Hi Guys, Newbie Question(FSX)....In the Settings section, under Graphics Ive noticed an option checkbox which says: Preview DirectX 10, However I can't find any explanation in the FSX help menu as to what this does exactly.Any ideas? anyone.Merry Xmas and Happy HolidaysJohn

In Vista, this option lets you run the game engine in DX10 mode instead of DX9 mode. On vista 64, the DX10 mode is about 20 to 30% faster than DX9 mode on my system.There are severe artifacts on aircraft designed with the FS9 SDK and "made compatible" with FSX. Under SP2 and DX10, very few of these aircraft do not have texture problems causing rendering issues.Also in DX10 mode, light effects have a few issues at least on my Nvidia hardware in that they are not always visible from all angles. I don't know if this is a problem in FSX or with DX10 video drivers. I have a hunch it's video given other "similar" experiences with other titles. Everytime a new DX10 game comes out, it seems it's followed by a number of video driver updates :)Holiday cheers,Etienne

Hi Etienne,Having just installed SP2, would you recommend I check Preview in DirectX mode? (I'm running Vista 32, FSX, SP1, SP2)Also I too have experienced lighting problems since I installed SP2, mainly on the LevelD 767.Kind regards John

LevelD works fine here with SP2, minus the lighting ailments.On Vista 32, I've read DX10 is actually a bit slower than DX9. You can always turn it on/off and experiment - closing FSX and restarting is the only requirement.Cheers,Etienne

It should also be noted that the DX10 Preview is only available if the graphics card is DX10 Compatible.So the minimum specs for running DX10 Preview are: 1-FSX with Acceleration or SP2 installed2-Windows Vista OS3-Graphics Card with DX10 capabilityPete S.

If the checkbox is displayed in the settings dialog, then all of those requirements are being met (the Preview DX10 checkbox is only displayed on machines that can run it, if you don't get the checkbox, then FSX doesn't think your machine can run DX10).

Hi Guys,Thanks for the replies, Ive tested it with the Direct10 preview selected........and in all honesty, I can't say Ive noticed much difference.What should I be looking for exactly?............what are the benefits of runnung in DX10?Many ThanksJohn

See my blog post from October on what is contained in SP2, including the DX10 feature list.For those that want to drill into details for each feature, posts on my blog after October link to Sebby's blog for a detailed low level explanation.

I hope you're enjoying your Vacation Phil. It's well earned.While on the subject of the DX10 Preview, any signs of movement from nvidia on a DX10 preview compatible driver?They've been pumping out vista drivers at a steady pace so I've been hoping to see something soon. I'm sure many of us would appreciate any updated info you could obtain.The flashing taxiway textures are the only thing preventing me from utilizing DX10 full time.Thanks!Oh, regarding cockpit shadows. Are they currently appearing jagged due to an nvidia driver bug not properly applying AA? Could it potentialy be improved by a driver?Or is it due to a limitation of the current cockpit shadows implimentation?Happy Holiday's!

It is the holidays, so I know the status of nothing until everyone gets back and settled in.The cockpit shadows are very sensitive to the cross-section of the aircraft, a larger cross-section will result in less jaggies and a smaller cross-section will have more jaggies. Contrast the glider with the 747 and you will see the difference.

Turn light bloom on if you haven't already. There is very little if any performance hit from using light bloom opposed to the massive hit taken in DX9. There is also a subtle difference in the appearance of DX10 bloom when compared to DX9 bloom.Cockpit shadows are also implemented not to mention whitecaps on the waves based on windspeed, 2 features not available in non DX10 preview mode.Switching between full screen and windowed mode and the performance in window mode seems much better as well.

>>Oh, regarding cockpit shadows. Are they currently appearing>jagged due to an nvidia driver bug not properly applying AA? >Could it potentialy be improved by a driver?>Also I know if a 3D model is not manifold (meaning it has open faces) then that can also cause shadows to appear jaggy and disorganized in the sim.This may be a problem with some aircraft cockpits, where they were not designed with cockpit shadowing in mind.RhettAMD 3700+ (@2585 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2gb Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (1T), WD 150 gig 10000rpm Raptor, WD 250gig 7200rpm SATA2, Seagate 120gb 5400 rpm external HD, CoolerMaster Praetorian

sorry to restart this discussion. I have completed a big upgrade on my home PC and enjoying all of the benefits this is providing with FSX and PMDG 737NGX which are GREAT! I have noticed that the "progressive taxi" does not work when I run with Direct X 10 Preview. Any remedy for this? or is it worth using DirectX 10 Preview anyway?Thanks in advance for the information.-Monzo

I, like many others, found the dx10 preview to be more trouble than it was worth. Tried it about a year back for a few days and decided not to bother.If yu search the forum for dx10, you wil find a numbe of threads about the subject.IAN

On more recent systems, using DX10 preview can give a decent increase in FPS - I get 5 or 6 extra FPS using it. I've spent a while flitting back and forth between DX9 and DX10P but have now pretty much settled on DX10P and accept its glitches. Quite a few problems have been sorted by using either REX or Addon Converter X. Anyway, re the progressive taxi - it's a well known problem with DX10P and the easiest way to get around it (without having to get some sort of add-on) is to hit '[' to open a small new window, then F12 to go to the top down view, and then if you zoom out a bit you'll see (for whatever reason!) that the progressive taxi lines are visible from the top down view.