DX10 and Compatible Airports

[Jim Young 2,356]

 

 

in dx9 mode im getting 10-15fps maybe 20 if im lucky wich is shutters/laggy... but in dx10 nearly stable 30fps cap...

 

That should not be happening but understand.  No one likes 10-15 fps in fsx but it happens.  I get it quite often especially when flying into/out of airports commercially developed for FSX and if I have real weather turned on.  Then, when I'm at cruising altitude, everything is great again and at a solid 40 fps.  I occasionally run fsx with high settings though as I like as much eye-candy that my system can handle w/o crashing.  Right now I have my LOD_Radius at 7.0 as I have MegaSceneryEarth stuff installed and it is one of the recommendations of the developer.  Unfortunately I can't turn on real weather though as that would be a major fps killer in this situation. 

 

Best regards,

Jim

[shakeystick 1]

 

 

Why not go back to DX9 when flying at night?

 

Because I think going back to DX9, regardless as to whether we are talking night or day, means that I am giving up some of that DX10 inherent smoothness. For me that smooth feeling to the way the plane responds so well to control surface input really enhances the realism of the way the aircraft flies. I don't want to give that up. Yes you can untick the DX10 preview to return to DX9 but aren't there other changes within the fsx.cfg file that prevent you having both DX9 & DX10 running in an optimal way by simply changing back forth by ticking/unticking the DX10 preview box? As for the look to DX10 at night, yes it seems darker at (especially at altitude) and also not as visually appealing as DX9 but dusk and dawn are still pretty fun times to fly around.

 

[ZKOKQ 984]

If I tick the DX10 check box to go back to DX9, I get a box comes up to re start fsx for changes to take effect, it also adds 2 graphic card entries in the fsx cfg and changes my in game settings ie AA AF and resolution.

 

How do you do this Jim, without this happening ?

[Paul J 349]

The best way to switch back and forward, is to save your DX9 config and Nvidia Inspector profiles in an "DX9 Configs" folder before moving into the DX10 world. Then you can simply swap them back if/when you decide you can't live with DX10. At the same time, when you have a good DX10 config setup - do the same thing - make a DX10 Configs" folder. 

 

All the Best,

[shakeystick 1]

it also adds 2 graphic card entries in the fsx cfg

 

Yes that one got me puzzled at first too. That is until I learned that there are separate display entries for DX10 & DX9. If you look closely you will see that the DX10 entries have an extra period and zero when compared to the DX9 ones. You apparently switched back and the DX9 entries were not there so the program made a new one for you. I have seen it do this by adding a default resolution value too like 1024 X 768 or some such when my display is really 1400X1050. If I remember correctly the program added the correct resoltion as yet another extra display entry after I restarted FSX. I then deleted the incorrect resolution entry and left the one that was correct. FSX will most definitely re-create certain config entries on it's own if it does not see one there already.

[Jim Young 2,356]

 

 

but aren't there other changes within the fsx.cfg file that prevent you having both DX9 & DX10 running in an optimal way by simply changing back forth by ticking/unticking the DX10 preview box?

 

DX10 was invented when Acceleration was released.  The Microsoft developers were going to develop it further but did not have the time as they had to release Acceleration/SP2 on time.  It is why it is called DX10 Preview (they had planned to call it DX10).  They make DX10 so that you could simply tick or untick the DX10 Preview box to go to DX9 and then back to DX10.  There will not be any changes done to your FSX.cfg when you make this change other than the D3D10= line.  It is impossible for FSX to change any other lines just because you went from DX10 to DX9 or vice versa.  You do have to restart FSX though so you can't do it on the fly.  DX10 has some enhancements in performance and provides more eye-candy during daytime flights.  Night time is not so much fun.  You can use the same fsx.cfg and display driver settings for DX9 or DX10.  That's what I do.  If the Aces Team had developed FSX to use different fsx.cfg's and display driver settings, it would be a nightmare.  Fortunately for us they didn't.  If you want I invite you to read the blog from the lead developer of FSX/DX10 Preview that provides even more info - http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ptaylor/archive/tags/fsx_2d00_dx10/. 

 

Best regards,

Jim

[Jim Young 2,356]

 

 

If you look closely you will see that the DX10 entries have an extra period and zero when compared to the DX9 ones.

 

The changing of the display entries when you restart FSX should have no effect on DX9/DX10 functioning properly on your computer.  I just went from DX10 Preview to DX9 and absolutely nothing changed in my FSX.cfg.  The AA/AF settings were never changed either.  Something else is changing those lines on your system.  You should have several [Display.Device....] entries in your FSX.cfg.  They will cause no harm.  Again, you can change from DX9 to DX10 Preview and vice-versa and not change any other settings on your computer or in FSX. 

 

Hope this helps resolve this issue.

 

Best regards,

 

Jim Young

[ZKOKQ 984]

Thanks Gents, good info. I only use DX9 for night flying, however, most of my flights are in DX10 during daylight, so will use PJ's suggestion. DX10 really is the bee's knee's, and looking forward to Steve's update.

And while I am here, a big thanks to PJ and Jim for the great support they offer for us DX10 users.

[Jim Young 2,356]

Thanks for the at-a-boy.  Always appreciated. 

 

Best regards,

Jim

[murat 1]

and thats also beeing answer of my next question ''what i need to change in .cfg file to get better dx9 performance while dx10 is good''.... so theres no option left isnt it? my system req. dx10 performance increase code for runing fsx witout any perf. issue

[shakeystick 1]

 

 

Hope this helps resolve this issue.

 

Yes, thank you. I appreciate the shared knowledge and the time taken to convey it. The more I read here the more I learn about how this stuff really works. For some reason I seem to have read something into and beyond what was actually written in the DX10 guide then. I'm still sorting things out in my mind and trying to understand the actual differences between FSX in DX9 & DX10 modes. And the differences, if any, that exist in the rendering, load times, CPU & GPU workloads, etc, etc, etc. I'm certain there is (or should be) a set list of things that ,if already tuned properly, should remain exactly the same between both modes because the change from DX9 to DX10 and back again has no effect on the performance of those items. Knowing the items on that list would help me, and many others I'm sure, as we attempt to continue to make informed decisions about the settings on our systems while operating in both modes. My system is older, all air cooled, and only running at 3ghz with rather low end twin GTX 460s in SLI. But I do have eight processor cores holding a pretty even load from what I have seen. Something tells me that some of the advice that I see you guys trading on here with the newer Intel processors at much higher speed may not translate well onto my system but I'm kind of clueless as to what those subtle differences might be. This is one of my biggest reasons for asking about the items above.

 

Regards, GP

[Jim Young 2,356]

There are no cockpit shadows in DX9.  When you turn on real weather and it is nasty outside, the water below (if any) will appear very rough in DX10, not in DX9.  You just need to understand DirectX (not necessarily DX9 and DX10).  DX10 provides more graphics technology and developers can do a lot more things than they could in DX9 (or DX8, DX7, etc.).  When Acceleration was released we were hoping for some really super DX10 technology but the Microsoft Team just did not have the time to complete all the programming.  They were hoping to make it much better be releasing an SP later on after Acceleration.  Microsoft terminated the Microsoft Team before they could do that.  So we have to live with what we have.  I think Steve has done an excellent job fixing most of the anomalies Microsoft left us with.  But, when you hit that DX10 Preview button, your fsx.cfg and display driver config should not be changed.  Some have changed it and maybe for the better but they can use that same DX10 fsx.cfg and display driver settings when they decide to go back to DX9.  It might even make DX9 look better!

 

Best regards,

Jim

[ZKOKQ 984]

Some have changed it and maybe for the better but they can use that same DX10 fsx.cfg and display driver settings when they decide to go back to DX9. It might even make DX9 look better!

 

Best regards,

Jim

Funny enough, it does Jim. I am using the NI settings that PJ posted in the "How To" doc,and visuals are stunning. However, not enough to give up DX10

The only time I ever use DX9 now is to use the 29Palms airport LGSK.

[murat 1]

can we get any eta about steve? any progres info? im actualy waiting for it ? can i be a beta tester ?

[captain420 3,099]

I noticed FlyTampa Kai Tak has no runway lights at all at night.