Same here, both GPUs are almost at max load which is my biggest concern. Vic reported that too. As i recall he is still on 347.88 driver version.

 

No I'm on 353.06 drivers now with same results. FWIW, my GPU's only hit 99% when I am in dense clouds - normal flight with normal clouds they are in the 35 - 50% range. Running a ingle GPU under same conditions was worse - it got to 99% a LOT faster with the resulting drop in FPS if it stayed at 99% for any time.

 

LOL - I've been reading posts of users who complain that their GPU isn't fully used and we're fretting about it being over used.

 

Vic

No I'm on 353.06 drivers now with same results. FWIW, my GPU's only hit 99% when I am in dense clouds - normal flight with normal clouds they are in the 35 - 50% range. Running a ingle GPU under same conditions was worse - it got to 99% a LOT faster with the resulting drop in FPS if it stayed at 99% for any time.

 

LOL - I've been reading posts of users who complain that their GPU isn't fully used and we're fretting about it being over used.

 

Vic

 

Its funny is it

 

 

Agree, just needs a few more adjustments. 

 

Rob - are your settings posted somewhere?  Would like to try them, but they're a little tough to read from the still video frame.  Thanks in advance!

 

 

For now we have a few options...

 

Agree, those are the choices.  At the risk of repeating - my (probably odd) current flight preferences mean that I need both the lightning and the wakes, so unless I can find an artifact cure, I'll have to do (reluctantly) without SLI.  

 

Am hoping that Rob's settings will "take."

Rob - are your settings posted somewhere?

 

My settings are pretty close to MJ's:

 

 

This DID cure artifacts, but it does have a tendency to drop FPS/stutter here and there and it has my GPU's running at 99% mid dense clouds.

 

Someone needs to do a compare without SLI to see if these settings with SLI is actually a performance benefit.  Fraps time frames.

 

EDIT: these settings do seem to make my menu font's look odd ... it looks to me like AA is being processed against the menu text also, which is not desirable.  But, since the menu is rarely active during most of my flight it's a very minor sacrifice since the render issues are resolved.

 

Cheers, Rob.

 

 

My settings are pretty close to MJ's:

 

Thanks.  I'll try again, though I'm not optimistic based on my results with MickeyJ's settings.  Wish I knew why my system is so reluctant to give up its artifacts.

 

 

Someone needs to do a compare without SLI to see if these settings with SLI is actually a performance benefit.  Fraps time frames.

 

I'm not equipped to do objective testing, but my subjective impression was that I was seeing only a small performance gain over single card, though the added smoothness was nice.  Makes me think whatever we're working with isn't optimized, as I think you've already suggested.

 

My next attempt will have to wait a bit.. I'm due at Nats Park shortly for Scherzer v. Liriano....

 

 

Wish I knew why my system is so reluctant to give up its artifacts.

 

Duplicate associates with Prepar3D.exe in NI?  Best way to test this is make some really crazy NI settings and see what P3D does, if no change something is prevent the profile from loading.

 

Cheers, Rob.

 

 

Duplicate associates with Prepar3D.exe in NI?  

 

Interesting - hadn't thought of that.  Will check it out.

Just a side note. Within NI the Antialiasing Mode MUST be set to Enhance the application settings. Otherwise 8xCSAA wont work. Besides that i made another funny observation and i would like you guys test that out. Please set the Antialiasing Transparency to 4x4 MSAA but leave the Antialiasing Mode to Enhance. (Vic dont kill me for this :S) The effects will also work, funny thing, right? But the FPS goes down almost by 10 frames. I will put a vid, I continue to test  

I ended up going back to the standard SLI profile (no NI) with 8X MSAA in P3D ... the performance is better in all situations (no stutters).

 

 

AA isn't quite as nice, but it's not "bad" either ... but I do have the artifacts.  But armed with the ability to "fix" the artifacts via NI is actually good news  -- implications are nVidia can "fix" the P3D profile without the need for LM to get involved.  So fingers crossed the next nVidia driver (or two) will provide an "official" solution.

 

Cheers, Rob.

So here is what i tested...

 

Scenario:

 

ORBX SAC + Kenai Airport, ASN weather, Cerasim Bell 212 on ground with 30% torque to get the rotor wash effect to show up.

 

 

 

nVidia Inspector:

 

AA Mode | AA Setting | AA Transparency

 

Enhance | 2x2 MSAA | 2xSGSS > artifacts visible 34-37FPS 40-65% load on GPU 1+2 smooth sim

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Override | 4x4 MSAA | 4xSGSS > artifacts visible 34-37FPS 40-65% load on GPU 1+2 smooth sim

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Application controlled | 4x4 MSAA | 4xSGSS > artifacts visible 34-37FPS 40-65% load on GPU 1+2 smooth sim

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Application controlled | 8xCSAA | 4xSGSS > artifacts visible 34-37FPS 40-65% load on GPU 1+2 smooth sim

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Enhance | 4x4 MSAA | 4xSGSS > no artifacts 99% maxed out GPU 1+2 occasional stutters frames dropped by roughly 15-20%

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Enhance | 8xCSAA | 4xSGSS > no artifacts 99% maxed out GPU 1+2 occasional stutters frames dropped by roughly 15-20%

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Enhance | Application controlled/off | 4xSGSS artifacts visible 34-37FPS 40-65% load on GPU 1+2 smooth sim

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

After these test runs i decided to go back to standard SLI profile but with P3D2 4xMSAA NI 4xSGSS. I can take that slight performance hit for the benefit of my Feng Shui I also removed the associated effects from the effects folder.

Am I seeing the classic manic/depressive pattern here? 

 

gb.

My next attempt will have to wait a bit.. I'm due at Nats Park shortly for Scherzer v. Liriano....

 

I just wanted to interrupt this very useful and informative conversation to say that I haven't done any more testing because I JUST SAW MAX SCHERZER THROW A NO-HITTER AND COME WITHIN ONE PITCH OF A PERFECT GAME!  I'm 55, I've been a baseball fan all my life and I'VE NEVER SEEN A NO-HITTER BEFORE!  And neither had my father or grandfather going back to the Christy Mathewson era.  BUT NOW I HAVE!

 

OK, having got that out of the way... back to testing

 

No baseball-related replies, please - I don't want to derail the thread, just had to share

 

As you were.

 

 

Duplicate associates with Prepar3D.exe in NI?

 

Thinking about it... I'm sure this hasn't been the case, because I do see differences in AA when running the NI profile (without it I'm using P3D AA only).  So that suggests the NI profile is being read.  But I'll test some extreme settings and see if I'm right about this.

I sure would like to know what the difference is. I flew for 2 hours today, in and out of low vis and clouds and I never got to 99%. Most of the time I was at 35 - 50. I'm sure I could load the settings up enough to get 99% if I add a few cloud layers but with the settings I posted, which are above average - I only get maxed out in extreme situations.

 

Strange.

 

Vic

This is a shot in the dark, but could there be a difference in the effects packages we're running?  My effects folder include wakes from Henrik Nielsen's freeware AI ships, and I"m also running textures (and maybe effects) from REX4, Zinnertek and PreciptFX.  Maybe some of the effects (or textures related to the effects) react differently?  I have no idea if this has any basis in fact, am just casting around for anything that might be a variable.

 

 

low vis and clouds and I never got to 99%.

 

Vic, do you have Volumetric Fog enabled?  Do you have Cloud Detail set to Max?  What resolution?

 

Cheers, Rob.