Author Topic: Advice on upgrading video card and more memory  (Read 7961 times)

roundrobin

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Advice on upgrading video card and more memory
« on: January 10, 2015, 06:20:38 PM »
Hi Friends,
I thought I would put this by you to see if anyone has recently done this. I have a great system with a Intel i-7 3rd generation 3280 CPU, ASUS Sabertooth Z77 MB, 16gb mem and an ASUS NVIDIA GTX680 video card. The system is 2 years old this month in a great server case.
I am still lagging a bit in some areas with the odd pauses. I am planning on doing this:

1. from 16gb to 32gb of memory (Kingston non ecc  1600mhz  4x8gb)
2. Upgrade video card from the GTX680 to the ASUS NVIDIA GTX 980

Total expenditures in the $1000 cdn range.

any thougts? Would the extra mem help me ?
anyone done this lately?

Cheers

Al

ualani

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Re: Advice on upgrading video card and more memory
« Reply #1 on: January 10, 2015, 07:20:35 PM »
Al,
Where are you getting odd pauses? FSX, or other applications? Remember, FSX is a 32 bit application and, depending on what you read, can't use more than 4 gb of ram. If you're looking for more speed and fewer pauses (or stuttering) then more ram than you already have won't make any difference. Stuttering can be caused by numerous things, but with a LOT of patience and experimenting can be reduced if not completely eliminated with a properly tuned system. Also, FSX is a very CPU intensive application and for the most part the faster the CPU speed, the smoother FSX will run. FSX run with Steve's DX10 Fixer will shift more of the CPU load to the GPU for a smoother experience. However, the DX10 Fixer takes some time to set up and fine tune as well.

That's a lot of money for that kind of upgrade, in my opinion. While the 980 would be really sweet it's probably overkill for what you need. You'd be better off going up a step or 2 to a 2nd generation video card and upgrading your CPU to something that will boost your clock speed to at least 4 ghz or more, if your MBO can handle it. My opinion only and there's a million philosophies on the topic and there's a ton of info on the topic out there.

FWIW, I only have 6 gb ram and an Intel I7 950 CPU overclocked to 4.12 ghz. running FSX with Steve's DX10 fixer and an Nvidia GTX 760, sliders set per ORBX recommendations. Does fine for 99% my type of flying.

If you get annoying stutters, I'd be glad to work with you privately on this.
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roundrobin

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Re: Advice on upgrading video card and more memory
« Reply #2 on: January 10, 2015, 08:07:30 PM »
Thank you so much. I'll stick with the 16gb mem.
My CPU is default clocked at 3750 and can be overclocked way higher than that. So I will play with that. It makes sense, that more ram won't help. 3 years ago I would have picked up in that right away. My CPU is 3rd gen i-7. 3750 so I won't need much to get up to above 4ghz.
I'll do some reading on the DX-10. I don't get a ton of pauses. A small one taking off from Misty's place. The odd ones going into PANK with the Obx scenery. Not sure how high of a CPU my board will support and I will check on that, also, because I have access to wholesale pricing. Anyway, I am glad I asked before doing this.

Cheers and might take you up on some help with DX-10

Al


Al,
Where are you getting odd pauses? FSX, or other applications? Remember, FSX is a 32 bit application and, depending on what you read, can't use more than 4 gb of ram. If you're looking for more speed and fewer pauses (or stuttering) then more ram than you already have won't make any difference. Stuttering can be caused by numerous things, but with a LOT of patience and experimenting can be reduced if not completely eliminated with a properly tuned system. Also, FSX is a very CPU intensive application and for the most part the faster the CPU speed, the smoother FSX will run. FSX run with Steve's DX10 Fixer will shift more of the CPU load to the GPU for a smoother experience. However, the DX10 Fixer takes some time to set up and
« Last Edit: January 10, 2015, 08:09:49 PM by roundrobin »

spud

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Re: Advice on upgrading video card and more memory
« Reply #3 on: January 11, 2015, 08:52:12 AM »
Al,
just a question about where you have your frame rate set.  I'm not getting into a symantics contest about what can and can't be seen by the human eye so folks don't bother to go there.  If you have it set to unlimited try just for giggles setting it to about 25 or 30 FPS and see if your sim smooths out.  Chasing FPS is probably the most frustrating thing a simmer can do.  If the sim is smooth at only 20 FPS then don't worry about the frames, smooth is smooth and you certainly do not need 80FPS to fly FSX.  There will always be that one littly place in the world where a texture loads slow enough to cause a noticable glitch, its just the nature of the beast just shoot for smooth operations not massive FPS numbers.
Later,

Spud

roundrobin

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Re: Advice on upgrading video card and more memory
« Reply #4 on: January 11, 2015, 03:19:39 PM »
Spud, Ualani,

First thank you for the feedback and help.
I have all my settings set as per the recommended ftx settings and my scenery is in order. I have the fps at unlimited. I don't get a ton of pauses. Just on take off from Misty and a few going into Ketchikan with the FTX scenery.

I think that Ualani's suggestion of DX10 is the way to go. I found this awesome tutorial and review on the web, most of you probably already have read it but it is here:
 http://mutleyshangar.com/reviews/bc/dx10/dx10.htm
I think that this review by Brian Cowell is a must for anyone that is on DX10 wether you are newbie or an old pro. This is so well presented!

It all makes sense. I am going to start the first steps on going there today. I have the NVIDIA GTX680 card with 4gb mem on it. Its crazy not using that memory for graphics and freeing the CPU resources for other things. I will purchase the fixer. One good thing about starting late is that there has been a lot of fixes and I should have a fairly good reliable version of the fixer to get me going.
I am going to overclock my cpu a bit, from 3.5 to 4.1ghz and see the results.

I know that sooner or later, I will have to take the P3D plundge! Maybe!!
Confession: I am still thinking of spending some of my kid's inheritance and buying myself a super game machine :-) and use my old one for Internet etc,,,,Anybody else feels that way?

I will report back when all is done. 

Cheers
Al

Al,
just a question about where you have your frame rate set.  I'm not getting into a symantics contest about what can and can't be seen by the human eye so folks don't bother to go there.  If you have it set to unlimited try just for giggles setting it to about 25 or 30 FPS and see if your sim smooths out.  Chasing FPS is probably the most frustrating thing a simmer can do.  If the sim is smooth at only 20 FPS then don't worry about the frames, smooth is smooth and you certainly do not need 80FPS to fly FSX.  There will always be that one littly place in the world where a texture loads slow enough to cause a noticable glitch, its just the nature of the beast just shoot for smooth operations not massive FPS numbers.

ualani

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Re: Advice on upgrading video card and more memory
« Reply #5 on: January 11, 2015, 04:27:17 PM »
Al,
I just looked at the Mutley's Hangar review of the Fixer. It is almost a year old and much of the info is dated and not accurate in some areas. There have been numerous updates, fixes, enhancements,  as well as the GUI having  been completely redone several times. Also, there is email notification when new versions are available. Follow the links he provides for very knowledgeable support (http://forum.avsim.net/forum/644-the-official-dx10-scenery-fixer-support-forum/ and http://forum.avsim.net/forum/569-dx-10-discussions-hints-and-help/ as well as http://forum.avsim.net/forum/569-dx-10-discussions-hints-and-help/)

Read, Read, Read!!!

Let us know if you decide to go this route and we can lend help where we can.

Steve

EDIT:
As of a few days ago, Steve's Fixer was temporarily unavailable for download for a short time, but should be back again soon. He does this every once in a while for some reason.
« Last Edit: January 11, 2015, 04:42:22 PM by ualani »
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roundrobin

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Re: Advice on upgrading video card and more memory
« Reply #6 on: January 11, 2015, 05:17:43 PM »
Thanks Steve,
Yes READ READ READ. is usually good advice.

Thanks for that. There is so much out there that sometimes its hard to sort it out. I'll go to the link. I am just in the process of backing everything up.

al

roundrobin

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Re: Advice on upgrading video card and more memory
« Reply #7 on: January 11, 2015, 07:16:47 PM »
Overclocked my CPU to 4.26 (as suggested by Steve) and gained 10to 20fps and the pauses around PANK have stopped! Just amazing!
I used the ASUS Turbo V EVO program that came with my board (Sabertooth Z77). Started at 4.6 and it crashed. It seems to like 4.26. My CPU is the I-7 3700K. Anyway, first steps and it was worth it.

Cheers

Al

FWIW, I only have 6 gb ram and an Intel I7 950 CPU overclocked to 4.12 ghz. running FSX

ualani

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Re: Advice on upgrading video card and more memory
« Reply #8 on: January 11, 2015, 07:21:43 PM »
Watch your temps.
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roundrobin

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Re: Advice on upgrading video card and more memory
« Reply #9 on: January 11, 2015, 07:30:47 PM »
WILCO

[uote author=ualani link=topic=2438.msg19892#msg19892 date=1421022103]
Watch your temps.
[/quote]

NeptuneP2V7

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Re: Advice on upgrading video card and more memory
« Reply #10 on: January 12, 2015, 07:36:04 AM »
Hi roundrobin

I think that for $ 60 it would be cheaper to buy P3D2.4 academic

with your PC config you'd be more comfortable with all your PC components

by what FSX eat giga OC proc

Patrick
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jeff3163

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Re: Advice on upgrading video card and more memory
« Reply #11 on: January 12, 2015, 08:13:26 AM »
Hi roundrobin

I think that for $ 60 it would be cheaper to buy P3D2.4 academic

with your PC config you'd be more comfortable with all your PC components

by what FSX eat giga OC proc

Patrick

Yes, yes, yes!!!  Upgrade to Prepar3D v2.4.   ;)  . . . and don't overclock anything.
« Last Edit: January 12, 2015, 08:16:37 AM by jeff3163 »

Win10Pro64, MSFS 1.25.9.0, P3Dv4.3.29.25520, AMD Ryzen7 1800X@3.6 GHz , 32Gb RAM, GTX 1080 Ti, 2x42" Vizio Monitors, HTC Vive VR HMD, Saitek Yoke/Pedals/trim wheel, XBox360 Controller, G27 steering wheel w/shifter+pedals. :P

roundrobin

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Re: Advice on upgrading video card and more memory
« Reply #12 on: January 12, 2015, 02:10:23 PM »

Yes. I think its time to take the plunge !

Al



Hi roundrobin

I think that for $ 60 it would be cheaper to buy P3D2.4 academic

with your PC config you'd be more comfortable with all your PC components

by what FSX eat giga OC proc

Patrick

Yes, yes, yes!!!  Upgrade to Prepar3D v2.4.   ;)  . . . and don't overclock anything.

ualani

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Re: Advice on upgrading video card and more memory
« Reply #13 on: January 12, 2015, 02:47:25 PM »
I think you're going to have a lot more invested than just $60 before you're finished upgrading everything.
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NeptuneP2V7

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Re: Advice on upgrading video card and more memory
« Reply #14 on: January 12, 2015, 08:35:37 PM »
I think you're going to have a lot more invested than just $60 before you're finished upgrading everything.
have a friend Jean Maridor ; with P3D2.4  and his config is : Intel Core2 Quad CPU Q6600 @2,4GHz, 4.0GB RAM DDR2, ASUS GeForce GTX750 Ti OC 2Go,
MS Windows 7 Pro 32BitsL and he is very happy with P3D2.4 . for 3 months ago   ;)

here : http://www.pilote-virtuel.com/viewtopic.php?id=65513

Patrick
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