Software Updates, key to FSX success.

[Guest Kev_Is_Soaked]

I was getting about 9FPS and now am getting 20-30FPS over Toronto. I'm using an AMD 64 4000+ on an A8N-SLI Deluxe with 2GB Corsair ram and an NVidia 6800 Ultra OC. It's no shabby system, even though it is technology put together a year ago it was at least, the highest performing production parts at the time... so it was a tough kick in the pants for me to have FSX run like it did on a $4000 machine from last year while people with older equipment are reporting even better FPS's.It's for this reason that I had envisioned that the severe performance issues most people have were a result of many factors which are controled by many entities. NVidia needed better drivers, ACES needed better optimisations, Microsoft needed tighter infrastructure to tie it all together. Only time will put things in place to bring performance to the game that reflects the quality of hardware present.... finally.I started out buying FSD Deluxe three or four days before it was supposed to be released, I got it at Best Buy. Since that night, I've spent an hour at least, pretty much every night, trying to figure this thing out and playing with all the settings and configs. I got nowhere with it, I did manage to get about 12fps over Toronto and manage to keep it locked there with only small drops here and there as autogen loaded.Microsoft released a new DirectX update in October, it wasn't till a week and a half ago that I tried this update. Sadly though, it made a negative impact on performance and I removed it. Yesterday I downloaded the newest NVidia drivers from NVidia (released Nov 2nd). I got a small performance gain but nothing really worth broadcasting really.Today I had an idea. The new driver was designed and tested for the latest DirectX, so I reinstalled the latest DX update and was COMPLETELY AMAZED at the results.So my old habit of trial and error actually was holding me back, as usually if something negatively affects my system it gets uninstalled and never put back on. I overcame this mentality today, and got what I've been patiently waiting for since Oct 13th when I got the game.It's just a matter of time before NVidia gets it's drivers as optimized for FSX as they can, and MS are due to release DirectX9-L, which will be a stepping stone to allow DX10 programs the ability to at least function on a DX9 platform without all the glory. This means that in due time, both the graphics platform and it's driver will be well refined for usage with FSX, which can ONLY result in better FPS.To add to this, I am 100% sure that ACES are on top of the matter. There are a lot of issues to be resolved. As a man from the IT industry, I can appreciate the work ACES will do with this game in due time, and understand that it takes time to implement and test changes that may be needed. I thank Phil Taylor for chiming in on the subject, because it is very rare for an actual developer to directly contact its own user base like this. It takes guts to face the masses of people who are holding what they believe may be a lemon, and try to explain to them that things are in place and wheels are in motion. Nice going Phil... you guys got a helluva Sim on your hands here.So, in closing. I suggest that you all really update everything you have to update... this includes DX9, your graphics drivers, ####, even see if your processor or mainboard has any updates that you could try. The end result will be success... it can only be this way because NO ONE is paying all of those people at MS, ACES, and NVidia to screw you over, no one is paying them to produce 'crap'... so the result HAS to be positive.You may not get the performance you want right now, but wait it out... by the time ACES release the first patch for this game it will better give you a realistic idea of whether your current system really is able to handle this new sim... chances are that it will, I can't see it NOT work on even a 6800 Ultra like it appears to now.Kev Cwww.Silicon-Vision.com

[Guest babua]

If my memory serves me right there was a lady called n. wang in Aces who did the dynamic weather in fs2004 and all the performance optimizations-the FRs and stutters etc. She was the lead developer. She left and joined Google after fs2004 I think!!!Can anybody in Aces please confirm?

[Bray 1]

I think DX9L is for VISTA to allow DX9 apps to work in VISTA. Its not for XPBill

[Wnuk 12]

"If my memory serves me right there was a lady called n. wang in Aces who did the dynamic weather in fs2004 and all the performance optimizations-the FRs and stutters etc. She was the lead developer. She left and joined Google after fs2004 I think!!!Can anybody in Aces please confirm?"Of what relevance is this comment to the original post?Staying on topic, AMD has a relatively new driver (10/06) on their site for the X2 processors and that driver alone has gaind me a few FPS and greatly increased the speed of my desktop apps so it's worth a look.Jim

[Guest Kev_Is_Soaked]

Good catch. So many reports that it is for WinXP :( I actually had to really look around before being able to confirm that the info was wrong, apparently The Inquirer had it all wrong and started a chain reaction.Late last night after my initial post about updating to the November released NVidia drivers, I loaded up my best configuration settings as well as my best FSX.cfg and noted that the FPS is in fact a lot more solid than it was before. I perform the exact same flight over and over after every change and monitor the fps both in-game and using FRAPS. I take off from CYYZ (default active runway) and make a hard right until the CN Tower is straight ahead. I follow that course until I am over water, never exceeding 2500ft. (CRJ btw).Usually with the best settings I have saved, with what I'd determined was the best drivers up till yesterday, I was getting anywhere from 6-12fps. The settings I use are quite high quality, so the FPS is *my own* 'perfect' balance between playable and acceptable quality.With yesterdays changes, the newest NV driver and DX update, I am running at a minimum that is even higher than my old maximum.... I get between 14-40fps. (40 over the water, 14fps a mile or so before the CN Tower. The 14fps seems to be VERY smooth indeed, hard to believe it really is only 14, and 'feels' a whole world smoother than the 12fps I was getting as a maximum previous.So basically, the November NVidia drivers with the latest Oct DX9c update has effectively DOUBLED my performance really, to the point where I can now start playing the game and stop flying that exact same flight over and over :)Time to play!

[Guest bustervk]

<"...with the latest Oct DX9c update...It seems to be a stupid question, but I wonder if this update is another DX9c then the one before?Thanks for your reply!ByeBert