Delta Virtual Airlines Water Cooler - FSX freezes with Radar Contact 4

Delta Virtual Airlines Water Cooler | PC Support | FSX freezes with Radar Contact 4

DVA9977
Captain, B737-800
OLP

Joined on July 20 2011
50 State Club
US Capital Club
Everett 250 Club
Quatercentenary Club
Online Triple Century Club
DVA Ten-Year Anniversary

Southeastern United States

469 legs, 796.1 hours
345 legs, 599.4 hours online
466 legs, 792.0 hours ACARS
2 legs, 5.5 hours event

Posted onPost created on December 10 2011 11:00 ET by Kai Williams

Hello, I'm having a problem with FSX freezing (imagine that!) while using Radar Contact 4. Just a quick background of my problem. I had a freezing problem every 25-30 hours with the basic FSX (no add-ons). Irritating but not the end of the world. Then, I purchased IFLY 737NG, added FSUIPC and SB4 and started flying on VATSIM. Not once has FSX hung up on me. I got interested in Radar Contact just as an alternative to flying on-line. You know, just for a little variety. My first flight with Radar Contact, FSX froze after about an hour in flight. I like the way the program handles but I'm going to look for a refund if I can't resolve this problem. I flew on Vatsim this morning for 2 hours, no problems. If anyone has any suggestions, I would greatly appreciate it. My specs are as follows: Win7/64, AMD Phenom II X4 830 Processor 2.80 GHz, 6 GB ram, AMD Radeon HD 6800 video card. Thanks in advance for the help.

Kai Williams

Captain, B737-800

DVA9895
First Officer, B767-300

Joined on June 14 2011

Waterville, ME USA

24 legs, 47.4 hours
6 legs, 15.2 hours online
22 legs, 43.5 hours ACARS
3 legs, 6.2 hours event

Posted onPost created on December 10 2011 11:21 ET by Matt Hodgkins

Too many programs running can lock FSX easily. It looks to me like a hardware problem. I'd say maybe the CPU should be upgraded. If you have an AM3 motherboard you can upgrade to a Amd 965 and get 3.4ghz. If money is no issue, maybe get something newer than that even, as long as the MB can support it. Maybe a newer gpu also.

Worst case, try a clean OS install. I did that and it helped performance a lot, though I have older hardware still also and that might be a main issue. (I run an amd 965 and 9800gtx+). But generally, fsx is pretty buggy and you'll get those problems sometimes. Any error messages when it happens?

Matt Hodgkins (DVA9895)

Posted onPost created on December 10 2011 12:49 ET by Kai Williams

My machine is actually farily new. I know that FSX can be a little quirky sometimes. No error messages, though.

Kai Williams

Captain, B737-800

DVA9895
First Officer, B767-300

Joined on June 14 2011

Waterville, ME USA

24 legs, 47.4 hours
6 legs, 15.2 hours online
22 legs, 43.5 hours ACARS
3 legs, 6.2 hours event

Posted onPost created on December 10 2011 16:29 ET by Matt Hodgkins

It may be newer, but the hardware looks out of date. I'm no hardware expert, but taking a look at the AMD website, it seems as if the 830 is no longer officially supported by them. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong. That being said, the 2.8Ghz would disinterest me since even at 3.4 I still get shoddy performance. Not saying it's not POSSIBLE to have a good result, just probably not one that can handle much that is thrown at it. Since FSX (and FS9) are primarily CPU-intensive programs, having a strong processor is important. I know there are other factors than pure processing speed, but it is certainly an issue. If you get good results from it then there should really be no need to change anything, but keep it in mind for future upgrades.

I can't vouch for the ATI GPU since I have nVidia. I wouldn't know what model numbers to use or are recommended. Others may be more assistance on that matter as well as CPU.

Though it may not be a hardware issue, I think it's possible. If the CPU is struggling to keep up, it will cause freezes and other problems. Although, even with my 965 I get freezing from FSX at different times. I think it's mostly random but also based on what aircraft I use, weather conditions, scenery, and what is running in the background. I need a hardware upgrade as well as a networked laptop for running programs outside my FS computer.

Matt Hodgkins (DVA9895)

DVA043
Senior Captain, MD-11
OLP

Joined on June 10 2001
Event Half Century Club
Online Double Century Club
50 State Club
DVA Twenty-Year Anniversary
Everett 1500 Club
Bi-Millennium Club
Four Million Mile Club

"Col. Panic"
Marietta, GA

2,314 legs, 9,320.7 hours
240 legs, 553.9 hours online
1,972 legs, 8,113.8 hours ACARS
75 legs, 196.3 hours event
2,350 legs, 9,455.6 hours total
91 legs dispatched, 66.4 hours

Posted onPost created on December 10 2011 18:47 ET by Luke Kolin

Matt Hodgkins wrote:

It may be newer, but the hardware looks out of date.

I wonder how on earth I was ever able to use FSX using a P4.

Cheers!

Luke Kolin

Senior Captain, MD-11

Posted onPost created on December 10 2011 22:34 ET by Kai Williams

Yeah, my computer is older than I thought. Hardware may be part of the issue. I did try another flight with RC and turned off AI aircraft. No freezes this time. I wonder if AI may be causing the problem? Also, when I flew, I went from KATL-KMIA. Everything was fine until ATC cleared me to land on RWY 9R. Huh? According to my charts there is no RWY 9R. I requested another runway and all of the selections were different than what KMIA actually has. Is there an update that I'm missing? Thanks for all of the help.

Kai Williams

Captain, B737-800

Posted onPost created on December 11 2011 16:10 ET by Kai Williams

Looks like my problem is resolved. I had AI traffic set too high and FSX not RC4 locked up. Seems fine now. Great program! Thanks for the help, DVA!

Kai Williams

Captain, B737-800

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