BTW It is adviced (on this forum and the documentation about DX10) that the number you use for FSAA should also be used for SGSS so I guess using 4 or 8 for both are the best options anyway.

Huge thanks for your investigation!  :im Not Worthy: 

 

I was messing with all these settings for several days with very poor result. I've managed to acheive acceptable graphics with settings 32xFSAA + 8xSGSS, but that was in cost of too low performance in heavy clouds. And there still was some shimmering left.

 

And now I've discovered that settings pair 4xFSAA + 4xSGSS looks BETTER than 32xFSAA + 8xSGSS and there is no fps drop in clouds anymore (GPU usage is around 60-70%).

 

And the 8xFSAA + 8xSGSS pair looks even better, but too expensive on GPU.

 

Wow! You just saved me of final desperation  :biggrin:

argh...don't make me try again... :unsure:

 

 

I found that 8x modes really hammers performance in cloudy situations (as does 8xGSSSAA), but maybe the new cloud shader takes care of this...I'll give it a try.

 

Any conclusions on this particular thought? I've been reviewing my settings today trying to see if i could get any improvement from some of the ideas being tossed around. That one caught my attention.

 

When I had a GTX 660, I hit the ceiling too easily at 8xSGSS, but I've recently upgraded to a 680. I'm thinking I might just go for it since I'll probably only max out the GPU about 0.1% of my time in the cockpit.

Most of my setups have been when using the GTX580, OB, so the 680 should give better results!

Well I can conclude that 8xSGSS hammered my 680 in heavy clouds but we all get different results. It really all depends where you are flying, AI, other addons etc so on so forth. I can fly 8xSGSS and then some in the Saharan desert with incredible fluid performance...but outside of KBVS in Orbx lands, no chance. Doesn't hurt to try.

 

I dropped it down to 4x in the fixer and 4xSGSS in NI and got decent results, no shimmer...still not stutter free in heavy areas though. I am getting really stellar performance in DX9, which seems to fly in the face of everything going on here. Kinda bumming me out but...not totally out yet.

I ran my Anchorage, AK approach which seems to always have realtime dense cloud cover weather, which it did this evening as usual.  Running my 660 ti using DX10 8x with 8xGSAA was a complete stutter fest at 15 fps, while my usual 4x16 and 4xGSAA was tolerable in the mid to upper twenties (internal lock at 30).  I find that, yes, with my settings you can see shimmering trees if you stare at them, but the amount a shimmer is so slight that unless one stares it is barely noticeable, IMO of course.  BTW, I'm running that 660 ti OCed quite heavily for both its clock (voltage mod) and RAM (gotta love MSI TF cards).

 

As for the Fixer:  IT IS BRILLIANT!  Beyond of all the DX10 improvements which I've enjoyed for free for months (hearty thanks here), I was able to "shadow unlock" all but one of my add on AC that needed VC shadows (A2A Cub, WoP3 Spit & P51, RealAir Lancair Legacy, and Alabeo Waco are now unlocked), got 16x AF working in DX10 via NI, and got UTX night lights working correctly in DX10.  The DX10 IQ and performance I now enjoy is worth every penny of the Fixer's price.  :Applause: :Applause: :Applause:

 

My only disappointment (teeny tiny) was that the new cloud shader could not knock out TSSAA...which completely understandable.

Thanks for the EXCELLENT post J van E!!!

Great post Jeroen, but at top of your post you say:

 

Using these FSAA settings alone usually won't be good enough for the average user: you really need to add Transparency Supersampling, using nVidia Inspector, to get really good graphics without (too much) shimmering. (This means that the new Cloud Shader won't work anymore but I rather have good shimmerfree graphics!)

 

If you want to use Cloud Shader what NI setting have to set in Transparency Supersampling, OFF?

Yup - Off.

 

The problem is - you will need at least 2x SGSS (on low-end systems), with 4x SGSS and the 8x SGSS on progressively more capable machines in order to control shimmering, Riccardo. That negates the AA cloud fix. :(

I finished some extra tests this evening. Since I now know what works and doesn't with Inspector I decided to focus a bit more on the Fixer's 4x settings (4x, 8x CSAA and 16x CSAA) and shimmering. I set Inspector to 4xSGSS and used the three 4x settings and found out I really honestly can't see a difference between them, not when it comes to FSAA and not when it comes to shimmering.

I then also tried the LOD Bias Allow option with a setting of -1.000 and again: I could see no difference.

 

I also noticed that the shimmering is mainly there when I am on the ground and look at trees. Now I really only do this on purpose when I test... when I simply want to fly I don't look that closely at the trees! I also noticed that in flight there hardly is any shimmering (if any). As TheFamilyMan says you only really see it when you stare at it!

 

So I decided to stick with the Fixer at 4x and Inspector at 4xSGSS (and all the other settings as in the screenshot I posted). Although 8x and 8xSGSS seem to give the same performance and almost removes all shimmering (when you focus on it) I like to have some 'overhead' for when things become hectic in FSX (lots of clouds, AI, heavy airports). So I will stick with these 4x settings. (Until I change my mind again LOL :rolleyes: ).

 

Just as a few others I am also slightly disappointed that the Clouds fix won't be of any use for me (it was one of the things that made me hop of the fence and buy the Fixer) but 1. I have great lights with FTX Global, 2. the umbrella is gone when it rains, 3. snow can be slowed down and 4. it helped me to test various settings in a convenient matter which was a lot of fun. ^_^ And although I currently only fly the A2A C172R it's nice to know that my other 'default plane', the Legacy, will now also have VC shadows! VC shadows was one of the main reasons to go for DX10. (I have the impression the shadows look better with the Fixer than they did with the Avsim fixed but that may be a placebo effect.) And whenever some Norwegian Orbx airports are released I probably will also be very happy to have the Fixer to fix things like lights and so on.

 

All in all the money was well spend.

:friends: :drinks:   Wow - Jeroen - we could be twins....... er... um....  eeeoouew! :bad:

:friends: :drinks:   Wow - Jeroen - we could be twins....... er... um....  eeeoouew! :bad:

 

LOL I do wonder what exactly made you post this though... :rolleyes:

Your complete post echoes my own thoughts and settings in a great degree. Much of FSX is a compromise, whether DX9 or 10, but DX10 provides a smoother background, right down to 17 or 18 frames - and that allows for much heavier setting everywhere. It means "30" is not needed any more, as a measurement of a "good" experience. 20, in cloud over FSDT's KLAX, Orbx's FTX Global, FSGlobal Real Weather is now "good". 30 isn't necessary for "good" anymore. We have "smooth". So now we should be able to drop the NI Vsync "1/2 refresh rate" with 30 fps locked in FSX, and perhaps, use "1/3 Refresh Rate" and move the internal limit down to 20!  (I haven't done this yet, but will now go and try it)  :wink:

 

Back in a while!

The negative LOD bias is probably a placebo effect for me when it comes to the shimmering. If anything, it is suppose to force the texture mapping algorithm to use a higher resolution texture filter than it normally would for the given LOD distance. Gamer sites that extol the use of TGSSSAA to augment standard AA (an nvidia driver AA bug which became a feature) have convincing screen shots showing how this use of a negative LOD offset clears some of the fuzziness which the TGSSSAA brings to the table.

In any event, my FSX image quality now is stellar and, dare I say so, better than any DX9 setting I ever used. Amazing as in crisp, high definition details with no to occasional slight jaggies. This goes for both the VC environment and the ground environment. Getting NI DX10 16x AF was the ticket!

And you're going to post some shots of your Inspectorsettings, right, Rod?  huh? Please?