148 replies to this topic

[Tabs]

THREAD IS NOW SUPERSEDED BY VERSION 2.0 AVAILABLE HERE:http://forum.avsim.n...f-all-settings/EDIT:  12/16/2010Starting with 1.93, Nvidia Inspector adds all the functionality that used to be present in nHancer and now includes a GUI for editing profiles - no more cryptic feature names!Get the latest version here:http://blog.orbmu2k....-inspector-toolHere's how I have it set - same settings for both FS9 and FSX (I decided to switch to override mode in FSX vs. enhance soley because people reported issues using FSInn and other apps that run inside of FS when it was set to enhance) - the settings that are grayed out should be left alone, they're inherited down from the global profile, which should be left at its defaults so as to not mess up other games you may run besides FS.Just run Nvidia Inspector and edit the MS Flight Simulator X and/or FS9 profile  to match the settings in bold shown here - there is no need to open the default Nvidia Control Panel and edit anything there like this post used to describe prior to version 1.93.

[clum]

Great post Ryan. I've been holding off the new series of drivers until an updated nhancer is released, but with all this info in one place I might as well try them out now.Has anyone seen a noticeable improvement in fs9 with these? Undoubtedly I've seen improvements on my gaming machine in several games but i've left the 197.45's on my fs computer as I'm not really expecting any difference.

[Turbine777]

Thanks for taking the time to put this together Ryan!

[Tabs]

clum, on Jul 31 2010, 01:06 PM, said:

Great post Ryan. I've been holding off the new series of drivers until an updated nhancer is released, but with all this info in one place I might as well try them out now.Has anyone seen a noticeable improvement in fs9 with these? Undoubtedly I've seen improvements on my gaming machine in several games but i've left the 197.45's on my fs computer as I'm not really expecting any difference.

I think the idea of new drivers actually doing anything specific to improve performance in games that are so many years old like FS9 and FSX is pretty much placebo effect unless it relates to some kind of global optimization Nvidia did that speeds every game up.  Both Nvidia and ATI publish the game-specific fixes/improvements in each driver in the release notes and it's been years since I've seen anything relating to FS in them.The big reason people like me update drivers is because I'm a gamer outside of FS too - for example there's bound to be a new driver release in the coming days or weeks that optimizes performance in Starcraft II, I was standing in line for that game at midnight this past week haha, so you can bet I want it to perform as well as it can.If all you use your system for is FS, then by all means stay on the 197.45 driver that still works with nHancer.

[Ioan92]

It should however be mentioned that those with older cards can simply use 197.xx:)EDIT: Damn, beat me to it.

[N330DG]

Thanks a lot Ryan! I had to get a new graphics card, because my old one died yesterday and was quiet despaired because nHancer didn't work no more. Your solution works like a charm!

[dazz]

Tabs, on Jul 31 2010, 09:44 PM, said:

Be advise that many of these AA modes listed here don't actually work or will cause strange issues. If you can run it, just stick to the 8xS one.)

did I get this right and you can't really get any more AA than 8xS to work properly in FSX?does this mean that people who claim SLI helps with increased levels of AA are not really seeing more AA?

[Tabs]

dazz, on Jul 31 2010, 02:49 PM, said:

did I get this right and you can't really get any more AA than 8xS to work properly in FSX?does this mean that people who claim SLI helps with increased levels of AA are not really seeing more AA?

No no, I'm just saying that SOME of the modes present in that list do not work correctly on all cards/configurations and can cause issues.  That list includes what nHancer called "experimental" modes. Nvidia considers even 8xS to be one of these - it's not available in the driver control panel, you have to use one of these utilities to enable it.  You're certainly free to try whatever you like, I don't think it can actually hurt anything, just that the sim may not actually run, you may see weird artifacts/issues etc.  All of the standard modes that are present in the driver control panel will work for sure, but stuff outside of that may be up in the air depending on exactly what config you have.SLI doing higher AA levels absolutely is true - those modes become visible in the driver control panel when you have SLI.

[qnh]

Thanks Ryan - works like a charm :)

[dazz]

Ok, thanks again Ryan. I wonder if those modes look that much better.BTW, has your new 460 arrived yet? I'd love to hear what you think of it. I know you play other games, but I'd like to know what you see in FSX with the 460 please, and if the massive OC those cards do helps at all in FSX

Tabs, on Aug 1 2010, 06:46 AM, said:

SLI doing higher AA levels absolutely is true - those modes become visible in the driver control panel when you have SLI.

[frank1223]

Hi RyanDo I select Anisotropic in FSX-DISPLAY or trilinear?

[McCrash]

For FSX I am currently using:(AA box is UN-checked and Trilinear selected)a. Antialiasing - Behavior Flags: AA_BEHAVIOR_FLAGS_DISABLE_ENHANCEb. Antialiasing - Mode: AA_MODE_SELECTOR_OVERRIDEc. Antialiasing - Setting: AA_MODE_METHOD_MIXEDSAMPLE_32Xd. Antialiasing - Transparent Multisampling: 0x00000000e. Antialiasing - Transparent Supersampling: AA_MODE_REPLAY_TRANSPARENCY_DEFAULT

[trisager]

Very useful, Ryan - thanks!

[Heaven]

With AA_MODE_METHOD_MIXEDSAMPLE_8X i have smooth edges but the image it`s very blurry. :(Ex:Using nvidia default settings: (Use my preference emphasizing: Quality)Using Tabs settings with AA_MODE_METHOD_MIXEDSAMPLE_8XUsing Tabs setting with AA_MODE_METHOD_MIXEDSAMPLE_8X_SKEWED_8TAP

[dazz]

Ryan?

dazz, on Aug 1 2010, 09:38 AM, said:

has your new 460 arrived yet? I'd love to hear what you think of it. I know you play other games, but I'd like to know what you see in FSX with the 460 please, and if the massive OC those cards do helps at all in FSX

[Gruby]

Let him play with his new shiny Starcraft II a little  

[curt1]

Applied recommendation to the 257.21 drivers, and it looks very good.  I had a lot of shimmering previously in a few of my addon airports, but they are much improved and nearly shimmer free.  

[Turbine777]

Anyone else have a problem with opening pop-ups? When I change sub views or bring up any type of pop-up window, even just the AES window or default ATC window for that matter, my screen goes completely black for a few seconds. I back tracked everything I did in this post. 1st undoing the settings with nvidiaInspector - problem remained, then restored the settings in the nvidia control panel - still had the issue, and then finally within FSX by unclicking the AA box - Problem solved. I then tried just the FSX AA with Bilinearm Trilinear and Anistropic filtering but no matter what setting it's this that's giving me the black screens. Weird how it never happened to me in the past and only now that I changed driver from 257.21 to 258.96. Nothing in my system has changed hardware or software wise other than the driver.I'll probably install the older driver later to see if it's driver related but wanted to see if anyone else has had this issue 1st.*It may also only be a problem for Matrox Triplehead2go users running at 5040x1050 or 3840x1024. Here's what happens when after I even hit the tilde key for the ATC window...Click the image for full size.

[Tabs]

Heaven, on Aug 1 2010, 06:52 AM, said:

With AA_MODE_METHOD_MIXEDSAMPLE_8X i have smooth edges but the image it`s very blurry. :(Ex:Using nvidia default settings: (Use my preference emphasizing: Quality)http://img834.images...32/defaults.pngUsing Tabs settings with AA_MODE_METHOD_MIXEDSAMPLE_8Xhttp://img231.images...mixedsample.pngUsing Tabs setting with AA_MODE_METHOD_MIXEDSAMPLE_8X_SKEWED_8TAPhttp://img31.imagesh...mixedsample.png

Unavoidable byproduct of using a supersample AA algorithm - it AAs everything on the screen and can blur 2D objects slightly.  I think the tradeoff in how good the outside world looks is worth the slight blurring.

dazz, on Aug 1 2010, 11:32 AM, said:

Ryan?

I haven't bought the 460 yet - couple more weeks probably, I just moved and money's kind of tight.

[pdavies]

Well you hit the nail on the head with this one, Ryan.  Thanks a ton - the Transparency AA works amazingly.  My ATL finally doesn't have shimmering taxi and runway centerlines!

[Christopher Low]

Can we not just force 8xS AA and 16x AF through the Nvidia Control Panel without following this complicated procedure? I thought that was achievable with the latest drivers?

[greggerm]

Quote

UPDATE:I discovered earlier tonight (7/31) that Transparancy AA works in both FS versions using these drivers and Nvidia Inspector! This feature never worked to my knowledge in the past and turning it on makes the sim look even better than the usual 8xS AA + 16XAF does. I tried it on a whim wondering if maybe the issue had been solved, and it does work. This puts a much higher level of AA onto what are known as alpha-test textures. Many objects in the sim such as trees, airport fences, power pylons and other similar objects that look like they're made up of a bunch of flat 2D objects are alpha-test textures. AA normally can't touch the edges of these because they're not polygons and they cause shimmer/aliasing as a result. Transparency AA allows the card to get at these textures and eliminate the shimmer. 8xS by definition does do some AA to these because of its supersampling componet, but it's a low level of AA - this allows for a much better sample algorithm to be used.

If this works "as-advertised", Ryan, you've just made me a very happy man. From day one, I've always disliked how the trees weren't anti-aliased in FSX. I even punted back to FS9 on occasion to get that nice, smooth image back. I'll be giving this a try tonight to see how it looks, hopefully taking some before/after screenshots. I'm never one to mess with success (*aka: change video drivers when I have one working), but in this case, I'll make the exception. Thanks for the detailed walkthrough for the conversion and configuration, and I'll report back in shortly...-Greg

[rquick]

Thanks for taking the time to do this Ryan. I see a lot of 'one off' statements about this setting or that setting, so it's nice to see a complete setup from someone in the know. So far so good with these settings.

[jport1]

I am running dual 27in monitors 3840*1080*32 with the Matrox digital dual2go and these work great.  No problems.Joe Porter

[FACA]

What about the AA option included in FSX? How many AA do you get by using it?