rember is that at least it finally does do as you ask.....

Sorry I have no answer for that....:whistle:

**FLighT01** · January 21st, 2009, 08:42

Indeed, running in windowed mode on my box drops fps into the teens from a steady (1% or less variation) 30 fps when locked at 30. I can also lock at 60 and get 45 to 60 anywhere but I think the less variation in fps, regardless of the number once you get at or above 24, generally the smoother it will fly.

That being said, I will still get an occasional single "micropause" (for lack of a better word) from time to time regardless of my average fps and it's steadiness. I interpret a stutter as 2 or more pauses in quick succession. I'm thinking it has to do with scenery load / autogen and the video card capabilities. My 280 certainly has the specs to do a creditable job but again, we're talking FSX, anything can and will happen over time. It seems like you can have stable and sufficient fps and still get graphical glitches. On those extremely rare occasions I've seen a comparative bar graph test of various OS's or GPU's or CPU's trying to drive FSX I know that just because the bar shows 35 fps out of a major metropolitan area with a given card does not guarantee stutter or pause free performance, just that you can average (or peak) at those numbers. I find it's not unusual when turning onto final approach for some sort of visual glitch, stutter, whatever, to occur as the runway lights (or any lights for that matter, ie. AI) come into view. Rapid changes of view: panning, snap panning, inside to outside and back, rapid banking at low altitude all increase the probability of a burp in the program.

I've tried all the tweaks, some work, some don't, some have little or no effect. I can live with what I've got at this point. It's unbelievably good 98% of the time, so buttery smooth. It's that 2% that grates. (Well it's probably much less than 1% of actual flight time...but 2% sounds more dramatic).

I can no more turn down my aggressive grahics settings than I can drive 55 so I never try that approach. I'm primarily a VFR flyer.

I continue to maintain the steady strain and enjoy FSX. But, I do look forward to Win7 & FS11.