Optimal settings for ATI users with FSX - Great Results!

[Sizel 4]

IQ (image quality) is a Pandoras box. So I apologise in advance. :-)

 

Surface format optimization is a compromise. Oh sorry driver developers.... An "optimization". Lol

 

I find with it on, some (not all) surfaces in the distance shimmer. Look. Don't fret. If you don't notice, don't worry. Leave it be. You may get a few fps out of it. :-)

 

For me and others is about trying to get it perfect. Which you can never really do without losing something. I suggest turning it off. Same as I suggest using super sample AA. This is if you want to match what we try to do with a typical nvidia setup following the guides.

 

All video card manufacturers ship with compromises enabled in the drivers so that their cards are faster out of the box. We IQ nut jobs jump in there and turn those optimizations off at the risk of some loss in performance. Is a balancing act.

 

I digress. Turning it off has minimal impact.

 

C.

 

Charles

 

Like most of us i am interested in getting rid of the annoying shimmers that appear too often in FSX, So any setting suggested i will try it out, being mindful of any FPS impact and interference to  my carefully balanced FSX settings ; )

 

I switched SFO to OFF and whilst using SSAA i find that it does the job. I find that keeping SSAA with Edge Detect12X is ok. Whats the opinion on using Edge Detect? Impact on performance seems negligible to me.

 I used to have MSAA active in CCC but really the FPS difference does not seem to change much using SSAA, surprisingly, perhaps a couple of FPS less. I recently reverted to using AF via FSX ( still not sure which is best method here as does not seem to do much difference for me either way. I'm using HD6570, probably less power than most on here.

 

Anyhow, interesting settings you mention. Thanks for the info : )

[cvearl 60]

Charles

 

Like most of us i am interested in getting rid of the annoying shimmers that appear too often in FSX, So any setting suggested i will try it out, being mindful of any FPS impact and interference to my carefully balanced FSX settings ; )

 

I switched SFO to OFF and whilst using SSAA i find that it does the job. I find that keeping SSAA with Edge Detect12X is ok. Whats the opinion on using Edge Detect? Impact on performance seems negligible to me.

I used to have MSAA active in CCC but really the FPS difference does not seem to change much using SSAA, surprisingly, perhaps a couple of FPS less. I recently reverted to using AF via FSX ( still not sure which is best method here as does not seem to do much difference for me either way. I'm using HD6570, probably less power than most on here.

 

Anyhow, interesting settings you mention. Thanks for the info : )

Edges detect is perfectly cool. It tripples the AA samples. Simply 4 becomes 12. Adaptive and morphalogical don't work work right with FSX is all.

 

I only get a hit that hurts in thick cloud layers. I use OpusFsx for weather and if there is going to be scenarios ththat hurt fps that evening, I guess I can turn cloud cover to mediumm in fsx.

:-)

[WotanUK 289]

I just replaced my 6970 with a 7970 GHz edition.  Can't see much difference at the moment, filter being Edge Detect still has a massive overhead on the system, performance is acceptable at 4xEQSSAA.  Not impressed actually, doesn't seem much better than the 6970, and it's giving me blinking screens.  :angry:

[cvearl 60]

I just replaced my 6970 with a 7970 GHz edition. Can't see much difference at the moment, filter being Edge Detect still has a massive overhead on the system, performance is acceptable at 4xEQSSAA. Not impressed actually, doesn't seem much better than the 6970, and it's giving me blinking screens. :angry:

Do you Skype? We could chat.

 

Where and what are you testing? Plane? Airport? Can you post your CFG for me?

 

Are you using DX10?

 

I have a buddy that went from GTX 570 to 680 and it did not blow his hair back in various scenarios. Faster card = marginally better in clouds. Dense autogen is mostly CPU sadly. Where I get 22 - 24 fps circling KPDX he gets 24 to 28. He has an overclocked 680 and his 2600k is at 4.4GHZ versus my 4.2. Bottom line is where it sucks for me it sucks for him.

 

Oh and 4EQxSSAA IS HEAVIER on my system than 4xSSAA. I never use EQ modes in FSX. Stutters in the clouds. Straight up 12xSSAA using edge detect is the key.

 

I have tried every possible combination of AA in FSX with ATI and I can sayy 100% certain. Pure SSAA only in all scenarios is the only way.

[cvearl 60]

I just replaced my 6970 with a 7970 GHz edition.  Can't see much difference at the moment, filter being Edge Detect still has a massive overhead on the system, performance is acceptable at 4xEQSSAA.  Not impressed actually, doesn't seem much better than the 6970, and it's giving me blinking screens.  :angry:

 

In reference to blinking screens...

 

1. You using USEPOOLS=0? It can do that. Does not for me though but I have read multiple posts of complaints for that.

2. When you switched cards. Did you clear the crap out of fsx.cfg concerning the new card? I found it easier to actually delete FSX.CFG and let it rebuild. Then the Display.Device bit gets re-written when you start FSX and redo the settings. Takes a few minutes though I know. Make sure you do not have 2 entries in there for Display Device!

3. Did you FLUSH SHADER CACHE? http://fsxtimes.wordpress.com/2011/07/11/clean-up-shader-cache/

4. I strongly recommend using a clean FSX.CFG with only the following for now with everything set up EXACTLY as I stated in my first post. I have now tested 3 cards. 6950, 6970, 7950. I have done Bjotes online tweak tool and tested multiple scenarios. I have tried every combination of AA and ANSIO between FSX and CCC and there is two options for shimmer free AA...

 

4xSSAA (Pure = no morphological, no Adaptive. No EQ version)

This appears to be the sweet spot between IQ and ability to handle some clouds well. It is where the GTX 680 owners are aiming ala 2xSGSS.

 

12xSSAA (4xAA with Edgedetect) Great as long as it is not in a solid cloud and low vis like the default "Stormy Conditions" or the ORBX weather themes that get installed with ORBX)

 

Again. in FSX.CFG start with only these and then play for a bit and get a feel before trying a bunch of other tweaks that were really made and created for and on nVidia cards.

 

Lock internally at 30 fps is really a key setting for preventing stutters in dense scenery.

 

[Display]

WideViewAspect=True

 

[GRAPHICS]

HIGHMEMFIX=1

ForceFullScreenVSync=1

[Sizel 4]

Edges detect is perfectly cool. It tripples the AA samples. Simply 4 becomes 12. Adaptive and morphalogical don't work work right with FSX is all.

 

I only get a hit that hurts in thick cloud layers. I use OpusFsx for weather and if there is going to be scenarios ththat hurt fps that evening, I guess I can turn cloud cover to mediumm in fsx.

:-)

 

Hmmm, i use Opus real weather too and i've yet to test these settings in heavy clouds. If it hits hard i will try using just 4XSSAA. As you say its a shame we don't have 2XSSAA with enabled Edge Detect giving us 6XSSAA : ( That could possibly be my sweet spot on this card HD6570.

I did quite alot of testing yesterday using different settings and yes, SSAA is the way to go for a crisper, non shimmer environment. Always keeping the the balance between performance and IQ in mind though : )

 

Agree on Morphological setting. Tryed that once before and it does not suit FSX one bit.

Flush Shader cache is good advice. i once had terrible performance overlooking ocean areas with FPS dipping. Deleted shader folder. Let FSX rebuild again on start up and issue gone. Reading your link makes sense. Thanks. : )

[cvearl 60]

I just replaced my 6970 with a 7970 GHz edition. Can't see much difference at the moment, filter being Edge Detect still has a massive overhead on the system, performance is acceptable at 4xEQSSAA. Not impressed actually, doesn't seem much better than the 6970, and it's giving me blinking screens. :angry:

I remember you settings. Sorry.

 

Three screen 5760x1080 resolution trying to run high AA modes beyond 4xSSAA with PMDG NGX, 4096 textures at EGLL Extreme airport and 20% my traffic.

http://#####.wordpress.com/fsxp3d-gpu-comparison-aka-gtx-titan-for-fsx-test/

 

Sadly this is a severely CPU limited result. Word Not Allowed runs1920x1080 and at the equivalent setting of 4xSGSS and in a nearly identical airport type in NGX he gets 25 fps on all three GTX580, 680 and Titan. Your 7970 is sitting around waiting.

 

I have the same issue doing the pattern at KPDX in the B200 or JS41 from PMDG. 25 fps. My 680 owning friend got about the same. All CPU there.

 

I am now working on over clocking my CPU. Its the only way. I think if I can get stable at 4.6, it will be all I can do.

[WotanUK 289]

I don't buy that really. 

 

I was running tests yesterday with different performance settings.  With Edge detect enabled on the minimum setting the GFX card was completely maxed out 99% load.  Once edge detect was turned off, the card was running around 50%.  At all times the CPU was sat around 20% not even breaking a sweat.

 

My settings are roughly the same as the ones you indicate.

 

The blinking screen has nothing to do with FSX, it happens on the Windows desktop, from what i have read it relates to issues with the mini display port and power.  It's very very irritating i may even send this card back.  This is not shimmering, the screen goes black for 1-2 seconds and then comes back.  This can happen 2 - 3 times a minute or continuously

 

I will say however it allows me to run entirely maxxed out at 5760x1080 in Sleeping Dogs and Borderlands. 

[dazz 69]

 

 

With Edge detect enabled on the minimum setting the GFX card was completely maxed out 99% load. Once edge detect was turned off, the card was running around 50%. At all times the CPU was sat around 20% not even breaking a sweat

 

This is an indication you were indeed CPU limited. At a 20% of CPU usage across 6 cores in FSX you can still be limited by the main scheduler. A single core CPU bottleneck. If the main scheduler is not running at 100%, then it's because you're hitting your frame rate limit either what you set ingame, in Inspector or because of Vsync

[cgbart 7]

Hi Everyone,

 

As a Gigabyte 7950 owner running FS9 and FSX I've been following this topic. In addition to the CCC, I use Radeon Pro, a free utility to further refine the settings on AMD cards. It can be found here and should be given a try: www.radeonpro.info

 

Thanks for all the great posts. Nice to see that there are other AMD users that agree this card is not at all bad for FS(9 or X). IMO, radeon cards provide fantastic image quality.

 

Regards......Chris

[cvearl 60]

I don't buy that really. 

 

I was running tests yesterday with different performance settings.  With Edge detect enabled on the minimum setting the GFX card was completely maxed out 99% load.  Once edge detect was turned off, the card was running around 50%.  At all times the CPU was sat around 20% not even breaking a sweat.

 

My settings are roughly the same as the ones you indicate.

 

The blinking screen has nothing to do with FSX, it happens on the Windows desktop, from what i have read it relates to issues with the mini display port and power.  It's very very irritating i may even send this card back.  This is not shimmering, the screen goes black for 1-2 seconds and then comes back.  This can happen 2 - 3 times a minute or continuously

 

I will say however it allows me to run entirely maxxed out at 5760x1080 in Sleeping Dogs and Borderlands. 

 

My apologies man. I have not had to use the display ports as I am only single screen. And all of the 4 ATI based FSX builds I have built in the last 6 months were single screens as well. I have talked to Eyefinity people on line but I had not heard of the Display Port cuasing blinking desktops for you multi screen users. Man I wish i could buy 2 more 27" so i could try this myself.

 

Anyway, all I can tell you is, in the scenario you describe (Complex payware airport, dense scenery settings, 3rd Party AI and the NGX with some nice clouds) is more affected by CPU clock and far less so by GPU. It's how FSX is written.

 

Not sure why you insist on trying to get 12xSSAA applied to 5760x1080 in FSX. No card on earth can do that in the NGX around a big airport with clouds and stay up at 30 fps locked. In your shoes, if the ATI Eyefinity 3 screen lovin' cant seem to get it done with that 7970 in FSX? return it and get yourself a GTX680 tor try. Of course when testing this, use with three screens and do apples to apples IQ settings. If you can do that res at 8xS+4xSGSS in that same scenario and maintain 30 fps the whole time? I am returning my card for a 660ti. 

 

Apples to Apples...

 

ATI 4xSSAA without Edge Detect (Pure 4xSSAA) = nvidia Inspector 8xS with 2xSGSS.

ATI 4xSSAA+Edgedetect (Effectively 12xSSAA) = nVidia Inspector 8xS with 4xSGSS. 

ATI 8xSSAA+Edgedetect (Effectively 24xSSAA) = nVidia Inspector 8xS with 8xSSGS.

 

All other AA combinations (Morph and Adaptive and Multisaple) in ATI don't work properly in FSX (unless you like shimmerworld) and you definately CANNOT use AA enabled in FSX settings or you will again get Autogen Shimmer, Some stutter and lower performance. Especially in clouds. FSX generated AA and ATI SSAA fight eachother.

 

Good luck and I hope you get your stuff working how you like regardless of brand of card. That's all that matters.

 

Charles.

[cvearl 60]

This is an indication you were indeed CPU limited. At a 20% of CPU usage across 6 cores in FSX you can still be limited by the main scheduler. A single core CPU bottleneck. If the main scheduler is not running at 100%, then it's because you're hitting your frame rate limit either what you set ingame, in Inspector or because of Vsync

 

Hey Dazz.

 

So? What card did you settle on. I really want to hear how 4xSSAA works for you on a 7900 series card. Especially comming from an overclocked GTX580 using 2xSGSS. Whatever the feedback, good or bad, will be valuable for sure. Start with my settings though before trying any of the others please. Just so you have a clean point of reference. My guess is? huge overcast clouds and the GTX580 might have been a hair smoother but only you will be able to say.

 

Flush the cache. New FSX.CFG with only the minimal settings. No Pools stuff to start off with. Just clean cfg and pure IQ settings and move on from there. If I was rich I would build my wife the same system as me but go GTX660ti and compare for myself. That would be ultimate. Like everyone here. I want the best FSX has to offer.

 

C.

[WotanUK 289]

 

Not sure why you insist on trying to get 12xSSAA applied to 5760x1080 in FSX. matters.

 

 

 

I don't, i'm just trying to get the best from it.  As i indicated earlier it runs great at 4xEQSSAA, looks great.  But i am curious what the maximum is and the best possible settings.  To be honest i can't tell the visual difference between 4xSSAA and 12EQxSSAA Edge Detect. 

 

On the 7970 4xSSAA works great, even 4xEQSSAA is useable.  Anything above that and be prepared to use default airports, clear weather and the default Mooney. 

 

The Display port issue is very annoying, it's been alleviated somewhat by moving the display port to the middle two screens, the outlying screens are HDMI and DVI, neither show any issues. I HATE display port!

 

This is an indication you were indeed CPU limited. At a 20% of CPU usage across 6 cores in FSX you can still be limited by the main scheduler. A single core CPU bottleneck. If the main scheduler is not running at 100%, then it's because you're hitting your frame rate limit either what you set ingame, in Inspector or because of Vsync

 

Interesting, i'll have another look at that, though i don't recall any of the cores running at max.  Frame rate is limited to 30 as per Word Not Allowed (amongst others) advice.

[dazz 69]

Hey Dazz.

 

So? What card did you settle on. I really want to hear how 4xSSAA works for you on a 7900 series card. Especially comming from an overclocked GTX580 using 2xSGSS. Whatever the feedback, good or bad, will be valuable for sure. Start with my settings though before trying any of the others please. Just so you have a clean point of reference. My guess is? huge overcast clouds and the GTX580 might have been a hair smoother but only you will be able to say.

 

Flush the cache. New FSX.CFG with only the minimal settings. No Pools stuff to start off with. Just clean cfg and pure IQ settings and move on from there. If I was rich I would build my wife the same system as me but go GTX660ti and compare for myself. That would be ultimate. Like everyone here. I want the best FSX has to offer.

 

C.

 

I'm pretty much set on a 7950. Which one still don't know, but there's this VT3D X-Edition for €235 shipped that looks tempting

[WILDHEART3003 8]

 

 

I use Radeon Pro

Thx for the HU, didn't know this until now.

 

@ Charles, do you have Radeon Pro? Look like there is plenty of tweaks to play with. If you can please enclose some pictures here when you done with it. I like to compare the tweaks I have selected.

 

Regards.