Autogen Spikes

[Tom Wright 438]

Hi, Just wondered if anyone can help me with this FSX problem. I'm literally at my wits end with it!! About a week or so ago I bought and downloaded Earth Simulation's Guernsey scenery. It really is fantastic, but, as i've been finding out, it's VERY heavy on performance. When I first loaded it it was barely usable at all, but i've fine tuned many settings and parameters and finally got what I deem to be acceptable frame rates. What bugs me though, is the spikes and artefacts from the autogen. They're generally only momentary when you pan around in Spot view, but are quite frequent and incredibly frustrating. I'm running Autogen at 'Very Dense'. I cannot run 'Extremely Dense' at all. Even with one step lower - 'Dense' the spikes don't really improve. I don't really want it any lower than that because the lack of 3D in my view detracts greatly from the realism. I've played with just about every setting I can think of. Aircraft detail is very low. AA and AF levels are set at their lowest in Inspector. The CFG was tweaked using ******* Altuve's automated tool for my hardware. I've also tried using different buffer pools settings, as well as running a clean unedited CFG. Still doesn't eradicate the problem. System specs: Core i7 920 @ 4.0GHz, 4.0Gb DDR3 RAM (should be 6.0Gb but my Asus P6T board seems to only recognise 4.0Gb of it after installing a new CPU cooler - another story!), nVidia GTX 285, Windows 7 Pro 64 bit, FSX SP2 Acceleration. Problem seems to be isolated to Guernsey. It can run even Orbx sceneries (Aus and PNW) at maximum settings without this problem. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated! Thanks,Tom Wright

[CFIJose 5,485]

Have you tried locking the FSX fps at 30. That should eliminate the spikes.

[Tom Wright 438]

Hi, Yes i've tried Unlimited, 30, 25, 20... Both the internal limiter and an external one. Thanks,Tom Wright

[nikaslan 9]

Autogen spikes are GPU related and usually have to do with the "UsePools=0" setting inside fsx.cfg combined with a 'heavy' scenery, weather, even aircraft and high graphics settings (AA and AF in nvidia inspector). If you want to get rid of the spikes you have to lower your graphics driver settings, lower the autogen to 'Dense', lower cloud density and if they perist try to disable "UsePools=0". Something in this scenery is overloading your GPU. Check you GPU load when the spikes appear. Nikos

[Paul J 349]

lower cloud density and if they perist try to disable "UsePools=0".

and use ... [bufferPools]UsePools=1PoolSize=8388608RejectThreshold=262144 (or larger) ...instead.

[virtualstuff 770]

Hi, Just wondered if anyone can help me with this FSX problem. I'm literally at my wits end with it!! About a week or so ago I bought and downloaded Earth Simulation's Guernsey scenery. It really is fantastic, but, as i've been finding out, it's VERY heavy on performance. When I first loaded it it was barely usable at all, but i've fine tuned many settings and parameters and finally got what I deem to be acceptable frame rates. What bugs me though, is the spikes and artefacts from the autogen. They're generally only momentary when you pan around in Spot view, but are quite frequent and incredibly frustrating. I'm running Autogen at 'Very Dense'. I cannot run 'Extremely Dense' at all. Even with one step lower - 'Dense' the spikes don't really improve. I don't really want it any lower than that because the lack of 3D in my view detracts greatly from the realism. I've played with just about every setting I can think of. Aircraft detail is very low. AA and AF levels are set at their lowest in Inspector. The CFG was tweaked using ******* Altuve's automated tool for my hardware. I've also tried using different buffer pools settings, as well as running a clean unedited CFG. Still doesn't eradicate the problem. System specs: Core i7 920 @ 4.0GHz, 4.0Gb DDR3 RAM (should be 6.0Gb but my Asus P6T board seems to only recognise 4.0Gb of it after installing a new CPU cooler - another story!), nVidia GTX 285, Windows 7 Pro 64 bit, FSX SP2 Acceleration. Problem seems to be isolated to Guernsey. It can run even Orbx sceneries (Aus and PNW) at maximum settings without this problem. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated! Thanks,Tom Wright

Most off the time when autogen spikes it's memory related and you could lower the detail to relieve your system from the memory strain...

[Kuckoo 2]

What awf said. Autogen spikes, disappearing textures, etc. are memory related and is an indication that your memory budget is just about used up in that session. Usually, if you continue with that session, FSX will stop and you will get an Out Of Memeory error. In the [GRAPHICS] section of you FSX.cfg (located at C:\Users\--- your username ---\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\FSX) enter these lines if you have not already done so: HIGHMEMFIX=1STALE_BUFFER_THRESHOLD=2147483647SHADER_CACHE_VERSION=1 This should help with video memory management while FSX is running. Also, every time you make a change in the FSX.cfg, increment the SHADER_CACHE_VERSION value by 1. This will rebuild the shader cache on the next FSX restart. Note, however, that even 4gb of RAM is still a bit minimal for FSX, especially if you're running demanding addons, as your system still has to run other stuff that takes up RAM real estate while FSX is running. This is especially true for 64bit OSs. Get that RAM situation fixed and bump it up to at least 6gb and you should be in good shape.

[Bert Pieke 7,591]

Note, however, that even 4gb of RAM is still a bit minimal for FSX, especially if you're running demanding addons, as your system still has to run other stuff that takes up RAM real estate while FSX is running. This is especially true for 64bit OSs. Get that RAM situation fixed and bump it up to at least 6gb and you should be in good shape.

Not sure that increasing RAM will address GPU related issues like Autogen spikes...

[Tom Wright 438]

Hi all, Thanks for your suggestions. I've tried the mentioned buffer pools settings, and i've also tried starting with a fresh CFG file and using in-sim AA and AF. It's improved somewhat, but the spikes still appear. When I get the RAM issue sorted out (which looks like it'll be an RMA job to Asus), i'm considering upgrading my graphics card. It's 2 years old and has served me well! Thanks,Tom

[Tom Wright 438]

Ok, done some more testing and have monitored the GPU usage and memory usage whilst running. I don't think it's a memory issue, as it doesn't use more than 60% of the 1Gb VRAM. However, GPU Load is at or near 99% most of the time in this scenery area. Thanks,Tom

[Kuckoo 2]

Not sure that increasing RAM will address GPU related issues like Autogen spikes...

I was speaking in regards to freeing up memory for non-graphic FSX tasks, FSX background add-on tasks (ASE, UTII, etc.) and other non-FSX related system tasks, as well as minimizing swapping with the hard drive, which slows performance. The HIGHMEMFIX entries helps with the spikes, but any efficient RAM management only helps if you have the RAM to manage.

[Bryn 72]

I was having this problem for the last few months. At my wits end, I swapped out the video card for an older one I had lying around, and they disappeared. Curiosity and frusttation got the better of me and I opened uo the card I removed with a screwdriver to find two small dead winged bugs stuck on the conections of the VRAM. My card had been telling me something was up with those spikes, but now it was dead. After cleaning the bugs away and trying it one more time, it was clear it had been lasting damage.I showed my wife the card, the screws, the bugs, and a glum face, and she let me buy a new one. The glum face was a very important step in this troubleshooting solution.Bryn

[jwenham 1]

Hi, Just wondered if anyone can help me with this FSX problem. I'm literally at my wits end with it!! About a week or so ago I bought and downloaded Earth Simulation's Guernsey scenery. It really is fantastic, but, as i've been finding out, it's VERY heavy on performance. When I first loaded it it was barely usable at all, but i've fine tuned many settings and parameters and finally got what I deem to be acceptable frame rates. What bugs me though, is the spikes and artefacts from the autogen. They're generally only momentary when you pan around in Spot view, but are quite frequent and incredibly frustrating. I'm running Autogen at 'Very Dense'. I cannot run 'Extremely Dense' at all. Even with one step lower - 'Dense' the spikes don't really improve. I don't really want it any lower than that because the lack of 3D in my view detracts greatly from the realism. I've played with just about every setting I can think of. Aircraft detail is very low. AA and AF levels are set at their lowest in Inspector. The CFG was tweaked using ******* Altuve's automated tool for my hardware. I've also tried using different buffer pools settings, as well as running a clean unedited CFG. Still doesn't eradicate the problem. System specs: Core i7 920 @ 4.0GHz, 4.0Gb DDR3 RAM (should be 6.0Gb but my Asus P6T board seems to only recognise 4.0Gb of it after installing a new CPU cooler - another story!), nVidia GTX 285, Windows 7 Pro 64 bit, FSX SP2 Acceleration. Problem seems to be isolated to Guernsey. It can run even Orbx sceneries (Aus and PNW) at maximum settings without this problem. Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated! Thanks,Tom Wright

Have you tried playing around with the PRE-RENDER setting for your video card? I had this problem especially around EHAM where no matter what I would get AG spikes. After changing my pre-render to 1 from the default of 3 the went away. By making this change and this is my opinion on it, you are matching up your CPU/GPU to work more in harmony with each other. With a setting of 3 your CPU will render 3 frames ahead before sending that info to your GPU. With a setting of 1 your CPU will only render 1 frame ahead of what your GPU is rendering which in turn makes a faster almost 1 to 1 exchange of information between the two. This setting change also fixed for me where I would experience what I call surges in the SIm. Big FPS swings which for what ever reason I only get in a few areas of the FSX world. One area I would get this is at Toncontin. The Pre-Render setting of 1 fixed it in that area for me. Try it and see and be sure to lock your FPS internally or with a limiter. Try 28 FPS for a lock and see how it goes. - Jim

[Tom Wright 438]

Have you tried playing around with the PRE-RENDER setting for your video card? I had this problem especially around EHAM where no matter what I would get AG spikes. After changing my pre-render to 1 from the default of 3 the went away. By making this change and this is my opinion on it, you are matching up your CPU/GPU to work more in harmony with each other. With a setting of 3 your CPU will render 3 frames ahead before sending that info to your GPU. With a setting of 1 your CPU will only render 1 frame ahead of what your GPU is rendering which in turn makes a faster almost 1 to 1 exchange of information between the two. This setting change also fixed for me where I would experience what I call surges in the SIm. Big FPS swings which for what ever reason I only get in a few areas of the FSX world. One area I would get this is at Toncontin. The Pre-Render setting of 1 fixed it in that area for me. Try it and see and be sure to lock your FPS internally or with a limiter. Try 28 FPS for a lock and see how it goes. - Jim

Hi Jim, Interesting. Sorry - amateur hour here - how do I do that?! EDIT: Don't worry i've done it now. Made a small improvement. Only seem to spike now when I go crazy with the view. Thanks,Tom

[CFIJose 5,485]

Here's my miracle tweak: [bufferPools]PoolSize=30000 Many have already fallen in love with these two lines. It gives you the same boost as BP=0 without the artifacts. However the gtx 285 might not be good enough. A gtx 570 upgrade is probably the way to go.