Interesting observation about DX10 and unlimited frames

[DylanM 1,069]

Over the past few weeks I've been experimenting with a number of different settings (based on all great work that Paul, Steve, Word Not Allowed, Bojote, etc. have done) to try and maximize the advantages of DX10 on my system, and have stumbled upon something interesting (IMHO!) - DX10 can actually be made to work with unlimited frames set in the sim, without blurries, stutters, or artifacts (that were inherently associated to that setup in DX9)!

 

One of the biggest advantages of running unlimited frames is the higher framerate and overhead it allows (compared to locked frames), especialy when running detailed models at airports with AI, HD clouds, road traffic, SweetFX etc... I can now hit a pretty even 30fps at most any airport with any model, even on my very middle-of-the-road hardware :lol:

 

Essentially, the core tweaks seemed to come down to the following:

- setting frames to unlimited in FSX (obvoiusly!)

- setting an external frame lock to 30 (i.e. through an external limiter like Nvidia Inspector)

- vsync set to 1/2 refresh rate in Nvidia Inspector

- MAX_ASYNC_BATCHING_JOBS=3 in the cfg

- FIBER_FRAME_TIME_FRACTION=0.33 in the cfg (even though this is the default, found it made a difference to force this setting)

- TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=90 in the cfg (somewhere between 80 to 120)

- TextureMaxLoad=12 in the cfg (this was enough to eliminate missing tiles on my system; can set lower or higher based on hardware)

- LOD_RADIUS=5.5 in the cfg (can set lower or higher based on hardware)

- Usepools=0 (if you can; way faster than RejectThreshold on my system)

 

The scenery engine in DX10 responds quite differently than in DX9 to tweaks, so I thought I may as well post all my relevant settings in case anyone else wants to compare. I've also left in the settings that were commented out during testing.

 

My fsx settings:

 

[GRAPHICS]

MultiSamplesPerPixel=4 //8 killed performance with 4096 clouds

MultiSampleQuality=16

AC_SELF_SHADOW=1

AIRCRAFT_REFLECTIONS=1

AIRCRAFT_SHADOWS=0

COCKPIT_HIGH_LOD=1

D3D10=1

EFFECTS_QUALITY=2

GROUND_SHADOWS=0

HIGHMEMFIX=1

IMAGE_QUALITY=0

LANDING_LIGHTS=1

NUM_LIGHTS=8

See_Self=1

TEXTURE_MAX_LOAD=4096

TEXTURE_QUALITY=3

 

[TrafficManager]

AIRPORT_SCENERY_DENSITY=3

AirlineDensity=25

FreewayDensity=10

GADensity=16

IFROnly=0

LeisureBoatsDensity=17

ShipsAndFerriesDensity=20

 

[Weather]

CLOUD_COVERAGE_DENSITY=8

CLOUD_DRAW_DISTANCE=4

DETAILED_CLOUDS=1

DisableTurbulence=1

THERMAL_VISUALS=0

 

[Main]

DisablePreload=1 //essential to get vsync running- thanks Paul!

FIBER_FRAME_TIME_FRACTION=0.33

 

[Display]

RUNWAY_LIGHTS_SURFACE_SCALAR=1.0

RUNWAY_LIGHTS_VASI_SCALAR=0.8

RUNWAY_LIGHTS_APPROACH_SCALAR=0.9

RUNWAY_LIGHTS_STROBE_SCALAR=1.2

BLOOM_EFFECTS=0 //using SweetFX instead

TextureMaxLoad=12 //enough to eliminate missing tiles

UPPER_FRAMERATE_LIMIT=0

WideViewAspect=True

TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=90

 

[JOBSCHEDULER]

AffinityMask=84 //i7 w HT

 

[TERRAIN]

AUTOGEN_DENSITY=4

//BATCH_AUTOGEN2=1

DETAIL_TEXTURE=1

LOD_RADIUS=5.500000

MESH_COMPLEXITY=100

MESH_RESOLUTION=23

//SWAP_WAIT_TIMEOUT=3

TEXTURE_RESOLUTION=29

WATER_EFFECTS=5

 

[sCENERY]

DAWN_DUSK_SMOOTHING=1

IMAGE_COMPLEXITY=5

LENSFLARE=1

MAX_ASYNC_BATCHING_JOBS=3

//SmallPartRejectRadius=4.0

 

[bufferPools]

Usepools=0 //artifacts in DX9 awesome in DX10

//RejectThreshold=131072

 

And these are my Inspector settings:

 

Cheers,

Dylan

[Taipan 30]

Hi

 

This looks interesting- but why lock frames outside the sim?

 

Doesn't that defeat the purpose of running unlimited?

[DylanM 1,069]

Hi Dan, there is a "bug" in FSX where fps suffers when the internal limiter is used (the exact explanation will probably need to come from someone with a much larger cranium than mine!). Locking frames externally gives back priority to the scenery engine allowing it to render textures in time (i.e. eliminating blurries) while still bypassing the internal fsx bug.

[Paul J 349]

Excellent posts! For full screen vsync to work, though, that 30 needs to be set inside the sim, so that Inspector can/will control vsync by using the 1/2 refresh rate. It attempts to match the refresh rate to the sim rate, but it can't do that and control the sim at the same time.

[Taipan 30]

Thanks Dylan,

 

I remember that used to be the standard recommendation to use an external limiter, until Word Not Allowed did his testing and found the internal one was nice and smooth, and trouble free. But like you say it is a bit limiting.. but still is smooth.

 

I like it simple, I'll keep the internal limiter.

 

I was more hopeful your post was a way to get rid of any limit altogether But FSX is just too old..

[jimh 23]

Hi Dylan,

 

I thought your approach was worth a look, so I copied your Inspector and cfg settings, and had a go.

 

Sadly, on my system, the result was worse. I tried unlimited fps, and 30 fps, but found no difference between them. The most unusual thing (for me), was that the VC was huge compared to my usual view.

 

It was worth a try, and shows how different our systems react to various settings

 

Good Luck on your own journey with DX10.

 

Regards, Jim

[DylanM 1,069]

Excellent posts! For full screen vsync to work, though, that 30 needs to be set inside the sim, so that Inspector can/will control vsync by using the 1/2 refresh rate. It attempts to match the refresh rate to the sim rate, but it can't do that and control the sim at the same time.

 

Hi Paul, I don't have the ForceFullScreenVSync entry in the cfg, and I think the vsync control in Nvidia Inspector works on the monitor refresh rate (which is 60Hz on most LCD/LED monitors, though I may be mistaken). I do get vsync tearing if I set it to "application controlled" though.

 

Hi Dylan,

 

I thought your approach was worth a look, so I copied your Inspector and cfg settings, and had a go.

 

Sadly, on my system, the result was worse. I tried unlimited fps, and 30 fps, but found no difference between them. The most unusual thing (for me), was that the VC was huge compared to my usual view.

 

It was worth a try, and shows how different our systems react to various settings

 

Good Luck on your own journey with DX10.

 

Regards, Jim

 

Hi Jim - it really is a black art isn't it! Thanks for giving it a try.

 

The VC setting was probably due to the WideViewAspect=True flag in the cfg. Out of curiosity, did you try just the items im bullets? The rest of my setting (and the inspector settings) were just there as a reference!

 

Cheers,

Dylan

 

Thanks Dylan,

 

I remember that used to be the standard recommendation to use an external limiter, until Word Not Allowed did his testing and found the internal one was nice and smooth, and trouble free. But like you say it is a bit limiting.. but still is smooth.

 

I like it simple, I'll keep the internal limiter.

 

I was more hopeful your post was a way to get rid of any limit altogether But FSX is just too old..

 

Pretty long in the tooth...but new life being breathed into the sim by Paul and all the other great folks on here :lol:

[Paul J 349]

Hi Dylan!

 

I don't have the ForceFullScreenVSync entry in the cfg, and I think the vsync control in Nvidia Inspector works on the monitor refresh rate (which is 60Hz on most LCD/LED monitors, though I may be mistaken). I do get vsync tearing if I set it to "application controlled" though.

 

Vsync is controlled by setting the:

Vsync Tear Control = Standard

Vertical Sync = 1/2 Refresh Rate

 

and then setting 30 fps inside FSX, along with DisablePreLoad=1 in the [Main] section of the fsx.cfg.cfg.

Nothing else should be needed. (This works in fullsceen only)

 

All the Best,

[jjjallen 37]

FSX in DX10 works best in unlimited IMO. Especially in an SLI setup. No tearing or weirdness here.

 

Cheers

jja

[jime59 58]

I set my sim up according to your post and I had a great flight. Very smooth.

Some of the settings I already had from the various tweaks to be found here but it

definitely made a noticable difference. I went with the internal unlimited fps and set it at 30 in

inspector. Like I said, very smooth. No pop ins with the scenery or weather. It looked and flew great.

 

Thanks,

 

jime

[jimh 23]

Hi Dylan,

 

I've always used WideViewAspect=True, so the huge VC is a mystery to me. I did get tearing for a moment, just as the flight appeared on screen, but all clear after that. I used your settings where they differed from mine.

I should mention I'm using three 22" monitors on a TH2GO.

 

I think I'm also an oddball, in usually using 1/3 refresh rate in Inspector, and 21fps in FSX. I'm happy with 20.9 fps everywhere, smooth as silk, but in another thread I saw people deriding anything less than 60fps, so I'm in a minority of one!

 

This is a hobbly, right? But is it a flying hobby, or a tweaking hobby? I'm not sure which is the more addictive.

 

Best, Jim

[SKEWR 364]

Ok I tried your settings and it intorduced random stuttering in my system for 5 seconds at random intervals.

 

I must say it's been awhile since I've seen such great frames, but doing a pattern with 6 random 5 second pauses kinda kills the immersion. (For reference I flew about 8 patterns in the PMDG 737-800 at KEWR using runway 04R)

 

I set 30 in Inspector (1.9.6.9) and use the settings in this thread for AA. FSX was set to unlimited.

I tried the FSDT specific settings (Since I did the pattern in proximity to a FSDT airport)

I tried tweaking BufferPools, LOD, Fiber settings, and a couple of other things and I was unable to get rid of the pauses.

 

During my tests, I had another concern as I saw my GPU never being utilized more than 16% and My CPU under the load was at 51C. With my affinity mask setting freeing up core zero, I saw 100% usage on core 1 and 97 on both Cores 2 and 3. (HT is on). Processor OC to 4.8.

 

Seems like I should be doing better than I am.

 

Anyway it seems like a good tweak, but I can't get rid of the pauses... If I could, I'd be one happy camper!

[DylanM 1,069]

This is a hobbly, right? But is it a flying hobby, or a tweaking hobby? I'm not sure which is the more addictive.

hah! Isn't that ever true Jim!

 

Skewr, I remember hitting something similar early on in my tweaking. It almost seems like you need to feed your hardware steadier helpings of polys right? Let me think about this instead of shooting off some advice from the hip... ^_^

 

I set my sim up according to your post and I had a great flight. Very smooth.

Some of the settings I already had from the various tweaks to be found here but it

definitely made a noticable difference. I went with the internal unlimited fps and set it at 30 in

inspector. Like I said, very smooth. No pop ins with the scenery or weather. It looked and flew great.

 

Thanks,

 

jime

 

Awesome - glad it worked Jime

[themose 11]

I found a while back that using unlimited frames with heavy frame rate hitting planes like 737ngx was night and day difference in smoothness over the locked 30fps.

I think the 1/2 vsync kind of holds it at 30 anyway. You try it and watch the frame rate (shift-Z, twice)

 

However locked 30fps with default stuff was smooth as silk.

[SKEWR 364]

Skewr, I remember hitting something similar early on in my tweaking. It almost seems like you need to feed your hardware steadier helpings of polys right? Let me think about this instead of shooting off some advice from the hip...

Cool let me know! As I said the frames are up for me and are no surpassing the DX9 frames I was getting.

 

Maybe I'll try to eliminate the 1/2 VSync setting...