Positive thread & TIPS for Dx10/SP2 - PART 2-

[Dougal 165]

Okay, thanks David.

[remind 0]

Hi David and a Happy 2008 to you.I am now running driver version 169.25 WHQL and late yesterday flew a flight of an hour or so, without screen lock up or issues as prevously described.So cross fingers.I'll check out that link to fraps.ThanksPhil M

[FalconAF 213]

David,Up until now, I've been hesitant to do the SP2 upgrade also. But based on the responses to your original post, I'm ready to give it a try. My computer system should definitely be able to handle it (won't bore you with the specs, but it's "bigger" than some posted here).I do have one question before doing it.When you do the FSX SP2 portion of it, can that be either the "stand alone" SP2 upgrade OR the Acceleration Pack? I haven't purchased the Acceleration Pack, but am interested in doing so. So after installing SP1, will your instructions work for the SP2 portion by installing Acceleration Pack, then pressing on from there?Thanks for any guidance.

[David Roch 1,982]

Hi,Yes, definitely.Acceleration automatically upgrades to SP2 (and if you didn't install SP1 it will do it also automatically).The stand alone SP2 and the Acceleration SP2 are identical.You can install the stand alone now and then install Accel when you'll purchase it. Then, only the new features will be installed on an already FSX/SP2 software.The instructions in this thread are for SP2, no matter how it was installed.I hope it makes sense :--)

[Guest djholmes1200]

This is a great post. I was skeptical what kind of difference it would make but I was pleasantly surprised. I second the idea of using Driver Cleaner. I couldn't believe how many driver files and registry entries it found even after I had uninstalled the drivers. One thing I'd sugggest to anyone struggling with FPS it the water setting. I really didn't want to give up the 2.x setting but after SP2, going down to a 1.x setting literally gave me around a 50 to 60% increase in FPS. It goes from 20's to 40's plus. I also unchecked hi-res 3d cockpit. I think the difference in quality is barely noticeable.

[WebMaximus 372]

Just installed the SP1 RC and also noticed in some places Vista now reports 4 GB RAM however when looking in Task Manager -> Performance Vista still reports Total Physical Memory 3326 MB.Interesting...I wonder what the actual difference is...if Vista with the SP1 installed makes better use of the memory when you have 4 GB installed or if it's just cosmetics where it says 4 GB...?

[Geofa 108]

This kinda explains the Vista issue:http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000811.htmlhttp://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/1b5baf...b9f427f694g.jpgMy blog:http://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/

[WebMaximus 372]

>This kinda explains the Vista issue:>http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000811.html>http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/1b5baf...b9f427f694g.jpg>>My blog:>http://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/Thanks for pointing out the link but considering the HUGE amount of information in that thread I think I will have to find another time to read through it all ;)Thought if there maybe was an "easy" explanation why the Vista reporting of RAM changed with SP1 and what the real difference is since it's showing different amount of RAM depending where you look.

[Geofa 108]

Well having "skimmed" some of this info here and other sites-my understanding is vista will always report below 4-as it utilizes some of that memory area for other tasks. It is also my understanding that that would have nothing really to do with sp1/sp2-but is just a basic way Vista deals with things.For instance-clicking on "my computer"-shows (not running fs):3327 MB or ram available-of my 4 gigs.Of course-based on my "skimming" understanding for the same reasons -:lolhttp://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/1b5baf...b9f427f694g.jpgMy blog:http://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/

[WebMaximus 372]

Guess this is really not a big issue but I did notice as seen in this pic below that Vista changed it's reporting of RAM to 4 GB after I applied SP1 when right-clicking Computer and then choose propertieshttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/183131.jpgAnd below is what it look in Task Manager under the performance tab where you see Vista only reports 3326 MB of RAMhttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/183132.jpgBut like I said earlier maybe it is just "cosmetics" or maybe the first pic shows physical memory installed and then what is reported in Task Manager is the amount of RAM Vista is able to use

[David Roch 1,982]

>>the first pic shows physical memory installed and then what is>reported in Task Manager is the amount of RAM Vista is able to>useYes indeed.Vista 64 is able to use the 4 gig as you can see:http://img86.imageshack.us/img86/1831/56855152ny4.jpg

[Geofa 108]

Yeah-unfortunately I found out my elite radio stack will not support vista 64-and sounds like it won't for the future. Kinda ties my hands!http://www.mediafire.com/imgbnc.php/1b5baf...b9f427f694g.jpgMy blog:http://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/

[David Roch 1,982]

>Yeah-unfortunately I found out my elite radio stack will not>support vista 64-and sounds like it won't for the future.>Kinda ties my hands!Too bad...Pity you don't have a serial ELITE hardware (I think they do work but not the USB).Anyway the 64bits added value for FSX is not that important IMO.More psychological than real :--)

[David Roch 1,982]

Hi,With the official release of FSX-SP2 and the latest drivers, here are some more tips to help the newbies to enjoy FSX as much as possible.This guide is addressed to the users of Vista primarily, but can also be used as a basis of work for the users of XP which will pick there what interests them.This small guide is not a "guru" book, but only my experience with SP2, it might help or not, some things have been said thousand of times and can look evident for a lot of you.PS: Please forgive my bad English. :--) ---------------------------------------------------------------------1) FSX CLEAN. How to reinstall?: I insist, but it is very important to install the SP2 on a clean FSX. If you have the time and some empty room on your DD, do not hesitate and reinstall FSX. - Create a folder "FSX backup" on another partition. - Copy there the main folder "Microsoft Flight Simulator X".- Copy the flights recorded in Documents (Flight Simulator X Files.- Copy the FSX folder you'll find in C:/ProgramData/Microsoft. - Copy the FSX folder you'll find in C:/Users/YOUR NAME/AppData/Local/Microsoft.- Copy the FSX folder you'll find in C:/Users/YOUR NAME/AppData/Roaming/Microsoft.They are all the files affected by the installation of FSX. This backup will be useful if you want to recover files or folders you have modified. - From DVD 1 proceed to the uninstallation. - Once that is finished, check that ALL the backup files were indeed removed (the 5 above mentioned ones). If it is not the case, do it! - Defragment your hard disk C:/ (+ the one on which you had installed FSX - Install FSX, launch to it once then install the SP1. - Launch again FSX and install the SP2. - Start again FSX once, reboot your PC then defragment your HD again. Long process but believe me, you have just avoided serious troubles to come.- From your backups, copy or reinstall the files, addons etc... you which to hold. If you have problems with addons which do not find FSX path in the registery, use "fsx_reg_utility" available in Avsim's library. A good advise, clean your FSX folder from all the stuff you never uses... Some sceneries need to be patched, like UTX, Victoria+, Vancouver+, etc.... and as it has been repeated several times certain planes are not compatible any more or need to be patched with the SP2. ---------------------------------------------------------------------2) TWEAKS FSX.cfgDo not apply any the pre-SP2 "tweaks": do not modify your FSX.cfg!! ---------------------------------------------------------------------3) DirectX Go to SETUP folder (in FSX main folder), then sub-folder DX and activate DXSETUP.exe, which will seek and install the latest update for DirectX---------------------------------------------------------------------4) VISTA UPDATES Check that all the updates are installed, including those you will find here: http://www.nvidia.com/object/windows_vista_hotfixes.html ---------------------------------------------------------------------5) NVIDIA DRIVERYou have 2 options, the official WHQL (163.75) which is stable, or the latest beta, 169.25, quicker and fluid but not certified yet by Windows. I point out a gold rule for the driver's update, it is long but once again you will avoid yourselves many troubles and frustrations. - install "Driver Cleaner EP 1.5" you can find here: http://drivers.softpedia.com/get/Other-DRI...sional-15.shtml. - download the driver for your graphic card - uninstall the old driver with Windows uninstall function (control panel)- reboot in SAFE MODE (F8 after POST) and launch Driver Cleaner for the 3 Nvidia entries and wait til the end of the process (the end of cleaning message) *- reboot and close your antivirus - install the new driver - reboot6) NHANCER (NEW SETTINGS FOR DRIVERS POST 163.75)If you own an Nvidia card, apply the following settings to nHancer. (downloadable here: http://www.nhancer.com/?dat=downloads)Instead of creating a new profile for FSX I suggest to make a right click on the nHancer icon on your task bar and set the default profile as following: - Supersampling: 8xs (anti-aliasing) - Enhance in-game AA settings: checked (anti-aliasing) - Transparency: Super (anti-aliasing) - Gamma correction: checked (anti-aliasing) - Anisotropic filtering: 16x for one 8800 Ultra GTX or, 8x for other cards - Vertical Sync: Application (*) - Performance: High Quality - Trilinear: checked (Optimization) - Anisotropic Sample: checked (Optimization) - Negative LOD Clamp: checked (Optimization) - Start with Windows: checked(*) I strongly recommend to activate the VS from Nvidia's control panel (Vertical Synchronization: Force One) because it seems that from drivers 169.xx, nHancer does not manage the VS correctly.---------------------------------------------------------------------7) FSX GRAPHIC SETTINGS Do not hesitate to push the sliders to the right and to use the "Bloom effect" and the autogen optimized by the SP2. Remain careful nevertheless for the traffic which is greedy in resources. Here, it's a matter of taste and PC's componants but it is clear that a great progress was obtained by the SP2 (fluidity wise).You do not want to be frustrated any more by the FPS? Very simple! Do not look at them any more!! FSX can be suitably fluid and pleasant visually with fps which would have been ridiculous on FS9. All that being very psychological, the best means of appreciating FSX is not to be concerned anymore by fps!!!Set them to 20-25 if you use DX10 preview to avoid the jerks, According to various posts about that, it is difficult to say if this rule applies to Dx9. Best is to carry out tests but I would tend to advise to also limit the fps to avoid blurries.The AA and AF must be checked in FSX graphic .---------------------------------------------------------------------8) HARDWARE and MAINTENANCEIf you have a dual or quad core, I could not enough advise you to overclock your PC. Do not use automatic o/c tools proposed by certain motherboards (AIBooster etc...) which are not stable.Have a look at specialized forums, nowadays it's quite simple and safe to overclock the BIOS.A dual/quad core well overclocked will change your life, they are made for that, and changing your CPU into a BarBQ is very rare today if you make the things cleverly and following simple rules. Clean the air entry and exit fans as well as the processor and the video card's one. The best enemy of a PC is heat and dust his best vector. Defragment every week your PC, or at least disc C:/. It is VERY important for software like FSX which use a lot of data at the same time.---------------------------------------------------------------------9) FSX LAUNCHING- If you were doing something else, reboot your computer before launching FSX, you will loose 30 seconds but will see a good improvement.- Use any tool that can help you closing MS services and programs you don't need in order to free up some ressources.- If you fly big liners (PMDG, LDS etc...) avoid changing liveries before launching a flight.Please feel free to add/correct/comment this topic for the benefit of all the fellows simmers.Best regards,David RochMy settings:http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/7523/graphicsuc0.jpghttp://img212.imageshack.us/img212/5377/sceneryns1.jpgScreenshots with these settings can be seen here:http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...id=267575&page=

[Guest Kris]

Hello gents.wondering if anyone have any ideas for me, i followed davids 1st post to the letter but no matter what i do i just cant get FSAA working when using DX10.Have all his setting, also been playing around with it but the second i enable DX10 fsaa disables, anyone have any ideas?thx in advance