My REX experiance

[SirBenn21]

I already had FEX, but thought I'd give REX a go and bought it last week.

My first impressions were that of "Oh boy, this is great!" to eventually me pounding my fists in frustration with the performance issues I got. I have spent hours testing and changing settings to the point where I have un-installed it. Now I can fly again!!!
I obviously am not doing something right, because didn't matter what I tweaked in the cloud section there was no improvement in performance.
Maybe one of the other features in REX is the resourse HOG or maybe I'm missing a setting within my hardware.
Could someone please point me in the right direction, because I absolutly love all the improvements you can tweak.
I am using VISTA. I've tried changing things in both DX9 and DX10
I got a ASUS P5Q PRO; 4GB of RAM; Q9300 (OC to 3300 Hz); Radeon 4870 2X 2GB.

Thanks

Ben

:help:

[harleyman]

SirBen...What kind of hit did it give you? I was consitering getting this BUT.. I hate learning and setting up new stuff..

BTW...I have the 4870X2 also .........


I have read that a lot of folks are just using REX for water colors only.....

Maybe there is a place where you can lower your cloud texture resolutions???

[Francois]

I for one have not gotten past an error message, preventing me from seeing ANY of it... performance or not.

The 'performance' of their support is less than stellar unfortunately. After a few initial questions, all went quiet on the support forum. :faint:

Not impressed so far, unfortunately. Some of NickC's screenshots made me buy it !

Yeah Nick, it's all YOUR fault !!!! :173go1:

[SirBenn21]

SirBen...What kind of hit did it give you? I was consitering getting this BUT.. I hate learning and setting up new stuff..

BTW...I have the 4870X2 also .........


I have read that a lot of folks are just using REX for water colors only.....

Maybe there is a place where you can lower your cloud texture resolutions???

My FPS went from a steady 30 - 50 fps with most things maxed out to about 5 -25 fps all over the show.
I set the clouds all the way down to 512 X 512 (Which is the lowest setting) with no real performance gain. Maybe 2 -3 FPS, which in my mind is not a performance gain.
One positive thing though, was that after un-installing REX my stutters in DX9 were totally gone. :d
What I'm also going to really miss is the runway textures which are really great!
Oh well maybe I'll give it another go in a few days time. Once I've calmed down a bit and just fly for now.

Ben

[harleyman]

Is there not a way to drop the clouds, and just use the features you want like runway textures and water colors? Othere are doing it somehow...


That was a HUGH hit I would say..Not good at all...


Your stutters went away? It probably left something behind in the uninstall.. I hate that..While its doing good now, it can also cause problems down the road .....

[SirBenn21]

Maybe I should re-install and remove all options at first and then enable one at a time with a test flight in between each change.
Makes sence, but it's gonna take hours again! :faint:

I'll give it a try maybe tomorrow.

Of topic, but I have another problem. I seem to have somehow lost some of my admin rights with right clicking. I can right click on the usual stuff like recycle bin and other standard icons and get a drop down menu, but when I try to right click on some, say for instance on the FSX.exe. it instantly closes the explorer window.
I only have the administrator user acount on my PC. I've tried to see where I can change this but to no avail. Any ideas?

Ben

[harleyman]

First off...A big install like that requires a defragg with a good defragger (XP and Vista) ones I do not like..it may take two defraggs to get it all good...

What explorer window are you refering to when you launch FSX.exe?

Try a reboot , or is this an ongoing thing?

Are you OCed at the CPU ?

[limjack]

SirBenn21, hope you can get it up and running. From what I have heard and experienced the biggest frame rate killer is the tropical water. So you might try limiting those setting first. On my rig everything runs fine until I tic the water in options box and the high resolutions and notice a hit on FPS and if I fly for a while over the ocean I will eventually get the out of memory and game over at times...but I love the water at this setting. Otherwise the program itself did not take away from my normal FPS. Hope you can get things worked out.

My sytem spects below.

System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 2/5/2008, 11:11:00
Machine name: IBUYPOWER
Operating System: Windows Vista™ Ultimate (6.0, Build 6000) (6000.vista_gdr.071009-1548)
System Manufacturer: System manufacturer
System Model: System Product Name
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.4GHz
Memory: 3070MB RAM
Page File: 1311MB used, 5013MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 10
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 6.00.6000.16386 32bit Unicode
Display Devices
---------------
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce 8800 GTX
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0191&SUBSYS_C8313842&REV_A2
Display Memory: 2011 MB
Dedicated Memory: 732 MB
Shared Memory: 1279 MB
Current Mode: 1920 x 1200 (32 bit) (60Hz)

Jim

[IanHenry]

Did you click the DXT5 optimized clouds option? This makes a big difference to FPS. Changing the cloud resolution from the highest setting makes no difference to the performance on my modest machine.<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
Intel E2700 2.66<o:p></o:p>
2GB Ram <o:p></o:p>
Nvidea 8000GTX<o:p></o:p>
<o:p> </o:p>
Ian<o:p></o:p>

[dharris]

I am still using FEX, GEX and UTX with FSX and am having great luck, good performance and so far the only problem has been the my X key seems to stick for no apparent reason.:ernae:

[SirBenn21]

"First off...A big install like that requires a defragg with a good defragger (XP and Vista) ones I do not like..it may take two defraggs to get it all good..."

I use UltimateDefrag 2008.

"What explorer window are you refering to when you launch FSX.exe?

Try a reboot , or is this an ongoing thing?"

If I for instance open "My Computer" navigate to the folder I want, then right click on a app. That explorer window. It's been like that for a few weeks now. Even if I right click on certain icons on my desktop. It just refreshes my whole desktop for me without allowing the dropdown menu.

"Did you click the DXT5 optimized clouds option?"

Yes. This only really showed a slight increase in DX10 mode 1 - 2 fps.

"Changing the cloud resolution from the highest setting makes no difference to the performance on my modest machine."

I noticed the same thing. If set on 4095 X 4095 OR 512 X 512. No difference.

" am still using FEX, GEX and UTX with FSX and am having great luck, good performance"

I have all of these and have never had any performance issues with them, but hey I've bought REX and should give it one more concerted effort to get it to work.
Just need to let the blood pressure go down. :)

Thanks guys for all the suggestions

Ben

[papab]

I already had FEX, but thought I'd give REX a go and bought it last week.

My first impressions were that of "Oh boy, this is great!" to eventually me pounding my fists in frustration with the performance issues I got. I have spent hours testing and changing settings to the point where I have un-installed it. Now I can fly again!!!
I obviously am not doing something right, because didn't matter what I tweaked in the cloud section there was no improvement in performance.
Maybe one of the other features in REX is the resourse HOG or maybe I'm missing a setting within my hardware.
Could someone please point me in the right direction, because I absolutly love all the improvements you can tweak.
I am using VISTA. I've tried changing things in both DX9 and DX10
I got a ASUS P5Q PRO; 4GB of RAM; Q9300 (OC to 3300 Hz); Radeon 4870 2X 2GB.

Thanks

Ben

:help:

I guess it's best left to the customers to describe:


Date Added: Sunday 11 January, 2009

This has to be the best FSX addon out there for clouds, wave animation, taxiway and runway textures! It is very user friendly and i have absolutely no idea how I flew without it!! 5 out of 5 defiantly!!

Rating: 5 of 5 Stars! [5 of 5 Stars!]

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Date Added: Sunday 28 December, 2008

REX has transformed my FSX experience. The incredible realism of the cloud formations and water effects has to be seen to believe. I thought Active Sky and Xgraphics were good until now. I particulary like the tropical "haze" effect towards the horizon when flying out of my old favourite location of St Maarten in the Netherlands Antilles. My FPS have actually improved with the 4096 cloud resolution and DXT5 setting recommended to start with. Read the manual carefully when installing and make sure to adjust the _Protocol_, _Address_, and _Port_ elements of the xml file with the same fields set in the SimConnect.cfg file. In 25 years of flight simming REX is probably the best add on I have purchased.

Rating: 5 of 5 Stars! [5 of 5 Stars!]

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Date Added: Sunday 28 December, 2008

If you like FSX then this is a must!!!I wont fly without REX turned on.Cloud formations are so real,and its great to see the coral reefs in the oceans when you fly over them.

Rating: 5 of 5 Stars! [5 of 5 Stars!]


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Date Added: Tuesday 23 December, 2008

The program si awesome, weather & flight plan engine provides useful information. However, i have a very very good machine, and sometimes the FPS are not too "friendly". Note that iusually like to run things all MAXED out so maybe that might be one of the reasons. However, the graphix are amazing and it was worth the wait. Buy it is awesome !

Rating: 4 of 5 Stars! [4 of 5 Stars!]


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Date Added: Saturday 20 December, 2008

There are two things that I have purchased to date that have truly exponentialy increased the emersion of Microsofts Flight Simulator the first is the trackIR, and the second is Real Environment Xtreme. This is the best software add on for FSX. Absolutely worth every penny of the price.

Rating: 5 of 5 Stars! [5 of 5 Stars!]

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Date Added: Monday 15 December, 2008

A must have for every serious computer pilot. The most fun I have ever had with FSX is with this add-on.

Rating: 5 of 5 Stars! [5 of 5 Stars!]


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Date Added: Tuesday 09 December, 2008

I like REX, because it's the first addon, witch shows clouds as in nature. It's beautiful to fly in the sky with all the clouds and the sun reflecting seawater under.

Rating: 5 of 5 Stars! [5 of 5 Stars!]

[papab]

I already had FEX, but thought I'd give REX a go and bought it last week.

My first impressions were that of "Oh boy, this is great!" to eventually me pounding my fists in frustration with the performance issues I got. I have spent hours testing and changing settings to the point where I have un-installed it. Now I can fly again!!!
I obviously am not doing something right, because didn't matter what I tweaked in the cloud section there was no improvement in performance.
Maybe one of the other features in REX is the resourse HOG or maybe I'm missing a setting within my hardware.
Could someone please point me in the right direction, because I absolutly love all the improvements you can tweak.
I am using VISTA. I've tried changing things in both DX9 and DX10
I got a ASUS P5Q PRO; 4GB of RAM; Q9300 (OC to 3300 Hz); Radeon 4870 2X 2GB.

Thanks

Ben

:help:
This is by far the BEST program I have ever purchased for FSX!!!!

Customer Service problems- I do not think so-Every new program has a growing period. The folks at REX are the most responsive to questions an issues...

If you want to change your flying experience and make FSX an exciting hobby again invest a mere $40 and you will get the following.
You decide after you see my screen shots that come staright from the "V" key...

[hews500d]

I purchased it last weekend and love it ! I used to be a "low and slow" type of guy, but I'm finding myself in the Flight 1 Mustang more and more just so I can get up around the cumulus clouds and fly some IFR. Haven't encountered any problems other than a couple random crashes and would highly recommend it.

Darrell

[SirBenn21]

The fact that this add-on is really great is not in dispute. I just want to run it with some respectable FPS and at the moment I can't.

Ben

[papab]

The fact that this add-on is really great is not in dispute. I just want to run it with some respectable FPS and at the moment I can't.

Ben
Try this site out:
http://www.highflightsimulations.com/home.html

The tweaks section helped me out a lot
I have my system locked at 30 FPS and I get varying FPS depending on location. Most of the time it is over 20...That works for me

[Dimus]

My rig is not that stellar and I have done no specialized tweaks. It runs OK for me and I love it. Afraid I can't help you though as I haven't done anything bar following the install instructions. I use DX10 preview mode. I have not yet managed to tweak DX9 to match the performance of DX10 on my rig despite all the help I had gotten on this forum. I have also played with the water tint and animation within REX to make it as closer to the Aegean Sea Blue as I know it is. The following is from last evening's flight to Mykonos from Tatoi. I used the Carenado C182RG, UTX Europe and REX. My specs:

Intel Q6600 2.4
4 Gig RAM DDR2 667
Nvidia 9600GT512
Vista 32

I was getting a constant 30-40 FPS during that flight. When I am close to big cities with lots of autogen and traffic it can get as low as 18 but I'm OK with this. Strangely enough the two settings that made a huge difference to my install in general is using DX10 and setting FPS to unlimited. I know these are contrary to many posts in this forum but they worked for me and I'm enjoying FSX now to the fullest.

[harleyman]

Great shots Dimus.....Nice clouds....:applause:

[SolarEagle]

SirBenn, if you are seeing a performance problem with REX installed but gone when you remove it that should be an easy one to troubleshoot.

First install REX again, but before you load any textures or other REX elements go into the Configuration and disable the weather engine and various other features, so the only thing REX is allowed to do is swap textures. After that go into Options and remove the check marks from all texture sets, then put checks back into a single set only, such as airport textures, then install only the one set, and test. If performance is ok, leave the airport textures in place and then install only water textures, for example, and test again. If performance is ok with all textures installed then go back and re-enable the other features, such as weather engine, etc, and test.

The key to installing textures in a timely manner is to uncheck all but the ones you want to install, so it copies only those, as any previously installed textures will remain installed and do not need to be copied over again.

Aside from the weather engine elements, the only thing REX does is replace textures, and if you are using textures equal to the default resolution its not really possible to effect performance. On my system I'm able to use 4096 non DXT5 clouds in combination with 16xS supersampling at 1600x1200 and not see a performance hit with a 30fps lock. Though when using non DXT5 clouds, I have to use 2048 otherwise I see a hit with even 8xS supersampling.

[foreigndevil]

Haven't been flying much lately but the flying I did was with REX. As far as frame rates are concerned, they are similar to ordinary FSX; the main problem I have is heavy stutter, which wasn't there before I started using REX. But the textures are great!