I really appreciate your effort for this quality response.
It seems you’re correct about this being a cpu-related issue with GPU consequences. For the first time, in process explorer, I noticed CPU negative usage spikes coinciding precisely with the GPU spike. Thanks to your tip about a new bios/microcode, I did in fact find a new bios dated May 26/25 on the Lenovo site. Oddly this did not appear as an update in the Vantage app that Lenovo uses for device updates (something I’ve checked every day). Indeed, this bios contained a new microcode dated May/25 whereas the prior bios microcode was dated Aug/24. Situation hopeful.
After launching MSFS and sitting in the main menu with my trackir in ‘pause’ mode, I opened process explorer and lo and behold…no CPU/GPU 60-sec spikes. I then spawned cold and dark at an airport and still process explorer showed no spikes! Yay!!
Sadly, when I unpaused my Trackir, the spikes returned exactly as before. No amount of process killing, pulling out the trackir USB, etc., would eliminate them and the spikes persisted even in the main menu. It seems once this cycle starts, it’s there until you shut down MSFS.
I’ve replicated this behaviour several times by relaunching MSFS. Even uninstalled trackir, with no effect. It seems once something triggers something else the 60-sec pause is there to stay.
The only MSFS-related software I have installed:
Trackir5
Addons Linker
PMDG Ops Center
Flight Recorder
Little Navmap
None of the above run any background processes that I can see unless you actually launch them, which I don’t during troubleshooting of this problem. In fact, I’ve disabled everything including pulling out all usb devices except for a cheap usb keyboard and mouse directly plugged into the rear of the pc but problem is always there except when you first launch MSFS and sit in the main menu, or spawn cold and dark without touching anything else. Once you unpause trackir, or start an engine, problem reappears. Oh, and I have nothing on my PC to my knowledge that would autosave every 60 seconds, Steam included.
Your P-Core/E-Core comments I’ve taken to heart and will pursue this further. Many thanks for this lead…will report back.
Start by running TrackIR on E-Cores only, or even in just a couple of cores (either P-Cores or E-Cores). This is more than enough for it to work. You can change TrackIR affinity with Process Lasso or similar SW before launching game to test it.
According to your test results It´s quite clear that problem is the interface between that application and game (SimConnect excessive polling, as I commented above). Remember TrackIR was designed for older simulators and maybe is not updated for FS2024. I last used it years ago, so I´m not sure now.
As an alternative in case the previous fix does not work try to update Visual C++ redist. If I´m not wrong TrackIR also installs an old version of Visual C++ as well. I would indeed completely uninstall any Visual C++ existing version you have and use the latest ones from MS site. Select the version you require for TrackIR and other programs (2005, 2008, etc, as some programs require a specific one) or just install the latest ones for all editions (2005 to 2022) to be on the safe side. Reboot and test again.
While I’m willing to try anything at this point, how would it be possible to experience the same 60-sec pauses with trackir completely uninstalled, if trackir is somehow responsible for this? Something leftover in the registry perhaps?
EDIT: I attempted moving trackir5 to the e-cores and no effect. Will play around with Process Lasso a little to see if I can get a hit with any other non-windows processes. Cool app, my first time using it.
When I was still using Intel (I spent 30 years with Intel CPUs), I always had the E-Cores disabled in the BIOS because they negatively affected game performance. I recommend you do the same - disable the E-Cores in your BIOS settings.
Also disable virtualization in BIOS settings.
As for Process Lasso, it’s unnecessary in this case. These days, it’s mainly useful for Ryzen CPUs that have multiple CCDs.
edit
If you’re troubleshooting performance in MSFS, you should test the game completely clean - with no add-ons and no background programs running. I strongly recommend uninstalling any third-party add-ons and background tools while testing.
Also, connect only a wired mouse, keyboard and joystick to the PC. Disconnect all other USB devices to avoid unnecessary interference or system overhead.
Maybe someone else can confirm how newest versions work nowadays, but in the past it installed drivers at Windows and also created content at AppData. I use Tobii now so I can’t check it myself, sorry.
But if pausing TrackIR, when still installed, and unpausing it makes a difference in test results you can be almost sure that problem is TrackIR, not anything else. In particular problem is its SimConnect interface with game.
It’s true that the interface side at game level can be still faulty as well. I wouldn’t be surprised about that as Tobii implementation has been a mess too since game was launched.
Thanks again. Although I remain open to the idea that trackir5 is the culprit, as I mentioned earlier i’ve attempted MSFS with the trackir hardware and drivers removed and it still had the same 60-sec pause.
On my older pc, running the same version of MSFS2020 as the new PC, trackir has run flawlessly for years and continues to do so. if there was some generic trackir/simconnect issue I would have expected to encounter this on the older unit. The main difference between the old and new pc is the older runs in Win10 and the new one in Win11. My suspicion is there is something in the new Win11 version that may be conflicting with either hardware, drivers or MSFS. Apart from the updated hardware in the new box, both PC’s have MSFS and related programs essentially set up the same. I’ve even duplicated the exact settings of my older MSFS installation thereby neutering the newer hardware in my new PC (No DLSS, Vertical Sync on, FPS locked at 30, etc), but the problem persists. In my case, newer is definitely not better.
In one of my previous posts, I mentioned TrackIR — you replied that it wasn’t the cause of the issue, but now you’re not so sure. Let’s also consider system differences: on your old PC, you had (or still have) Windows 10, while on the new one - and this is important - you have a pre-installed version of Windows 11 24H2. I’m not sure if you’re aware, but that particular version is considered one of the worst for gaming. That’s why I’m running Windows 11 version 23H2 and have blocked updates to 24H2.
It also got me thinking - maybe it’s something with drivers.
For testing purposes boot Windows into safe mode.
Run CMD as administrator.
Type verifier and press enter
I am sure. I strongly believe trackir was simply one of a number of possible triggers for the 60-sec cycle problem as I’ve explained previously.
I"m also aware of the many gaming-related issues reported with 24H2. As a last resort I’m certainly willing to perform a clean windows reinstall and learn how to prevent 24H2 from attaching. But I remain hopeful that another solution may exist.
I’ll definitely look into your driver verification recommendation, thanks for that. I confess to being somewhat hesitant about this as people have reported some serious problems after using this utility including BSOD loops, profound system instability, etc. I’ll research further however.
Just to clarify - I wasn’t suggesting you use Driver Verifier to actively check drivers. What I meant was that it might already be enabled by the system automatically for some reason and that disabling it could help.
If Driver Verifier is running, it can cause stuttering in games and even audio stuttering. That’s why I shared instructions on how to turn it off.
Understood. I attempted to do this both using the safe mode run-admin command and within windows and both methods return a ‘no settings were changed’ message when selecting ‘delete existing settings.’
