When you allow nHancer to control the AA, (with FSX's AA checkbox unchecked), does that mean that the driver is antialiasing the clouds also?

When you say "also", what is the >other< option? You said in FSX AA is unchecked, so that would imply that only Nhancer is doing it job, IF you see any antialiasing. In FSX, AA is usually not working if you don't check the checkbox in the FSX.

When you say "also", what is the >other< option?

The other option would be to allow FSX to do the AA via its checkbox. You see, I am *assuming* that FSX's own AA will not AA the clouds. Is this a false assumption?

When you allow nHancer to control the AA, (with FSX's AA checkbox unchecked), does that mean that the driver is antialiasing the clouds also?

When you allow nHancer to enable the AA. The AA is accomplished via your video card. When you allow FSX to perform the AA it is performed via FSX itself (which adds load to the CPU). The other benefit of using nHancer is that you can utilize the 8xS mode of AA which cannot be enabled via Nvidia's drivers. I have found, at least with my system, that 8xS AA provides the best visual quality coupled with good performance compared to other modes of AA.BTW nice to see you again Rhett!

When you allow nHancer to enable the AA. The AA is accomplished via your video card. When you allow FSX to perform the AA it is performed via FSX itself (which adds load to the CPU).

Basically, I am having a problem with near-cloud framerate, with nVidia's 185.xx driver. I never had this problem before, with say, 175.xx or 169.xx driver sets. I guess I'll go back to an older driver, but I've seen no one else cry foul about the newest WHQL nVidia drivers yet! Have you?

BTW nice to see you again Rhett!

Glad to be here and glad to be around all of the hardware guys that also happen to fly FS. I know I'm not posting as much as I used to, but that is because I'm really off my game...compared to 3-4 years ago...hardware-wise...so I feel like others can contribute more meaningfully than I can on some of this stuff.Also I lost a hard drive, and wireless, in my FS rig about 3 months ago, and I am just now getting it all going again!

Mace,As a test, I turned of all AA ans AS, and sure enough, clouds are not filtered. Then I turned on in game filtering only, and clouds looked fine. Sargeski,Does that mean that the 16xQ AA setting I see in the nvidia control panel does not work?Interesting to me that Nvidia suggests using in game filtering.Bob

In-game AA does not use software algorithms. It does in fact use the card, however, the method of AA is a cut down version. Checking AA in sim sets the DX API flag to use a certain type of AA however it is NOT the same as the full core ability AA as set in Nhancer nor anywhere near as defined. Use Nhancer and dont mess with in-game.. I dont care what you read elsewhere :(and of course higher AA will display perf hits with clouds..

Sargeski,Does that mean that the 16xQ AA setting I see in the nvidia control panel does not work?

Anything available in the Nvidia control panel will work. Try comparison runs in FSX with some clouds between using nHancer to set AA to 8xS and the Nvidia control panel set to 16xQ and pay close attention to both quality and performance.

and of course higher AA will display perf hits with clouds..

....because?(*any* AA setting, whether set in nHancer or in-game, will AA the cloud scene in FS?)If so, that pretty much answers my question.I don't seem to recall this type of near-cloud perf hit with the 169.xx or 175.xx drivers, which concerns me a little.

....because?(*any* AA setting, whether set in nHancer or in-game, will AA the cloud scene in FS?)If so, that pretty much answers my question.I don't seem to recall this type of near-cloud perf hit with the 169.xx or 175.xx drivers, which concerns me a little.

Rhett,What drivers are you using at the moment and how bad of a performance hit are you experiencing? I'm still on the 182.50's. Anything else has proven to given me poor performance.

Rhett,What drivers are you using at the moment and how bad of a performance hit are you experiencing? I'm still on the 182.50's. Anything else has proven to given me poor performance.

I am now using nVidia's latest WHQL for Vista64, which is 185.xx (I think 185.85)It's performing considerably worse near clouds, I do notice that. Other than that, I have not changed anything...I have reinstalled the OS + FSX and have now configged it as I had it before. Before my system problems I think I was using 182.something.I am thinking about going back to an older driver...I would like to hear from others about the 185's and FSX though...my eyes are peeled for threads about that. I'll give the 185's a little more time though.

I am now using nVidia's latest WHQL for Vista64, which is 185.xx (I think 185.85)It's performing considerably worse near clouds, I do notice that. Other than that, I have not changed anything...I have reinstalled the OS + FSX and have now configged it as I had it before. Before my system problems I think I was using 182.something.I am thinking about going back to an older driver...I would like to hear from others about the 185's and FSX though...my eyes are peeled for threads about that. I'll give the 185's a little more time though.

I had terrible results with the 185.85s, really bad stuttering and other weird behaviour. I did some reading and it seemed others were having similar problems. I have since switched back to the 182.50s, which have been the smoothest drivers I've tried on my system.Jay

http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/Ya...?num=1245024074specifically, this post: http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/Ya...=1245024074/4#4

Thanks for the info all. Normally I don't mess with perfection, but when your hand is forced--reinstalling OS+FSX, I get a wild hair to try a new driver. I'll probably go back to 169's, 175's, or 182-something.