So I’ve been experimenting with something here. I didn’t realize you could install the packages anywhere you wanted. I mean I knew you could but, I just didn’t see the benefits.
Let me tell you about my lowly system first. It’s an HP Pavilion gaming laptop I got a heck of a deal on from Walmart last pre-Thanksgiving for $450. It has an I5-9300H CPU, 8gb DDR4 ram, 256gb M.2 NVMe SSD and a Nvidia Geforce GTX 1650. Now you may not think that it much, but I’m actually able to run FS at default high settings and it’s pretty smooth and I average 30fps. I’m very happy with it.
Since it only has 256gb, of course I get low on space. I have a Samsung 256 evo select SD card I use to supplement it. It’s a pretty fast card. Fast enough to run FS2004 straight off it before FS2020 released. So, I thought I’d move my packages folder over there, edit the userCfc.opt file and give it a try. I’ll tell you what, I don’t notice a difference. Loading time to the main page was the same at 2:15, loading a flight was 54 seconds compared to 47. It still runs smooth even with my mods in the community folder.
My question is this. Is there any writing being done to the packages folder during game play? I don’t think so. I think it’s all being done in the C drive game folder. I ask because my SD card reads fast but doesn’t write neaarly as fast. But I’d like to keep this configuration. For one If I ever do reinstalls of the OS or Sim, it will be a breeze.
As far a cheap upgrades. I have a empty 2.5 inch SATA III slot available. I was thinking of throwing in a cheap 500gb SSD in there to replace the SD card. There is a TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan Z 512GB SLC Cache 3D NAND TLC 2.5 Inch SATA III Internal Solid State Drive SSD over at Amazon for $30. Worth it? Like I said I’m cheap. And adding 8gb of ram in the empty slot while I’m at it. Thoughts?
Geez I hope this is the right category. What happened to self-help?
Yeah, as in my post my C drive already is a M.2 NVME SSD. So if I get the SATA SSD what I would do is install the sim on C drive and the packages on the D driver (the SATA). Make sense? Or I could spend $50 more and replace the NVMe with a 1tb. But like I said, I’m cheap haha.
not much at all, the Packages are loaded into ram or the virtual drive msfs uses but most if not all the configs, cache etc that would be written to are in the launcher still on your c: drive if you only move the packages
really the game probably wont write much data during use anyway if you dont have the “Rolling Cache” on
Thanks. That’s what I thought. I’m not a gamer except for this sim. I suppose most gamers who use Xbox on a PC know this. It just hit me the other day.
Ok my thoughts backed up by my intimate knowledge .
The sim mostly runs from ram but will when necessary dip into yout content files which is why I recommend keeping them on a different drive to windows and programs including the MSFS install.
Likewise virtual memory, I always disable mine from the Packages drive and place a single one on a drive not used while playing (5-10 total is plenty but please not on HDD). Rolling cache is optional, I glide often im circles but if I was an A - B man for sure it’s not needed, all the same keep it away from content. Honestly if that is your set up you have done all you can and any problems probably lie elsewhere.
Yeah I never use the rolling cache either. I get better results without it. I don’t really have any problems other than needing more space. I mean with my cpu and gpu it’s not going to get any faster than it is. I’m happy with performance at high settings. Another 8gb of ram will help cuz the vfr map is a little slow at loading.
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