My Trial of SFX Acceleration Expansion Pack

[Flight Ace]

My trial of FSX Acceleration Expansion Pack

Even though I had said in previous posts that I was not going to buy FSX Acceleration, my daughter did it for me. Now I would like to report how well it performed on my PC. And for the record, I have a new upscale PC (built by myself) with no tweaks (removed a previous building and tree setting of 6000) and it runs FSX flawlessly. With the exception of Light Bloom which I leave unchecked and water set to high 1x, all other settings are checked or set to their highest. I can fly most anywhere in the world with these settings and enjoy a smooth flight. My favorite is Logan Intl in the center of Boston Harbor. Here you can hover over the field with a slow flying amphibian and see as many as 10 aircraft lined up or waiting for take off, lines of aircraft on approach using two runways, the harbor full of boats, and the roadways packed with cars. The graphics presentation is what I call outstanding and at night even better.

[krigl]

Thanks for the info! I get whiteouts with every non default plane - as I have yet to explore all the default planes (like, take pics of them

[NickN]

No problems with Acceleration here.

SP2 is what changes performance, not Acceleration. When the SP2 patch is released you will have to install it so you will be returning to that install with or without Acceleration.

Most issues like that are install/driver/settings releated and many times it comes down to the user running sliders wrong. The right sliders too high and too low will significantly change how things work, and, the default AI airline\ga traffic is a killer in city areas because of the gate data being processed.

People think its the city buildings from the scenery complexity slider cause performance to drop, wrong.. its the load being placed on the CPU when the scenery complexity slider allows jetways to be shown which in turn enables FSX to start calculatiing all the gates in a 50-120NM radius, and, airport veh set to medium or higher adds to that. Even fast systems should not have AI traffic set much higher than 40-50%. Slower system should keep it at 25 or less.

Replacement AI that gets rid of the FSX default and does not incorporate gate data can be run 60-80% with little or no hit.

Also, road cars can kill performance. Even VERY fast systems should avoid any higher than 10-15% MAX. Especially with titles like UTX which add roads and cars. If you are not on a overclocked quad core and a GTX video card, even 8-10% is pushing it.

Boats and ferries should not exceed 25-35% on fast systems, 10-15% on slower

I would never run water on any setting lower than 2xLow. There is little or no performance difference between 2xLow and 1xHigh but there is a huge visual difference. If you are seeing a performance difference then something is out of balance with the settings\system or your hardware is very slow.

Acceleration is planes, models and missions, nothing more

SP2 is the graphics engine/shader changes

I find SP2 increased my sim ability with the 169.09 or 169.13 beta drivers. Stay away from the 169.21's

Alex found out his system significantly jumped in performance with the 169.09 beta's ans SP2

[Flight Ace]

No problems with Acceleration here.

SP2 is what changes performance, not Acceleration. When the SP2 patch is released you will have to install it so you will be returning to that install with or without Acceleration.

Most issues like that are install/driver/settings releated and many times it comes down to the user running sliders wrong. The right sliders too high and too low will significantly change how things work, and, the default AI airline\ga traffic is a killer in city areas because of the gate data being processed.

People think its the city buildings from the scenery complexity slider cause performance to drop, wrong.. its the load being placed on the CPU when the scenery complexity slider allows jetways to be shown which in turn enables FSX to start calculatiing all the gates in a 50-120NM radius, and, airport veh set to medium or higher adds to that. Even fast systems should not have AI traffic set much higher than 40-50%. Slower system should keep it at 25 or less.

Replacement AI that gets rid of the FSX default and does not incorporate gate data can be run 60-80% with little or no hit.

Also, road cars can kill performance. Even VERY fast systems should avoid any higher than 10-15% MAX. Especially with titles like UTX which add roads and cars. If you are not on a overclocked quad core and a GTX video card, even 8-10% is pushing it.

Boats and ferries should not exceed 25-35% on fast systems, 10-15% on slower

I would never run water on any setting lower than 2xLow. There is little or no performance difference between 2xLow and 1xHigh but there is a huge visual difference. If you are seeing a performance difference then something is out of balance with the settings\system or your hardware is very slow.

Acceleration is planes, models and missions, nothing more

SP2 is the graphics engine/shader changes

I find SP2 increased my sim ability with the 169.09 or 169.13 beta drivers. Stay away from the 169.21's

Alex found out his system significantly jumped in performance with the 169.09 beta's ans SP2

Nick,

I appreciate your comments. How did you install your FSX Acceleration Expansion Pack? Did you start with a new install of FSX and then the Acceleration Pack or add it to an already installed FSX with SP1? I did the latter. My problem is not with acceleration or performance, it is with the result of the SP2 upgrade. Simply stated, the SP2 upgrade has introduced problems i never had before.

[NickN]

This thread answers all those questions

[Flight Ace]

[quote]This thread answers all those questions

[NickN]

I posted the link because that is where I want everyone to start who may be having any trouble, at all.

That process is the preferred method

No, I had no problems going from SP1 to SP2/Accel and I got the same performance using either method, but, there is a difference between myself and most users in so much as I know every nook and cranny of a system and how to maintain and diagnose issues, therefore my installs typically reflect that in results.

Most people install things the wrong way to begin with, do not clean and maintain their system, install add-ons that damage the base textures or files, do not keep up with the Windows Event Viewer to ensure errors are addressed as needed, make poor config edits or migrate the config file instead of manually editing, make changes to their sim they read in forums from bozo

[Ashar]

I wonder when the day will come when we can run everything on 100%...LOL...

[NickN]

I wonder when the day will come when we can run everything on 100%...LOL...

FS9 was 2 years if you had the cash (August 2003 to October 2005) and longer (another 6 months) if you had to wait for prices to come down

[Fr. Bill]

And...if it's possible to somehow remove SP2 without losing all the new content - the planes are amazing and I've heard there is new scenery with it too. Anyone have any tips?

No, it is not possible. That is because all three of the new aircraft models depend on new tokens and key_events only present in the SP2 update.

[Solid]

Flite Ace:
On my system FSX locked up once it started playing the music and died so I did like you and removed it. Everything went back to normal...BUT your comment.

"5. In some locations strange objects (extended columns or streaks) popped out of the ground. "

has me wondering!!!!!.....a few days ago I took off from Guatemala City to Yucatan and about 30 miles from the airport I noticed these "strange objects, like "extended columns and streaks" popping out of the ground and going up to around 15,000 ft!!!!!!!.....coulds I be seeing the same as you?????....maybe the removal of Acceleration left some junk around?????? I wonder.......OH, boy...isn

[Solid]

[quote]




I posted the link because that is where I want everyone to start who may be having any trouble, at all.

That process is the preferred method

No, I had no problems going from SP1 to SP2/Accel and I got the same performance using either method, but, there is a difference between myself and most users in so much as I know every nook and cranny of a system and how to maintain and diagnose issues, therefore my installs typically reflect that in results.

Most people install things the wrong way to begin with, do not clean and maintain their system, install add-ons that damage the base textures or files, do not keep up with the Windows Event Viewer to ensure errors are addressed as needed, make poor config edits or migrate the config file instead of manually editing, make changes to their sim they read in forums from bozo

[NickN]

Also, if Aces was so concerned about backward compatibility, why didn't they provide adequate install instructions echoing your thread in theit package?

backwards compatibility has nothing to do with installing. Backwards compatibility has to do with older aircraft and textures no longer working.

As for installing or being concerned about how to.. that is not Aces problem. They designed it to be installed right over RTM, SP1 and automatically make the changes needed. If your system is in correct condition, as mine always are, you should not have any problems.

What Aces is not responsible for is the list I mentioned in my last post before this one. The multitude of computer illiterate, their poorly maintained systems and the multitude of self proclaimed computer experts who tweak things they should never touch.

Therefore people like me step in and figure out how to make the transition as easy as possible and create lists for people to follow. Once I know certain criteria have been met I can then suggest ways to fix issues they are having. If they refuse to do what I outlined then I can be spending time spinning my wheels trying to fix something a correct 'technical-purposes' reinstall would have accomplished.

[Flight Ace]

Also, if Aces was so concerned about backward compatibility, why didn't they provide adequate install instructions echoing your thread in theit package?

backwards compatibility has nothing to do with installing. Backwards compatibility has to do with older aircraft and textures no longer working.

As for installing or being concerned about how to.. that is not Aces problem. They designed it to be installed right over RTM, SP1 and automatically make the changes needed. If your system is in correct condition, as mine always are, you should not have any problems.

What Aces is not responsible for is the list I mentioned in my last post before this one. The multitude of computer illiterate, their poorly maintained systems and the multitude of self proclaimed computer experts who tweak things they should never touch.

Therefore people like me step in and figure out how to make the transition as easy as possible and create lists for people to follow. Once I know certain criteria have been met I can then suggest ways to fix issues they are having. If they refuse to do what I outlined then I can be spending time spinning my wheels trying to fix something a correct 'technical-purposes' reinstall would have accomplished.

Nick,

Had you told me that you followed the instructions from the thread you referred me to, I would have followed suit. However since you advised that you installed right over FSX/SP1 successfully, which one ought to be able to do, I chose to go back and remove all third party planes (even pay ware) and see if this would clear up my problem. I again installed the package over SFX/SP1, fired it up, and everything is working fine. Night lighting is back, no perceived change in performance, planes function properly, and no funny things happening as before. This approach was a lot simpler for me than a full un-install, install of SFX then Acceleration. I believe you said and I quote,

[NickN]

I chose to go back and remove all third party planes (even pay ware) and see if this would clear up my problem. I again installed the package over SFX/SP1, fired it up, and everything is working fine. Night lighting is back, no perceived change in performance, planes function properly, and no funny things happening as before.

That is what a technical-reinstall does, it eliminates the problems add-ons create and it is NOT Aces responsibility to tell you to uninstall all your add-ons they are not responsible for, nor, do they have time to test. That install also eliminates mistakes made during the initial RTM/SP1 install where there are so many possibilities of an error based on the user not following install protocol, or a corruption glitch, its not even funny.

Aces is responsible for RTM, SP1, SP2 and Acceleration packages being installed, and not ONE of your add-ons or how they may react or damage the sim by installing or overwriting textures or other files they had NO BUSINESS overwriting to begin with.

One the biggest GRIPES I have with payware and freeware developers, even with FS9, is that many of them INCLUDED modified gauges, textures and other files which OVERWRITE the default with the same names with absolutely no warning and in doing so, then, SCREW UP MY SIM in other areas. The only items an add-on should ever install are items that do not exist in the sim at all, or renamed items that are called by their products only.

So your reasoning is a bit flawed. Aces designed the package to be installed without issues. How you choose to do that is up to you but none the less, taking the easier route is not always the best way to go. Especially if you did not install SP1 correctly to begin with and there was a problem in that area you never knew existed.

Are you sure your sim is working at its max ability now... 100% sure?