The Miracle Tweak!!! (not fps limiter)

**SolarEagle** · March 19th, 2009, 18:27

I just stumbled on a tweak that I'm calling a miracle. It may not work the same on all systems, but on my i7 rig it has transformed everything. It's very simple, and with it I'm able to run EXTREMELY DENSE autogen at default levels, meaning DEFAULT max per cell values, with NO STUTTERS of any kind, totally glass smooth, and no blurries.

Depending on the area I am able to do this at a full 25-45fps, never going below 25. I've tested this with and without the new fps limiter utility, and I am getting best results WITHOUT it.

The tweak is to use UMLIMTED frame rate, and set a BUFFER POOL value of 200MB-300MB. The Buffer Pool is what makes or breaks stutters on my system. You will need lots of video RAM for this, though on my 900MB GTX260 I am able to run 300MB, and also use 2048 non DXT5 clouds, 8xS supersampling, and 16xAF at 1600x1200 with no impact on performance.

The shots below show Extremely Dense autogen with no max per cell tweak in use, and the flight was glass smooth, unbelievably smooth. The urban shots are running at 25-27fps, and the rural shots are running 30-40fps. If I drop Buffer Pools back down to 100MB for example, the game becomes and stuttering mess and absolutely unplayable with this kind of autogen.

Give a 200-300MB Buffer Pool a try and let me know how it goes. It works well in combination with the fps limiter utility since that too uses unlimited framerate, but I was getting faster frames when starting without the modified bat.

I simply can't believe I'm geting 25-40fps in these scenes with no a single stutter.

harleyman · March 19th, 2009, 18:31

I have tried Bufferpools on my rig and they did not help....I have plenty of Vid mem too with the 4870X2....

I thought that tweak was for low level stuttering while panning? who knows why some thing work good on one rig and not another.....

Yours is looking great though....

**SolarEagle** · March 19th, 2009, 18:34

Previously people were using low values for Buffer Pools, such as 10-20MB, and more recently I have been using 80-100MB, but I've never heard of anyone using 200MB or more. Only when going beyond 200MB do I see the stutters vanish. That's a value of 200000000 to 300000000.

**lifejogger** · March 19th, 2009, 18:35

Looks real good, but then so does your computer specs. drool drool.

**Dexdoggy** · March 19th, 2009, 18:38

This sounds of interest! In the main FSX config file? (sorry for dummy question!)

**MenendezDiego** · March 19th, 2009, 18:41

Yea...that is SWEET!!!

How and where do I set Bufferpools

harleyman · March 19th, 2009, 19:21

Originally Posted by MenendezDiego

Yea...that is SWEET!!!

How and where do I set Bufferpools

[BUFFERPOOLS]
Poolsize=200000000 -to- 300000000

Almost at the bottom of the config under [ SIM]

harleyman · March 19th, 2009, 19:38

SolarEagle

Are you using the Texture_Bandwidth_multiplier with that Bufferpoole?

**MenendezDiego** · March 19th, 2009, 19:39

What Config? Can you be more specific Harleyman? Example C program files, microsoft games, fsx...yaddie yaddie yaddie

Regards, Diego

**SolarEagle** · March 19th, 2009, 19:42

If you have never added Buffer Pools it will not be in the cfg file, so it will need to be added. Just add it to the bottom of the cfg files.

Sofor a 300MB Buffer Pool you would add this:

[BUFFERPOOLS]
PoolSize=300000000

The cfg file is here in Vista, but I can't remember where in XP, though in a similar spot.
C:\Users\username\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\FSX

I was able to run extremely dense with 200MB and only very minor stutters, but 300MB was perfect.

I have always been an unlimited flyer due to the extra performance over locking, but since switching to i7 I have not been able to get rid of stutters with unlimited. Finally the fps limiter tool helped me to achieve that, but even so going real high on autogen still produced a stuttering mess. With 300MB I cannot induce stuttering if I try.

The other cftg tweaks I'm using are below. Using a texture bandwidth mult of 80-120 helps to keep things moving well. 80 was good on my Core 2 quad, but with i7 I use 120.

[DISPLAY]
TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=120

[JOBSCHEDULER]
AffinityMask=15

Using other high video memory setting may prevent you from using this tweak, or limit you to 200MB. High levels of antialiasing, high screen resolution, high definition clouds, and texture intensive sceneries like YMML are items to consider when tuning as these are what will drive video memory usage up.

harleyman · March 19th, 2009, 20:09

Well I put it in mine to see...It broke every plane and Rotor I have....:faint:

**orionll** · March 19th, 2009, 20:58

Suppose I'll give it a try.

**orionll** · March 19th, 2009, 22:36

lol wut?

That was weird. My FPS were more consistent and slightly higher. Without the tweak I was getting 11-17 FPS and with the tweak it was staying around 16. Used 120 for texture bandwidth mult and 300 million for bufferpools, as posted. I was looking toward the ground, max scenery.

Computer specs:

AMD Phenom 9850 Quad Core 2.5 GHz
ASUS M3N-HD/HDMI
4GB DDR2
NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS 640
Windows Vista 64 bit Service Pack 1

Maybe I should try using the affinity mask tweak...

**SolarEagle** · March 19th, 2009, 23:57

A couple more with max autogen.

**RudiJG1** · March 20th, 2009, 01:49

Originally Posted by harleyman

Well I put it in mine to see...It broke every plane and Rotor I have....:faint:

I've tried this tweak as well; I've got an E6600 Core Duo (oc'd to 3.2 GHz) and an 8800 GTX with 768 MB video ram. The ultrahigh bufferpools setting does smooth things considerably, but after the initial flight (which loads fine), I get the same video errors that Harleyman is seeing when I try to load another flight without restarting FSX. Only by exiting and then restarting FSX can I fly.

**deimos256** · March 20th, 2009, 01:58

tried this and the same thing happened to me as harley. I didnt get past the create flight window and saw the wheels of the ultralight were placed about 30 feet in front. What the?

***Daube*** · March 20th, 2009, 01:58

Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem Quad @ 4.2GHz

THIS is the miracle tweak.

BananaBob · March 20th, 2009, 02:20

I'll have to try this SolarEagle, I have the same system as you but with the 285 1GB card but the farthest I've attempted to overclock the i7 920 is to 3.8 Ghz, it's still very cool, don't know if I should attempt any higher, don't think I will. Curious to see if this works. Thanks. And I agree with above, 4.2 is the miracle tweak! :ernae:

**FLighT01** · March 20th, 2009, 03:13

I'd like to try this but I'm running so good at this time I hate to tamper at this point for fear I won't be able to get back to where I am now. But the next time my setup pukes all over itself I'll give it a go. Maybe it's also only effective, or useable with i7's?

**d0mokun** · March 20th, 2009, 03:44

Seems to do the trick here. I'm on a Q9550. I used the texture_bandwidth_mult too though.

**robcap** · March 20th, 2009, 04:13

Originally Posted by Daube

Intel Core i7 920 Nehalem Quad @ 4.2GHz

THIS is the miracle tweak.

heheh:ernae: and don't forget his 900MB GTX260:faint:
R.

***SpaceWeevil*** · March 20th, 2009, 04:42

This is from Nick N fsx config guide..

Bufferpools: Poolsize=xxxxx Which is the bufferpool reserved video memory for scenery geometry around the aircraft. 512 cards really cant make much use of it and should never reserve more than 15MB, 640 cards 35MB and 768 cards 70-80MB. 1GB cards can reserve more. Many find leaving this edit out of the config is the best way to run. You must experiment with this setting to see if it will or will not help.
640MB and above cards CAN take advantage of Bufferpools however do be careful with this edit.
Bufferpools added to the fsx.cfg file can cause scenery 'spikes' even if the card has enough video memory. This edit to the configuration file works for some and does not work for others. If you see strange graphics errors that do not clear up by visually panning around the outside of the aircraft then you should REMOVE the bufferpool entry from your config file.
Do note that with SP2 for FSX running high sliders depending on the drivers may bring on visual graphic 'spikes' from autogen when a flight is first loaded. If visually panning around the aircraft does not clear them, the bufferpool entry should be reduced or removed completely.

**FLighT01** · March 20th, 2009, 05:52

Originally Posted by d0mokun

Seems to do the trick here. I'm on a Q9550. I used the texture_bandwidth_mult too though.

Did you set TBM at 120?

Past BP entries have given me the spiking issue, I run without it now - no spikes.

**limjack** · March 20th, 2009, 07:15

Question? When messing around with the config. file do I completly have to restart FSX to apply the new changes or will FSX make the changes as soon as I save it .

Jim

harleyman · March 20th, 2009, 07:20

I think its safest to close FSX, Make your changes, then go test...

I have never done config tweaks on the fly, as I'm not sure if they will take new settings like that...

Just what I do though...