msconfig Advanced Boot Option-Enabling All Cores

[will_crump]

Is there any advantage to be gained by going into the advanced boot options of msconfig and turning on the maximum number of processors recognized? By default msconfig recognizes 1 CPU even though it's dual-core. I can uncheck the box and select 2. Is there any real advantage?

I am using a Dell Inspiron 570 with a dual-core Athlon running at 3.0 GHz.

 

[androbourne]

Default isnt "1" default is that option being off and letting the system auto detect. "1" is just the first option which is normally greyed out.

I would uncheck it and leave it as default. Let the system auto detect this.

Turning it on, may force all the cores to be used, even when it is not needed, hence increasing power usage.

 

[will_crump]

Default isnt "1" default is that option being off and letting the system auto detect. "1" is just the first option which is normally greyed out.

I would uncheck it and leave it as default. Let the system auto detect this.

Turning it on, may force all the cores to be used, even when it is not needed, hence increasing power usage.

Thanks for the tip. I will leave it at default. Did not realize an autodetect was active in the background.

Did you see my other question about my Flight Simulator's framing and latency problems?

 

[androbourne]

No. I didn't see that.

Try monitoring your system while playing the game and see what is being capped out. If I had to bet, your old CPU is being maxed out which is causing your lag.

Try opening task manager and monitoring your system. You can also try download HWMonitor to give you a better idea of performance and heat.

 

[will_crump]

No. I didn't see that.

Try monitoring your system while playing the game and see what is being capped out. If I had to bet, your old CPU is being maxed out which is causing your lag.

Try opening task manager and monitoring your system. You can also try download HWMonitor to give you a better idea of performance and heat.

I will do that. What puzzles me is this has not always been the case. I have been able to play it at 1080 hd with a high level of detail in the past with no problems. This started about 6 months ago. That's what puzzles me so. It has worked just fine in the past.
Here are my systm specs
Dell Inspiron 570:
Dual-Core Athlon 3 GHz
8 GB RAM
120 GB SSD (system drive)
EVGA nVidia GTX 660ti with 3 GB GDDR5
650-Watt PSU

I run a batch file that kills explorer while I'm playing the game and then restarts explorer automatically once the game is closed out.

I purchased the video card used off eBay Christmas 2017.

 

[androbourne]

Well due to age I could easily see it being a heating issue and getting thermal throttled. May need to reapply some paste. But monitor your system and lets see what we can find.

 

[will_crump]

Well due to age I could easily see it being a heating issue and getting thermal throttled. May need to reapply some paste. But monitor your system and lets see what we can find.

Will do! Going to do this right now. Will tell you what I find. I may post a screenshot.

When I added the larger PSU and the video card to this low-end PC, my instructor told me that was a lot of hardware to be putting in such a small space with only one cooling fan pushing hot air out the back. My PC was purchased in 2012.

 

[will_crump]

Well due to age I could easily see it being a heating issue and getting thermal throttled. May need to reapply some paste. But monitor your system and lets see what we can find.

GPU Utilization 100% minimum and maximum.
Memory 26% minimum and maximum
Bus Interface 99% minimum and maximum
CPU 71%
Core 0 43% minimum 100% maximum
Core 1 100% minimum 100% maximum
CPU Core Temps:
Core 0 = 125 deg. fahrenheit
Core 1 = 125 deg. fahrenheit

 

[androbourne]

Yeah ouch. Everything is capping out. Front Bus Speed, GPU and CPU are running at 100%

Temps at least seem to be in decent ranges.

Honestly short of disabling some more services and locking down the system as much as possible to get as many resources out of it. You are kinda SOL. Might be time for a new system.

 

[will_crump]

Yeah ouch. Everything is capping out. Front Bus Speed, GPU and CPU are running at 100%

Temps at least seem to be in decent ranges.

Honestly short of disabling some more services and locking down the system as much as possible to get as many resources out of it. You are kinda SOL. Might be time for a new system.

Aw, man! I was afraid of that!! Why did it run so well with the same program and set up just over 6 months ago? That's what's throwing me. If it had never worked smoothly I could understand the system being under-powered, but it has ran very well in the past. What can account for that? A less resource-hungry build of Windows 10?

 

[will_crump]

The video engine was at 0% minimum and maximum. What does that mean? I can watch 1080p videos on YouTube without a hiccup.

 

[androbourne]

Yeah ouch. Everything is capping out. Front Bus Speed, GPU and CPU are running at 100%

Temps at least seem to be in decent ranges.

Honestly short of disabling some more services and locking down the system as much as possible to get as many resources out of it. You are kinda SOL. Might be time for a new system.

Aw, man! I was afraid of that!! Why did it run so well with the same program and set up just over 6 months ago? That's what's throwing me. If it had never worked smoothly I could understand the system being under-powered, but it has ran very well in the past. What can account for that? A less resource-hungry build of Windows 10?

Well could be that and also maybe your game updated for performance as well. But its a fact your system resources other then memory are running at max.

 

[will_crump]

What is my BEST and CHEAPEST SOURCE for a properly refurbished machine? Is eBay trustworthy?

 

[androbourne]

What is your budget?

 

[will_crump]

What is your budget?

$300, IF I"M LUCKY. Chronic underemployment here!

 

[androbourne]

Then yes. Ebay might be your best bet. Just make sure to purchase the buyers insurance if you can.

If you go on ebay and search for gaming pc then filter by under $360 preset. There is some OK systems you can get on the cheap. However. The two I'm linking below stands out to me because it has a decent i5 (or at least a quad core Xeon) CPUs while most others under $300 has only an i3.

On the first PC, the GPU that comes with the system as it is very old. However, that is something you can upgrade in the future or even now if you want since this PC is only $200. If you purchase the video card as well, you should still be under $300. (maybe around $300 with shipping).

Another concern is power with the first PC. This is an HP machine but the seller doesn't provide the HP make/model so it's hard to look up to see if the PSU has enough power for a GPU upgrade and if it does, does it have the correct power connectors? So I'd contact seller and ask for more information before you buy it.

Last but not least. The last PC on this list is pretty decent overall. Comes with an older gen GTX GPU already installed but this GPU is better then those older AMD HD series GPUs. This one is basically plug and play. Only concern about this system is that it is using a Xeon CPU rated at 2.62GHz. While its not bad, the i5 is stronger is single core processing. But if you dont want to deal with purchasing upgrades for your system. This one might be a good cheap option.

Aside from that, feel free to look through ebay for other offers. Just try to look for a balance between a decent gpu and cpu. Aim for at least an GTX GPU and an i5 or better CPU if you can.

Hope this gives you some ideas.

First PC with Video card upgrade:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Gaming-PC-Desktop-Computer-Intel-i5-8GB-500GB-Win10-WIFI-HDMI-Radeon-HD-5450-1GB/273414845608?hash=item3fa8cb74a8

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Gigabyte-Geforce-GTX-1050-OC-Low-Profile-2GB-GDDR5-128-Bit-GC-GV-N1050OC-2GL/332802126722?epid=9019591270&hash=item4d7c8d7382:g:HvMAAOSwnntbjvIU

Second PC, Ready to plug and play, no upgrades required:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Gaming-PC-Dell-T3500-GTX-460-6-Core-Xeon-10GB-500GB-Windows-10-Wi-Fi/392123184834?hash=item5b4c5cf6c2%3Ag%3AyXkAAOSwqRBbOawt&LH_BIN=1

 

[will_crump]

I have a 650-watt PSU and an nVidia GTX 660TI with 3 GB GDDR5 that could be installed into another machine.

Check this machine out. It's a nice one and in a tower. MY PSU and video card would fit in this:


https://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-Pro-Elite-Tower-PC-i5-3470-Quad-Core-3-2Ghz-8GB-1TB-DVDRW-Windows-10-USB-3-0/332049281215

 

[androbourne]

Nice, go for it if you think it will work for ya.

 

[will_crump]

Good morning! I think I've found the real culprit behind my FSX woes! I'm going to reinstall today. I had been installing the FSX Acceleration Pack which includes SP 2 for the flight simulator plus several additional aircraft. I uninstalled the acceleration pack and the lagging and framing went away. I had a problem with the aircraft appearing to "vibrate" when stationary, but the smoothness in flight was a world better and I could add the desired amount of complexity to the scenery without it totally crapping out on me.

My machine dates back to Aug. 2102, so it's probably time for a new one anyhow.

Is the Xeon processor good for consumer use? I had always been under the impression that the Xeon machines were meant more for server applications. However, if it's good for consumer use,the machine you pointed out sounds like a powerhouse.

The video card I have is full height, full length. It takes up a lot of space.

 

[androbourne]

Yes. Xeons are normally for servers but they are decent CPUs. More tailored towards multi-treading rather then single core processing speeds. However, it would still work for your needs. Just make sure to get a decent MHz speed one.

 

[will_crump]

I wouldn't want anything that would run at less than 3 GHZ. I would also want 16 GB RAM ideally. 8 is probably plenty, but I'd like to really "soak it down" with memory.

 

[androbourne]

Yeah totally. 8 should be good for now. You can always upgrade to more ram in the future if you need it!

 

[will_crump]

Is it true that the newest video cards require systems with the UEFI BIOS? I can't remember the cut-off point, but I remember being told that the newer video cards after that point require UEFI systems to be picked up and initialized properly. Is that true or is there a work-around to use the newest cards on legacy systems?

 

[androbourne]

Not sure if that counts for AMD but I know newer Nvidia GTX cards requires UEFI BIOS.

However I think that only started with the most recent series of GTX card. I believe your old GPU that you said you would be transfering over, should be OK with legacy BIOS.

 

[will_crump]

Thanks!! What would be a good ATI card with at least 4 GB GDDR5 that won't make my billfold hide in horror?