After flying FSX since day 1, around 7 years ago, I finally can say WOW!!! Until a few days ago I really didn't know what I was missing, but I am now able to run autogen on Extreme and FSX is a whole new experiance.

Now to be clear, I have always had a good install and never had some of the problems others have with 'blurries', 'stutters', scenery loading, etc, but it has always been a compromise with the settings. Mine were fairly high, but never maxed out.

 

What changed things for me was upgrading to GEX's new textures. I have always used GEX and been very happy with it but when FTX Global released I considered getting that. Before I ever buy anything for FSX though, I always do 'due diligence' and research a product, check forums, listen to others who use it, and never buy anything in the first few weeks, and usually wait for the inevitable 'first fix' release.

 

I also looked at GEX back when they updated but really didnt feel like going through the whole uninstall/reinstall process, because it's a time consuming PITA. So until FTXG came out I really had not given any thought to upgrading any texture sets because my old 'tried and true' were doing just fine, or so I thought!

 

After comparing the two, and talking to the guys I fly online with, I decided to take the plunge and upgraded GEX, not really expecting too much improvement, man was I wrong.

 

Of course the first thing I did was fly over areas I knew so I could compare what I had previously to the new textures, and I was impressed right out of the gate. There is a definate improvement in the scenery, but what it took me a few flights to realize is that my performance had also improved, substantially.

 

I normally fly with FPS locked at 30, and in some areas of heavy autogen it would dip into the teens and flucuate a bit. What I finally noticed was that my FPS never moved from 29.9 no matter where I was. Once I realized that, I then went to airports that usually bring my FPS down, like JFK and EWR, and still the FPS stayed at 29.9, amazing!

 

So in the interest of seeing how far I could push things, I changed my FPS to 99 and set the autogen slider to EXTREMELY DENSE, just to see what would happen. I then flew over NY and other cities using a QW 757 with HD textures, real world weather, multiplayer mode, and low altitude (2000-3000 AGL) and the FPS never dropped below 25, and usually stayed between 35 and 50.

 

Not only did the performance increase but with EXTREME autogen on FSX never looked so good! I never knew how much AG they folks at Aces gave us until now, and for me, it's a whole new world! Every little town and village is now full of buildings and visually it's amazing, and most importantly... SMOOTH. No blurries, no 'popping in' of tiles, just totally enjoyable.

 

I don't know what the guys at GEX did (maybe it's just the tree fix?) but I have to say THANK YOU for my new sim!!

 

And please folks, this isnt a comparison between competitors, those that use FTX I am sure are just as happy as I am, enjoy.

Trying to figure out what you're saying... Did your performance improve after installing GEX, or after putting autogen on extreme?

Trying to figure out what you're saying... Did your performance improve after installing GEX, or after putting autogen on extreme?

 

Installing the upgraded GEX improved performance so much it allowed me to move autogen to extreme, which previously would have killed my FPS

Very cool, I'll have to check GEX out if there is a performance improvement over default textures. I wonder if there is a performance increase as well with FTXG?

Very cool, I'll have to check GEX out if there is a performance improvement over default textures. I wonder if there is a performance increase as well with FTXG?

Cant help with that question, but there is a FTX forum that might have an answer. I did have PNW though and it was ok. If you do try GEX and dont like it, Flight 1 does have their famous 30 day refund policy.

I too noticed a performance improvement with the later releases of GEX. I know they put a lot of effort into balancing the autogen load so the processing peaks and troughs should be evened out. I've moved to FTXG now because I prefer their representation of northern Europe, and I reckon performance is very similar.

Can someone point me to the process for upgrading the textures?  I am not seeing any notifications of upgrade in the GEX control panel and am not clear what all this involves.

This is from last Jan and seems to have all the info, there might be more at Flight 1....

 

http://www.simforums.com/forums/gex-all-region-updates-official-release_topic44495.html

Of course there is one teeny, tiny requirement if you wish to upgrade GEX North America;

 

"Installation of any ONE of these three GEX regions:

GEX Africa and the Middle East - v1.20

GEX Atlantic and Pacific Tropics - v1.10

GEX Asia and South America - v1.0

....will automatically upgrade GEX North America from v1.096 to v1.099."

 

Flight1 doesn't offer v1.099 as a for free or for fee upgrade, so I'll be sticking with v1.096.

 

Ernie

So GEX allows you to fly everywhere at 29.9 FPS?

So GEX allows you to fly everywhere at 29.9 FPS?

Everywhere I have flown so far, yes.

I'll have to update GEX. I haven't updated it since I installed it in 2009.

"Ground Environment X brings all-new ground textures to FSX, and it boasts an incredible 1 m/pixel texture resolution, using native 1024x1024 pixel images, and includes all seasons, meticulously designed night textures and the latest techniques in autogen placement and alignment. All this while keeping maximum Flight Simulator performance in mind during development"

 

from the new release. Africa and middle east pack has my attention since I own most ORBX regions I dont need FTXG

 

their website is confusing, they need to stream line the shopping process. 

Of course there is one teeny, tiny requirement if you wish to upgrade GEX North America;

 

"Installation of any ONE of these three GEX regions:

GEX Africa and the Middle East - v1.20

GEX Atlantic and Pacific Tropics - v1.10

GEX Asia and South America - v1.0

....will automatically upgrade GEX North America from v1.096 to v1.099."

 

Flight1 doesn't offer v1.099 as a for free or for fee upgrade, so I'll be sticking with v1.096.

 

Ernie

I think it does?

 

http://www.flight1.com/products.asp?product=FL1-GAM-001

 

Upgrades GEX North America to v1.099 when installed with GEX NA.

What resolution do you run at, and what is your LOD radius? So you're saying all your FSX settings all at their 100% settings? Can you try the PMDG 737 NGX, sit idle at a busy airport such as FSdreamteam KLAX or KJFK at night with AI traffic 100% and tell me what you get?

 

Are you using any other sort of add ons such as weather, ezdok, rex, photo scenery, and are you running with texture_max_load=4096?

Hmmm. I'm not sure I believe you, sounds to good to be true....