Thinking of doing a second attempt switching from DX9->DX10

[WebMaximus 372]

Hey guys!

 

I've tried switching to DX10 in the past before Steve's DX10 fixer was around and at that time there were some major issues making me go back to DX9. However I'm now considering a second attempt switching to DX10 mainly because of the improved memory and VAS management after having severe OOM issues with the newly released Aerosoft Thessaloniki. If I understood things correctly usually you will have much less OOM issues running in DX10 vs DX9?

 

The major issues I had running DX10 last time were

 

• IVAO MTL online traffic showing up all in white with no textures
• many of my payware addon airports showed up with strange colored terminal buildings and sometimes also the ground was in an ugly grey color as I recall it
• every model related to Aerosoft AES like the moving jetways and the ground crew displayed in all white just like IVAO's MTL models

What's the most recent status looking at the issues listed above, are they all fixed using Steve's DX10 fixer and maybe in combination with AddonConverter X? And what about other global addons like FS Global Ultimate, UTX, FTX Global etc...do all these work OK in DX10?

 

I did some searching on Google but it came back with very different answers, in some places I read some of these issues still are true and elsewhere I read about people saying the issues were no longer present.

 

Would really appreciate your input guys what's the latest status regarding all this.

 

Many thanks in advance!

[Paul J 349]

Hi Max;

 

Sorry to hear of the OOM's

 

If I understood things correctly usually you will have much less OOM issues running in DX10 vs DX9?

 

You understand correctly. The issue with DX9 (and earlier Direct3D versions) is that it was devised to compensate for GPU's that (back in the day :db:  ) had something like 512MB, or 256MB and less memory, and much of the graphics manipulation was done by, or shared with the system's memory, thus potentially limiting performance and making less memory available for anything else. When the newer breed of graphics cards - generation 6 and 7, with a gig and more - DX10 was the natural evolution, and a big architectural change - the CPU got its' memory back - and the GPU now does what it should do, and with several gigs of memory: hence fewer (none?) OOM's when using FSX.

 

Regarding AddonConverterX - it's not needed anymore, as the Fixer does all that it did, plus correcting the somewhat crippled DX10 functionality and adding features to correct deficient and erroneous objects(i.e devs who use old tech and tools when creating FSX objects), while also making obsolescent objects work again! 

 

Re the IVAO and Aerosoft texturing - I believe all have been addressed - but I have emailed Steve for confirmation, as I have none of their scenerys.

 

 

 

And what about other global addons like FS Global Ultimate, UTX, FTX Global etc...do all these work OK in DX10?

The rest of the world? Well - 99% is compatible or fixable with a slider to the left or right.

 

 

 

I did some searching on Google but it came back with very different answers, in some places I read some of these issues still are true and elsewhere I read about people saying the issues were no longer present.

This forum is where it all happens, my friend! Plus, of course, the Official DX10 Forum, and Steve's blogsite.  :lol:

 

 

I hope this helps, and wish you success!!

 

All the best,

 

pj

[WebMaximus 372]

Sounds great, thank you so much Paul for your thorough answer!

 

I'll go and get Steve's DX10 fixer right away and who knows, maybe I'll be able to complete a successful flight into LGTS even tonight if I manage to setup DX10 rather quickly.

 

Anything special I should be aware of after getting the fixer/tool or is most of it automatic/self-explanatory?

 

Guess I also need to look over my fsx.cfg and Nvidia Inspector settings...? Right now the only tweak I have in fsx.cfg related to performance is HIGHMEMFIX=1.

 

What are the preferred settings for DX10, to have fsx.cfg as clean as possible or would I benefit from start using AffinityMask, BP etc again?

 

And what about Nvidia Inspector and vsync? I'm using a GTX Titan and my current settings in NI are AA set to 8xS and 2xSGSS and VSync set to 1/2 refresh rate with ForceWindowedVsync=1 in fsx.cfg and Windows Aero restarted automatically via FSUIPC.

 

Maybe I'll be able to find answers to all these questions in the documentation for the tool or would I be better off following some setup tutorial available online here or elsewhere to help me get up and running with DX10 as quick and easy as possible?

 

Edited to say I found some very useful links in your signature :wink:

Edited February 2, 2014 by WebMaximus

[jcomm 5,887]

I re-installed fsx this weekend, together with DX10.

 

Decided to use 8xCSAA in the Fixer + 2SGSS in NI. Working like a charm :-)

[WebMaximus 372]

I re-installed fsx this weekend, together with DX10.

 

Decided to use 8xCSAA in the Fixer + 2SGSS in NI. Working like a charm :-)

 

Haven't bought the fixer yet so wasn't aware you're also able to set things such as AA directly in the fixer?

 

When you write you've set 8xCSAA in the fixer what setting are you then using in NI, the same or do you set it to 'Application controlled' since you set the value in the fixer?

[Paul J 349]

Here's the manual, Max.

 

Page 4 of the How-To guide gives each of the steps involved, with pics, and examples. Yes - we set AA from the Fixer, which then edits the fsx.cfg, and we have to set Application-controlled in Inspector.

 

Fun! Wow! :lol:  it's SO scientific!

 

Edit - just got back from the city and read the earlier posts...

 

Page four of the How-To contains the sopecifics of setting up AA using NI, Max.

 

Here are three NI settings which will work. Just ensure that the LOD Bias is enabled and set when you use SGSS.

 

All the best,

 

pj

[SteveFx 258]

That's a lot of questions... I have sent you a PM.

 

I really don't know about IVAO MTL traffic.

 

Paul's guide covers the AA.

 

I am not sure that Thessaloniki will work well in DX10. A quick look in TMFViewer suggests that it falls into at least two tiles.

 

The Aerosoft Northern Europe airports tend to use the old SCASM style which is what DX10SF fixes - these are the sceneries that previously appeared grey and untextured at night.

 

However many of their Southern Europe airports now use the FSX SDK and for airports that span multiple tiles its then possible that repeated objects (e.g shadows) will display correctly in only one of the tiles.

 

This sort of problem should befairly easy to work around (by cloning the object and texture and using a different instance in each tile which has no performance impact - or for objects used a few times only turning off draw call batching for that object ) but Aerosoft are not minded to make any changes.

[jcomm 5,887]

Yes, application controlled in NI, and 8xCSAA in the Fixer:

 

[WebMaximus 372]

Again many thanks guys for all your help and input so far!

 

I bought the fixer and was hoping to find the time already tonight start looking into it but no such luck so guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow.

[Paul J 349]

Hi JComm!

 

There's something very slightly amiss in your settings.......

 

8x CSAA will give you:-

 

MultiSamplesPerPixel=4
MultiSampleQuality=8 

 

......in your [fsx.cfg, under [Graphics], and so, because you are using 4 samples per pixel - you should only use 4x sparse grid SS in NI. These 2 numbers must be the same - ok!

 

pj

[WebMaximus 372]

And I was planning to go to sleep early tonight :wink:

 

Just installed the fixer and did some very quick initial testing and...I'm more than pleased :dance:

 

Without having done anything but installing the fixer I'm amazed what an improvement it is from the last time I tried DX10 using the DX10 freeware patches! You really did an outstanding job with this fixer Steve :drinks:

 

What I've done so far is..

 

- testing the AES textures and I'm happy to report AES now looks perfectly fine in DX10 mode, no more white textures!

- checking the IVAO MTL aircraft models and they all look perfect as well showing up in correct colors and liveries!

 

I also very briefly checked the Aerosoft LGTS scenery and couldn't spot a single visual problem! Should add though that I only sat on the apron at gate 13 panning around in spot view so might have missed things.

 

Wow...this is almost too good to be true and I'm so happy I stumbled into these OOMs at LGTS the other day because if not I would still have been running DX9 missing out on all this and all the benefits you get from DX10!

 

Now I only need to find some good AA and NI settings suitable for my hardware consisting of a 4770K @ 4.6 GHz and a GTX Titan. Without touching any of these settings yet I have some really bad AA issues and lots of shimmering and I hope with my hardware I'll be able to end up with a very good result both looking at performance and IQ. I'll also try the BP=0 tweak which will hopefully let my Titan workout a bit harder.

 

Thank you Steve for this amazing tool you developed and thank you Paul for your great guide(s), all valuable tips and your great dedication !!

[Paul J 349]

 

 

And I was planning to go to sleep early tonight :wink:

 

:lol:

 

 

Your BP setting will be - for sure, Max - "UsePools=0".

 

All the Best,

 

pj

[PapaRomeo 40]

Good thread.

Actually learned a little, and I have been using DX10 for some time now.

I can't recall anything being more difficult than setting FSX up properly.

Do I ever get finished tweaking?

Perhaps not, but I'm getting close due to all the help :-)

[WebMaximus 372]

Yeah, one thing I really like with the FS community is how most always try to help each other out!

[Paul J 349]

 

 

always try to help each other out!

 

hrmmmph! Don't know how some of 'em got in!