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GermanyChris

macrumors 601
Jul 3, 2011
4,185
5
Here
Buying. I get to specify the components:
Case: Cooler Master HAF-X Gaming Full Tower
CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-4770K 3.50 GHz 8MB Intel Smart Cache
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX Titan 6GB 16X PCIe 3.0
Cooler: Asetek 570LX Liquid Cooling system
SSD: Samsung 240GB Pro
Memory: G. SKILL Ripjaws16GB (4GBx4) DDR3/1866MHz
Motherboard: ASUS Z87-Pro Intel Z87 Chipset DDR3
OS: Microsoft® Windows 8 (64-bit Edition)
Overclock: Extreme OC (Extreme Overclock 20% or more)
Power Supply: Corsair Professional Series CMPSU-AX850

If you are using a yoke, you may want to use Win7 instead of Win8. There may be an issue about using yokes and joysticks with Win8.



I wanted to double check my VRAM usage because I am making my own scenery which should tap into my VRAM. But X-Plane has crashed on me.
Now I've got to go to my back-up and reinstall Win7.

That'll be a nice hackintosh :D
 

maccompaq

macrumors 65816
Mar 6, 2007
1,169
24
Windows 8

There are so many people complaining about Windows 8 that Microsoft is working hard on Windows 8.1 to fix a lot of the complaints. Hopefully that will make it better for X Plane users.

Topper, the case that you have in your specs is the same one I put on my list of components for my next build.

I am on the fence about a GTX780 with 3GB or a GTX680 with 4GB. I only use one monitor with X Plane 10: a 24 inch at 1920 x 1080. I do have a nice Dell 24 inch monitor at 1920 x 1200 on another Hack running X Plane 9.
 

Topper

macrumors 65816
Jun 17, 2007
1,186
0
There are so many people complaining about Windows 8 that Microsoft is working hard on Windows 8.1 to fix a lot of the complaints. Hopefully that will make it better for X Plane users.

Topper, the case that you have in your specs is the same one I put on my list of components for my next build.

I am on the fence about a GTX780 with 3GB or a GTX680 with 4GB. I only use one monitor with X Plane 10: a 24 inch at 1920 x 1080. I do have a nice Dell 24 inch monitor at 1920 x 1200 on another Hack running X Plane 9.

I studied, studied, and studied the components.
Except for it's large size, I've found very few complaints about that case.
If it were me, I wouldn't even think twice...I'd get the GTX 780. In this case, the memory would be a very minor concern.
To quote one of the many websites (Game Debate), "In terms of overall gaming performance, the graphical capabilities of the Nvidia GeForce GTX 780 are massively better than the Nvidia GeForce GTX 680."

That'll be a nice hackintosh :D

I'll probably keep it as a PC for a little while before I change it over to hackintosh..:)
 

chris.k

macrumors member
May 22, 2013
91
1
YSSY
I recently read a post from a guy running GTX680. He said to get the 4GB version if the resolution is over 1920 x 1080, but get the 2GB version if 1920 x 1080 or less. Is that a valid conclusion?

Unfortunately no. Although screen size does play a part in both fill-rate (major) and VRAM usage, it's the textures loaded into the Video Card which take up the Lion's share of the VRAM use.

As mentioned, I can easily fill 2Gb of VRAM on any of the hi-res orthophoto sceneries, despite my best efforts to conserve as much VRAM as I can in the completed package: (DDS textures, trimming of tiles, down sampling areas where you're likely not close to the ground, using DXT1vs DXT5 compression, etc....)

Even at 1024x768 screen size - the VRAM use for the textures is the same, which as mentioned is the vast majority of the use.

3-4 Gb should do you nicely. I run into out-of-VRAM issues on my 2Gb GTX670 if I go to "extreme" (native) resolution of the scenery textures.

Hope that helps!
 

MacsRgr8

macrumors G3
Sep 8, 2002
8,284
1,753
The Netherlands
3-4 Gb should do you nicely. I run into out-of-VRAM issues on my 2Gb GTX670 if I go to "extreme" (native) resolution of the scenery textures.

Hope that helps!

I have the 7950 inside my Mac Pro which has 3 GB VRAM.

I put X-Plane 10 in extreme resolution @ 1920 x 1200.

I have downloaded a huge amount of sceneries, pay ware airports but also lots of photo sceneries.
Most of the time VRAM usage is between 2 GB and 3 GB, this is (of course) with texture compression enabled.
Disable that and load a hugely detail New York area.... easily > 4 GB!
 

maccompaq

macrumors 65816
Mar 6, 2007
1,169
24
I have the 7950 inside my Mac Pro which has 3 GB VRAM.

I put X-Plane 10 in extreme resolution @ 1920 x 1200.

I have downloaded a huge amount of sceneries, pay ware airports but also lots of photo sceneries.
Most of the time VRAM usage is between 2 GB and 3 GB, this is (of course) with texture compression enabled.
Disable that and load a hugely detail New York area.... easily > 4 GB!

I set the resolution to Extreme, 1920 x 1080, on my Core i7 with a 1GB GFX card, and it used all the graphics memory plus 100. Even so, it ran mostly at 39 frames on Snow Leopard and 41 frames on Windows 7 64 bit. I do not understand why the Snow Leopard side loads X Plane 10 2 to 3 times faster than Windows 7. Both running on the same computer with their own hard drives of same speed and size.
 

MacsRgr8

macrumors G3
Sep 8, 2002
8,284
1,753
The Netherlands
I set the resolution to Extreme, 1920 x 1080, on my Core i7 with a 1GB GFX card, and it used all the graphics memory plus 100. Even so, it ran mostly at 39 frames on Snow Leopard and 41 frames on Windows 7 64 bit. I do not understand why the Snow Leopard side loads X Plane 10 2 to 3 times faster than Windows 7. Both running on the same computer with their own hard drives of same speed and size.

That's interesting.
I have no idea why OS X loads it faster. Are there others with the same experience?
 

dpny

macrumors 6502
Jan 5, 2013
268
105
That's interesting.
I have no idea why OS X loads it faster. Are there others with the same experience?

I don't know why either, but I have noticed it, too. I can only guess its the OS X kernel is better at managing the memory subsystem and I/O.
 

maccompaq

macrumors 65816
Mar 6, 2007
1,169
24
Windows 7 or 8 & X Plane 10 & GTX 780

With so many complaints about Windows 8, I am unsure which to get for my next build. Does Windows 7 have drivers yet for the GTX 780? Or will Windows 8 be OK?
 

Topper

macrumors 65816
Jun 17, 2007
1,186
0
With so many complaints about Windows 8, I am unsure which to get for my next build. Does Windows 7 have drivers yet for the GTX 780? Or will Windows 8 be OK?

GeForce 320.18 Driver
Version:
320.18 - WHQL
Release Date:
Thu May 23, 2013
Operating System:
Windows 7 64-bit
Windows 8 64-bit
Windows Vista 64-bit
Language:
English (US)
File Size:
175.55 MB
Supported Products:
GeForce 700 Series
GeForce GTX TITAN, GeForce GTX 780, GeForce GTX 770
.
X-Plane 10 should work just fine with Win8.
But you may have problems if you are using a yoke. Maybe Chris K knows if the yoke/joystick problem has been solved.
 
Last edited:

maccompaq

macrumors 65816
Mar 6, 2007
1,169
24
I really like my yoke & throttle quadrant, and I will not abandon it. With my lesser Hack, I use a high end joy stick to run X Plane 9.
Windows 8.1 is going to be showcased on June 26 with an expected Autumn release. That is supposed to fix a lot of problems.
 

chris.k

macrumors member
May 22, 2013
91
1
YSSY
That's interesting.
I have no idea why OS X loads it faster. Are there others with the same experience?

In bootcamp, your HDD does not run in AHCI mode. It runs in standard IDE access mode, which is much much slower.

Have a quick read: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1098620/

I noticed that too - when I added in a Samsung 840 to my 'Pro, the Samsung tools complained that the disk wasn't running in AHCI mode On the Win7 side & I was getting about 30% of the IOPS I should have been getting. That thread explains how to hack a fix.

So no, it's not Windows being slow vs OSX (which is what I originally thought too! Same as you guys) but the lack of AHCI support specifically under EFI/Bootcamp. A little digging around led me to the culprit.

Note: AHCI works properly on the MacOSX side. You can verify this in the System Profiler app under the SATA section on the left.

Again, This problem is specific to Macs running Bootcamp - not indicative of Windows machines in general.

Hope that helps!

- CK.
 

maccompaq

macrumors 65816
Mar 6, 2007
1,169
24
In bootcamp, your HDD does not run in AHCI mode. It runs in standard IDE access mode, which is much much slower.
Have a quick read: https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1098620/
I noticed that too - when I added in a Samsung 840 to my 'Pro, the Samsung tools complained that the disk wasn't running in AHCI mode On the Win7 side & I was getting about 30% of the IOPS I should have been getting. That thread explains how to hack a fix.
So no, it's not Windows being slow vs OSX (which is what I originally thought too! Same as you guys) but the lack of AHCI support specifically under EFI/Bootcamp. A little digging around led me to the culprit.
Note: AHCI works properly on the MacOSX side. You can verify this in the System Profiler app under the SATA section on the left.
Again, This problem is specific to Macs running Bootcamp - not indicative of Windows machines in general.
Hope that helps!
- CK.
Chris, my results are on my home built Core i7 PC running Win 7 & Snow Leopard. No Bootcamp involved. Any ideas? Each OS is on a separate hard drive of same manufacturer and size.
As Topper mentioned, Win 8 seems to have a problem with yokes and joysticks. What is your take on that?
Also, does Win 8 support the new GTX780 natively without add ons out of the box?
Does Win 7 support the GTX780 natively without add ons out of the box?
 
Last edited:

chris.k

macrumors member
May 22, 2013
91
1
YSSY
Chris, my results are on my home built Core i7 PC running Win 7 & Snow Leopard. No Bootcamp involved. Any ideas?

Nope. Must be attributed to something else then. I do not have a stand-alone PC for Testing/comparision with a dual boot Win/OSX environment. Anything I say would be pure conjecture.

As Topper mentioned, Win 8 seems to have a problem with yokes and joysticks. What is your take on that?

No idea. I have neither Win8 nor a Yoke - so I have no experience with either.

Also, does Win 8 support the new GTX780 natively without add ons out of the box?

No idea. I have neither Win8 nor a GTX780 - so I have no experience with either. This is best a question for someone more familiar with the subject.

Does Win 7 support the GTX780 natively without add ons out of the box?

No idea. I do not have a GTX7xx series, so I have no experience with this product. Again, I will leave this to others more familiar with the subject.

Sorry I couldn't be of more help. I only know, and can only speak authoritative on subjects where i have first hand experience - as not to give potentially false or misleading answers.

- CK.
 

maccompaq

macrumors 65816
Mar 6, 2007
1,169
24
GeForce 320.18 Driver
Version:
320.18 - WHQL
Release Date:
Thu May 23, 2013
Operating System:
Windows 7 64-bit
Windows 8 64-bit
Windows Vista 64-bit
Language:
English (US)
File Size:
175.55 MB
Supported Products:
GeForce 700 Series
GeForce GTX TITAN, GeForce GTX 780, GeForce GTX 770
.
Thanks for that info. That driver will probably be included with Win 8.1.
Now the decision to Hackintosh ML or Mavericks.
 
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