Hi Michael,Thank you for your reply. Yes, I did abbreviate them. And TextureMaxLoad should be of course written like TextureMaxLoad=10. (new keyboard)I noticed your syntax is different. Don

Hi,I've always had it as TEXTURE_MAX_LOAD=xxxx, will it work the other way (TextureMaxLoad=xxxx)?. I don't know.If you take a look at Nicks FSX Tweaks about half way down the page its setup as: TEXTURE_MAX_LOAD=xxxxHere is the linkhttp://www.simforums.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=29041

I've always had it as TEXTURE_MAX_LOAD=xxxx, will it work the other way (TextureMaxLoad=xxxx)?. I don't know.

TextureMaxLoad and TEXTURE_MAX_LOAD are different things, TextureMaxLoad was/is a VALID FS9 tweak, however, I don't know if it applies to FSX. The only thing I can tell you for sure is that FSX does recognize it, it is a HIDDEN variable easily found in the FSX .DLLs (I think it is in 2dg.dll) but I'll have to double check that. again, I don't think this has any impact on FSX, but, it doesn't hurt to try.

2. If you are using High Definition Cloud textures (like the REX or FEX 4096 cloud textures) and moving the slider farther to the right has a negative impact on your performance, try loading the 2048 resolution cloud textures that come with these products. You will not really notice any difference in the cloud displays, and you can get a much higher cloud coverage density with them with less system impact.

I use the lowest possible resolution for clouds (and the rest too) and they look great... More realistic imho than those very high res clouds. When I compare what I see on my screen with what I see outside, the low resolution looks just like the real thing. Well, over here in the Netherlands anyway. :(

Hi Michael,Thank you for your reply. Yes, I did abbreviate them. And TextureMaxLoad should be of course written like TextureMaxLoad=10. (new keyboard)I noticed your syntax is different. Don

TextureMaxLoad and TEXTURE_MAX_LOAD are different things, TextureMaxLoad was/is a VALID FS9 tweak, however, I don't know if it applies to FSX. The only thing I can tell you for sure is that FSX does recognize it, it is a HIDDEN variable easily found in the FSX .DLLs (I think it is in 2dg.dll) but I'll have to double check that. again, I don't think this has any impact on FSX, but, it doesn't hurt to try.

I wonder how many different hidden variables there are.

I wonder how many different hidden variables there are.

Download a HEX editor and open the .DLL files on the FSX folder. Particularly, main.dll, g2d.dll, g3d.dll, terrain.dll you'll see tons there. they are also hidden for a reason.BTW, the TextureMaxTexture does nothing in FSX, no need to waste time with that one.

I use the lowest possible resolution for clouds (and the rest too) and they look great... More realistic imho than those very high res clouds. When I compare what I see on my screen with what I see outside, the low resolution looks just like the real thing. Well, over here in the Netherlands anyway. :(

Jeroen, I agree. The higher definition clouds can have an overly distinct appearance--not soft enough. I like 1024 best.Noel

Anyways, for most of you higher end I7 users the real clue to eliminating stutters that has nothing to do with the software has already been alluded to by Peter Dawson and Flyingbits but unfortunately for some got ignored (memory & QPI:Uncore).

What exactly do you mean by that?

Jeroen, I agree. The higher definition clouds can have an overly distinct appearance--not soft enough. I like 1024 best.Noel

Here I use the 2048 clouds.For me that is better as I use 3 26"screens for one wide outside view.The default 1024 clouds and the 512 clouds are not sharp enough.Luckily for us we can try all those different resolutions and choose what we think is best for us.

I think I found out how I got rid of the constant artifacts with BP=0 on my (MY!!!) computer. I have Texture filtering quality set to High performance...! I was testing some settings like Anisotropic filtering: I have that set at Application controlled, but no matter what setting I use in FSX, I see no difference: only when I turn it completely off I see a huge difference. But Bilinear or Triliniar or Anosotrpoic in FSX itself seems to make no difference... Not that I care, really, but it made me review some settings in the nVidia control panel. During a flight (that went perfectly well as usual) I switched to windowed mode and to the control panel to change some settings. One of the settings I changed was High performance to High quality. When I switched FSX to full screen mode again (and the settings are applied immediately) I got INSTANT artifacts all over the place.I know a lot of people use very high settings using the nVidia control panel or nHancer (since I use rather low settings, I don't use nHancer), also because they followed NickN's guide. However, that part of that guide is not about performance, but about quality: high quality. Now it would be nice if some of you might try some low quality settings: see if it makes a difference indeed when it comes to artifacts and (also quite important) when it comes to quality. I have to say that I can't see a difference in FSX between using high quality settings and low quality settings (although I haven't tested all possible combinations). I made screenshots to compare them, but they look just the same!So would you be so kind to try this: filtering in FSX to trilinear, FSAA in FSX on, and in the nVidia control panel use these (pure performance) settings:1. do you see a difference in quality?2. does BP=0 still gives you artifacts?

I think I found out how I got rid of the constant artifacts with BP=0 on my (MY!!!) computer. I have Texture filtering quality set to High performance...! I was testing some settings like Anisotropic filtering: I have that set at Application controlled, but no matter what setting I use in FSX, I see no difference: only when I turn it completely off I see a huge difference. But Bilinear or Triliniar or Anosotrpoic in FSX itself seems to make no difference... Not that I care, really, but it made me review some settings in the nVidia control panel. During a flight (that went perfectly well as usual) I switched to windowed mode and to the control panel to change some settings. One of the settings I changed was High performance to High quality. When I switched FSX to full screen mode again (and the settings are applied immediately) I got INSTANT artifacts all over the place.I know a lot of people use very high settings using the nVidia control panel or nHancer (since I use rather low settings, I don't use nHancer), also because they followed NickN's guide. However, that part of that guide is not about performance, but about quality: high quality. Now it would be nice if some of you might try some low quality settings: see if it makes a difference indeed when it comes to artifacts and (also quite important) when it comes to quality. I have to say that I can't see a difference in FSX between using high quality settings and low quality settings (although I haven't tested all possible combinations). I made screenshots to compare them, but they look just the same!So would you be so kind to try this: filtering in FSX to trilinear, FSAA in FSX on, and in the nVidia control panel use these (pure performance) settings:1. do you see a difference in quality?2. does BP=0 still gives you artifacts?

After reading this post, and thinking a little about it, I come to following conclusion, which hasn't been said only once already:If you overload the FSX engine, be that with scenery or too high graphical settings (AA/AF, texture quality included!), you will get all sorts of errors, that includes artifacts, black screens etc.As I installed FSX, even without BP=0, it can occasionally happen that my graphics stop responding with the error "a driver has stopped responding and has been restarted" or something similar. That usually happens when I load the engine well, not at 31000ft in cruise...Right now, I rarely have any artifacts or errors. The reason is, I believe, I found a sweet spot with all the settings, which don't overload the engine in my situations.I know it's something you can't put a finger on, but that's my opinion.

After reading this post, and thinking a little about it, I come to following conclusion, which hasn't been said only once already:If you overload the FSX engine, be that with scenery or too high graphical settings (AA/AF, texture quality included!), you will get all sorts of errors, that includes artifacts, black screens etc.As I installed FSX, even without BP=0, it can occasionally happen that my graphics stop responding with the error "a driver has stopped responding and has been restarted" or something similar. That usually happens when I load the engine well, not at 31000ft in cruise...Right now, I rarely have any artifacts or errors. The reason is, I believe, I found a sweet spot with all the settings, which don't overload the engine in my situations.I know it's something you can't put a finger on, but that's my opinion.

True. But a lot of people think NickN's guide is all about performance and so they won't think about changing specific driver settings, while there is a lot to be gained from doing that. On my low settings things look great and I can use Extremely dense autogen. I think a lot of people could benefit from lower quality settings (while quality hardly gets lower! Apart from the obvious FSAA of course), making it possible to put (for instance) the autogen slider up a notch or two.

True. But a lot of people think NickN's guide is all about performance and so they won't think about changing specific driver settings, while there is a lot to be gained from doing that. On my low settings things look great and I can use Extremely dense autogen. I think a lot of people could benefit from lower quality settings (while quality hardly gets lower! Apart from the obvious FSAA of course), making it possible to put (for instance) the autogen slider up a notch or two.

Hm, I always thought NickN's guide is about optimizing system - neither performance nor quality, but inbetween. But I will check the setting of high performance though, to see if anything is to be gained from it. I use only Nhancer, solely for its 8xS setting, which is for me an absolute quality must.

so how would that translate into nhancer? What settings should I use?