DCS Open Beta agonizingly slow to load

[florate]

After I "start" DCS 2.7.2.5156.2 the splash screen comes up and from there it takes 5 minutes minimum to be able to click "FLY".

I am running TrackIR v5, and Voice Attack, one monitor, ThrustMaster HOTAS Warthog and the following system specs:

 

BIOS Version/Date    American Megatrends Inc. 4901, 5/14/2014
Processor    Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4960X CPU @ 3.60GHz, 3601 Mhz, 6 Core(s), 12 Logical Processor(s)
OS Name    Microsoft Windows 10 Pro, Version  10.0.19041 Build 19041
BaseBoard Product    RAMPAGE IV EXTREME
Installed Physical Memory (RAM)    64.0 GB
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti    

 

DCS resides on one hard drive: Drive    G:
File System    NTFS
Size    573.90 GB (616,216,653,824 bytes)
Free Space    61.55 GB (66,089,279,488 bytes)

 

Would appreciate any ideas to reduce load time.

Thanks, florate

[draconus]

Is your drive already of SSD type? If yes, then good, make a little more free space available - older or even all SSD drives have that problem of reduced performance the less free space they have left. If it's HDD then that are already great loading times.

You can also exclude DCS main folder and \saved games\DCS folder from AV scanning - Windows Defender too.

 

My main menu shows after about 1 min from clicking the DCS icon, then I choose mission and wait a few minutes until you're able to play. That of course depends on your graphic settings (like textures, preload), mission, map and module.

[florate]

Thank you draconus, I will try making more disc space on my SSD. Not so sure about  how to exclude DCS main folder and \saved games\DCS folder from AV scanning (Windows Defender).

My present path is:

"G:\Program Files\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World OpenBeta\bin\DCS_updater.exe" Do you see a faster path to speed things up?

Thank you, florate

[draconus]

2 hours ago, florate said:

Not so sure about  how to exclude DCS main folder and \saved games\DCS folder from AV scanning (Windows Defender).

https://www.windowscentral.com/how-exclude-files-and-folders-windows-defender-antivirus-scans

[M1Combat]

Well what brand and model of SSD as well...  Some aren't "much" faster than a platter drive.  Most are...  but some aren't.

[draconus]

7 hours ago, M1Combat said:

Well what brand and model of SSD as well...  Some aren't "much" faster than a platter drive.  Most are...  but some aren't.

Do you know any?

[M1Combat]

Do I know any that aren't much faster than a platter drive?  Not off the top of my head but there are some...  Generally the VERY off brand cheap ones.  I'm not sure I've ever seen one that was slower...

[florate]

I am not sure what brand and model SSD drive I am using but I am pretty sure it is one of the common brands and not a cut rate. It turns out that my G: drive where DCS lives is almost full and I have 1.57 TB free on the C:\ drive so I guess I will move Eagle Dynamics from G:\ to C:\. I am pretty sure C:\ is an SSD. 

Two questions: 1. Can I simply move the existing Eagle Dynamics folder from one drive to the next

2. Does the path I most commonly see suggested: C:\,owner,user,saved games have any bearing on loading time or does it matter?

Thank you both for your input,

florate

Edited July 8, 2021 by florate

[draconus]

OK, first make sure it is really SSD.

1. Yes, but you should update your shortcuts also for the new path and change the DCS path in the registry:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Eagle Dynamics\DCS World

2. C:\users\<username>\saved games\DCS is default place for DCS to save config files and all user made content (profile). Unless it's loaded with mods or C drive is old slow HDD it should not slow anything down.

Edited July 9, 2021 by draconus

[florate]

Moving DCS from G:\ drive (SSD) which was almost full to C:\ drive (SSD), which had significantly more free space, reduced DCS load time by 3/4. 

The only problem left to solve is how to get rid of the six or so "DCSDLC Registration" screens, each requiring a click to dismiss, that interrupt  DCS startup?

Edited July 13, 2021 by florate
correcting text

[draconus]

Can you post a screenshot? Might be that trial period is over for some modules and you should either buy or remove them from Module Manager.