Systems

564: A Quick Impression on P3Dv5

| Tom Tsui

I ran the new P3Dv5 for a few hours this morning with many addons (such as Orbx scenery and Carenado Aircraft) I used on P3Dv4.  As expected, it didn’t give me too much excitment, including the new logo and the new design of the option menu in the program, for which I am well prepared from what I experienced from the company’s previous updates in about every two years.

But to be fair, there are still many improvements and some are very nice indeed,
for example the Enhanced Atmoshperics feature, from which I get the sky color tone on my HDTV more true to the reality.  This is the first time from all the flight simulators I’ve ever played so far. Continue reading →

482: Logitech FIP Driver Migration

| Tom Tsui

Some friends email me saying that they are interested to know how I upgraded (“migrate” I think is more accurate) my Saitek drivers to the Logitech version.   Again, as mentioned a few times, such a migration is not necessary if the Saitek drivers are working fine.

Anyway, it does no harm if anyone want to keep up with the Logitech version.   But ensure to AVOID using version 0.8.144.0 as it has error.   Version 8.0.132.0. is fine, which I am currently using.

Followings are the steps I took for the migration: Continue reading →

479: Time to Move On

| Tom Tsui

FSX Times in January was a bit quiet after the Christmas and New Year holidays because there were many things happening to my flightsim system.    For one, I have “upgraded” the FIP driver from Saitek to Logitech version.

Truly, back in last August, I mentioned in my Post 447 that the “new” Logitech drivers are in general the same as the “old” Saitek drivers.   “Upgrade” is not necessary and it is still valid.

However, as my new X-Plane gauges were developed under the Logitech plugins; and the number of my FIP gauge users running the Logitech version are steadily growing, the switch, to me based on my own situation, is inevitable.

This also means that all my existing installers and utilities have to be upgraded accordingly — so that they will not only fit for the previous Saitek and SPAD.neXt installation, but also good for the new Logitech setup.

I am glad that all works are completed after weeks of intensive programming.

It’s time to move on.

 

469: My Latest Nvidia Setting

| Tom Tsui

Thanks to all who shares their ideas about adjusting refresh rate to reduce micro-stutters in my last Post.  Frankly speaking, I didn’t really pay any attention to adjust it until recently.

And after a second thought, although I said the trick doesn’t have any effect on my rig, I think it could still be a candidate solution to those who have the issue.

For those who are interested, following is the Nvidia Settings (under native 60Hz refresh rate) I’ve been using in the last few months. Continue reading →

468: A Probable Micro-stuttering Cure

| Tom Tsui

Micro-stuttering is one of the most severe headaches to almost all flightsimmers and it is not easy to cure.   If have a 4K monitor or a 4K TV, you may try cutting its refresh-rate from 60Hz to 30Hz.

I didn’t invent the trick.   I was told by a friend, who found the trick on the Internet.   Probably some of you knew it or even tried it already.

Is it a panacea or just another placebo?   Continue reading →

456: A PC Building Guide for Beginners

| Tom Tsui

Many of us bought pre-assembled PCs for flight simulation from brand-names, like HP, Dell.   I did the same until one day I stepped forward to build one myself.

Frankly speaking, the first time was scary.   Fortunately, I had done a lot of preparations; the work turned out to be far less difficult than anticipated.
Above is “A Complete How To PC Building Guide for Beginners” from MSI, which I found universally good.   Definitely worth a favorite entry in your browser.

 

455: Affinity Mask Calculator Enhanced

| Tom Tsui

The Affinity Mask Calculator has just been enhanced to include the conversions from Affinity Mask values back to CPU combinations.   Operation is as simple as entering the Affinity Mask value in decimal via the keypad provided.   To choose between the calculators, just click on the title bar for the conversion required.

Note that the maximum Affinity Mask value Continue reading →

453: Switching to P3Dv4 Q&A

| Tom Tsui

A friend who sent me an email asking my opinion about making the jump from Prepar3D v3 to v4.

One of the biggest reasons he has not yet switching, is that he has TONS of addons for v3, and TONS of modifications that he has made.   And he really loathes the thought of having to set everything up again from scratch because he has spent many, many, many hours, getting p3d v3 to the way he has it now.

I guess there are still friends who have similar questions in mind about the switching.  So I am posting my replies to him below: Continue reading →

449: Checking Affinity Mask Performance in Realtime

| Tom Tsui

Affinity Mask could bring improvements to flight simulators.  But the question is: how can we tell from a hypothetical value (or more precisely a CPU combination) that it will bring positive gains to our system before we put it in the configuration file (fsx.cfg or Prepar3D.cfg) ?

Frankly, I don’t have a good answer myself because there are so many variables involved.   However, following is the approach I take to precheck the performances from different Affinity Masks in realtime, then thru which I pick the one I think the best for my set up.
Continue reading →