Increasing graphics settings to reduce CPU load isn’t for higher fps, but trading a small hit in fps for an overall smoother performance and reducing stutters. Think about it… If your CPU limits you to 30 fps on the low side, your graphics settings necessarily need to be set so you become GPU limited to something less than 30 fps to even start giving the CPU a break. It also means more heat generated inside the case from the GPU that then makes CPU cooling performance even worse.
Try running it with the side panel off for a bit? That would give the CPU cooler unrestricted access to cool ambient air at least for testing purposes.
If both CPU and GPU temps are in the 70’s, it probably means you don’t have an overheating problem. The 3080ti will throttle at 83C and the 12900k at 100C. Therefore there must be something else going on. I get similar temps when running the sim with better performance.
There may be something else going on, but apparently Dell artificially throttles the CPU, both in power and boost time, so may still be something going on related to the CPU. I know GN is over the top with some of their sarcasm and hyperbole, but their facts are usually spot on, such as the claim of Dell limiting the CPU turbo boost to only 56 seconds even though the official Intel spec allows it to be unlimited as long as temps are ok.
@n452mk can you check what your main CPU thread clock speed is once in a flight? Make sure to wait at least a minute to allow any boost timer to expire just in case. MSI Afterburner is good for this because you can watch the overlay in real time without pushing the sim into the background and skewing results when trying to check something like HW Monitor. To see what clock speeds are doing. You should have one or two running full tilt, though which specific thread doing so may jump around. That’s the one you want to be watching, and should be running ~5.1GHz, though the GN video reports hitting only 4.7GHz prior to throttling.
Btw, when you said it’s running in the 70’s, was that immediately after startup, or after flying a bit? Water coolers take a bit for the water to heat up and reach steady state temps. Ideally that temp needs to be checked after the temp has stopped climbing, which can take up to 30 min (likely less on a small one like yours).
While you’re at it, what are your settings for terrain and object LOD, and the various amounts of AI traffic in the Traffic settings? If you are in the 70’s after reaching steady state temps and clock speeds are ok, this is where I’d check next. They are the heavy CPU hitters in this sim.
I don’t dispute that Dell places certain limits on CPU performance to stay within their thermal limits and to defray warranty claims etc.. These PC’s are for Mac guys like me that just want the thing to run well without tinkering around in the bowels of the system. This is my 3rd AW that have been pretty trouble-free and I’ve been spared the agony of constant crashes and all the other pain people report here.
That said, I have the almost identical hardware specs (I have only 32GB ram) and it seems like I’m getting much better results than the OP. The question is why. So lets look at possible settings differences…I normally run Ultrawide fullscreen with stock Ultra settings in the game. I use DLSS quality and normally limit the framerate to 40. I use live traffic but not AI traffic because it’s just a silly waste of resources the way it’s implemented in the sim right now. I do turn vSync off from time to time just to see how things are going, usually after a sim update. If I turn DLSS off and go back to TAA, I get about the same performance but the GPU will start pulling a bunch more power and will of course run warmer. I normally run Task Manager and GPU-Z and LNM on two additional monitors. I run the AW “Overlclock 1” in the ACC that allows a max boost of 5.2mhz.
So, some simple diagnostics…I suggested earlier running the AW SupportAssist that does an analysis of the system and will identify any hardware glitches it encounters and any AW updates you may require…possible hint, they pushed a BIOS update in the last couple of weeks. I keep my W11 uptodate and I use the latest nVidea driver. After that, perhaps run sfc /scannow to detect any system file anomalies.
So, before we throw the baby out with the bath water…let’s see if we can get to the bottom of this!
I didn’t realize you are running AW, and thought you were running similar hardware in a different build. Most people don’t buy AW, if for no other reason than the extra cost you pay for the name, so it’s rare to see AW mentioned here. I was also going off a lot of speculation because we didn’t know much about the situation, but hopefully we are starting to narrow it down. Diagnostics unfortunately take time, but better that than to change a bunch of settings at random and just hoping something worked.
The cost thing is interesting. The review sites seem to always quote the “sticker price”. But AW always have various models on sale and, if you talk to a sales rep, you can usually get even a better discount than the advertised price. The second thing is that they have a great warranty. The first one I had had a glitch with the RGB lighting…no big deal for me, but they sent a guy over to my house to replace the mother board. The next two have had no issues. And for now, the only way you can get a 4090 is thru AW if you want one. All the other sites here in Cda have listed prices above $2300 and are out of stock.
If you are a tinkerer or an OC’er these machines are definately not for you, but if you just want a decent rig that will run most games pretty well without ■■■■■■■ with it…it might be a good answer.
Right now they have an R15/13900k/4090 for $1000 Cdn off…or about $3000 US$. I can’t find anything online close to that which is actually available.
Im really not an expert with cpu temps etc but if this helps, when I run the sim I use addon linker, also fstl traffic but with really low settings, maybe 4-5 planes on the ground thats all, also use spad.next for the controllers. I been busy with family but i got on the sim to continue trying to solve my issue and noticed that i get 35-40 fps at a normal caribbean airport using the ini a300, then i used the tbm 850 and my fps went to 45-50 but still in red. Please let me know what else i need to let u guys know to solve this, really appreciate everyone
The sticker, or MSRP price is the often used value benchmark because it’s a known stable basis. When you start trying to include sales, the variables increase because now you have to determine how much the savings is, and timing of the purchase. On a personal note, I don’t like playing the sales game. I prefer stable pricing.
I would suggest using hwinfo64 (free) to log a ton of system stats while you run a short flight. That way you can go back and check the cpu usage and temps by core over time to see more about what is throttling the cpu. Also look for any programs running in the background that are cpu hogs. One thing that really used a lot of cpu time for me was a real time cloud backup program that was constantly scanning for file changes. I disabled that and the cpu load went down enough to matter. You may have something or several things running that can be stopped or deleted entirely. Use task manager and sort it by cpu usage and look for things you don’t need, bloatware, etc. Don’t use antivirus like Norton or others and just go with windows defender. I’m guessing it’s high cpu temps due to cooling and background apps hogging cpu time as others with similar spec systems are seeing better performance. Good luck and we will help you sort this out. I had a Dell/alienware for a while and yes it ran warmer than my current pc and the cpu was a bit slower due to that but it wasn’t massive delta to other pre-built PCs. And turn off live weather, turn off traffic, turn down cars/boats/fauna to like 15 as they hog cpu. When I am back in front of my pc in a few days I would be happy to do a FaceTime and try to help you sort it out as that may be easier to troubleshoot. I went from Alienware (10900k and 3090) to now having built 3 different PCs (7950x3d and 4090) and so I’ve had bumps along the way to sort out. It’s frustrating for sure but this group can get you sorted. For sure you should be seeing better performance and there’s something hogging that cpu based upon the earlier post of a user with similar hardware and from what I’ve seen on my prior systems.
