Need to reduce memory load

[petakas]

Win7 64 Home - FSX Accel. - i7 3770@4.3 Ghz - NVidia GTX660Ti 2Gb card - 8Gb RAM
Not any add on's at all in NY area.
FSX set up according to this guide.

On final approach 31R my VAS memory increases by 900Mb just from FSDT JFK (v2.1) and by the time I reach the gate its a bit lower to 700Mb. I refer to the airport added memory, not the total.

Under "low" to "medium" load add on aircraft at JFKv2 face no problem.
Unfortunately complex aircraft like the FSL Concorde X build up the VAS (of a clean FSX without add on airport) up to 3.1~3.2 Gb or more. This leaves a room of 500~700Mb for add on scenery before you reach the lethal limit of 4Gb for OOM crash !

I have flown in JFK v2 with the specific aircraft and unfortunately its barely manageable to reach the gate without getting in to memory problems. I know, it has nothing to do with FSDT but I am posting here for an option as help if possible.

It would be really handy if there could be a "lighter" version of JFK v2 option and this is the reason I make this post as a plea to the developer

Some developers solve it by releasing as an option lower (resolution) sized ground bitmaps for their airports (e.g. UK2000 EGLL, FSDG LGTS) or (Aerosoft, 29Palms) scenery managers to disable some options like some or all of the vehicle traffic, static aircraft, 3D grass etc.

I was wondering :

1) Would it be possible to have lower sized optional bitmaps for JFK v2 to save some 300Mb of VAS from loading in FSX ?

2) If not, are there any recommended .BGL files to disable which would NOT have a great visual effect but still will save some memory of this size ?

Thanks in advance.  

[virtuali]

On final approach 31R my VAS memory increases by 900Mb just from FSDT JFK (v2.1) and by the time I reach the gate its a bit lower to 700Mb. I refer to the airport added memory, not the total.

No, JKF doesn't take that much memory. You are seeing a combination of all the scenery around, including AI. If you wanted to know how much memory is really taken from JFK, you should compare it to the same flight/airplane/settings, but using the default JFK, but even that comparison could be misleading, because the default JFK has an AFCAD that attracts less AI so, for *comparison* purposes, you should test without AI, and do a "before/after" with default JFK against FSDT JFK, that would give you a better idea of the VAS consumption that can be attributed to JFK.

It would be really handy if there could be a "lighter" version of JFK v2 option and this is the reason I make this post as a plea to the developer

Some developers solve it by releasing as an option lower (resolution) sized ground bitmaps for their airports (e.g. UK2000 EGLL, FSDG LGTS) or (Aerosoft, 29Palms) scenery managers to disable some options like some or all of the vehicle traffic, static aircraft, 3D grass etc.

1) Would it be possible to have lower sized optional bitmaps for JFK v2 to save some 300Mb of VAS from loading in FSX ?

We don't need it to make it so cumbersome...

Since JFK is made using 4096 textures (few of them, compared to many 1024s), if you use the Addon Manager option for HD textures, you can set them at 2048 or 1024 size, and you can do this even WITHOUT reinstalling or even restarting the flight so, you can do it even when you are starting your approach.

This WILL reduce the *texture* memory requirement to about 4x if you use 2048 and 16x if you use 1024.

In addition to that, textures and video memory will take away from your VAS ONLY IN DX9. If you use DX10, the allocated video memory won't take away from your VAS, so you will save even more RAM.

[petakas]

Since JFK is made using 4096 textures (few of them, compared to many 1024s), if you use the Addon Manager option for HD textures, you can set them at 2048 or 1024 size, and you can do this even WITHOUT reinstalling or even restarting the flight so, you can do it even when you are starting your approach.

This WILL reduce the *texture* memory requirement to about 4x if you use 2048 and 16x if you use 1024.

Forgot to mention that I don't use AI at all (set to 0) because I always fly on line, so its not the AI to blame but the rest you mention which does off course make sense.

OK I will use the add on manager for what you described, it sounds as good solution I had not investigated.

Just to clarify; the add on manager option you mention alters FSX's resolution for textures (TML) as in FSX.CFG or is it something that changes the specific bitmaps' textures resolution of JFKv2 ?

I ask because the specific aircraft requires 4096 resolution for its 2D panels and it even makes an automatic check on initial loading for it. If its set to less than 4096 it changes it to 4096 with an informative pop up about it ...

DX10 is something I have not even thought of touching in fear of getting problems in other areas of FSX !

[virtuali]

Just to clarify; the add on manager option you mention alters FSX's resolution for textures (TML) as in FSX.CFG or is it something that changes the specific bitmaps' textures resolution of JFKv2 ?

Yes, it changes that parameter, because it's the only way to change texture resolutions in FSX, without having to reinstall the scenery, but not only that, it also changes the value directly in memory, so the changes are applied immediately, without requiring a restart.

I ask because the specific aircraft requires 4096 resolution for its 2D panels and it even makes an automatic check on initial loading for it. If its set to less than 4096 it changes it to 4096 with an informative pop up about it ...

I hope that popup could be disabled...what if you didn't had enough texture memory on your card, so the 4096 resolution could not be used ?

[petakas]

I hope that popup could be disabled...what if you didn't had enough texture memory on your card, so the 4096 resolution could not be used ?

Valid question to which I don't have the answer !
It pops up only on initial loading of aircraft though if it detects lower than 4096 so I'll give it a try after loading the aircraft.
If the resolution difference with, say, 2048 setting is not detrimental I may as well keep it and test it that way or have it set via the manager on final stage of the flight before getting in range of JFK.

[petakas]

I reduced TML from 4096 to 2048 and memory use in JFK is better, not getting close to OOM limits. It saves some 200~400Mb more of VAS.
The good news is that FSL ConcordeX does not generate the pop up with 2048 and this setting does not have any problem with the aircraft.

Later by testing I found out it was 2048 that it needs (and the pop up says if setting is at 1024) and not 4096 so all is good now.
For some reason I thought it was 4096 what was needed, maybe it was coming from some other scenery installation recommendation.