helihawks

I am running XP.
When I try to run ms flightsim 2002, on this
fantastic 1 gig processor, It stutters now.
It used to run fine at nearly 28 frames/sec.

Now in task mgr I notice tonight that there
are 33 processes RUNNING without fltsim!

Whats up wit dat?

If I eliminated SOME of these processes, can
I get back to FLYING!?

Any XP heavyweights have an answer?

Thanks
Byron, Omaha

Cougar-RCU

My Feedback: (2)

How do you check the frames/sec???
for G2?
thanks
Jeff

d4a2n0k

My Feedback: (6)

Flight Sim 2k2 is very CPU intensive but a 1 GHZ CPU should work just fine. It might not be your CPU giving you problems rather your memory. As you found out XP is very bloated with background processes. How much RAM do you have? If you do not want to stop some of the processes then adding more RAM will help because it will not be using the swap file on your hardrive. Basically, once your RAM is used up, it will start using your hardrive like RAM which is not nearly as fast as RAM. Hence the choppy play.

Stopping some of the processes might work for you but I would make sure you have at least 256 MB RAM, preferably 512 MB. Windows XP by itself right after a fresh install takes about 100 MB of RAM right off the top. Add to that any programs ie.virus scanner, instant messenger plus the game itself and you will be close to using ~ 500 MB of RAM.

Let me know how much RAM you have and we can go from there. I have been using flight simulator for years and have gone through all of this before.

Cougar-RCU

My Feedback: (2)

How bout using DDR Ram Instead? would it help G2 Any?
I have the slots for them..
Thanks
Jeff

helihawks

Gots .512 gig of ram on the old gal!

Swap file useage is at 177 megs.

Still 33 processes in the background!

SURELY I can dump some of these for
a fltsim session!

IT just sux to have this powerful processor
and lots of ram and have uncle bill take up
room for his stuffins....ya know!???

Give me a hint!

I just may dump everything but the kernel and
explorer......>!

d4a2n0k

My Feedback: (6)

What are your display settings set to? Are they all maxed out? Just to give you an example, I run a P4 1.6a overclocked to 2.4 GHZ, Geforce 4 Ti 4600 and 512 MB DDR Ram running at 400 MHZ. With the settings maxed out I only get about 30-35 FPS at 1280 x 1024.

Also, I run FS2k2 on my laptop which is by no means a screamer. P3 650 MHZ, 320 MB ram and a 16 MB video card. This is also running XP Pro. This bounces between 20-30 FPS at lower settings. It does not stutter at all.

You said "it stutters now", what did you change? Did it run fine on a previous operating system?

Make sure you do not have all the eye candy turned up. Like I said, it is VERY cpu intensive and your 1 GHZ might not be able to handle it with the graphics you want, even with a top of the line video card. Try a simple defrag as well, sometimes works wonders.

If this doesnt work, try stopping some processes as you said. First starting with any anti-virus program. They are known to be resource hogs.

d4a2n0k

My Feedback: (6)

Sorry but I am actually looking into getting G2. I do not have it yet and dont want to give you erroneous information. We are talking about Microsoft Flight Simulator 2002.

I could tell you that with FS 2K2, you would not see a big improvement over SDR Ram with DDR.

Cougar-RCU

My Feedback: (2)

Ok Thanks for the responce. But I still want to know
how you guys see the Frames Per Second, nobody
will tell me *LOL* what or how to I view this , when
running an app? Like G2 or MSF2K
Thanks Much!
Jeff

helihawks

Sounds like you know PC's.
Here's my dilemma:
When I first got the PC last november,
the 933 p3 w. 512 ram RAN fltsim just fabulously!
But over the months, adding software and all (!),
I now have these 'standard' 33 to 39 processes
running with no APPs up!
XP bugs me sometimes......
MS fltsim USED to grant me 20 to 40 fps.
Now I get a stutter every 10 secs that is
extremely disconcerting.
Something in the process section is taking up
the CPU enough to share time.....
I could give you a list of the processes and you'd
most likely see the few that are meaningless in
a Fltsim session at the console!
By

d4a2n0k

My Feedback: (6)

My laptop has 34 processes running just looking at the desktop. It still plays fine.

Did you try to defrag the hardrive? What you are describing sounds to be either a fragmented hardrive or your pc IS using the swap file, which you do not want during a game.

Start FS 2K2 then do a cntl - alt - del and check out the taskmanager. See how much RAM you have free.

Looking at my processes, between real player, aol instant messenger and office xp I could free up about 75 MB RAM which could be your problem.

Do you have any anti-virus programs running, they all stink and cause many problems with gaming. I would turn automatic updates off, that might be accessing the internet every once in a while, also could cause the stutter.

I reformat all my drives every 6 months or so. This may sound like overkill but I have backups of everything and it takes me no time at all to reinstall everything.

Is your hardrive almost full? If not, then you have to see what programs you have installed that would try to look for updates.

This is one of those things that I wish I could be there, sort of hard to diagnose like this you know?

d4a2n0k

My Feedback: (6)

To view FPS in FS 2K2, during the game hold shift and hit z twice. It is different in all games, depends on how the maker set it up so I can not help with G2.

Mayur

to view FPS in G2

goto View, Gadget, Advance Nav Guides and check the box for System:Frames per second

cheers,
Mayur

Cougar-RCU

My Feedback: (2)

Thank You Very much!
Ok when sitting idle it's saying 105 to 110
and when I fly it's running about 250 or so..
is that good?
Thanks!
Jeff

Mayur

u r welcome Jeff,
thats really awesome resolution!! what video card are u running?

Cougar-RCU

My Feedback: (2)

I am just using the GF2 64 card , But I alway's have been
a firm believer in AMD mother boards , cuz there Made for
graphics and Intel was always made for math. Thats just
My Opinion ONLY!... Also I am using a T-bird chip 1000, I am
glad to here that those are good numbers tho! And yes
the graphics are great on my G2.THANKS!
Jeff

ElectRick

My Feedback: (2)

Helihawks...512 GIG of RAM?

Just what motherboard are you using that allows 512 GB of RAM?

At a cost of approx. $120 for 512 MB of RAM, I figure you have around $122,000 in RAM alone.

Must be nice...LMAO

ElectRick

My Feedback: (2)

If it ain't broke...DON'T FIX IT.

If you had great performance in FS200x using Win98 (or whatever you were using), then why oh WHY go to XP if performance takes a dive?

XP might be pretty, but I'll take Win 98SE ANY DAY for a stable, non-performance-killing OS.

And...I can make my 98 LOOK like XP anyways.

Billy Gates has us (you) right where he wants you..caught in a never-ending upgrade loop. I jumped off the "latest & greatest new version of Windows" merry-go-round a couple years ago. 98 does it well for me.

helihawks

Got that covered!

Now, to the pc...
I am going to defrag.
THat must be IT!

ElectRick

My Feedback: (2)

Ahhhh...I missed the "." the first time around. 512 MB sounds a lot more reasonable, but still overkill, IMHO. (I build/repair PC's for a living)

helihawks

What do you think?
MS fltsim 2002 stutters....
Defrag?

Why XP has 33 background processes runnin....
Could this be some of it?
HH

ElectRick

My Feedback: (2)

That would certainly contribute to the slowness. Other things are process/programs that run in the background that periodically access your HD, like AV programs, MS FindFast (goes on w/MS Office), rollback utility programs, screensavers, etc. Shut off anything in the system tray that you don't HAVE to have running. Also,
you should bump up your page file size too (try doubling it, at least).
I didn't see what video card you were using, but a GeForce 2 (or it's equivalent) w/32 MB should be plenty. Might check the FS websites and Mickeysoft's site for known problems using 2002 and XP and for any fixes/tweaks.