BirdDogICT

DixieFlyer, I have an older system similar to yours and can also run IL2 1946 and even Crysis with all settings maxed out. BHaH is a MUCH more demanding demanding program, requiring raw processing speed, as much memory as your operating system can give it, and a fast graphics card. I had an older graphics card initially, and upgraded to play BHaH. BHaH performance on my system varies somewhat, depending on how much memory I have available and how many programs I've run and then closed before starting BHaH. Programs or system resources running in the background that eat up memory can halt the program or slow it to a crawl. Many antivirus programs will completely halt CFS3 and BHaH. Using utilities like AlacrityPC can help by closing down unnecessary processes and defragmenting memory. Hope this helps

HomeBoy, Thanks for the service you're providing to members of this forum. I've found your TrackIR and FSAutostart and AlacrityPC guides to be very helpful. Many add-on utilities lack DOCUMENTATION, so using them can be a crapshoot without the guides you've provided. Demanding programs like BHaH can bring older systems to their knees, and challenge newer systems, as well, so keep those handy guides coming. I've been offering advice to members of this forum where I can, especially in resolving hardware issues. Hard-core flight sim enthusiasts enjoy tinkering, and I'm not surprised by the number of folks who can't get their home-built systems to run properly with BHaH due to misconfigured combinations of hardware, OS, & software. I've been one of them, myself. So I think Catch's advice to "proceed with caution" is well-intended. Thanks again

Catch, I've been using AlacrityPC since Homeboy mentioned it, only because I'm using an older Socket 939 machine. It does smooth things a bit. I think the intended audience is users with older machines they built themselves who want to improve performance a bit. I agree with your caution, though, definitely not for noobs. AlacrityPC if fairly easy, especially with HomeBoy's guide, but I won't use EnditAll or FSAutostart. Too easy to make mistakes (and I've been building PCs for 20 years and stringing code since the punch card days). I've mentioned this before, but if you have an AMD processor, AMD's Fusion for Gaming utility gives about the same results as AlacrityPC, and it is automatic and completely idiotproof. Cheers

Homeboy, BIG THANKS. Makes it even easier. Now you've opened yourself up to all kind of support questions :yes: For those with ATI cards who use Profiles Manager (inside Catalyst Command Center) to create custom profiles apply graphics settings and start games: 1. Create and save your profile in Profiles Manager, making sure you check "Desktop Shortcut" under the Activation tab. Name it "BHaH" or whatever you choose. 2. When choosing startup program(s) under AlacrityPC's Autostart tab, identify the shortcut you created in step one as the progam to start. This should put CLI.exe in the Autostart "Name" column. 3. You'll need to add arguments to activate the right profile in the "Args" column. To identify the right argument, right click on the shortcut you created and highlight properties. Paste this argument into the "Arg" cloumn (e.g., if you named the shortcut BHaH, the argument would be "Start Load profile="BHaH"). Cheers

Mr. Lucky, Glad to know there's an easier way...since my pilots don't last too long, losing one by resetting CFS3Config files is not a problem Cheers

Sitting Duck, If you <ctrl><alt><delete> to open Windows Task Manager, and open the Performance tab, you'll see how much free memory you have available. I've found that BHaH doesn't run smoothly until I've reduced process from 41 to 26 and free memory from 1.45 to 1.67 by using AlacrityPC. If going in to BHaH from a fresh boot, defragmented memory is less of a problem. Memory fragmentation occurs over time as memory is allocated and released by programs. Your computer may have many unused blocks of memory mixed in with the used blocks of memory. Programs need a contiguous area of memory (memory usage by a program cannot be fragmented like data on a disk). When memory becomes highly fragmented and Windows runs out of free memory, programs do not have enough memory to function properly. Overall PC performance declines, and programs may not open or may run slower or frequently crash. That's where AlacrityPC comes in, releasing memory from unneeded process and defragmenting memory. Hope this helps.

Tim Taylor, aka Sitting Duck Glad to hear it...that had crossed my mind, too. I'd like to know if BHaH can access more of your memory. Increasing my available memory from 1.54MB to 1.67MB, with all of it defragged makes it run smoother. Most PC programs require unfragmented memory to operate properly. I'm more of the Tim Rawlins type, aka BirdDogICT Cheers

Sitting Duck, Running MemTest on a 64-bit system requires burning a bootable ISO to CD, so that Memtest loads before your operating system. Version 2.11 has support for recent CPUs and DDR3 memory. http://www.memtest.org/#downiso I haven't played around with 64-bit XP, other members might probably be of more help. Cheers

Also, just a reminder, if you decide to upgrade drivers, you'll see a "graphic settings are out of date" when you restart BHaH. You'll then have to reset CFS3Config files through Workshop (this eliminates your pilots, I think) and reset all of your graphics settings, including tweaks. Cheers

There's a glitch in CF3Config (thanks to Microsoft). Under Display Options, choose your resolution and AA, and hit OK. To save these settings, you have to exit CFS3Config by clicking on File, Exit. If you close with the right hand big red X, it won't be saved. However, if you open CFS3Config, it looks like nothing has changed...but it has. Confusing eh?

Sitting Duck, I agree with Homeboy, sounds like you've pushed your memory speed or timings too much or they're not quite compatible with your motherboard. It's a time consuming process to sort it out sometimes. MemTest86 is very good at testing memory stability, but if your memory is 2D stable with Memtest, it still may be 3D unstable. There is a very lengthy thread on that issue starting here http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?showt...37669&st=80 Pardon me for being verbose, but did it in the hopes of helping PhantomJoker solve his problem. Also, see me response to your post here: http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?showtopic=40026 Best regards

Sitting Duck, We've discussed the artefact from changing views before, and it's usually do to pushing your video card too hard, and you're right, the most recent drivers CAN help. But I've found that increasing/defragmenting available memory through AlacrityPC or AMD Fusion for Gaming completely eliminates artefacts for me. After playing around with these two utilities, I have permanently disabled several processes (like my wife's iPod services) through msconfig and can now play without the need for either utility. And no artefacts now. I saw artefacts again last night, due to not having enough memory available. I was in a hurry to try Winston and Rabu's tracer mod, and after downloading their files, started up BHaH while still connected to this forum, without using AlacrityPC or AMD Fusion. When I noticed that it took a while for BHaH to load up, I killed my internet connection, and was able to play a QC mission to test the mod. But for the first time in weeks I saw graphics artefacts again. So, when Windows maps your video card memory to physical RAM, your video card should work better if you have more RAM available and it's defragmented. Cheers

Gaw, Same results here as Sitting Duck. "New improved" autotune took 20 minutes to find optimum settings versus 5 with 9.3. Haven't noticed any real difference in BHaH with any ATI driverset I've tried, including 8.6 through 9.4. Save yourself the effort and don't upgrade. Cheers

Test Pilot, Glad that helped. 16XAA seems like overkill I'm pretty happy with 4XAA with Edge Filter (i.e., 12 samples) and 8X AF. To each his own. Cheers

Test Pilot Also, see Post#2 here: http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?showtopic=39852 Cheers

Varan, Try this forum for OFF 1 & 2: http://forum.combatace.com/index.php?showforum=211

Test Pilot, There are a couple of things you can do to help stutters (these tweaks have been around since CFS3 first came out, and they worked for me): 1. There is a frame rate limiter within CFS3. Use Notepad to edit C:\OBDSoftware\CFSWW1 OverFlanders Fields\Default\cfs3.mxl Change the MaxFPS argument to read MaxFPS="30" or "40" or even "25" (I use 40) 2. In Overrides, check "High Resolution Z-Buffer" and uncheck "Dual Pass Render". Also check "Disable Warning Boxes", "Disable Chat", Disable Advisor Messages", "Disable Simulation Warnings" (I had serious lags when messages would appear..this seems to be worse with ATI cards) 3. In Texture Info, click "D3D_SWAPEFFECT_FLIP under Full Screen Swap Effect 4. Having enough unfragmented memory available can smooth things out quite a bit. Try using AlacrityPC (or AMD Fusion for Gaming if you have an AMD procesor) to stop processes and defragment your memory before starting BHaH. HomeBoy is working on a guide for AlacrityPC. Hope this helps. Of course, your mileage may vary. Cheers

Test Pilot, In Workshop, click the white "Graphics Config" box near the bottom right corner. This opens the CFS3Config.exe utliity. Select "File" then "Custom Settings" then click past the warning box to the Parameters Editor. The first Parameter page you see with be Image Quality. You can access the four others by clicking on "Window" on the top left. Good luck.

Nio, If I had invested in a quality Sennheiser headset, you can be sure that I'd make it work!! I'll poke around and see what deals I can find... Thanks

Nio, Your post encouraged me to try it again. Yes, I did check the TrackClip Pro button and position the sensor to the side of my monitor. My problem may be due to a wobbly, cheap headset. TrackIR recommends Creative headsets. What's brand/model are you using? Thanks Cheers

Pol, Winder, Siggi, Wells, Uncleal, and others. I'm not a pilot, but logged 10 years as a crewmember on an air ambulance team covering Kansas, northern Oklahoma, and the Texas panhandle, i.e; some of the most dangerous areas of the U.S. "tornado alley". Only a fool will enter (let alone get near) clouds in bad weather. I say leave it as it is. Cheers

Macklroy, Can't say for certain without knowing what joystick/program you're using, but you have to press <Scroll Lock> to enable free panning. If it's too slow or too fast, you can adjust it with the following: http://www.polovski.com/OFFFAQ.htm#Q.__Can...crease_joystick FYI, I'm using CH Fighterstick, CH Pro Throttle, CH Pro Pedals, and TrackIR with a profile written by Bonz at The CH Hangar http://www.ch-hangar.com/forum/showthread.php?t=6204 There are other CFS3 and OFF profiles there that may be more to your liking... Cheers

Baywing, Join the club...after getting BHaH and making big plans to upgrade my PC, I've been "staff adjusted" to 24 hours/week since January. Explains why I've gone to such pains to get the best performance from my current machine. Just like being retired: all the time off in the world and not enough money to enjoy it (at least that would be so without BHaH :yes: ). There IS some difference of opinion on which tweaks work best, and most of the BHaH tweaks have been around since CFS3 first came out: http://www.combatfs.com/index.php?loc=tweak&page=index There seems to be some consensus that setting Full Screen Swap Effect to Flip helps quite a bit with stutters. And after all other recommended tweaks are applied, checking Disable Chat, Disable Advisor Messages, Disable Simulation Warnings, and Disable Warning Boxes can help a lot. Before I checked messages off, everytime a message appeared while I was flying over an airfield, the game became a slideshow. No longer. Cheers

Barnstorm, Nio, et. al, Funny, I found the TrackClip Pro to be clunky and not nearly as smooth as the traditional reflective TrackClip. I played around with profiles for several hours and could never get it to work as well as the older technology. Any thoughts?? I guess that's why I always close my answers to technical questions on this forum with "Of course, your mileage may vary" Cheers

Baywing, Mr. Lucky's post reminded me of another setting that you might try...reducing the level of Regional Air Density in Workshop can help some. Our systems are pretty similar...I'm also getting 30-40 FPS, but never run below the low 20s in 10 furrballs over the airfield. Have you applied all of the graphics tweaks? They should be considered mandatory. I had to reset my CFS3 files yesterday due to upgrading my graphics drivers, and decided to fly without applying any tweaks, and guess what? Same results you describe...30-40 at altitude, but like a slideshow above the airfield. Cheers