PMDG NGX FPS Comparison Shots at JFK with Core2Duo

[crosswind 825]

Sean, Thanks i will give it a crack when I get home in the am

[AWACS 12]

I can't get 30 FPS In New York with default a/c, and my system is quite a bit more robust than yours (no offense of course). Are you are running 0% road traffic by any chance?

[cmpbellsjc 2,963]

What do you have yours set too if I may ask?

I just checked mine and its set at 2432

Also what level and type of traffic do you use? I usually use UT2 at 100% airline. Frame rate wise I only see a couple of fPS difference , although it seems more stable than it did with the 9800GTX. Even if I turn Autogen and traffic down I don't seem to gain much.

I use UT2, some WOAI for cargo, and some custom AI/traffic for specific carriers/cargo/charter then neither UT2 or WOAI cover. I usually run the FSX UI traffic airline traffic setting at 100% so that all my WOAI stuff shows up and I typically run UT2 at 100% as well since it doesn't seem to make any difference in FPS between 50% or 100%. However, when flying into JFK I usually use the UT2 hot ket to drop traffic to about 60%, not for FPS, but because there is so much traffic getting injected into Laguardia, Newark, and JFK that it can introduce some pauses and stutters as its getting injected. Setting it to 60% for the area seems to stop that, but at the same time I still have an ample amout of AI running around since its such a busy airport anyway.

I can't get 30 FPS In New York with default a/c, and my system is quite a bit more robust than yours (no offense of course). Are you are running 0% road traffic by any chance?

No, I am running car traffic but when flying airliners I typically set it to only about 10% or so. When flying g/a I will crank it up to about 40% since I dont need as much overhead. I am also using custom Ultimate Terrain traffic files that were created by using files from the original version and then naming them to the updated version files names. The reason being is that in one of the UTX updates they introduced some 'fixes' to the traffic files that introduced more auto traffic to fix some road and highways that void of traffic in the original version. While that looked nicer having more traffic on streets that did have it prior, it also provided a huge performance hit from the increase. By doing what I did, I get the increase in FPS by using the older traffic file but without the UI issues of having them installed with the wrong names. And yes, it took a long time to remane a few hundred files :-)

[tf51d 284]

I just checked mine and its set at 2432 I use UT2, some WOAI for cargo, and some custom AI/traffic for specific carriers/cargo/charter then neither UT2 or WOAI cover. I usually run the FSX UI traffic airline traffic setting at 100% so that all my WOAI stuff shows up and I typically run UT2 at 100% as well since it doesn't seem to make any difference in FPS between 50% or 100%. However, when flying into JFK I usually use the UT2 hot ket to drop traffic to about 60%, not for FPS, but because there is so much traffic getting injected into Laguardia, Newark, and JFK that it can introduce some pauses and stutters as its getting injected. Setting it to 60% for the area seems to stop that, but at the same time I still have an ample amout of AI running around since its such a busy airport anyway. No, I am running car traffic but when flying airliners I typically set it to only about 10% or so. When flying g/a I will crank it up to about 40% since I dont need as much overhead. I am also using custom Ultimate Terrain traffic files that were created by using files from the original version and then naming them to the updated version files names. The reason being is that in one of the UTX updates they introduced some 'fixes' to the traffic files that introduced more auto traffic to fix some road and highways that void of traffic in the original version. While that looked nicer having more traffic on streets that did have it prior, it also provided a huge performance hit from the increase. By doing what I did, I get the increase in FPS by using the older traffic file but without the UI issues of having them installed with the wrong names. And yes, it took a long time to remane a few hundred files :-)

Thanks Sean! Still baffled as to the performance you are getting! I don't even use car traffic. I don't understand, how less then 30 percent increase in CPU power translates in a 300% boost in performance!! You must really have that system tuned like a fork!! Great job!!!!

[themose 11]

Great thread

[crosswind 825]

Sean,Let me first say thank you. I have applied the changes although very time consuming and have seen some difference, not a great deal but airports like SFO, LAS, JFK, FLL and DFW I can get about 17 - 21. I dare not use fraps which I am somewhat disappointed with but oh well. I have not done a photo-shoot at 1024 as yet but will soon do so. i am trying to finish up a flihgt from KDFW to KSEA. The load times are considerably quicker and taxi is much better, once I am airborne I am ok. I have scaled all my clouds and water back down to 1024 rather than 2048 I used to have a batch tool which utilized ImageTool to convert masses of files at a time, do you know if one might exist for FSX. I am almost tempted to contact Michael Greenblatt to see if if could make life better . I used him for FS9 but never got around to using him for FSX.

[cmpbellsjc 2,963]

I used to have a batch tool which utilized ImageTool to convert masses of files at a time, do you know if one might exist for FSX. I am almost tempted to contact Michael Greenblatt to see if if could make life better . I used him for FS9 but never got around to using him for FSX.

I'm not aware of any batch tools that work for .dds files to do batch conversion resizes. I know there is a batch tool for converting 32bit .bmp's to DXT format, but as far as one to convert .dds file textures from 4096 to 1024, that I am not aware of. There maybe some way to do it using Photoshop, but I don't own it so I rally can't say.On Michael, that was the first thing I did when I got my sytem built. Probably the best money I ever spent on FS since its saved me a lot of time and hassell with tweaking and finding the best config.

[SLKVP 13]

Thanks. Simeon, I can post my fsx.cfg but it's stock with the exception of two things. [bUFFERPOOLS]RejectThreshold=131072 [GRAPHICS]HIGHMEMFIX=1 Those are the only two "tweaks" I have in my cfg. Aside from that I use REX 1024 clouds in DXT format and I changed the REX water animation textures from 32bit to DXT5. Also in regards to the NGX I am using 1024 exterior textures which I resized from the stock 4096's and I resized my 4 large VC textures to 1024. I dont really notice any visual difference in quality but texture loading is a lot better due to my only having 2GB of RAM. If you want I can still post my cfg but it probably wont look any different than yours since I haven't fiddled with it besides the two things i mentioned.

Thanks for the tips on texture resize. I have a CoreDuo E8500 at stock speed - Win7 32bit with 2GB RAM.Sam

[chorba 0]

9. Finally, save it as either DXT1 or DXT5 with the same file name as the original. You will need to make a note when you first opened the original texture in GIMP what compression it was saved it. If I remember the VC textures were all DXT1 and make sure you untick the box 'add mips' since you dont need mipmaps for VC textures.

Do the external textures need mipmaps or are they fine without? Thanks,Milo Hamilton

[KHShox 13]

Really cool fix, thanks a lot Sean!

[cmpbellsjc 2,963]

Do the external textures need mipmaps or are they fine without? Thanks, Milo Hamilton

Milo, I always mip the exterior textures to avoid any jagged lines. I do the same for my AI textures as well as any sceneries that dont come with mip mapped textures, namely Aerosoft sceneries.

Really cool fix, thanks a lot Sean!

No problem Bakr, glad to help.

[iescheck 0]

I can't get 30 FPS In New York with default a/c, and my system is quite a bit more robust than yours (no offense of course). Are you are running 0% road traffic by any chance?

I have a less robust system than yours and let me tell you what happened to me, but I have no explanation for that. FSX requires a lot of tweaking and I must confess it is beyond my available time to take advantage of excellent information you can find on this forum. I have started with a fresh Windows 7 64 bit installation. First results for the NGX, with stock clock of 2.80GHz, were bad, 14-20 FPS at Seattle, fair weather. By overclocking using the MB tool I got few improvement but suddenly, out of the blue, by overclocking using the BIOS (just set to 4.0GHz, 20x multiplier) resulted in a huge boost, to 30 FPS average, peaking around 40 or so. Also, playing with the performance settings of NGX (using the CDU) and video card settings (Catalyst control panel) can give you a lot of improvement. I hope this helps. Try cmpbellsjc tips. I´m sure it will give you a huge improvement, though your system is robust enough to handle NGX mostly as it is by default. I will check with default aircraft at JFK and post the results here..

[iescheck 0]

I can't get 30 FPS In New York with default a/c, and my system is quite a bit more robust than yours (no offense of course). Are you are running 0% road traffic by any chance?

I have checked with my gear and can get average of 60 FPS at KJFK with standard 737-800 aircraft. Settings are usually high, except for autogen and scenery that are in the middle. This is all with default scenery, except for the use of REX2. If you have other add-ons there may be the difference. With your configuration I would expect even higher frame rates.Try checking the video card settings. I set them more to the performance side than to the quality side. AA and mip mapping settings seem to make a difference.

[timest 472]

Forget the FPS! Those are NICE shots cmpbellsjc!!

[cmpbellsjc 2,963]

Forget the FPS! Those are NICE shots cmpbellsjc!!

Thanks Tim, they're your sky and clouds after all :-) To be honest though, they weren't mean to be at all artisic or posed, just for some FPS numbers for those considering the NGX. Too bad the compression of the shots kind of kills the sharpness.