Huge fps drop after updating xplane 11

Question

On Sunday 10th March I updated xplane 11 (to version 11.0.32.1) and since then my fps is very low, barely 10 fps while it used to be 25-30. I tried changing the sliders in the graphics menu but could not get much improvement. I also tried the changes to the Xbox app, changes recommended on the xplane support site, but no improvement. It looks like the update changed something dramatically to the system. CPU usage is 45%, GPU 60% so both resources are not even fully used, which makes it even more difficult to understand.

The only change to my system was the update on Sunday, before that frame rates were OK.

Comments

I just installed the demo and I'm noticing the same thing. Performance is terrible compared to benchmarks I've seen with my card.

Answer 1

I'm just coming back to Xplane 11 after not flying for a while. I let Steam update my Xplane and now I'm barely running at 15fps vs 30-45 before. I am almost certain that it has to do with the latest update as nothing else has changed. After adjusting the resolution and graphics settings I still get 15fps or below.

CPU and GPU are only around 30% whereas before they were maxed out. Fans don't even kick into high.

-Steven

Answer 2

Hi Gents 

I am not from Laminar Research; just another flight simmer from down under.

It appears there are many flight simmers experiencing the same problem as you.

Provided you are running an official version of X-Plane from Laminar Research and not a steam version I would suggest you lodge a bug report to move progress along to get the issue resolved.  The method of lodging a Bug report can be found at  http://dev.x-plane.com/support/bugreport.html

Why not steam users?  Steam is a 3rd party hybrid that does not mix and match with the official Laminar version.  Laminar does not sell the product.  Steam users should use a steam forum for their problems.  If you are a Steam user and do lodge a bug report with Laminar your log.txt file will show that you are a steam user.

Good luck with getting a result as I haven't upgraded to 11.32 as yet.

Glenn

Comments

Hi ho, hi ho, it's off to Steam I go.

Thanks,

Steven

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Good day!

Although I cannot comprehend how this flight simulator can be so tough on framerates, I used to fly my B737-800 with framerates ranging between 30 and 44 fps.  I have updated this morning to 11.32r2 and since then, my fps has dropped significantly: I now range in 25 to 32 fps!!!   This is totally unacceptable!!!

I have an Intel i7-8700K CPU running at 4.8GHz
32GB of ram
all HD are on board Samsung Pro SSDs
2x EVGA GEFORCE GTX1080ti (SLi mode, although this FS does not support it?!?!?
1x monitor at 2560x1080
2x monitors at 1280x1024...

Honestly, I was so disappointed obtaining such weak performance before when running this FS but with the latest update, I have no clues what can be done to make the flight any enjoyable...  I do not believe purchasing new hardware will be the solution here...  I have a roughly 6000 dollars worth computer and if I cannot fly this FS at (almost) full settings and achieve good fps, I really do not know what will...  

Jeff

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Hi Jeff,

I can understand your frustration.

Your specs are higher than mine but I haven't updated to 11.32 as yet (other reasons) but I won't be until the frame rate drop problem has been resolved.

From all my readings It appears those flight simmers running the 737-800 are having the greatest problem.  My suggestion is to log a "bug report" as i have indicated above.

Good luck

Glenn

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Thanks Glenn...  Done already!

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Thanks Glenn. I have logged a bug report, including a log.txt file. Surprisingly today I could get a frame rate between 15-20 fps compared to 10 fps last week and I didn't change anything.

Tried playing around with the rendering options but didn't give a significant improvement, I cannot get above 20 fps, which is the minimum to run the simulator real time.

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the same thing has happened to me, booted it up on Sunday and was getting 15-17 fps when i uesd to be getting 40-50, had recently installed some scenery though so assumed it to be that, removed it all and it did not change, my cpu and gpu were running at 30% so obviously not max resources, i have 16gb ram i7-7700 and gtx 1070ti. Even in the air it did not change, its as if something is putting a limmiter on it?

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An update on my "journey" :

- I logged the bug report and xplane support asked to run a standard frame rate test (with a B777 I believe) and surprisingly I got consistently above 20 fps which made me believe this was due to the fact that this test only ran on one screen (vs the 3 screens I use). According to xplane support the test proves nothing's wrong with xplane ...  . They did not reply to further questions from my side.

- I tried running the simulator again with the C172 (the plane I always use) but still frame rates were below expectations, about 15-16 fps. Even if I switched off two screens it did not help.

- I tried most of the tricks you can find on Internet (like changing CPU minimum power management, deleting preferences, ...) but no improvement. The frame rate seems to be "stuck". Also disabling plugins does not change anything.

- I downloaded MSI afterburner to allow me to get a real time view on the use of hardware resources while I run xplane, however the framerate displayed by MSI afterburner is much higher than the one xplane 11 displays which is strange. Based on how slow the simulation reacts I must believe the xplane 11 number is correct and not the number from MSI afterburner. Using MSI afterburner I got confirmation that CPU and GPU load is not the issue (30 and 50% respectively) but GPU memory is fully used and sometimes I use the full 16 GB ram, which is surprising (never happened before based on periodic checking in the task manager).

- I tried putting all graphics sliders to the absolute minimum but this did not give any improvement in frame rate. It looks almost like something is blocking the frame rate.

- Strange thing I noticed : when starting up xplane 11 nothing happens. I have to go the task manager to activate the process, otherwise I just get a black screen. This has been like that for some time but it never gave issues before so I didn't worry. Now, with these fps issues, I start finding it strange. Another weird thing : in the task manager I have 7 XSystem processes being mentioned under Xplane 11. This seems strange. However as soon as I stop one process Xplane 11 shuts down. Not sure if this is related to the fps problem but it's strange.

In a nutshell : my simulator has been out of use for 3 weeks now thanks to this update ...

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Hi DETANDTF,

You certainly have had a journey.

One thing I have picked up on is your last paragraph (not last line) of your latest comment.  It suggests to me there has been or there is an installation problem.  The method you use to start X-Plane should not be.  Can you attach your "log.txt" file for others who have a greater knowledge base than me may be able to spot the problem.  Some of the latest log.txt files I have seen show that X-Plane is being installed through "one drive" in the windows based system.  This is new to me

Try downloading the "Installer file" and then run it.  What it will do is test all files and replace any that are corrupted as well as install any missing files. 

If that doesn't work then a drastic method may be to do a fresh installation by deleting everything using a good file removal software package.

If that doesn't work and you have indicated that the earlier version before the 11.32 upgrade did work without a problem.  It may be prudent to go back to 11.26.  I have always had the understanding that it cannot be done in the three years I have been associated with this forum.  However the light has been turned on indicating it can now be done.  I am seeking more information.  I will advise  how to do it.

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Thanks Glenn, will try your suggestions and report back.

I have the log.txt file but cannot attach it here, didn't find how/where and simple copy/paste doesn't work. Even if I edit the original question I don't see any option.

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Hi DETANDTF,

I am about to lose the internet due to a planned power outage.  Have a look at some recent answers from Greengolfer15 where he provides details to a few others on how to do it with his powerpoint presentation.

Good luck

Glenn

Power now restored.  Try this link found at http://questions.x-plane.com/?qa=blob&qa_blobid=17830136656522860642

Glenn

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I think I might have solved the issue. I first tried running the installer but that didn't change anything. Then I completely deleted the Xplane folder and re-installed it. For whatever reason version 11.05 was installed but it was given me good fps (25-30) with all plugins installed. Then I decided to update it to the latest version (11.32)...  . Big surprise : I continued having fps of 25-30 just like before the whole saga started.  On top of that Xplane starts normally without having to open the task manager and when I check the task manager there are only 3 XSystem processes running under Xplane. This is what you would expect given the fact that I use 3 displays. Previously it was showing 7 of these processes and I now suspect this was causing the frame rate hit. Something must have gone wrong the first time I updated to 11.32 causing this issue to appear.

Let's hope this proves to be sustainable now ...  .

I think I will be more careful in the future with xplane updates. Since I only fly in the weekend this issue made me lose 4 weeks .

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I got into the same issue again updating to the latest version (11.34r I believe) last night : a significant drop in frame rate to < 20 fps.  I did however notice that before the update Xplane would not open normally and I had to go via the task manager to "activate" it.

So I deleted xplane again and re-installed it, which gave me version 11.05. Got very good frame rates, also after installing plugins (air manager, pilotedge and spadnext).  But soon it started going south again : Xplane not starting up correctly (need to go via the task manager) and more XSystem processes active than displays running. I upgraded to the latest version and of course the issue did not go away.

It looks like everytime I restart Xplane and resume the last flight another Xsystem process is added, further slowing down the system. It looks that the process servicing the main display is duplicated on every restart so I ended up having up to 4 processes running for the main display, one for the left display and one for the right display.  This of course eats into the frame rate.

This gives me the impression that Xplane doesn't really quit correctly when I exit it. I did try to restart my computer but it didn't change.  I will try starting a new flight again but based on yesterday night's experience I don't think it will help.

I attached the log file from my last flight :

http://questions.x-plane.com/?qa=blob&qa_blobid=13871855712377331801