Stuttering not fixed from MSTS days

[PaulH2]

Hi Paul,
After a defrag I see no change. I have even had all settings on low and it seems to make very little difference on the Paddington Route. I played around with the graphic options for about 2 hours and then got fed up. The drivers guide does slow things down in its route mode. I have looked at some You Tube videos and only one seems to run without any stutter. On looking at the replies the specs show a very High End Machine similar to some of my FlightSim buddies machines for FSX. So I guess I will give up for now and wait until I can afford to get a new machine that will run FSX as well. As I only have 1 PCI express slot and one PCI slot left I would not be able to fit a new soundcard and a powerful enough videocard which would require a third slot to hold the Fan Card or another PCI express to SLI with two cards.
Why do these new games always seem to require a new machine to run properly.
Regards James

Sorry that didn't work for you James.

With regard to SLI, I'd exercise caution. From what we've seen of performance in KRS so far, I don't think SLI is going to make much if any difference over a decent single video card. From what I know of FSX (I do run it, but my 5 year old P4 really isn't up to the job) it is primarily CPU limited and again I don't think SLI will help all that much (but I haven't been watching performance threads on FSX closely and I don't know whether that might change with SP2 due out soon).

Is I said earlier, I think defragmentation may be an issue with KRS, but it clearly isn't the primary cause of the stuttering, which may well be a more fundamental issue with the KRS engine, but hopefully something that will be looked into.

Before you give up, I'd try one last thing. Try turning off your virus scanner temporarly (make sure you disconnect from the internet first to be on the safe side). It could be that your virus scanner is scanning all the files as KRS opens them, thus slowing disk access and using the CPU.

Paul

[Retro]

Sorry that didn't work for you James.

With regard to SLI, I'd exercise caution. From what we've seen of performance in KRS so far, I don't think SLI is going to make much if any difference over a decent single video card. From what I know of FSX (I do run it, but my 5 year old P4 really isn't up to the job) it is primarily CPU limited and again I don't think SLI will help all that much (but I haven't been watching performance threads on FSX closely and I don't know whether that might change with SP2 due out soon).

Is I said earlier, I think defragmentation may be an issue with KRS, but it clearly isn't the primary cause of the stuttering, which may well be a more fundamental issue with the KRS engine, but hopefully something that will be looked into.

Before you give up, I'd try one last thing. Try turning off your virus scanner temporarly (make sure you disconnect from the internet first to be on the safe side). It could be that your virus scanner is scanning all the files as KRS opens them, thus slowing disk access and using the CPU.

Paul

Hi Paul,
Have checked the Virus Protection and Firewall and it makes no difference when they are off. However the problem is worse in the cabviews particularly the HST 125 which has a large windscreen.
The other Multiple Unit scenario on Paddington is playable and it has a smaller windscreen view. So things are not quite as bad as I thought.
Still no passengers though. Have had a look at the fix for this but I don't want to mess with the files ATM.
Thanks again for your help,
Regards James

[steampsi]

Stuttering - Me too !

Mainly occurs when assets load when changing tiles.

Actually worse than MSTS - more assets being loaded ?? But I'v a much heftier rig. Sigh.

Roll on solid state hard drives ...

[thegoonden]

I've mentioned this before, but obviously folks missed it.

The stuttering is nothing to do with HD loading, there is NO HD access co-incident with the stalling, the access light shows only the usual NTFS "journalling" (I have no idea what MS call it, but on real computer operating systems, it's journalling).

So can you all PLEASE give up on the defragging and so on, it's NOT that.

As proof, I compared the game on a single SATA-I drive, and installed on a 1TB RAID0 SATA-II array, there was no difference whatsoever beyond time taken to start a scenario.

[adam3544]

As proof, I compared the game on a single SATA-I drive, and installed on a 1TB RAID0 SATA-II array, there was no difference whatsoever beyond time taken to start a scenario.

I must say that this information is rather revolutionary in my opinion, because it was widely accepted that the stutter problem is closely related with hard disks efficiency. If RAID0 doesn't resolve the problem (and I'm really surprised) then, the problem is closely related with the 3D engine of the game. Moreover, when I compaire the graphics of KRS with Need For Speed series (which are very smooth running with very dence graphics) than I come to the conclusion that there is not powerfull enough computer on the market to be able to overcome this problem.
Interestingly, how efficient will be MSTS2 graphics engine.

Adam

[Retro]

Interestingly, how efficient will be MSTS2 graphics engine.Adam

If it's based on the FSX Engine as claimed. It will need a Super Computer to run it.
A number of my FlightSim buddies have a second computer just for running Flight Simulator FSX on, with nothing else apart from the OS and a Firewall etc. on the Hard Drive. Hoping to get the best performance with everything maxed out. We are looking here at £2500 to £3000+ including the best controls Yoke and pedals. Some are running multiple monitors also.
My machine will not run FSX so I am still on FS2004.
Regards James.

[thegoonden]

As proof, I compared the game on a single SATA-I drive, and installed on a 1TB RAID0 SATA-II array, there was no difference whatsoever beyond time taken to start a scenario.

I must say that this information is rather revolutionary in my opinion, because it was widely accepted that the stutter problem is closely related with hard disks efficiency. If RAID0 doesn't resolve the problem (and I'm really surprised) then, the problem is closely related with the 3D engine of the game. Moreover, when I compaire the graphics of KRS with Need For Speed series (which are very smooth running with very dence graphics) than I come to the conclusion that there is not powerfull enough computer on the market to be able to overcome this problem.
Interestingly, how efficient will be MSTS2 graphics engine.

Adam

Yup 2x500GB SATA-II Hitachi's in RAID0.
The only difference between fast drive and slow drive is basic loading time at the start of a scenario, and the how bad the "approaching town" choke gets. But no difference whatsoever in the "nodding dog" or "rubber band" effect.

My machine BUTCHERS everything else, the most modern RTS, FPS and especially racesim games, all of them at full res (some happier at 1280) with 16QxAA and 16xAiF.

Another piece of revolutionary info.....switching anisotropy off or to application controlled degrades performance terribly, honestly 25% the speed it is when set to 4x or even 16x.

[adam3544]

Yup 2x500GB SATA-II Hitachi's in RAID0.
The only difference between fast drive and slow drive is basic loading time at the start of a scenario, and the how bad the "approaching town" choke gets. But no difference whatsoever in the "nodding dog" or "rubber band" effect.

My machine BUTCHERS everything else, the most modern RTS, FPS and especially racesim games, all of them at full res (some happier at 1280) with 16QxAA and 16xAiF.

Another piece of revolutionary info.....switching anisotropy off or to application controlled degrades performance terribly, honestly 25% the speed it is when set to 4x or even 16x.

Very interesting, wow !.
I'd like to ask you for a small advise. I've right now GeForce 7800 GTX 256MB installed. I'm about to order (purchase) from EBay seller the new eVGA GeForce 8800GT 512MB video card (being under good impression after reading a Tom's Hardware review). Does this new card will improve the stutter condition in KRS or it will be a waste of money.

Adam

[thegoonden]

Not sure it will make a terrific difference in Rail Sim, but it is a far better card, according to two mates who recently went from high end 7nnn's to 8800GTS's.

[adam3544]

Not sure it will make a terrific difference in Rail Sim, but it is a far better card, according to two mates who recently went from high end 7nnn's to 8800GTS's.

Thank you mate. During February 2008 nVidia will (hopefully) release their new high-end card,the GeForce 9800 GTX 1024MB DDR3. The rumors saying it will be the king of the road, based on G92 chip. But it will be much more expensive than 8800 GT.

Cheers,
Adam

[genea]

I've mentioned this before, but obviously folks missed it.

The stuttering is nothing to do with HD loading, there is NO HD access co-incident with the stalling, the access light shows only the usual NTFS "journalling" (I have no idea what MS call it, but on real computer operating systems, it's journalling).

So can you all PLEASE give up on the defragging and so on, it's NOT that.

As proof, I compared the game on a single SATA-I drive, and installed on a 1TB RAID0 SATA-II array, there was no difference whatsoever beyond time taken to start a scenario.

So does that mean KUJU has the same problem in running KRS or do they have a very powerful computer to run it which we could only dream about.

[steampsi]

I've mentioned this before, but obviously folks missed it.

The stuttering is nothing to do with HD loading, there is NO HD access co-incident with the stalling

Well on my PC the HD light only comes on with the stalling. FPS drops from 30-90 depending on load back to sub 10.

On my slower laptop - same thing. Except frame rates drop from a lower value to about 3-4.

If I drive slow or fast doesn't matter, the stutter occurs at the same physical location - points to data loading to me ...