PMDG 737NGXu First Impressions and Review!

[threexgreen 3,135]

So I just ran a quick test myself.

Scenario:

• Virtual cockpit, default cockpit state (engines running) for both addons (EFB enabled in the NGXu)
• Flightbeam KDEN runway 26 (which is facing the airport), 12 pm
• Default P3D fair weather theme
• AI traffic at 97 aircraft in the vicinity
• The only additional addon running was REX Environment Force
• FPS measured with Fraps, CPU and GPU data with MSI Afterburner

Results NGXu:

• FPS: 35, steady, not really fluctuating when panning around, facing different directions, flight deck portions, etc.; overall smooth
• GPU usage: 53%
• CPU overall usage: 8%; CPU1 usage: 100%

Results NGX:

• FPS: 38 initially, up to 40 max, fluctuating a little bit; overall smooth
• GPU usage: 42%
• CPU overall usage: 9%; CPU1 usage: 100%

This reflects the performance so far when I checked the NGXu out. Very close to the NGX. Not really any difference on my system and the good performance, in my case, isn't just coming from additional headroom provided my system (in this regard, note my CPU1 core is maxed out).

[Christopher Low 5,333]

Thank God I can deal with framerates significantly less than 30, otherwise I would have packed it all in years ago.

[Michael Moe 494]

5 hours ago, Swe_Richard said:

Correction: It was from Gate 1 I pushed back. Night. Further I was using the following Add ons:

1. AS (latest version. Weather was clear)

2. Environment Force

3. UTLive with traffic quite low.

Comp: 6700K at 4.7 32GB Ram 1080 Ti.

20-25fps

4770k ,1080ti,4k,no traffic

Michael Moe

[Swe_Richard 1,172]

Hmm.. another thing has started to happen now as well and that is CTDs. I've had the two last flights with the NGXu end in CTDs (daytime flights for performance reasons). I am going to test the same route with another aircraft to see if it is a general problem (which I don't think as P3D has been very stable for me).

[Evros 310]

So I managed to clock a short flight between EDDF and EDDM. Performance seems to be completely unchanged. In fact, it did seem a notch worse but it was within margin of error and could have very well been caused by difference in (live)weather. GPU utilization was indeed lower, so I guess that is a good news for those who were GPU bound. But for CPU utilization, this update does nothing. Time to park this bird in to the desert, waiting for better times.

Edited November 22, 2019 by Evros

[MDFlier 2,031]

I did an uninstall and reinstalled the latest version and it seems a little better. I did a night landing at KBOS and it wasn't a complete slide show like it used to be. I keep reading posts on the PMDG forum of people blaming the dynamic lighting, but I am still not convinced.  

 

[Kilo60 660]

Are those with beefy GPU’s (2080ti) complaining of poor FPS due to dynamic lighting?  Could it be due to a weak GPU and PMDG using DL for the interior and exterior lighting while landing at night?

[JasonPC 173]

My results Flightbeam KDEN RW26 Fair weather 12:00PM with vsync off

NGX 60-65 FPS
NGXu 40-45 FPS
FSL320 30-35 FPS

So since the update marginally better for me but nowhere near what it used to be.

Edited November 23, 2019 by JasonPC

[Evros 310]

Sitting on a runway doesn't really tax CPU. It is best to test performance in flight around heavy airport and also at RVSM levels. Testing should also include internally limited FPS scenario to make sure that your performance isn't bottlenecked by GPU only.

[JasonPC 173]

You are right about that, I just wanted to compare apples to apples to show that in completely ideal conditions I see a 20 fps cut from the old NGX. If I had kept vsync on and the refresh rate limited to 30 hz I would have not noticed the difference, but there is one. I completed a flight between Flightbeam KMSP and SSJ KDTW and landing at DTW was not nearly as stuttery as before and I didn't have a slideshow at taxi. I did get slow loading of textures and autogen on descent (which I almost never have seen) but eventually it caught back up.

 

Edited November 23, 2019 by JasonPC

[Kilo60 660]

22 minutes ago, JasonPC said:

You are right about that, I just wanted to compare apples to apples to show that in completely ideal conditions I see a 20 fps cut from the old NGX. If I had kept vsync on and the refresh rate limited to 30 hz I would have not noticed the difference, but there is one. I completed a flight between Flightbeam KMSP and SSJ KDTW and landing at DTW was not nearly as stuttery as before and I didn't have a slideshow at taxi. I did get slow loading of textures and autogen on descent (which I almost never have seen) but eventually it caught back up.

 

System Specs...?

[Shomron 251]

Got the NGXu yesterday did 2 flights 1 daytime, 1nighttime.

Overall I'm happy - aircraft looks much better (outside and inside) and the immersion has improved significantly - sounds, rattling, taxing, turbulence, wing flex - all of these were improved significantly. I think I saw somewhere that also icing is simulated?

Gauges refresh rate are now butter smooth!

I don't really use the EFB but who knows I may get into it.

From performance perspective I did not really notice a difference between day and night. I am using SSAA x 4.

I do feel the NGX is superior in this area however it is not really noticeable.

I guess I'll have to stress it out at night in conjunction with bad weather to really see the difference.

I do think an upgrade price should have been given to the NGX users since no revolution was done here.

Btw can someone pls guide me to where the v2 operation center is located?? 

 

Edited November 23, 2019 by Shomron

[David Roch 1,975]

Here you go Shom

C:\Users\yourname\AppData\Roaming\PMDG\PMDG Operations Center

[MDFlier 2,031]

13 hours ago, Kilo60 said:

Are those with beefy GPU’s (2080ti) complaining of poor FPS due to dynamic lighting?  Could it be due to a weak GPU and PMDG using DL for the interior and exterior lighting while landing at night?

I'm running an i5-8600K @ 4.8Ghz (at the moment) and a RTX 2080Ti 11Gb (EVGA Black version). I have a Gigabyte Z370 Gaming 7 MB, 16GB RAM, and both the OS and P3D are on (separate) SSD drives. Dynamic lighting on/off does not matter on my system. I've been running with MAX_POINT_LIGHTS=700 and MAX_SPOT_LIGHTS=700 in my Prepar3D.cfg file for months now. My GPU NEVER exceeds 60% usage. Most of the time, it is running around 53%. To tell you the truth, there isn't much difference between 4xSSAA and 8xSSAA either, even in heavy cloud cover. Maybe 3-4 FPS and a single digit increase in GPU utilization. This card is a beast.  

12 hours ago, Rob_Ainscough said:

NGXu does use more VC DL so it will add load to a GPU ... if this is the case, then drop down your AA level (or avoid using SSAA and/or any external AA manipulators).  Check your GPU utilization, if it's at 100% or very close then it's most likely your AA setting is too high for the GPU to handle.

Isn't there an option in the NGXu FMC to turn off internal VC DL?

Cheers, Rob.

But the VC with DL looks soooo beautiful. It is a vast improvement over TB lighting. I did not see an option to turn off VC DL.

I have doubts as to whether or not DL is truly the cause. In all views other than VC, I consistently see FPS in the 45-65+ range. In a completely cold and dark plane (theoretically, no internal DL - unless it is active, but not visible), during daylight hours (same theory - no scenery related DL unless it is active, but not visible) I am seeing a roughly 20-35% drop in FPS in the VC vs, all of the other views. It just feels to me like something else is causing the issue.

I don't think the actual issue is the FPS drop. I think that the FPS drop is a symptom. The one thing that keeps popping into my head is that even when FPS are good, I still perceive some degree of stuttering (not just in VC view). It's not bad, but there is something interrupting the overall smoothness of the sim. The second thing that pops into my head is that it only feels like this is happening within 50' of the ground. Just after liftoff, that feeling goes away. Just before touchdown, it comes back. I think that some piece of code that is active on the ground only is causing this. I did a KDEN to KLAS night flight with the latest version last night. At FB KDEN, my FPS were in the upper 30s (NGX would have been in the 40-50s). On approach, there was a 1-2 second pause at about 50' above the 19L threshold. When the pause went away, I started feeling the stuttering. Up until that point, the flight was very smooth. I had a solid 17-25 FPS throughout the entire STAR, which included 3-4 layers of clouds, and a fully lit Vegas strip.After landing at (FlyTampa) KLAS they were in the 17-25ish range. Now I've seen 17 FPS on my sim in the past, and was surprised to find that it was relatively smooth. Not THIS 17 FPS. This one felt like 6 FPS. What I'm feeling is that something not FPS related is bogging her down, meaning that 17FPS to the screen is faster than what P3D needs because it's not trying to draw screens that fast. Like 17 FPS has the GPU waiting for more. Does that make sense to anyone else?

[JasonPC 173]

10 hours ago, Kilo60 said:

System Specs...?

Intel 6800k o/c to 4.2 GHz with AM set to dedicate 4 cores to the sim and 2 for addon programs. 

32 GB 3200 MHz RAM

Nvidia 2080 Super Hydro

Not the best system but no slouch either. Just could be improved in the processor department.

Running on sensible settings in the sim.