258: P3D v2.3 Finally Up and Running

Even though my simulator is running smooth again after rolling back to v2.2.   My thought is still haunted by the mysterious cause and reluctantly to let it go.

After carrying out various deep cleanings on my computer and reinstalled a clean upgrade from a new download onto the same but reformatted SSD, eventually, the P3D v2.3 is up and running now.   Very likely that there were somethings missing in the first download or the stutters were caused by some unknown leftovers from the last version.

Well, there are still significant stutters encountered over certain areas sporadically.   But in general, the v2.3 upgrade is so far performing as it should be.

For the moment, it’s premature to say that the new version is better or worse than the previous one since nothing has been added to it yet.

Will update more after system is properly tuned.

For the moment, don’t miss the feedbacks in the Comment section.

14 thoughts on “258: P3D v2.3 Finally Up and Running

  1. I tried all these things without much luck. It definitely seemed cloud-related to me, so I thought REX4 was the problem. Then I finally found the one setting to virtually eliminate the stutters for me… disabling/unchecking the “volumetric fog” in P3D’s Display Settings. This seems to have worked for a lot of people, although not everyone. I worked wonders for me. Naturally, I also have shadows turned off too. The good news is… I still have HD textures from REX4 TD installed!

    As you know Tom, everyone’s PC is very different, and often in many ways. Maybe this will help you or your readers.

    Thanks for great tips on the site!

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    1. Thanks PhilC for sharing your experience. I have the volumetric fog turned off as well but just for my personal preference. The fog doesn’t impact my PC luckily.
      But you are quite right that different machines react differently. It’s certainly a good point to check if someone encounters the stutter issue. Thanks again.
      Tom

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  2. Hi Tom, unfortunately I am in the same boat as you. The patch itself worked flawlessly and version 2.3 is indicated. However, after I had 2.2 running very smoothly and with quite decent fps, 2.3 stutters as hell, notably in turns and with clouds. I hate to re-install all the stuff, wasting one day of my short life, but it might be unavoidable.

    Michael

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    1. Hi Michael,
      I still not satisfy with what 2.3 is performing even though it is up and running now.
      Are you connecting Saitek’s FIPs to it ? If so, try disconnect them as they kill 20 fps at least.
      Just sent you my cfg that runs well on my machine. You could try it on yours but don’t connect to any FIP. Other panels are fine.
      BTW, I normally backup my whole P3D drive with Acronis True Image so that I can restore to where I was quickly.
      Tom

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      1. Hi Tom, first, thanks for sending your config file which, unfortunately, did not help with performance. Also, the FIPs are not or not alone the culprits in my case, they just eat ~2 fps as before. That’s just the point: I could not (yet) find a single issue, without exe.xml and dll.xml it’s quite smooth and 30 fps, but adding the entries every one eats away 1 or 2 frames (UT2 more) and I end up below 20 and with stutters (this being at KSFO and with high settings, however, I noticed slider settings, including autogen, do not change much, which really makes me think).

        I found two things helped a bit: (i) I re-added the low-resolution REX4 texture set wich I had restored temporarily to the default before patching (ii) I removed 2 cores from prepar3d.exe, which seems to help with all the addons like UT2 and the FIPs driver etc. giving them more CPU resources.

        I am still not satisfied, given, this was promised to be a PERFORMANCE upgrade, I feel it’s rather a PERFORMANCE downgrade. Might try a clean re-install as you did, but I am afraid to end up with the same performance after 1 day of dull word.

        I’ll keep you posted in case I find something really helpful.

        Kind regards, Michael

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      2. Sorry to hear that. I experienced similar, before adding tthe FIPs, it runs smoothly. Then, 20 FPSs dropped after FIPs are added.
        BTW, do note that you need the latest FSUIPC 4934f beta version for v2.3.
        Tom

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      3. I upgraded all the libraries, Obejctflow, FSUIPC, Couatl, even before the sim. A question occured to me, if, perhaps, the FIPs drivers (SaiFlightSimX.exe) and SPAD might benefit from a P3D2.3 upgrade, too, but unfortunately there is no one to even adress this question after Saitek decided to sink their forum when implementing their new all singing and dancing website.

        Kind regards, Michael

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      4. Here’s an update, as promised:

        (i) After deactivating/activating numerous dll.xml/exe.xml entries I am afraid you are right. The FIPS seem indeed to be the main cause of my stuttering and performance drops. It’s not a 50 % drop, and initially sitting on the RWY it’s not more than 2fps as before, but very noticeable as soon as I start moving. This is really bad news. I certainly could do without some of the addons, but not without the FIPS. And no hope Saitek will hear us complaining.

        (ii) After numerous trial and error I found a performance improvement on my system, i.e. switching HT OFF. I had this tested in all prior versions and always found HT ON to work (marginally) better on my 4+4 core system. Recent changes LM made in the threading and load distribution seem to have changed this, at least on my system. I now get similar performance as on 2.2 with most of the stuttering gone. All this is certainly preliminary in a sense, of course, and needs further testing.

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      5. Thanks Michael.
        Sorry to hear that my CFG doesn’t help on yours.
        I tried turning off HT but it doesn’t do me help as it does to you. Obviously different hardware varies differently.

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    2. I was able to solve the FIPS stutter issue under P3D2.3 finally and thought I should share my experience. Tom and another user from the LM Forum insisted in trying AM setting instead of setting core usage via Process Lasso (which had worked in 2.2). I did, and the best combination I found for my machine so far is (i) HT in BIOS off (was on in 2.2) (ii) AM = 14, which leaves the Windows core for other programs like the FIPS drivers. As a result, the 9 FIPS only make a negligible contribution to framerate variance and stuttering is gone. Moreover, I get better fps than in 2.2 with > 20fps at KSFO and ~40 in lightweight area. I would call 2.3 a real success now.

      Thanks, Tom, for your sustained help, Michael

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      1. Hi Michael,
        Thanks for the information and glad to hear that your problem is solved. Same again as discussed, the AM and the HT settings are hardware dependent IMO. Tested P3D with HT off again, I still found the result is better with its ON on my machine. I guess it’s very much due to my three monitors setup for one reason. Will keep testing with different settings even though 2.3 is very much on par with the 2.2 in my case.
        Tom

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  3. In my previous comment i forget to mentionnthat fsuipc is the cause of crashes.
    Peter dowson will correct quickly an update i hope.

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