musefan 363 Posted January 15, 2016 Share Posted January 15, 2016 Ok, I know my Laptop isn't the most powerful, but it's not the worst either. Here are my specs: Windows: Windows 7 Ultimate Edition (64-bit) Service Pack 1 (Build 7601) Memory (RAM): 8087 MB CPU Info: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-2410M CPU @ 2.30GHz CPU Speed: 2294.5 MHz Sound Card: Speakers (2- Realtek High Defin | Display Adapters: Intel(R) HD Graphics Family | Intel(R) HD Graphics Family | NVIDIA GeForce GT 550M | RDPDD Chained DD | RDP Encoder Mirror Driver | RDP Reflector Display Driver Monitors: 2x; Generic PnP Monitor | Generic PnP Monitor | Screen Resolution: 1920 X 1200 - 32 bit Hard Disks: C: 283.3GB Hard Disks - Free: C: 174.5GB Manufacturer *: Dell Inc. Product Make *: Dell System XPS L702X AC Power Status: OnLine BIOS Info: AT/AT COMPATIBLE | 07/22/11 | DELL - 2 Motherboard *: Dell Inc. 0K4H3G SM BIOS: A12 I'm generally only getting between 5-10 FPS, usually closer to 5 when in the Airbus. If I use any of the default aircraft, I get slightly better. CPU usage is running at about half the capacity of 3 of the cores and maxing out the other core. (4 cores in total). I know it's not exactly the most impressive CPU by todays standards, but 5 years ago when I got the laptop it was we one of the better ones. 8 GB of RAM should be more than enough. The GPU, like the CPU is not the most powerful either, but again, 5 years ago it was the one to go for. I know a SSD would be a big help too, but again, is it essential? I didn't think it was. Considering FSX is a lot older than 5 years, I would've thought this laptop would be more than adequate. Even putting my graphical settings down to minimum doesn't help. Any help from you knowledgeable people would be appreciated. Thanks. Please login to display this image. Please login to display this image. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aerosoft Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558 Posted January 18, 2016 Aerosoft Share Posted January 18, 2016 Almost certainly your CPU throttles down to avoid overheating, You might try to clean the fans etc, that might help, but it's a well know issue with this Dell model. It did not have good cooling to start with and running cores at max will cause issues very fast, often after just a minute. See also here: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musefan 363 Posted January 18, 2016 Author Share Posted January 18, 2016 Ok, I'll try that. Thanks Mathijs. Unfortunately, taking this particular laptop apart is a right pain. It's so badly designed. It takes a very long time to get to the cooler. Would it be worthwhile investing in an external cooling fan for underneath the laptop? Do you think this would cool the CPU down enough to get a decent increase in FPS? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deputy Sheriffs mopperle 4162 Posted January 18, 2016 Deputy Sheriffs Share Posted January 18, 2016 Could be a solution, but most of these "coolers" are not very efficient and quite loud. At least those I have seen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musefan 363 Posted January 18, 2016 Author Share Posted January 18, 2016 Yeah, you could be right. I might try and get a loan of one of a mate to see if it helps. I'd guess that these coolers are really only more effective in cooling down the outer casing, rather than the CPU itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aerosoft Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558 Posted January 19, 2016 Aerosoft Share Posted January 19, 2016 I am afraid it will just transform electricity into noise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveCT2003 2553 Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 A few things you also might try (in addition to a good cleaning). 1. Increase the distance between the bottom of the laptop and what ever it's sitting on by placing something like pegs on the outside of the frame. This will increase airflow, the fans won't heat up (adding more ambient heat to the computer). 2. Reduce your graphics settings AND Limit your FSX frame rates (this works differently than an external limiter). Try 20fps at first, and then 30fps. (I realize what the frames rates are that you are getting.) You may find that you'll have to substantially lower your graphic settings in order to prevent overheating and/or CPU throttling. Both of the recommendations in #2 will directly reduce the load on your CPU, thus reducing heat, and #1 will increase the efficiently of the airflow helping to reduce the heat inside the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musefan 363 Posted January 19, 2016 Author Share Posted January 19, 2016 Thanks for the suggestions Dave. But it seems to be causing me problem even on minimal graphical settings. So I doubt it's that. And this is partly what's annoying me more than anything. I already have the FPS limiter set to about 20, as that's what I'm aiming for. However your first point actually makes perfect sense. I'll give that a bash. Mightn't get a chance this evening, but will definitely try it as soon as I get a chance. Also, a work colleague has given me the lend of a USB powered fan like the one we talked about earlier. I suppose it's worth a go too. I may also have another solution. I'm getting a new laptop at work in the coming weeks. They usually don't bother taking back old laptops after they've been replaced. If they let me hang onto it, I might try running FSX on that instead. I know it's more powerful than the one I'm currently running FSX on (It's a Dell Precision series, I'm not fully sure on the actual specs, but I do know it has a better CPU and has 16GB of RAM). The only possible drawback, is that the nVidia card is one of the Quadros. I'm aware these aren't gaming cards, but as FSX relies more on CPU than GPU for performance, I'm hoping this won't be an issue. Anyway, one step at a time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deputy Sheriffs mopperle 4162 Posted January 19, 2016 Deputy Sheriffs Share Posted January 19, 2016 Another problem can be the Antivirus software. Make sure to exclude all folders from being scanned or turn it off completely when using FSX (depends a bit on your AV software). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musefan 363 Posted January 20, 2016 Author Share Posted January 20, 2016 Yeah I've tried disabling that too mopperle. But keep the suggestions coming. I'll try anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aerosoft Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558 Posted January 20, 2016 Aerosoft Share Posted January 20, 2016 19 hours ago, DaveCT2003 said: A few things you also might try (in addition to a good cleaning). 1. Increase the distance between the bottom of the laptop and what ever it's sitting on by placing something like pegs on the outside of the frame. This will increase airflow, the fans won't heat up (adding more ambient heat to the computer). In my experience with these Dell laptops that won't help at all. Even with the complete case of the CPU still will throttle down. The method used to get the heat from the CPU to the area where t can be dissipated to the air simply can't handle it. 80% of laptops have this problem, only real gaming laptops are designed around this problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musefan 363 Posted January 21, 2016 Author Share Posted January 21, 2016 I've being flying for the last couple of hours with a fan below my laptop. My framerate is now sitting at about 13-17 FPS. Sometimes peaking at 25 FPS depending on the scenery around me. I don't know if this is just a coincidence, but right now I'm a lot happier. As Mathijs says, I think I just need to save up a bit of money and get a better machine. But if I can keep above 10 FPS that will be fine for now. Thanks for all the suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
musefan 363 Posted January 21, 2016 Author Share Posted January 21, 2016 Hmmmm.....after about 2 hours of playing, and a CPU struggling to stay cool, coming into land at Mega Airport Dublin I struggled to stay above 5 FPS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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