Lagging on a Mid-End PC

[brian]

I'm running FSX: Steam edition with a i7-6700, 16GB DDR4 and a GTX 1070 which should be plenty for FSX but I still lag on mid-settings. Is there something slowing me down? I run at 1-8 FPS which is literally impossible and it freezes every 10 seconds or so.

[Erazer]

Good day Dan,

Run through this as a preliminary checkup:

https://steamcommunity.com/app/314160/discussions/0/1813170373221711244/

I run with the Steam overlay turned off and use the Nvidia Experience overlay which gives a much better idea of FPS. Under certain conditions I can achieve 880 FPS.

In your privacy tab scroll down to background applications and turn off all the ones you don't need or don't use.

Make sure that everything is fully updated including your computers firmware. [Device Manager]

What type of drives are you using? HDD SSD or M2 SSD?

Is FSX on its own partition or is it a 'standard' installation?

This is just for starters...

[maelstrom_19]

Originally posted by DanG:

I'm running FSX: Steam edition with a i7-6700, 16GB DDR4 and a GTX 1070 which should be plenty for FSX but I still lag on mid-settings. Is there something slowing me down? I run at 1-8 FPS which is literally impossible and it freezes every 10 seconds or so.

What screen resolution are you using? Your problem is almost certainly down to one of two things (or a combination of both):

1. You have an app (or apps) running in the background which is using up CPU performance (like an open web browser, antivirus doing a scan or some other active software which you haven't closed before starting FSX). FSX relies VERY heavily on single-core CPU performance and anything which uses up processor cycles will noticeably affect it.

2. Settings within FSX. Having air and ground traffic set too high can often cause low performance (I keep mine below 20%). Try turning down the global texture resolution and untick lens flare and light bloom. Scenery complexity and autogen density can also kill performance if they're set too high.

[brian]

Originally posted by n74k2gunz8:

Originally posted by DanG:

I'm running FSX: Steam edition with a i7-6700, 16GB DDR4 and a GTX 1070 which should be plenty for FSX but I still lag on mid-settings. Is there something slowing me down? I run at 1-8 FPS which is literally impossible and it freezes every 10 seconds or so.

What screen resolution are you using? Your problem is almost certainly down to one of two things (or a combination of both):

1. You have an app (or apps) running in the background which is using up CPU performance (like an open web browser, antivirus doing a scan or some other active software which you haven't closed before starting FSX). FSX relies VERY heavily on single-core CPU performance and anything which uses up processor cycles will noticeably affect it.

2. Settings within FSX. Having air and ground traffic set too high can often cause low performance (I keep mine below 20%). Try turning down the global texture resolution and untick lens flare and light bloom. Scenery complexity and autogen density can also kill performance if they're set too high.

I have traffic off and I run at 1200 by 1920. The rest of my settings are at mid-ultra high.

[Erazer]

In Nvidia control panel use 'Aspect Ratio' and try running at 1920x1080 as these monitors now predominate.

You using the one monitor?

What type is it?

IPS is considered to be the best all-round panel type that distinguishes itself by the big color gamut and good viewing angles. These features also make it the most expensive panels.

Good color and wide viewing angles.

The refresh rate is often too low for gaming. Please note this if you want to use your IPS screen for gaming.

PLS

PLS stands for Plan to Line Switching. It resembles the IPS technique. The brightness of this type of panel is often a bit higher.

The same image quality as IPS.

The refresh rate is often too low for gaming. Please note this if you want to use your PLS screen for gaming.

TN

TN has a lower color representation and less wide viewing angles than IPS panels. TN panels do have a high refresh rate at a relatively low price.

The refresh rate of TN panels is high, so they are suitable for gaming.

TN panels have a lower quality color representation, and less wide viewing angles.

VA

VA falls between IPS and TN regarding color representation. The same applies to MVA and AMVA. Those are two panel types of the existing VA technique. The contrast and black level are higher for this type of panel than for other panels.

Good mid-range image quality, high contrast and black levels

The response time of VA panels can be too low for gaming

[maelstrom_19]

Originally posted by DanG:

I have traffic off and I run at 1200 by 1920. The rest of my settings are at mid-ultra high.

Your resolution should run just fine in FSX and it's always best to run at the native resolution of your monitor. However, surprisingly, some of your settings may still be too high. FSX was basically designed for CPUs which didn't even exist at the time and it's only recently that the hardware has caught up. Even with the latest and greatest systems, not all settings can be maxed out with some add-ons. You may want to try the suggestions in these guides:

https://www.avsim.com/files/file/41-avsim-basic-fsx-configuration-guide/
https://www.simforums.com/forums/the-fsx-computer-system-the-bible-by-nickn_topic46211.html

They're not specifically for the Steam Edition but most things still apply. The second one is a bit of a mammoth read! Ignore any references to HIGHMEMFIX as it's already included.