Shimmering issue since upgrading GPU

[eastern 6]

I recently upgraded my graphics card and shimmering started on both the scenery buildings and taxiways. I believe I’m missing something that could be major or hopefully minor.

Before installing my GPU I did clear all my NIVIDIA profiles and updates. Followed by downloading the newest update for the GTX 1080 then installing the new card.

I erased my CFG file allowed it to rebuild itself than added the recommended profiles for DX-10 and NIVIDA inspector.

I’m optimistic that I missed something that others might catch and help me with. Before upgrading from my GTX 760 sc, FSX-SE was flawless for years with the help of Steve’s DX-10.

FSX-SE is usable and will handle heavy add-on’s for example PMDG NGX in and out of FT-EHAM and FB-KSFO as an example. But the shimmering is somewhat annoying looking like heavy heat waves running through an airfield including the buildings.

Any suggestions are appreciated.

I7-4790K at 4.4 GHz
GTX-1080 FTW 8GB Hybrid
Corsair 4GB*4 2133MHz Vengeance Pro Series DDR3
MSI LGA 1150 Z97 Gaming 7

Steam FSX
Steve's DX-10 Scenery Fixer v3.3
AS16 and ASCA
FTX Centeral v3.2.1.1
FTX Global
Base
OpenLC EU
OpenLC NA
Trees HD
UTX US
UTX EU
UTX Tropical America and Caribbean

 

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[lodestar 186]

53 minutes ago, eastern said:

[BUFFERPOOLS]

UsePools=0

RejectThreshold=131072

When using BF=0, RejectThreshold shouldn't be there, just delete it.

53 minutes ago, eastern said:

HIGHMEMFIX=0

Why would you do this? Just delete this line. FSX needs HIGHMEMFIX=1, and it is like this by default in fsx-se, absolutely no need for this line

 

53 minutes ago, eastern said:

AffinityMask=84

Do you have Hyper-threading enabled? If enabled, this is correct. But FSX-SE installer sets optimal AM, so no need for this either

Other then that, rebuild shader cache.

If you want to get rid of shimmering, in nvidia inspector set "anti aliasing - behavior flags" to none, and "Antialiasing - Setting" to "Enhance the application settings". Otherwise, it has no effect on sim, with your current settings. Read some guides

[lownslo 590]

When upgrading a video card the new card's drivers should always be installed before any other source of driver.  Sometimes manufacturers will add code specific to their products that should be read by the video card after installation.

You have 2 entries for your DISPLAY in the FSX.cfg.  Also, curiously the resolution seems low (1152x720x32) given the strong capability of your system... what monitor are you using?

Greg

[eastern 6]

19 hours ago, lodestar said:

 

Quote

When using BF=0, RejectThreshold shouldn't be there, just delete it.

Your right, it was carried over from my previous CFG file and has been removed.

Quote

Why would you do this? Just delete this line. FSX needs HIGHMEMFIX=1, and it is like this by default in fsx-se, absolutely no need for this line

I agree it’s useless and has been removed.This was added by FSX-SE during the CFG file rebuild, absolutely no need for this line

 

Quote

Do you have Hyper-threading enabled? If enabled, this is correct. But FSX-SE installer sets optimal AM, so no need for this either

Yes, I do have hyper-threading enabled. I’ve removed [JOBSCHEDULER] as you pointed out the GPU is now doing the primary work [BUFFERPOOLS] 0. Makes since.

Quote

Other then that, rebuild shader cache.

Did not think of this, thank you for pointing this out. I’ve allowed FSX-SE to rebuild the shader cache.

Quote

If you want to get rid of shimmering, in nvidia inspector set "anti aliasing - behavior flags" to none, and "Antialiasing - Setting" to "Enhance the application settings". Otherwise, it has no effect on sim, with your current settings. Read some guides

Set the anti-aliasing behavior flag to none. Your right I used too many sources trying to get the best settings possible and have reverted back to using SteveFX DX10 Scenery Fixer manual alongside DX10 Fixer “How to” Guide compiled by Adam Banks based off Paul Johnson original guide on the ORBX forums.   

I’ve used your suggestions which are much appreciated. Thank you for pointing out the flaws noticed on my CFG file and NIVIDA Inspector set up. Unfortunately, I’m still experiencing the same levels of shimmering. The only flaw I have with my system is slight bottlenecking with my Corsair memory and the CPU but it’s very minimal.

Thank you again for your feedback.

 

 

[eastern 6]

13 hours ago, lownslo said:

When upgrading a video card the new card's drivers should always be installed before any other source of driver.  Sometimes manufacturers will add code specific to their products that should be read by the video card after installation.

Absolutely, I cleared my system of any drivers pertaining to the pervious GPU, EVGA 760sc. Followed by loading the newest driver for the EVGA 1080  from the manufacture. The newest driver for the 1080 was loaded but not opened/ran prior to power down and exchanging of the GPU’s. Once the new GPU was in place and the system was powered up the new GPU exe file was then loaded.

Quote

You have 2 entries for your DISPLAY in the FSX.cfg.  Also, curiously the resolution seems low (1152x720x32) given the strong capability of your system... what monitor are you using?

I’m using two HP w2007 monitors.

[SteveFx 258]

You have fxaa enabled, I would try disabling that.

[lodestar 186]

1 hour ago, eastern said:

I’m using two HP w2007 monitors.

I googled about this monitor and it says the resolution is 1680 x 1050. Maybe is not your model, but check what is the native resolution and set it like this in fsx. Sparse grid supersampling should help with shimmering, something is clearly wrong

[eastern 6]

On 8/2/2017 at 3:28 PM, SteveFx said:

You have fxaa enabled, I would try disabling that.

Your right on the original NIVIDA Inspector profile I had the fxaa enabled. When I started cleaning up the discrepancies in my CFG file I went back and revisited my original Inspector file with the manual opened. Today I went in and deleted my original Inspector profile and rebuilt it ground up only because the shimmering persisted. I, unfortunately, noticed after rebuilding the Inspector profile the shimmering continued.  I really believe there something else that could be the culprit and it might not be the CFG file, DX10 or the NIVIDA Inspector profile. I'll need to keep running different scenarios or test to see if I can hopefully pinpoint or isolate the issue. My only fear at this time is starting a clean reinstall which will be a serious pain that I would love to avoid. Monday I will update screen shots of my profiles to see if anything else stands out. I really appreciate the help and advice you guys have provided.

[lownslo 590]

19 minutes ago, eastern said:

My only fear at this time is starting a clean reinstall which will be a serious pain that I would love to avoid.

Hopefully you'll hold off on that!!  Plenty of folks have experienced what you're trying to solve... and there is a solution!!  Look forward to seeing your screenshots.

Greg

Edit:  Any more info on your monitors?  Specifically the resolution?

[eastern 6]

1 hour ago, lownslo said:

Hopefully you'll hold off on that!!  Plenty of folks have experienced what you're trying to solve... and there is a solution!!  Look forward to seeing your screenshots.

Greg

Edit:  Any more info on your monitors?  Specifically the resolution?

Greg, I'm in the same thought. I'm defiantly holding off doing a clean rebuild as I have too many sceneries which could take a while to load. I've seen others experiencing similar issues that I'm having. I'm just wondering if it has anything to do with hardware upgrades and FSX not able to adjust or work with the new hardware until a clean rebuild is conducted. Especially a faster GPU. For three years before upgrading to a standalone SSD for FSX I've not encountered any problems until now.  The simulator worked almost flawlessly with very demanding add-ons. And I only say flawlessly because there were the occasional VAS warnings or irritating dings that VAS was maxed.
I do plan on continuing using FSX-SE for the next couple years but will also make the move to P3D V4 late this fall or winter using another SSD or M.20 for that platform.  I just can't famine repurchasing PMDG, FSLab A2A products in one shot. It will take time to rebuild to another platform until then FSX will be my platform.
Monitors:
Yes old but very reliable like a Boeing 757 with great resolution. The resolution is 1680 X 1050 which was correctly pointed out by Zelijko. The resolution was built by FSX when I originally loaded FSX onto the SSD and allowed it to open in a native state. I then manually stretched the simulator to fit the screen which was recommended. But with some opportunity coming up Monday I plan on adding the resolution into the CFG file to see if this helps or contributes to a solution. Otherwise, I'll keep plugging away in hopes to find or pinpoint the problem.
vr,
Rob
 

[eastern 6]

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[lownslo 590]

Thanks for the additional screens.  Your latest FSX.cfg looks much better.

There are a couple problems with your nVidia Inspector settings... the most important being the "Aniosotropic filtering setting" is set to "Off".  Your system can easily handle 16x AF.  The "Antialiasing - Setting" should be set to "Application controlled / Off".  Also, if you're getting any kind of stuttering try setting the Shadercache to Off.  It doesn't do much for FSX.

Hope this helps,

Greg

[eastern 6]

Hi, Greg thank you again for the suggestions. After applying the few tweaks to nVidia inspector, unfortunately, the problem is still present. It looks like I will have to take the other road at this time clearing FSX-SE off the SSD and reloading it.
Thanks again for your help.  
Best regards,
Rob

[Bjoern 1,152]

Reinstalling FSXSE will do nothing to fix AA shimmering. That battle is exclusively fought in the Fixer UI/fsx.cfg and Nvidia Inspector.

And for all its softening benefits, transparency anti-aliasing (even SGSSAA) will introduce shimmering, especially visible on runway and taxiway markings when viewed at flat angles. But without transparency anti-aliasing, the edges of transparent items will be a bit rougher at lower AA modes. So you've got a classic Catch-22 situation: Very little shimmering at rough edges without (SG)SSAA or shimmering with (SG)SSAA.

 

You should try a more methodical approach instead of enabling everything at once. Revert the NVI profile to default, then, set Antisaliasing Compatibility (DX1x) to Nioshock, 1/2 Refresh Rate (when running FSX full screen), Multi-Display acceleration (Single DIsplay, if applicable) and Power Management (maximum performance). Then start with an anti-aliasing setting in the Fixer UI (8x or so), check the result in FSX, then add some transparency filtering in NVI, restart FSX and check again. You can also add FXAA to soften the overall image.

 

My personal setup is 4 x AA set in the Fixer/fsx.cfg, 2 x SGSSAA for transparency and FXAA. It's the only compromise between image quality and shimmering that I could figure out after having spent way too much time in NVI.

 

[lodestar 186]

On 8/4/2017 at 5:16 AM, eastern said:

I really believe there something else that could be the culprit and it might not be the CFG file, DX10 or the NIVIDA Inspector profile.

i took a look at your settings just now, in Nvidia Inspector, "antialiasing mode" should be set to "enhance the application setting" and not overide. This is how it works with DX10, with DX9 can(should)be set to overide. Sorry for the late reply