OK, I've had this problem with FSX for a while now and I'm totally fed up with it!  What causes it?

 

Basically I get this flickering (or "z-fighting") problem when viewing objects or custom scenery textures. For example in this video I am showing the OrbX Launceston airport but it happens at default airports too - for example when viewing a big airport from far away, all the terminal buildings, jetways, etc flicker really badly.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dcLWIIeQIzI

Start with a fresh FSX.cfg, use Nvidia Inspector, set it up according to Nick's Guide. All will be good.

 

Mine was doing the same thing until I did all that.

Start with a fresh FSX.cfg, use Nvidia Inspector, set it up according to Nick's Guide. All will be good.

 

Mine was doing the same thing until I did all that.

 

Did you ever discover the specific cause. I have done as you suggest, in the past, and still have the same problem. I must have missed something. Any ideas what it could actually be that causes it?

I don't know, I've run through Nick's guide and everything and I still get the flickering.

I used to get flashy textures (not like that, but as I flew around), then I removed the BufferPools section. Some people put this in the config file, I don't.

 

What's your GPU temperature like? Or your GPU usage? I recall getting some flickering if my GPU was overloaded (100% usage). I toned down some settings and I didn't get any flickering.

I actually run minimal FSX.cfg changes. Just 4096 textures, highmemfix, Affinitymask, and lod_radius.  The flickering happens with a default cfg too by the way.

It almost looks like to different sets of textures are competing for the same place. Just my 2 cents worth.

I have seen this at some airports and on some autogen objects. Highly doubt anyone but the scenery designer can do anything about it.

 

C.

Nick's settings fixed it for me, even with AA off in FSX.

"Nick's settings" is really vague, if there is something in there specifically that fixed it for you I'd love to know. Believe me I've been through that guide (and others) many times. I have tried everything from totally default settings (no .cfg tweaking, no Nvidia Inspector profile at all) to heavily tweaked/modified and to date, no luck yet.

The new Inspector Guide at SimForums. There are only about 4 settings changes he suggests so its not that vague.

Does anyone else have this airport from Orbx and does the problem occur there too?  It looks like high settings but OP says it happens with default fsx settings too.  I would certainly like to test that at some default airport the OP is seeing the issue.  DX10 Z-Fighting issues have been fixed (there was a problem with the way shadows were rendered).  The OP's fsx settings are definitely abnormal with Texture_Max_Load at 4096.  That produces a very heavy load on the CPU/GPU.  I have mine set at 2048 as I had issues with the higher setting.  OP does not indicate LOD_Radius but it must be higher than the default 4.5.  The Affinity Mask tweak has caused problems for some in the past especially when at 255 or higher than 14 or 84.  Your system is overclocked to 4.6GHz which could also be causing the problem as it could be placing even more demands on fsx's ability to render.  Sometimes placing too many resources on fsx can cause anomalies.  If none of the suggestions work, then I would remove or lower your overclock (if your GPU is overclocked, remove that too) and go back to the FSX settings as recommended by Orbx/FTX in their manual for the Orbx airport.  If everyone else who owns the Orbx airport does not have this issue, then it is definitely your settings.

 

Best regards,

Jim

I see that same effect if I go into slew mode. I don't see it if I'm just flying the sim. My Texture_Max_Load is at 2048, LOD_Radius at 4.5, DX10 Preview is on. I am not running an overclock.

 

Win 8 Pro

i7 4770k

16 gb ram

Nvidia GTX 670 2GB RAM(No OC)

I get some of that and I've tried a gazillion combinations of settings in-game and Nvidia Inspector. The worst one for me is SJU Louis Marin Intnl. There is one office building that shimmers like crazy at the beginning of rwy 8. Drives me nuts!! It was the same in FS9.

Me too. I think it's something to do with the way scenery is designed.  I get it a lot at UK2000 sceneries but hardly at any Orbx airports.