fsx-ms Shimmering in VC: do you advice SGSS for AntiAliasing Transparency SuperSampling ?

[Kermit_70 7]

Hello, all. Apologies for the rather technical question.

I am trying to solve a couple of problems in my VC cockpit (mainly A2A GA aircrafts): the text of some gauges/radios is not very sharp and somehow hard to read, AND I am getting annoying shimmering.

 

My main question is:

Have you tried the 2X Sparse Grid Supersampling setting in AntiAliasing - Transparency Supersampling in Nvidia Insector (as suggested by xxxxx)?

Do you have other suggestions / comments ?

 

Here are my current (relevant) settings:

 

Problem:

- slightly blurred text (can’t read it well) on some gauges/radios (A2A aircrafts)

- some level of shimmering, both inside VC and outside

- No stuttering

- No flashes

 

Hardware

CPU:  Intel i7 4790 (quad core, 3.6GHz)

GPU:  Nvidia GeForce GTX 650.0 (1024 Mb, 1058 MHz)

Full Screen Resolution: 1920x1080x32

FSX Acceleration, boxed

 

in FSX/Settings:

Filtering: Anisotropic

Antialiasing: unchecked

Direct x10: no

High Res VC

 

in fsx.cfg:

[GRAPHICS]

TEXTURE_MAX_LOAD=4096

 

[bUFFERPOOLS]

BufferPools=1

PoolSize=10485760

RejectThreshold=524288

 

[DISPLAY.Device.NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650.0]

TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=80

 

[Main]

FIBER_FRAME_TIME_FRACTION=0.20

 

 

in Nvidia Inspector

Vertical Sync Tear Control = “Standard”

Vertical Sync = “1⁄2 Refresh Rate”

Antialiasing – Mode = Override application settings

Antialiasing – setting = 8x S

Antialiasing Transparency – Multisampling = Disabled

Antialiasing Transparency – Supersampling = 4x Supersampling

Anisotropic Filtering – mode = user defined/off

Anisotropic Filtering – settings = 16x

Texture Filtering – negative LOD = Clamp

Texture Filtering – quality = high quality

Texture Filtering – trilinear optimization = off

 

 

 

Many thanks !!

[warbirds 555]

Same here, interested to know if there is a cure for the dial and indicator shimmering in vc. Some say to use mipmaps on those textures but what else?

[Boeing or not going 578]

What is your monitor refresh rate, and are your fps in fsx locked at 30? If not, you should change vertical sync to force on, not 1/2

 

yes sgss will help greatly with shimmering, also 8xSQ can help too. but prepare for big fps hits especially with heavy clouds. first try 8xSQ anti aliasing, then if that does not help, do 8xS AA, and 2xSGSS

[Kermit_70 7]

What is your monitor refresh rate, and are your fps in fsx locked at 30? If not, you should change vertical sync to force on, not 1/2

 

Monitor 60Hz at 1920x1080

FPS locked at 30 in Nvidia Insoector (unlimited in FSX)

 

Do you think all this might improve if I switch to monitor with higher res?

 

Thanks!

[ieydis 51]

I know this may sound dumb, but have you tried playing around with the settings in Inspector?  It won't break anything to try.  Every machine is different and users have different expectations.  Try changing a few settings and see if you like the results.

[warbirds 555]

Shimmering is sometimes caused by no mipmaps. Also some video driver releases are prone to shimmer more than others. 

 

The only way,,and I have tried most of the tweaks,,is to run at  dsr. 4k That helps but still there is a bit with cockpit gauges. I have horsepower but FSX is a beast even with three 980's so taming the shimmering is a work in progress.

 

System specs in profile:

http://forum.avsim.net/user/420750-warbirds/

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

My settings:

 

FSX:

 

fps locked at 30

 

NI:

 

8XS AA

2X SGSS

Vsynch=1/2 monitor refresh

 

27" Samsung monitor with 1920x1080 resolution

4770K@4.0, GTX770.

 

Shimmering.. sometimes, but mostly, no 

 

ps.  A GTX650 may not have the horsepower for 2XSGSS..  :unsure:

[W2DR 1,859]

I changed four things with NI to completely eliminate the problem (everything else is left at the default settings):

 

Antialiasing - Behavior Flags set to None

 

Antialiasing - Mode set to Enhance application setting

 

Antialiasing - Setting set to 32xS [Combined 2x2 SS + 8x MS]

 

Antialiasing - Transparency  Supersampling set to 8x Sparse Grid Supersampling

 

This combination can be a real framerate killer but, if your system can handle the hit, the results are nothing short of spectacular.

 

Doug

 

Intel 4790K CPU, MSI Z97 Gaming 7 motherboard, Noctua NH-U12S cooler, Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB 2133 MHz RAM, nVidia GTX 970 GPU, Cooler Master HAF 932 Tower, Thermaltake 1000W Toughpower PSU, Windows 7 Professional 64-Bit, and other good stuff:

 

500GB SSD - Samsung 840
12TB HDD Internal - Western Digital Black
40TB HDD External - Western Digital My Book
2x Asus PA246Q ProArt 24" 1920x1200
4x Plextor PX-891SAW DVD-RW
.

[neumanix 113]

I'd try 4 x Multisampling for the Antialiasing setting and 2xSGSS for Antialiasing Transparency Supersampling. Maybe even 4xSGSS.

That gives a rather sharp looking image with reduced shimmer.

[Kermit_70 7]

Ok, I just tried AA = 8xS and AATS = 2xSGSS

I get rid of shimmering and all looks pretty good!

I tried in Seattle region (FTX PNW), with REX4 clouds and rain, and some traffic (UT2).

All good, no stuttering, and beautiful scenery.

The only worrying thing is that FPS dropped from 30 to 16-20. No real impact so far, but these low FPS make me nervous...

 

What else could I do (see my specs above) to regain some FPS without introducing stuttering or shimmering?

What about bringing AS to 4xS?

Any other idea?

 

Thanks, almost solved!!

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

Yup.. the obvious.. faster video card.

 

GTX970 would be better  B)

[warbirds 555]

It is not the video card, it is the cpu. FSX could care less about my three gtx 980 cards but I have to  have my cpu clocked to 4.4 to get any decent frame rates with all the add on scenery and heavy VAS aircraft I have.

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

Opinions, opinions..

[W2DR 1,859]

It is not the video card, it is the cpu. FSX could care less about my three gtx 980 cards but I have to  have my cpu clocked to 4.4 to get any decent frame rates with all the add on scenery and heavy VAS aircraft I have.

 

Not to argue but Bert's right. When it comes to AA the GPU can't overlooked.

 

Doug

[warbirds 555]

Yes my three 980's allow me to run FSX in high rez dsr but the frame rates are the same for 1080p so I know for a fact that two of the cards are just along for the ride.  You can spend your FSX money on an expensive video card, maybe a 980 Kingpin or similar but you really should spend it on the biggest, fastest processor you can buy and keep your old video card.

 

As for opinions, it has long been known that FSX is processor intensive and all your fancy video card will give you is aa and higher rez but not more fps.