IL2Bos users with old PCs

[Startrek66]

Hi guys, I own an old PC with I5 2400 CPU and I love playing with IL2Bos.  I decided to write to share with you that you have setups for our old PCs.  Here I would like to share graphics settings and all the experiences of us users with old PCs.  What do you think?  I believe there are still many of us who have old PCs but continue to play this wonderful simulator.  And make a request to the developers, don't forget us, always leave us the chance to fly in fantastic aerial duels too !!

[THERION]

Hi,

 

I fly on a quite old machine (see my specs in my signature). But I keep it clean, use always newest GPU drivers and have my Windows 10 up to date.

 

My machine runs with these graphic settings and most important, since I've found the sweet spot for this old rig, I banned myself reading the topics

about graphic optimization and all that tweaking adventures. Here we go:

 

Game's graphic settings:

 

 

Nvidia control panel:

 

 

Nvidia settings are all default except the power management mode which is set to maximum performance, everything else is untouched.

 

With these settings I run the game in constant 59/60 fps with no stutter, no dips or anything like that - SP and MP.

 

And btw. I do not overclock - CPU nor GPU. The only thing I changed is the ventilator to 75% constant speed to avoid high temperatures.

 

Cheerio

 

P.S: For those having signatures turned off in their default forum view - my specs:

Win10, I7-4770, 16GB Ram, GTX-970 4GB, Saitek X55 Rhino, Saitek Rudder, Saitek Throttle quadrant and Saitek Cessna Trim Wheel, TrackIR 5

Edited December 25, 2020 by THERION

[Startrek66]

I thank you for your contribution.  I agree with you that when you find the right compromise in performance, you lock them in.  The problem is whether developers raise hardware demands and keep us out.  Thanks again

[THERION]

34 minutes ago, Startrek66 said:

The problem is whether developers raise hardware demands and keep us out.

 

Alas, this will definitely happen, sooner or later. They cannot avoid this to some extend. BUT we might still run it in "Balanced" preset - which is actually not that bad.

I tried this preset back in time this year when we all (yes, even those spoiled kiddies with brand new rigs) had some performance issues like stutter, frame drops etc.

 

I know that I'm running an old cow, but I'm also realistic and I do not insist in having all maxed out to finally complain about performance issues.

 

The settings I use at the moment are still very much enjoyable and there is still eye candy there, but on the other hand eye candy has always been a second factor

to me. I prefer realism, historical settings and details to the flight model. But that being said, I'm an old man and started flying on PC in the 90's when we were happy

to have 256 colors and mountains looked like pyramids, water was simply blue, land was Christmas tree green and landing strips were brown. And I don't even want

to mention the sound...

 

Cheers

[Startrek66]

My pc is configured like this:

 

 Motherboard: Desktop
 CPU: 1 x Intel Core i5 2400 Sandy Bridge
 CPU Speed: 3100MHz
 Vcore CPU: 1.3V
 Memory: 2 x 4GB DDR3 Module
 Memory: 0 x 4GB DDR3 Module
 Video Card Set 1: 1 x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050
 Core Clock: 1354MHz
 Memory Clock: 1752MHz
 Storage: 1 x ssd 250gb
 Optical Drive: 1 x DVD-RW / DVD + RW Drive
 
My settings are attached

6 minutes ago, Startrek66 said:

My pc is configured like this:

 

 Motherboard: Desktop
 CPU: 1 x Intel Core i5 2400 Sandy Bridge
 CPU Speed: 3100MHz
 Vcore CPU: 1.3V
 Memory: 2 x 4GB DDR3 Module
 Memory: 0 x 4GB DDR3 Module
 Video Card Set 1: 1 x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050
 Core Clock: 1354MHz
 Memory Clock: 1752MHz
 Storage: 1 x ssd 250gb
 Optical Drive: 1 x DVD-RW / DVD + RW Drive
 
My settings are attached

The Nvidia control panel I keep it on global settings and leave control from the application.  In this way I can run simple missions at 60 fps

1 hour ago, THERION said:

 

Ahimè, questo accadrà sicuramente, prima o poi. Non possono evitarlo in qualche modo. MA potremmo ancora eseguirlo nel preset "Balanced" - che in realtà non è poi così male.

Ho provato questo preset indietro nel tempo quest'anno quando tutti noi (sì, anche quei bambini viziati con piattaforme nuove di zecca) abbiamo avuto alcuni problemi di prestazioni come balbuzie, cadute di fotogrammi ecc.

 

So che sto gestendo una vecchia mucca, ma sono anche realista e non insisto nell'aver raggiunto il massimo per lamentarsi finalmente dei problemi di prestazioni.

 

Le impostazioni che uso al momento sono ancora molto piacevoli e c'è ancora piacere per gli occhi, ma d'altra parte il piacere per gli occhi è sempre stato un secondo fattore

per me. Preferisco realismo, ambientazioni storiche e dettagli al modello di volo. Ma detto questo, sono un vecchio e ho iniziato a volare su PC negli anni '90 quando eravamo felici

avere 256 colori e le montagne sembravano piramidi, l'acqua era semplicemente blu, la terra era verde albero di Natale e le piste di atterraggio erano marroni. E non voglio nemmeno

per citare il suono ...

 

Saluti

I started with Mfs 98 .... I also prefer flight model, realism in planes, environments. But I can't give up the fluidity of the simulation. I can't stand microstutters, which sometimes happen despite the fps being high and this is the CPU's fault.

Edited December 25, 2020 by Startrek66

[Irishratticus72]

On 12/25/2020 at 2:58 PM, THERION said:

 

Alas, this will definitely happen, sooner or later. They cannot avoid this to some extend. BUT we might still run it in "Balanced" preset - which is actually not that bad.

I tried this preset back in time this year when we all (yes, even those spoiled kiddies with brand new rigs) had some performance issues like stutter, frame drops etc.

 

I know that I'm running an old cow, but I'm also realistic and I do not insist in having all maxed out to finally complain about performance issues.

 

The settings I use at the moment are still very much enjoyable and there is still eye candy there, but on the other hand eye candy has always been a second factor

to me. I prefer realism, historical settings and details to the flight model. But that being said, I'm an old man and started flying on PC in the 90's when we were happy

to have 256 colors and mountains looked like pyramids, water was simply blue, land was Christmas tree green and landing strips were brown. And I don't even want

to mention the sound...

 

Cheers

8 bit audio was the frakking bomb!

[Voxman]

I got back into the sim in June and used my 9 year old computer.  It was similar to yours:
 

i5-2500K, P67 Gigabyte board, 16 Mb DDR3 RAM (don't even remember the speed) and Radeon HD6950 card.   This ran BoS really OK, offline.  I never really tried online as I was just getting acquainted with the game and the aircraft and mostly played around with QMB and career mode.  I remember being somewhat satisfied with 30 - 60 fps with balanced settings, but some items in the setup screen on low or none...I wish I took a screenshot.  Anyway, it wasn't until I got the Kuban module that I found the limitation of my system.  And that's where the bottleneck will occur...forget about Bodenplatte.  So, with a little more of the game under my belt, I upgraded in October.

i7-10700K, Gigabyte Z490 board, 16 Gig DD4-4400 memory.  But I still kept my Radeon card, but I burned the BIOS to run as a 6970HD.  Again, the play was a little better, but still a slide show on some Kuban missions.  Played with 1080, but then upgraded my monitor as well to 1440...and really the flaws of the card were evident.

 

This was all prior to the launch of the new Nvidia cards, and AMD cards...so I patiently waited and waited....and then could see the scalper, shortages, high prices...and all delays possible....looking at 6 months, maybe, of not having a card.  Then I figured there would be a shortage during Christmas...so I started looking at other cards and found the RX 5700XT to be in my price range...and again $400+ for this card kind of turned me off.  I then started playing the price drop game on PCpartspicker as well as watching Amazon, possibly a used one would come up and one did for $360 USD.  I figured I better snatch this as it's going to be a long expensive wait to get anything for 6 months at least.  Glad I did.  Happily playing 144 with plenty of fps.  It's not on ultra, but I have a balanced setup in video settings....also able to play multiplayer without issue.

 

Loved playing CLOD and the old versions of IL2 on that old computer and I OC'd it to 4.5Ghz, solid performance...but it was showing it's age.

[Startrek66]

7 hours ago, Voxman said:

I got back into the sim in June and used my 9 year old computer.  It was similar to yours:
 

i5-2500K, P67 Gigabyte board, 16 Mb DDR3 RAM (don't even remember the speed) and Radeon HD6950 card.   This ran BoS really OK, offline.  I never really tried online as I was just getting acquainted with the game and the aircraft and mostly played around with QMB and career mode.  I remember being somewhat satisfied with 30 - 60 fps with balanced settings, but some items in the setup screen on low or none...I wish I took a screenshot.  Anyway, it wasn't until I got the Kuban module that I found the limitation of my system.  And that's where the bottleneck will occur...forget about Bodenplatte.  So, with a little more of the game under my belt, I upgraded in October.

i7-10700K, Gigabyte Z490 board, 16 Gig DD4-4400 memory.  But I still kept my Radeon card, but I burned the BIOS to run as a 6970HD.  Again, the play was a little better, but still a slide show on some Kuban missions.  Played with 1080, but then upgraded my monitor as well to 1440...and really the flaws of the card were evident.

 

This was all prior to the launch of the new Nvidia cards, and AMD cards...so I patiently waited and waited....and then could see the scalper, shortages, high prices...and all delays possible....looking at 6 months, maybe, of not having a card.  Then I figured there would be a shortage during Christmas...so I started looking at other cards and found the RX 5700XT to be in my price range...and again $400+ for this card kind of turned me off.  I then started playing the price drop game on PCpartspicker as well as watching Amazon, possibly a used one would come up and one did for $360 USD.  I figured I better snatch this as it's going to be a long expensive wait to get anything for 6 months at least.  Glad I did.  Happily playing 144 with plenty of fps.  It's not on ultra, but I have a balanced setup in video settings....also able to play multiplayer without issue.

 

Loved playing CLOD and the old versions of IL2 on that old computer and I OC'd it to 4.5Ghz, solid performance...but it was showing it's age.

You are right, you have to try to take advantage of everything possible from the hardware and then upgrade.  How did you manage to overlook the CPU?  Have you used any software?

[simfan2015]

I have played CLOD and DCS for many years and the last 2 years IL-2 on mostly lower end pc's. Indeed playing mp is a problem, but sp is ok, surely for Il-2 and clod. The major performance issue (for the flightsims that I know of) is the CPU, not really GPU (unless you would like 4k ultra settings in il-2 or dcs in which case a higher end GPU is needed) . I have an (150 usd) MSI 1650 OC and play at 4K without any problem, high settings at around 60 fps... Unless a lot is going on in the mission and the cpu can't keep up. I write this to let people looking to get into il-2 know that even any (average) 8gb ram dell or hp pc with a mere 250 w psu can allow you to run il-2 without any problem in UHD, as long as you get an nvidia 1650 (or better the upcoming rtx 3050 or similar). The il-2 Devs have done an incredible job at optimizing this Sim!!! 

Edited December 31, 2020 by simfan2015

[THERION]

13 hours ago, Irishratticus72 said:

8 bit audio was the frakking bomb!

 

You name it! I remember when I installed a SoundBlaster audio card on my system (486/33, 4 MB RAM) and heard the sound of Dynamix's Red Baron (original one!)

for the first time, I was simply blown away! Before this crucial moment I always heard the sound from the build-in small speaker!!! 

 

[Irishratticus72]

30 minutes ago, THERION said:

 

You name it! I remember when I installed a SoundBlaster audio card on my system (486/33, 4 MB RAM) and heard the sound of Dynamix's Red Baron (original one!)

for the first time, I was simply blown away! Before this crucial moment I always heard the sound from the build-in small speaker!!! 

 

Awww yeah, Soundblaster Audigy, and Cambridge Soundworks FTW!

Edited December 31, 2020 by Irishratticus72

[Startrek66]

5 hours ago, simfan2015 said:

Ho giocato a CLOD e DCS per molti anni e negli ultimi 2 anni a IL-2 su PC per lo più di fascia bassa. In effetti giocare a mp è un problema, ma sp è ok, sicuramente per Il-2 e clod. Il problema principale delle prestazioni (per i flightim di cui sono a conoscenza) è la CPU, non proprio la GPU (a meno che non si desideri impostare 4k ultra in il-2 o dcs, nel qual caso è necessaria una GPU di fascia più alta). Ho un MSI 1650 OC (150 usd) e gioco in 4K senza problemi, impostazioni alte a circa 60 fps ... A meno che non stiano succedendo molte cose nella missione e la CPU non riesce a tenere il passo. Scrivo questo per far sapere alle persone che cercano di entrare in il-2 che anche qualsiasi (media) 8 GB di ram dell o hp pc con un semplice alimentatore da 250 w può consentire di eseguire il-2 senza alcun problema in UHD, purché tu prendi un nvidia 1650 (o meglio il prossimo rtx 3050 o simile). Gli sviluppatori di il-2 hanno fatto un lavoro incredibile nell'ottimizzazione di questo Sim! 

I agree with you, in fact my gtx1050 2gb shows no problems.  The problem is the CPU when I run planned missions like pwmg or career.  If, on the other hand, I do fast 8vs8, everything is great 60 fps.  The CPU is the bottleneck.  The solution is to schedule missions that don't overload the CPU or overclock the CPU.  I want to try out the simple mission generator utility.

[simfan2015]

27 minutes ago, Startrek66 said:

The solution is to schedule missions that don't overload the CPU or overclock the CPU.

May help, that's for sure, but from what I have read here and over at the DCS forums ... not even a ZEN3 5950X can keep up with the most demanding missions (like a great number of bombers and ULTRA settings 4K and surely not in DCS in VR it seems !)

 

Edited December 31, 2020 by simfan2015

[Voxman]

8 hours ago, Startrek66 said:

You are right, you have to try to take advantage of everything possible from the hardware and then upgrade.  How did you manage to overlook the CPU?  Have you used any software?

Overclock?  Since the cpu chip is a K chip, it isn’t locked to overclocking.  I simply got into bios and adjusted the cpu ratio.  Ran Prime95 and temperature monitoring software until I had a balance that was safe.  
This old computer used a Zalman air cooling fan as well.  The stock fan was never any good. 

I did not overclock RAM on that system. 
 

With my new build I’ve overclocked the CPU and RAM as well.  
 

I used the following as a guide and to shake my memory on how to OC. On new Mobos now there are more choices and OCing is much more complex, but at the same time encouraged by the manufacturers.  Seemed like an underground task a decade ago. 
 

https://forums.tomshardware.com/faq/cpu-overclocking-guide-and-tutorial-for-beginners.3347428/

[Davesax1965]

On 12/31/2020 at 11:02 AM, THERION said:

 

You name it! I remember when I installed a SoundBlaster audio card on my system (486/33, 4 MB RAM) and heard the sound of Dynamix's Red Baron (original one!)

for the first time, I was simply blown away! Before this crucial moment I always heard the sound from the build-in small speaker!!! 

 

Ohhh, that takes me back. ?

Going back even further, Jet by Sublogic. 

I started early. ? 1985, eek !