Catalyst version 11.2

[ReDDoT 0]

Dear OFF Community,

I am new to the Forum and need some help with my graphic settings on a HD5770 Radeon. I am running Catalyst version 11.2

(My OS is Win7 x64)

 

My OFF DVD didn`t arrived yet but I want prepare my CPU for the Simulation.

Just formatted my CPU and changed settings below:

 

Smoothvision HD:Anti-Aliasing= 2x Box

Smoothvision HD:Anisotropic Filtering= 2x

MipMap Detail Level= Performance

Anti-Aliasing Mode= Performance (Multi-sample AA)

OpenGL Settings: Triple buffering [Ticked]

 

Need help with those settings now:

1- I cannot disable the Catalyst A.I. the lowest setting for it is > Performance

2- What is "Enable Surface Format Optimization" ? under Catalyst A.I.

3- Tesellation Menu

a)AMD Optimized

b)Use application settings

c)Level goes up to 64x

[Parky 8]

Ok Uncle Al..........you're up.....but please be gentle........

[ReDDoT 0]

Thank you very much for your replies. I was a Nvidia man before too. First time I am using ATI.

I am reading the "General Help" and other categories since a few days. I searched but couldn`t find anything about "Tesellation" and Catalyst version 11.2

 

Everybody said to me "Feel free to ask" Thats why I started this Topic.

[Parky 8]

Need help with those settings now:

1- I cannot disable the Catalyst A.I. the lowest setting for it is > Performance

2- What is "Enable Surface Format Optimization" ? under Catalyst A.I.

3- Tesellation Menu

a)AMD Optimized

b)Use application settings

c)Level goes up to 64x

 

 

1) It used to be that you could disable Catalyst A.I. completely just using that specific slider. The problem was, if set to disabled in the past, it would also disable any crossfire array running on the user's system. It appears that AMD decided to more clearly define these options by moving crossfire control to "Crossfire Configuration" under the "Gaming" or "Performance" tabs. My recommendation would be to leave Catalyst A.I. on "Performance"....simply because you'll be using less filtering optimization and in all probability, realize better FPS in most games as a result. If you're not hurting for frames, by all means experiment and see if a higher setting improves image quality.

 

2) Surface Format Optimization allows for improved performance in games that use 16-bit floating point surfaces for HDR rendering. Might be useful in a number of games that were developed after about 2006 that provide support for it, but where OFF is concerned, don't worry about it. It doesn't apply.

 

3) Tesselation is a graphics rendering technique strictly for use with DirectX 11. As a concept, tessellation is fairly straight forward—you take a polygon and dice it into smaller pieces, which essentially makes for better smoothing of a given image. Rather than get into a long-winded explanation of it's application and usefulness, let it suffice to say it doesn't apply to OFF, as OFF runs strictly in a DX9 environment.

 

I've been as accurate as I can with this info, and I'm pretty sure it's correct. I'm hoping BirdDogICT also glances at this thread. He's our resident ATI/AMD driver and settings expert, and has a much better understanding of this kind of thing than I do. Perhaps he can add shed a bit more light on things.

 

HTH

 

Parky

Edited March 17, 2011 by Parky

[ReDDoT 0]

Dear Parky, now I am happy again

Everything is finished, polished and ready for OFF installing.

 

Thank You

Edited March 17, 2011 by ReDDoT

[BirdDogICT 3]

ReDDot,

 

Parky is right on the money as to how those settings work. Many of the new driver features are for optimizing DirectX 11, so don't effect BHaH at all. However, BHaH performance is much better with Catalyst 11.2 than previous versions of Catalyst..

 

Your settings look okay, but here's what I use:

 

First off, turn off AA from within CFS3Config. While you're there, you may want to set overrides as per the FAQ http://www.overfland...tm#ATI_GRAPHICS These overrides greatly helped performance on older systems...not all of them are necessary on newer systems. Some, like turning messages off, are a matter of personal choice.

 

Second, try these Catalyst AI settings:

 

-Check "Use Application Settings", and "Morphological Filtering" (BHaH runs better with Morphological AA. Since MLAA is post-process, it's less of a resource hog than traditional AA. Keep in mind, though that if MLAA is turned on all of the time, it may cause blurring in other applications).

-Set Anisotropic Filtering to 4X (or higher if you want)

-Set Catalyst A.I. to Performance

-Set Mipmap Detain Level to Quality (or High Quality if you prefer)

-Since you're using MLAA, it doesn't matter what setting you use for Anti-Aiasing Mode, since you've turned AA off in the game.

-Vertical Sync and Triple Buffering are a can of worms...you have to install a third party program like D3DOverrrider for these functions to work, so set Vertical Sync to Always Off, and it doesn't matter whether Triple Buffering is checked or not (I've used these setting quite a bit with D3DOverrider and was happy with the results, but don't recommend that you go down that path unless you have a LOT of screen tearing problems).

 

Fourth,

-Consider using Hellshade's z-bias trick to stop cloud flickering. http://combatace.com...__1#entry455111 Solved my problem completely.

 

This may seem like a lot of tweaking, but it's really simple. If you experience problems, turn your sliders down a notch. This is particularly true is you have issues with white jaggies while turning your head with TrackIR. MLAA has eliminated that problem for me. FWIW, our system specs and are similar.

Edited March 20, 2011 by BirdDogICT

[ReDDoT 0]

Dear BirdDogICT,

Thank you very much for your effort

I will go with your settings advice when my DVD arrives.

 

One more thing:

I couldn`t find the Direct3D Overrider alone. I just downloaded RivaTuner and it was included. Should I change something in RivaTuner too? or only in 3DOverrider menu?

 

 

Best Regards

Feridun

[BirdDogICT 3]

Dear BirdDogICT,

Thank you very much for your effort

I will go with your settings advice when my DVD arrives.

 

One more thing:

I couldn`t find the Direct3D Overrider alone. I just downloaded RivaTuner and it was included. Should I change something in RivaTuner too? or only in 3DOverrider menu?

 

 

Best Regards

Feridun

No, I believe that D3DOverrider is included in RivaTuner. I use a standalone version of D3DOverrider found here: http://www.mediafire.com/?2zzymudjfbh it's simple to use and doesn't write any changes to your registry. I simply start it before running certain games. (e.g., older sims like Battle of Britain II or Lockon Modern Air Combat) that require VSync to reduce problems with screen tearing.

 

I initially tried VSync with OpenGL Triple Buffering to try to reduce the "white jaggies" from using TrackIR, and had some success. From experiementation, I've found that a combination of VSync and reducing scenery and terrain sliders one notch greatly reduces TrackIR problems. If you decide to use Vsync and Triple Buffering, I think that you can enable D3DOverrider through Rivatuner (I haven't used Rivatuner for several years since ATI got serious about improving their drivers, so am not current on it's inner workings). Are you using Catalyst AND Rivatuner together? I know that there have been some problems with that approach since around Catalyst 10.3.

 

FWIW, I would first try MLAA without VSync and see if you're happy with the results. You can always add it later.

[+Polovski 458]

BTW re the fourth.. watch out with the "z-bias trick" it can cause needles on instrument dials to stop working for some odd reason.

[ReDDoT 0]

BTW re the fourth.. watch out with the "z-bias trick" it can cause needles on instrument dials to stop working for some odd reason.

 

Thank you Polovski, I wrote everything down and will take a look when my DVD arrives.

Now my setup is ready for take-off with OFF

 

 

BirdDogICT, you are a great pilot

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BirdDogICT 3]

I forgot to mention Olham's sticky on graphics settings...makes it very easy to understand.

 

Good luck.

[ReDDoT 0]

CONTACT ....... CLEAR.......

My DVD arrived yesterday

Words cannot describe how beautiful OFF is !!!

 

 

BirdDogICT,

When sitting on the ground have the white jaggies now. But not in the air.

I changed the FPS settings in the XML file to 60 FPS but nothing happened.

 

PS: I think the settings in the D3DOverrider menu doesn`t work with 64 bit systems...

 

Need help...

 

Thank you

Feridun.

[BirdDogICT 3]

CONTACT ....... CLEAR.......

My DVD arrived yesterday

Words cannot describe how beautiful OFF is !!!

 

 

BirdDogICT,

When sitting on the ground have the white jaggies now. But not in the air.

I changed the FPS settings in the XML file to 60 FPS but nothing happened.

 

PS: I think the settings in the D3DOverrider menu doesn`t work with 64 bit systems...

 

Need help...

 

Thank you

Feridun.

BHaH is definitely good looking.

 

Are the white jaggies with TrackIR? They are hard to get rid of when on the ground, flying low over an airfield, over the frontlines, or in giant furrballs due to the large number of objects placing demands on your CPU and GPU. They usually appear when I'm first looking around before takeoff, but go away after I'm 1,000 feet in the air.

 

One solution is to turn down your Motion Control speed within the TrackIR software. I run mine at about 0.7 or 0.8...slows down the panning enough for the graphics card to keep up.

 

Turn down your terrain and/or scenery sliders one notch. You may be able to run them on 5 when nothing's happening, but in clouds, furrballs, or over the frontlines, gameplay is much smoother if they're on 3 or 4. Everything else can be on 5.

 

When CFS3 first came out, most people were turned off by the constant stuttering in the game. The FPS settings in the XML file were a big help in reducing stuttering with older CPUs and GPUs...maybe not so much now.

 

I'm using D3DOverrider in Win 7 64 without any problems. You can tell if it's working if you hear a Windows sound event before your flight. You should hear it sometime after Pol yells "Contact" when Quick Combat is loading. I'm assuming that the refresh rate for your monitor is 60. If D3DOverrider is working, your framerate won't ever exceed 60 (you can check FPS by hitting the Z key, or use the third party FRAPS utility).

 

If you're talking about very minor AA artefacts when on the ground that disappear after you gain some altitude (you may notice that they make the ground textures shimmer slightly), they can be resolved by settimg SMOOTHVISION HD Antilaiasing to 4X, Box Filter (uncheck Use Application Settings and Morphological filtering), and set Anti-Aliasing Mode to Quality (Super-Sample AA). This will put greater demands on your GPU, so will result in a lower average frame rate, somewhere around 30 (but down to 22-25 on the gound or over the frontlines).

 

Also, set your Workshop settings to medium or low settings.

 

I always try for the best graphics performance I can get, but the biggest immersion killer for me is stuttering. You should aim for good looking graphics AND smooth gameplay.

 

Hope this helps...

Edited April 2, 2011 by BirdDogICT

[ReDDoT 0]

Dear Pilot friends my OFF is running perfect now Thanks to everyone who helped me out.

Have no jaggies and graphic problems anymore. Stonehard 30 FPS in any situation.

If someone needs here are my settings:

ATI Radeon HD 5770

 

Catalyst Version 11.3

 

 

SMOOTHVISION HD:Anti-Aliasing

 

Use application settings: Box

 

Morphological filtering: checked

 

 

SMOOTHVISION HD:Anisotropic Filtering

 

Per-pixel samples: 8X

 

Catalyst A.I.

Texture Filtering Quality: Performance

 

Enable Surface Format Optimization: unchecked

 

Mipmap Detail Level

 

Quality: High Quality

 

Wait for vertical refresh

 

Quality: Always On

 

Anti-Aliasing Mode

 

Performance: Multi-sample AA

 

OpenGL Settings

 

Triple buffering: checked

 

 

 

 

PS: Do not forget to set TrackIR5 speed down to 0.7

 

Edited April 21, 2011 by ReDDoT

[+Polovski 458]

Great thanks for posting those ReDDot they will help others. Glad you like OFF.

 

If you don't mind I may update the graphics tips in the FAQ with your tips there given it's for the new ATI driver?

[ReDDoT 0]

Great thanks for posting those ReDDot they will help others. Glad you like OFF.

 

If you don't mind I may update the graphics tips in the FAQ with your tips there given it's for the new ATI driver?

 

Dear Polovski,

Yes, of course you can do that.

Those settings are without any third party add-ons, without any overclocking tweaks. Did everything with standart hardware and software configurations.

 

 

Best Regards

Feridun

[BirdDogICT 3]

ReDDoT,

 

Thanks for posting your settings...more than one way to skin this cat.

 

My settings are very close to yours, and I'm having good success. After some more experimentation, I seem to get the best performance by setting AA within the game, then set Catalyst AA to "Use Application Settings" with Morphological AA turned on. Works especially well to prevent big FPS drops with overcast skies. I'm getting 45-60 FPS all the time.

 

Also, I can't tell that D3DOverrider is a help with the new ATI drivers. Not really worth the effort, but still the only way to get Vsync to work, which may or may not reduce white jaggies with TrackIR. Turning down TrackIR speed and turning down game sliders helps a lot.

 

I have a couple of questions, though...since installing Catalyst 11.2 and now 11.3, I am noticing a weird artefact when looking behind with TrackIR while sitting on the runway: the textures for the sky appear in the shadows of the plane's fuselage. In other words, part of the plane's shadow is whatever texture of the current sky (e.g., gray if overcast, blue with fluffy clouds, etc). No combination of settings will clear this up. It's a minor problem and disappears after leaving the ground, but is kinda weird.

 

Thought I'd mention that Olham's recommendation to set Fullscreen Swap Effect to D3DSWAPEFFECT_COPY_VSYNC prevents my Quick Combat missions from starting...problem goes away if I us any other option. .

 

After some more experiementation with Catalyst 11.3, I can't recommend SuperSample AA. When it is turned on, it causes artefacts when showing plane damage.

 

We're both using a 5770, so should get similar results.

 

Thanks again.

 

 

[ReDDoT 0]

Dear BirdDogICT, I agree with you.

The difference between version 11.2 and 11.3 was only the SuperSample AA option. I don`t know why but Multi-sample AA works fine only with version 11.3

If I switch to Super-sample AA (on 11.3) the ground objects (trees, buildings, rivers etc.) looks broken from far distances.

Your recommendation with Morphological filtering option helped me a lot with the white/blue triangle jaggies.

 

But I noticed one more important thing:

After any change in ATI Catalyst Center I clicked in the OFF menu Reset `CFS3` Files and configured everything all over again (Screen Resolution, Image Quality, Overrides and Texture Info)

I think thats the bridge between ATI Catalyst Center and CFS3 graphic files.

 

After a long dog-fight with ATI Catalyst settings have now eye candy graphics and incredible performance.

 

 

PS: -Double-Checked-

To be sure, I formatted my PC completely and installed everything again new > got the same results.

 

[BirdDogICT 3]

Dear BirdDogICT, I agree with you.

The difference between version 11.2 and 11.3 was only the SuperSample AA option. I don`t know why but Multi-sample AA works fine only with version 11.3

If I switch to Super-sample AA (on 11.3) the ground objects (trees, buildings, rivers etc.) looks broken from far distances.

Your recommendation with Morphological filtering option helped me a lot with the white/blue triangle jaggies.

 

But I noticed one more important thing:

After any change in ATI Catalyst Center I clicked in the OFF menu Reset `CFS3` Files and configured everything all over again (Screen Resolution, Image Quality, Overrides and Texture Info)

I think thats the bridge between ATI Catalyst Center and CFS3 graphic files.

 

After a long dog-fight with ATI Catalyst settings have now eye candy graphics and incredible performance.

 

 

PS: -Double-Checked-

To be sure, I formatted my PC completely and installed everything again new > got the same results.

 

Since Catalyst 11.2 and 11.3 are designed to optimize DirectX 11 settings with 6000 and 5000 cards, ATI has introduced a few anomalies with the version of DirectX used by BHaH (I think it's 8.2)

 

Note that CFS3Config.exe has a glitch...if you close the utility by clicking on the right upper hand X, your settings won't be saved. You have to save settings by using File, Exit. (CFSConfig.exe sets graphics settings from within Workshop, or you can open it outside BHaH. It's located in the C:\OBDSoftware\CFSWW1 Over Flanders Field directory)

 

I haven't noticed the same problems with Catalyst effecting my BHaH settings..I set game settings where I want them with CFSConfig, set them in Catalyst, and then created a Catalyst profile for BHaH. (Catalyst presets have been a little glitchy with versions 11.2 and 11.3...not having any problems with BHaH, but when I created a preset for DCS-A10, my program icon disappears after activating the preset.)

 

Despite a few glitches, I think that the latest drivers give a huge boost in performance.

 

Glad everything's working well for you. Now it's time to stop fooling around with graphics settings and kill, kill, kill!!!

,

[Buddy1998 2]

My experience is not too much different than what was already said before, but I'd like to add that... "If it ain't broke, then don't fix it"....

 

My system is midrange (i5, 6970, 4Gb, 11.2 catalyst and not overclocked) and I was running OFF at good frame rates (~50-60) with settings at 555355.

 

I followed some instructions/suggestions that were on other forums in order to run dx3overrider correctly and was able to achieve the good frame rates...However,...

 

greed set in and I started to adjust my settings in "Texture Info" (even though I had a gut feeling not to do it). So, I set the Fullscreen Swap Effect to D3DSWAPEFFECT_COPY_VSYNC which made my quick combat crash (just like BirdDogICT experience). Then I went back and set everything to what was there previously and mysteriously the frame rates dropped to ~40-50. Don't know why this happened, but I'll live with these numbers and won't try to "fix" anything again.

[BirdDogICT 3]

My experience is not too much different than what was already said before, but I'd like to add that... "If it ain't broke, then don't fix it"....

 

My system is midrange (i5, 6970, 4Gb, 11.2 catalyst and not overclocked) and I was running OFF at good frame rates (~50-60) with settings at 555355.

 

I followed some instructions/suggestions that were on other forums in order to run dx3overrider correctly and was able to achieve the good frame rates...However,...

 

greed set in and I started to adjust my settings in "Texture Info" (even though I had a gut feeling not to do it). So, I set the Fullscreen Swap Effect to D3DSWAPEFFECT_COPY_VSYNC which made my quick combat crash (just like BirdDogICT experience). Then I went back and set everything to what was there previously and mysteriously the frame rates dropped to ~40-50. Don't know why this happened, but I'll live with these numbers and won't try to "fix" anything again.

Buddy1998,

 

I hear what you're saying...when playing around too much with the settings, you reach the point of diminishing returns pretty quicky. The CFS3 graphics engine is already pretty solid, so how much you tweak depends on how much aggravation you can tolerate.

 

The recommended setting for Fullscreen Swap Effect for ATI cards is D3DSWAPEFFECT_FLIP, according to the FAQ http://www.overflandersfields.com/Tips.htm. This was the recommeded setting for CFS3 and ancient ATI cards, and is still valid.

[Panama Red 22]

Here is a good article over at Tom's Hardware that explains all the NEW nVidia and ATI graphic settings:

http://www.tomshardw...adeon,2868.html

 

It seems that there have been a number of changes over the past couple of years !!!

[BirdDogICT 3]

Here is a good article over at Tom's Hardware that explains all the NEW nVidia and ATI graphic settings:

http://www.tomshardw...adeon,2868.html

 

It seems that there have been a number of changes over the past couple of years !!!

Panama Red,

 

Thanks for sharing this excellent article. Should be read by anyone wanting to understand latest nVidia and ATI drivers and hardware.

 

The major takeaway from the article is that driver support for many recent games is lacking. Also supports my latest efforts at optimizing BHaH: set 4X AA from within the game, use default overrides, set sliders to 53355, and set Catalyst AA to "Use Application Settings":and check Morphological AA. Seems to give the best combination of appearance & performance. Also helps to greatly reduce TrackIR artefacts and maintain high FPS in heavy clouds.

 

Your mileage may vary.

Edited April 24, 2011 by BirdDogICT

[ReDDoT 0]

...... Also supports my latest efforts at optimizing BHaH: set 4X AA from within the game, use default overrides, set sliders to 53355, and set Catalyst AA to "Use Application Settings":and check Morphological AA. Seems to give the best combination of appearance & performance. Also helps to greatly reduce TrackIR artefacts and maintain high FPS in heavy clouds......

 

Exact It`s really the best ATI combination for OFF.

Notice: I have only 2.5 GHz processor speed and happy with my results.

 

Thanks