Slow Response

[gsurfdude]

Hello there,

First, I am new to condor and new to soaring both in RL and here. I have Condor 2 on dell 660s with only 4 gb memory and using built in graphics card. When I fly it, the controls (both joy stick and rudder pedals) are slow to respond. and the entire flight is jerky, not smooth like, let's say Xbox etc.. I don't do games at all (except a surfing on older Xbox). Other than replacing this computer is there a way I can get better performance of this. The System requirements did not say much other than 1 gig graphics card but integrated one 'will' work. BTW, I have windows 10.

Thanks!

Gsurfdude

[janjansen]

With the best integrated graphics condor is barely playable and you have a nearly decade old one that wasnt any good when it was launched.

Your cpu isnt cutting edge but will do for condor. If you are on a tight budget, the best you could do is add a videocard to your PC. Problem however is that your case will only take single slot, low profile videocards that dont require a power connector and are extremely thin and short. That means you dont have a lot of choice. Here someone suggested a zotac 1030 would fit in your inspiron:
https://www.dell.com/community/Desktops ... -p/5186126

Thats hardly a fast videocard, but should still be like 10-20x faster than your integrated graphics:
https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/N ... 726vsm7699

and is probably good enough to play condor smoothly in 1080p with medium settings.

Good luck finding one though

[gsurfdude]

Thanks JanJansen.

I agree. Time to turn this old machine in to a Linux server for my network (subversion..) I will look on Craigslist for a decent machine but not quite a 'gamer'. I knew my options were limited due to it's age, small form factor etc..

[janjansen]

Do look for a gaming machine. Just one that is low end, or say a 4- 5 years old highend machine. Gamers dont want that anymore, but it will be perfectly adequate for condor (if you are not planning on VR).

[gsurfdude]

Yeah, I looked on Criagslist for older gaming machines and a couple. But they wanted to much $ for em. I don't need a super high end. I saw a Dell workstation with 12gigs memory but I would still need to get a a a good video graphics card (those aren't cheap)

OR I 'could' get the Zotac GT1030 2GB DDR5 LP card as you mentioned and that probably would work (Yes, my budget is not high) - I'd rather spend the $ on RL flight

BTW, what is 'VR'? I was thinking about getting some sort of TrackIR or a free open source one.

Thanks for help too!!

[janjansen]

VR is short for virtual reality (goggles). You know, oculus rift. Not likely you'll be in the market for one. trackir/opentrack is wholeheartedly recommended though, and way cheaper.

I would certainly not buy a "workstation" without GPU. Condor doesnt benefit from much RAM, and doesnt need a powerful CPU with many cores (it only uses 1). It just needs a somewhat decent videocard. Bang for buck the GT1030 is the way to go. Maybe up the ram to 8GB, although it will work fine with 4.

[gsurfdude]

Thank you JanJansen for the great advice. I just started flying RL gliders and love it. I live in Florida so we can fly year round. The only issue is the club's CFI-G's are volunteers and all very good instructors. But, trying to have the same person all the time is hard. And the time/money for me. I try to fly every Saturday. After researching quite heavily I found Condor and even soaring Mag endorses it. I think it could help me with RL things in between training flights.

So, I think to save me the buck's I will update the machine with 8 gb, and that video card. I shopped for gaming computers, my jaw about dropped. You can get a server for about the same money. Anyways, thank you and happy flying either sim or RL.

G

[congo]

You can usually find a good second hand game PC on ebay, but get advice before purchase.

Basicly, there are two kinds of video cards available, Radeon or Nvidia.

I am no authority on radeon based cards, so won't comment.

With Nvidia GPU's, the graphics ability is determined by the gpu classification.

ie. GTX 430, 580, 610, 750, 840, 960, 1050, etc.

The first digit/s denote the gpu class, which is LESS relevant than the second numbers in the codes.

Nvidia's secondary codes from weak to powerful look like 10 , 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 etc.

So, you can always look for a minimum of a 50 series card for gaming, like a GTX 950 or 1050 for example.

Personally, I would never buy anything under a 60 series card for gaming, ie. GTX 760 ......

60 series cards, no matter how old, are usually beter than ANY 50 series cards, (unless they are truly ancient).


When shopping for second hand gaming PC's always select one with a 60 series or above, anything under that,
and it was NEVER a true gaming computer.

Never be tempted to buy any nvidia graphics card under a 50 series, they just don't cut it.
Even a 50 series is pushing the threshold for GPU power.

[congo]

In the USA, there are two major outlets that you can buy cheap new gaming machines from online.

micro center
https://www.microcenter.com/

and Newegg
https://www.newegg.com/

I think both stores have pre-builts available, which are almost always second class machines with
shortcuts taken to max out profits.

Both stores will also assemble a PC from parts of your specification for a small fee, and deliver a complete custom gamer of your design.

Every serious gamer designs and builds their own PC, for good reason, you don't get ripped off and you get a quality machine made from quality matched components that are going to do the job properly and last for years, all this, for the same price or less than a crappy pre-built.

You need a nerd on your side to do this, there are a lot of pitfalls.

[congo]

With the best integrated graphics condor is barely playable and you have a nearly decade old one that wasnt any good when it was launched.

Your cpu isnt cutting edge but will do for condor. If you are on a tight budget, the best you could do is add a videocard to your PC. Problem however is that your case will only take single slot, low profile videocards that dont require a power connector and are extremely thin and short. That means you dont have a lot of choice. Here someone suggested a zotac 1030 would fit in your inspiron:
https://www.dell.com/community/Desktops ... -p/5186126

Thats hardly a fast videocard, but should still be like 10-20x faster than your integrated graphics:
https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/N ... 726vsm7699

and is probably good enough to play condor smoothly in 1080p with medium settings.

Good luck finding one though

Jan is correct with the advice about your current PC, in regards to the choice you have for a video card upgrade that will fit into your PC, because of the lack of room and probably also the power requirements of a more powerful video card.

I still maintain that anything under a 50 series card is a serious deficit, but it will certainly be an improvement over what you currently have.

If I was in your shoes, (with my knowledge) and I wanted to upgrade as cheaply as possible, I would actually swap the entire case for something bigger, and put everything in the bigger case so I could fit in a decent video card, but alas, you may have to buy a bigger PSU to power the new GPU and RAM.

So, now you may even get that new case for free or even a few dollars from a second hand store, but you are still up for PSU, GPU and RAM.

I guess, what I'm trying to say, is don't expect too much from a 1030 card, whatever PC it is put into. It will definitely be better than what you have, but it's never going to be eye candy.

There are a few things that drastically affect graphics performance.

Resolution
Antialiasing
Anisotropic filtering

Resolution is (or should be) determined by your monitor, Every monitor has a native resolution and Condor (and all games) need to run at the monitor's native resolution for best results. HD is 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution. You want that as a minimum. If you go to the so called 4k monitors, you'll need a massively powerful PC to display games on it, so not recommended unless you want to spend a small fortune.

Antialiasing blends pixel edges and get rid of the jaggy edges on pixels, smoothing the image.

Anisotropic filtering sets the detail radius of the game textures, or simply put, gives you better distance texturing, this uses GPU power because it is rendering the landscape detail further out in the distance.

Those three things are a major influence over the reality and WOW! factor of your gaming experience.

One of the reasons I buy nvidia GPU's in that the nvidia drivers give you clear control over the various driver settings affecting
the parameters above (and many more), whereas Radeon's Catalyst control centre is a bit trickier to navigate thru the various settings.

Also, the driver software automation is easier for me to control under nvidia drivers, whereas I find Radeon's driver has control over me, and not the other way around. I actually have nothing against Radeon's hardware at all.
Saying that, even nvidia now has intrusive and controlling driver software installed by default, if you let it do that, but the bloatware can easily be turned off during the driver install process, leaving you, once again, in control.

[OXO]

Just to note that a GTX1050 will not run Oculus Rift.

.. which I discovered this week to my great cost

[janjansen]

Just to note that a GTX1050 will not run Oculus Rift.

.. which I discovered this week to my great cost

hmm? It doesnt meet Oculus recommended specs, and it will not be fast enough for most current VR titles, just like a 1050 wont run those titles in 4K. But I would expect it to run condor in VR (and in 4K), even if only just, and possibly after reducing eye candy. Then again, not having tried, Im only speculating.

Not that it matters for the OP, because he cant fit a 1050 in his case, much less a 1060 or up. And a VR set is unlikely to fit in his budget.

@congo
A 1030 is not something I would normally ever recommend either, given the price/performance ratio (and certainly avoid the DDR4 versions) most people are better off spending a little more. But the OP is clearly not a gamer and a 1030 is a way for him to play condor while spending only ~100, while every other solution is going to cost a high multiple of that, because he will basically need a new PC.

[OXO]

I have tried it, and Its blocked by the Oculus software.

[janjansen]

Really? I never read that they do that. Do you actually get a message saying the card isnt supported or is it possible you are having a different problem, like black screen issue with some nvidia drivers + rift ? If its really oculus blocking you, thats pretty lame, seeing they do support lower end mobile chips and you might just want to watch a movie, but hey, maybe you can try if revive works around it ?

edit: here someone testing the rift with a GTX1050: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8_i-V2YuITQ

Its more than a year old though, but it wasnt a supported card back then either, and the Ti didnt exist yet. So if its software blocking, its probably something recent.

[gsurfdude]

Hello again everyone,

I wanted to run this by. I have inherited a decent machine. A Dell XPS 8300, it has an Intel i5, 4 gigs memory (I am going to add 4 more to - 460 W PSU and a ATI/AMD Radeon HD-5770 - 1 gb with Windows 7 home. This GPU was already in the machine. Will this set up work now? I read everyone's comments and thank you. I will eventually get a lower end 'gamer' from somewhere. Heck, Walmart sells em...