P3D3 - some basic nVidia advice?

[JYW 2,957]

Hi, sorry if this has been covered elsewhere but I've just bought P3D3, and before I run it, I'm just looking for some basic advice regarding AA/AF, etc settings for nVidia, with P3D3.

 

1. Should I use N.Inspector (works great for FSX), or stick with the standard Nvidia Control Panel?

 

2. Should I "override" P3D3 settings on the control panel, or use the application settings?

 

3. Any recommended settings for AA/AF/Vsync ?  I have a a GTX670 2GB, and I use TrackIR so need Vsync working.

 

Many thanks in advance,

[Jimm 437]

For what I have used of P3D V3 so far, I haven't found a need yet to tweak any settings outside of the core program.  I'm not sure though if nVidia Inspector reads P3D V3 yet (I could and can be wrong on this).  If you want to take a cautious approach, a wise man once said that in order to get your sim running at peak performance as well as achieving stability, only apply one tweak at a time and each time, run the sim.  Use a complex aircraft each time so you can stress the sim and measure performance and stability.  By doing so, you effectively create a limit that you know you don't want to go over.  With all of the recent comments and reviews of P3D V3, it functions a lot better than it's previous version so you may find that you can bump up your settings a little more than before, but again use caution as everyone has a different computer and setup.

 

-Jim

[JYW 2,957]

Thanks Jim.   Would you advise setting the nVidia Control Panel to use the application (P3D3) settings for AA/AF, or is it still prudent to override them, as per FSX ?

[Jimm 437]

Probably the best thing to do is change your settings within P3D V3 first and see how the performance fairs.  Don't put too much stock in FPS as you really want to achieve a smooth flight.  Again, with P3D V3, they have changed the way scenery is loaded, which helps a lot with VAS and FPS.  I have my sim set at 30fps and I get very smooth flights that are stable.  As for my graphics settings in P3D V3, they are in the 'high' range, but I don't have all of the sliders maxed.  That can be overkill.

 

-Jim

[tiberiusrr 0]

If you need SGSSAA, unless you have a 4k monitor and high pixeldensity, the use of NI is an absolute must! - still in P3D v3.

 

And no no no no.... it doesn't destroy anything! not in P3D, not in your PC not in your Mon, it doesn't even darken the sun ;-))... nothing... and- you can easily switch it back (but you know that from fsx...).

 

All you need is apply 4*SGSSAA by NI - nothing else needed in NI.

 

In P3D set 4*MSAA to match.

[ErichB 3,636]

Good post from the OP and its exactly what I'm after as well. I haven't had much time to completely throw myself into V3 yet - I'm hoping to have a whole weekend to do that this week.

 

I'm still stuck at the default airport on the runway in Virginia, trying to get controllers to work properly and playing around with graphics settings. Having taxiied around the airport, I can't say that my performance is amazing, it's a bit stuttery with settings at about 75% of max. I haven't yet applied an AM and I'm not sure if I have optimal graphics settings myself. I have some graphics anomalies, for example if I look at the sun, I see a pink transparent square shape infront of the sun - not sure what that's about. ( AF set at 16x). I have a 970STX Stix 4GB card and my machine isn't a slouch. AA isn't bad, but it's not great. I've not set anything in Nvidia Control Panel as I don't have it installed.

 

If anyone with pleasing graphics can suggest, or post screenshots of their settings that would be appreciated.

[Jimm 437]

Needs: that is a loaded word.  There is a long-standing tradition in the flight sim community based on "for and against" tweaks.  Many new people come here and pour over the countless posts from people using the word 'need' and the new people automatically think they need to use the same thing, then later on they come back saying their sim is broken.  Again, I cannot stress enough that when it comes to adjusting your settings inside and outside of a simulator, that you take it step by step.  Patience wins every time.

 

Now, I am not saying that any other advice you get is wrong, but be aware that everyone's system is different and their, dare I say, 'needs' are different.  You have to assess what you really want out of your sim.  If you want eye candy, tweak away. If you want performance and stability, take it slow, find necessary adjustments and test, test, test.  I admit I learned the hard way in the past by automatically applying tweaks in my cfg file and then subsequently, opening NI and making changes there without assessing the current state of my sim.  Complex aircraft, scenery and other add-ons are game changers.  Just when you think everything is just the way you want it and then you install other add-ons, you may or may not find that all the work you did needs to be revised.

 

-Jim

[JYW 2,957]

Thanks guys, some great pointers.

 

I also found this stellar thread, which culminated in Gareth's post here:- 
 

http://www.avsim.com/topic/459884-optimum-nvidia-cp-settings-p3d-24/?p=3157552

 

I've tried these settings off the bat, and getting fantastic results (early days!)

[Jimm 437]

Thanks guys, some great pointers.

 

I also found this stellar thread, which culminated in Gareth's post here:- 

 

http://www.avsim.com/topic/459884-optimum-nvidia-cp-settings-p3d-24/?p=3157552

 

I've tried these settings off the bat, and getting fantastic results (early days!)

Look at post #37, from Rob.  Also consider that this post was done in January of this year...older version of P3D.

 

You never mentioned what you have or will install for aircraft, scenery, traffic, weather.  All of that can make a difference.

 

-Jim

[JYW 2,957]

Look at post #37, from Rob.  Also consider that this post was done in January of this year...older version of P3D.

 

You never mentioned what you have or will install for aircraft, scenery, traffic, weather.  All of that can make a difference.

 

-Jim

 

Hi Jim, Yes appreciate that thread is from Jan of this year - but the essential advice I picked up from it was to set all values in Nvidia Inspector to "application controlled" except the Supersampling Transparency, which I set to 2 x Sparse Grid.   I then set Rob's recommended settings in P3Dv3, and although the thread was relating to P3D 2.5, my P3Dv3 is looking and performing fantastically.

 

for add-ons at present I'm just using Orbx FTX Global, OpenLC NA Canada, OpenLC EU, FTX England and FTX Pacific North West (all with dedicated V3 installers).    For aircraft, at present I'm just using a couple of pretty simple GA aircraft from Alabeo (read PA38 and Sportcruiser) - all working great.

 

Next step will be to buy the A2A Cherokee for P3Dv3 (I have the FSX version), in order to be able to use the F1 GTN750 for P3D that I purchased last evening.

 

Thanks for the help folks.  Loving P3Dv3.

[SteveW 1,792]

For basic decent AA we still need the Transparency Sparse Grid Supersampling setting in NI.

 

Set P3D to 4xMSAA, then make a default profile with NVidia Control Panel (CP) by selecting the P3D profile and press Restore and Apply buttons. Now create a new profile by making any change you like in the CP window, say set 4xTSSAA, Apply. Close the CP.

 

Take care to start with a fresh profile especially after driver updates.

 

Run NVidia inspector (NI). Choose the P3D profile, Leave all AA settings at default apart from: Set "Antialiasing - Transparency Supersampling" = "4x Sparse Grid Supersampling" matching the 4xMSAA set in P3D. Set "Antialiasing - Mode" = "Override any application setting". In my tests here override is the faster and smoother performance by maybe as much as 5%.

[JYW 2,957]

Run NVidia inspector (NI). Choose the P3D profile, Leave all AA settings at default apart from: Set "Antialiasing - Transparency Supersampling" = "4x Sparse Grid Supersampling" matching the 4xMSAA set in P3D. Set "Antialiasing - Mode" = "Override any application setting". In my tests here override is the faster and smoother performance by maybe as much as 5%.

 

Great, thanks SteveW, I'll ensure that the SGSS and MSAA both match up, at 4x, and I'll give "override" a twirl.   Cheers.

[SteveW 1,792]

You're welcome! Only the transparency sparse grid settings make any difference in the AA section and must be set to the MSAA setting as you say. Use the sim setting to change the Aniso mode higher values improve the look of reflective and wet surfaces into the distance with higher values. Other than that, that's all we can do to improve AA.

[Richard Sennett 2,499]

Thanks Steve have to give these a go tonight  :wink:

[SteveW 1,792]

Hey Rich! Thanks for helping me out last week!

 

Those checking out P3D AA are best advised to try just MSAA with the default NVidia profile created as I demonstrated above, before adding the sparse grid setting. This is supersampling and costly in terms of render time because it's like rendering twice as big an image to produce the antialiasing. Also with big res screens may not need SGSSAA.