Hi Folks.It

>Hi Folks.>>It

Hi David,Glad you are enjoying things so far!1. The fast visibility changes are an issue in the FSX engine and not much we can do about those right now.2. What are your system specs and what is your cloud draw distance set to in FSX?Thanks!Jimhttp://www.hifisim.com/banners/hifi-community-sigbanner.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/

Hi Jim.Thanks for your response.1. Understood.2. System SpecAMD64 4000+ (2.5mhz)2gb RAMSATA 200gb HDDNvidia GeForce 7900 GTSoftwareWindows XP Pro (all updates)FSX & Acceleration (all updates)Ultimate Terrain X (default settings)TrackIR Software/DriversCH ManagerSeveral add-on aircraft, JustFlight, Flight1, and a few misc.)(Kaspersky AV disabled for any gameplay, but anyway I see no performance hit from this when active)FSX Weather TabCloud draw distane: 60mi/96km (the minimum setting)Detailed clouds: MaxThermal visualization: NoneDownload winds aloft data..: CheckedDisable turbulance and thermal..: Un-checkedRate at which weather changes..: MediumIn general I try to keep most settings low, as I want a smooth flight experience. ASX hardly effects things, until i go near a layer of cloud, at which point the system freezes and jitters at random intervals.David.

Hi David,1. What driver version are you using?2. What level of AA and AF?3. What is your frame rate locked at in FSX?4. What screen resolution?Thanks,Jimhttp://www.hifisim.com/banners/hifi-community-sigbanner.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/

Hi Jim.I am going for information overload in this email ;-), but first the questions you asked:1. What driver version are you using?Sorry, which driver are you looking for?2. What level of AA and AF?AA set via graphics card to 8S (when set via FSX it seems to jitter). AF set via FSX to Trilinear3. What is your frame rate locked at in FSX?Good question. I found I had left it set to "unlimited", as whilst testing I found this allows FSX to run much smoother. However, this was only meant for testing, and I normally have it locked to 25. So I need to test things again when locked at 25, just to see if things balance out etc.4. What screen resolution?FSX is setup for full screen 1024x768x32, not windowed. My desktop is set to run at 1440x900, but I find FSX produces higher frame rates full screen at the lower resolution.By the way, the motherboard is a DFI LanParty UT nF4 SLI-DR.When viewing the following settings. Remember I am just looking for a smooth flight, not really worried about to many ground details whilst in the air. But I like seeing a reasonable airport. I have Ultimate Terrain X loaded purely for better coast lines, main roads for VFR flights etc. But I ran some tests, and find that UTX does not really affect the frame rates that heavily.Here are the settings on each FSX screen:GraphicsFrame rate: unlimited/25Filtering: trilinearAA: un-checkedGlobal texture res: very highLens flare and light boom: un-checkedAdvanced anim: checkedContinuous: selectedAircraft3d virtual cockpit: selectedShow cockpit tooltips: checkedHigh res 3d virtual cockpit: checked2-d panel trans: 0%Aircraft shadow on ground and self: both uncheckedAircraft landing lights: checkedSceneryLevel of detail radius: smallMesh complexity: 70Mesh res: 76mTexture res: 2mWater effects: High 1.xLand details textures: checkedScenery Complexity: Extremely DenseAutogen density: NoneGround scenery shadows: un-checkedSpecial effects details: HighWeather(Already given previously)TrafficEverything is off. I sometimes have GA set to 20%. I find any of the settings on this tab (for some reason), causes random jitters and a lower frame rate. I have not found a reason for this, but feel that maybe something with my hardware is holding things back? But felt my non dual/quad spec is not that bad, is it? I will eventually look at going to dual or quad core, but will have to wait until I can some new toys ;-)David.

Hi,Yes, you are pushing your system pretty good, especially your graphics card. I was looking for your video card driver version.Lock at 20 and see what happens.Thanks,Jimhttp://www.hifisim.com/banners/hifi-community-sigbanner.jpghttp://www.hifisim.com/

If I might add...cloud drawing, whether it be default FSX weather or ASX weather, is a known performance degrader. Your 7900 gfx card can only handle so much, and at some point its texture fill rate will not be able to keep up.The solution, as I see it, is keep the number of cloud layers in ASX settings at a reasonable level (you'll have to test to find out what works for you).My 2nd system is basically like yours, an AMD at 2.6 ghz with a 7-series nVidia card. I had to make some compromises with FSX and ASX settings with that machine, but it still ran it amazingly well and looked great. Our San Diego cpu's are great, way underrated cpu's that can run with the low end core2's any day.RhettFS box: E8500 (@ 3.80 ghz), AC Freezer 7 Pro, ASUS P5E3 Premium, BFG 8800GTX 756 (nVidia 169 WHQL), 4gb DDR3 1600 Patriot Cas7 7-7-7-20 (2T), PC Power 750, WD 150gb 10000rpm Raptor, Seagate 500gb, Silverstone TJ09 case, Vista Ultimate 64ASX Client: AMD 3700+ (@ 2.6 ghz), 7800GT

>Hi,>>Yes, you are pushing your system pretty good, especially your>graphics card. I was looking for your video card driver>version.>>Lock at 20 and see what happens.>>Thanks,>Jim>>http://www.hifisim.com/banners/hifi-community-sigbanner.jpg>http://www.hifisim.com/Hi.Sorry for the delay, I have been travelling.The driver version is 6.14.10.9371, this might look like an older driver, as (for me) the latest nvidia driver seemed unstable not holding antialias when in FSX flight.I will indeed try the frame lock at 20, cant believe I left it at unlimited after testing ;-)David.

>If I might add...cloud drawing, whether it be default FSX>weather or ASX weather, is a known performance degrader. Your>7900 gfx card can only handle so much, and at some point its>texture fill rate will not be able to keep up.>>The solution, as I see it, is keep the number of cloud layers>in ASX settings at a reasonable level (you'll have to test to>find out what works for you).>>My 2nd system is basically like yours, an AMD at 2.6 ghz with>a 7-series nVidia card. I had to make some compromises with>FSX and ASX settings with that machine, but it still ran it>amazingly well and looked great. Our San Diego cpu's are>great, way underrated cpu's that can run with the low end>core2's any day.>>Rhett>>FS box: E8500 (@ 3.80 ghz), AC Freezer 7 Pro, ASUS P5E3>Premium, BFG 8800GTX 756 (nVidia 169 WHQL), 4gb DDR3 1600>Patriot Cas7 7-7-7-20 (2T), PC Power 750, WD 150gb 10000rpm>Raptor, Seagate 500gb, Silverstone TJ09 case, Vista Ultimate>64>ASX Client: AMD 3700+ (@ 2.6 ghz), 7800GTHi.thanks for your feedback, and also apologise for my delay.I am going to try locking the frame first, see how that goes, then try adjusting some of the layer settings in ASX.Thanks.David.

>If I might add...cloud drawing, whether it be default FSX>weather or ASX weather, is a known performance degrader. Your>7900 gfx card can only handle so much, and at some point its>texture fill rate will not be able to keep up.>>The solution, as I see it, is keep the number of cloud layers>in ASX settings at a reasonable level (you'll have to test to>find out what works for you).>>My 2nd system is basically like yours, an AMD at 2.6 ghz with>a 7-series nVidia card. I had to make some compromises with>FSX and ASX settings with that machine, but it still ran it>amazingly well and looked great. Our San Diego cpu's are>great, way underrated cpu's that can run with the low end>core2's any day.>>Rhett>>FS box: E8500 (@ 3.80 ghz), AC Freezer 7 Pro, ASUS P5E3>Premium, BFG 8800GTX 756 (nVidia 169 WHQL), 4gb DDR3 1600>Patriot Cas7 7-7-7-20 (2T), PC Power 750, WD 150gb 10000rpm>Raptor, Seagate 500gb, Silverstone TJ09 case, Vista Ultimate>64>ASX Client: AMD 3700+ (@ 2.6 ghz), 7800GTHi.Just a quick question, can you let me know what FSX settings you use on your AMD 2.6 ghz system please? It woud be good to compare etcThanks.David.

Hi Folks.Back again, have now completed further testing.Setting Framerate to 20, well, it actually makes things worse. Unlimited really does seem to be the best, not sure why, but thats what i found. Set to 20, FSX really really badly stutters - huge freezes.Anyway. With FR set to 20, I then moved onto testing different ASX settings. But to be honest I have not found a solution, maybe I am not altering the right settings? Which ones would matter here, I was thinking cloud layers? But evem with those set to 1, i still saw stuttering when near cloud layers.During testing, I stumbled upon a really odd, unexpected, and serious problem.With ASX running. Come in to land, and try coming to a stop on the runway. Nothing fancy, just a nice clean landing to a stop. However, I find that just before the aircraft stops, it jumps to moving forward at something like 50 to 100kts down the runway. Of course, ending up off the end etc.Without ASX. I do not see this problem occur.Now for me, this problem is really bad and effecting game play. Nothing worse than having a sim flight, but not being able to complete the flight.I think I need to create a seperate post for this one.David.

Hi Folks.I am back again, but have some interesting and great news.There was one last thing that I just had to try, and that was to reformat my hard disc (including removing and creating the partition), then reinstall from the OS up. So basically that is what I have done today. Within the last hour I sat down and re-tested everything, and the good news is, I no longer see the weird jump after landing. Yeah I know I cannot believe it either.I would say this is a totally extreme solution, but given we seemed to have tried everything - it was worth trying as a last very resort. Also, I cannot remember the last time I reinstalled XP, so was definitely worth doing.I would also like to note here, that my other problem is also resolved. This was where my setup got the stutters when flying near clouds, and the solution for that was to alter the settings to lighten the load and balance performance etc. Jim was right with that, and I guess I was hampered by whatever was wrong in the background with my install.I want to say that everyone