NEC TS 2012 Optimized

[RSAdam]

Hi Phill,

You cant stick your head out the side of a real Acela either :)

I'l gather my PC spec and post it up. It would appear that it isn't the lights causing the performance drop, but more likely the switch to using the TSX engine, which as I've said before is simply more demanding because its doing more stuff.

I'd also like to note that I'm not 'using the community to test the DLC' here. All our conducted testing has not shown these issues, and we have a full range of machines and OS types. We are also not seeing a flood of emails in support noting huge performance drops in the NEC route.

I'm merely trying to help you guys on this thread :)

Regards

[RSAdam]

COMPUTER
=========================================
Processor Information:
Vendor: GenuineIntel
Speed: 2653 Mhz
8 logical processors
4 physical processors

Operating System Version:
Windows 7 (64 bit)

Video Card:
Driver Version: 8.17.11.9745
DirectX Driver Version: 8.17.12.6658
Desktop Color Depth: 32 bits per pixel
Monitor Refresh Rate: 75 Hz
DirectX Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285
Desktop Resolution: 2560 x 1024
Primary Bus: PCI Express 16x
Primary VRAM: 1024 MB
Supported MSAA Modes: 2x 4x 8x

Memory:
RAM: 12279 Mb

Train Simulator 2012 Settings
=========================================
TSX Enabled
High Setting
Resolution : 1280x1024 Full Screen
Texture Filtering x4
Post Processing Yes
Multi-Sampling X8
MLAA+MSAA x8
30FPS lock enabled

Ingame Options
=========================================
Custom
High or Highested on all settings
Proceedural Flora Ticked
Depth of Field Ticked

Drive By Train >> Silver Star Acela Scenario
Shift+Z @ start >> 27fps
Passing Secaucus station @ 115mph >> 30fps
Stop at Newark station >> 21fps
Headlight on throughout

[bigphill]

Hi Adam
My specs i7 960 stock 3.2g 6gbs 2000 ram gtx480 card win7 64bit NEC acela sub 15 (looks like 5) Before update i was amazed at how well NEC ran, pppfs 70plus, now this. Swithing of tsx makes no difference nor does lights wipers or anything else i can think of. Also other DLC not operating now. I have not contacted RSC because judging from forums its very wide spread. Is the loco supposed to jump around so violently on NEC maybe that might be burning up resources. I hope an answer comes soon

Regards.....Phill

[RSAdam]

Hi Phill,

I would highly recommend contacting support@railsimulator.com if you experiencing problems with the products you have purchased.

In here, I am trying to help on a more personal level than as an official representative of the company.

The cab sway and jostling of the trains on the NEC route is highly authentic, at least from the research and investigating that was undertaken, and the ride that I took while in Philadelphia :)

Regards

[johnmckenzie]

Fixed floating cars at Zoo

Aw, shucks! I quite liked them!

[styckx]

A 2.6ghz Intel and GeForce GTX 285 at a slightly lower resolution performs better than a 6990 and a i7 @ 4ghz at 1920x1080?

I give up. That isn't even funny.. The performance slide Nvidia gets is awful. My PC blows that away and even with AA off I can't run the Acela Express scenario.

Edit: Wait. That's the Silver Express scenario he wrote.. Swore is was Acela Express... .. Mine runs that fine.. Albeit around the same FPS, but fine..

[styckx]

Ok, at work and more importantly have got coffee in my system now.

Just wanted to squeeze in, that I appreciate the 'off the clock' help Adam.

Now, I should turn the lights on, and open this popsicle stand. :)

[imnew]

In here, I am trying to help on a more personal level than as an official representative of the company.

Regards

A big thank you for being here RSAdam, your presence is very much appreciated.

My pc :

Intel E8500 Overclocked 3,7ghz
Nvidia EVGA GTX 570 Superclocked
Crucial Ballistix 4 GB
Windows 7 64 Bit
Kingston HyperX 120gb SSD dedicated to TS2012

Your/Railworks HQ`s TSX engine looks amazing, it really does ! However, it sure is eating up system performance at an unreasonable level. Still, im having a blast with TS2012 !

Im not sure if you are allowed to talk about this yet, but... Whats going on with the multicore button? Will we ever see TS2012 use more "cores" ? Im sure this would adress alot of
my fellow TS2012 simmers problems, right ?

Again, its really nice to be able to actually talk to people like yourself RSAdam and the others from RWHQ, it shows commitment and that you guys are in it for the long haul.

Anyways, its friday, how about that beer

Thomas

[chrisreb]

For me it is the rain. NEC is probably to worst performer of all the routes.

Tried the rain scenario and was getting 10FPS consistently despite a lot of fiddling with settings (albeit a lot at the higher end). Tried the Business scenario in clear weather on same settings and got between 17 -29FPS mainly arounfs 22FPS. Same track, both with Acela.

[Griphos]

I saw a couple of posters at uktrainsim making the same point, which has left me a bit puzzled as to why screenshots I took in TSX mode did show some reduction in jaggies after changing the launch window setting from no AA to MLAA-only, and perhaps more so switching from MLAA-only to MLAA + 8x MSAA.

No AA
http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/4403/noaa8xaf.png

MLAA-only
http://img534.imageshack.us/img534/2497 ... ly8xaf.png

MLAA + 8x MSAA
http://img404.imageshack.us/img404/8093/8xmsaa8xaf.png

There are parts such as the top of the brick wall where there's no significant effect, but clear differences such as the vertical stripes on the foreground building which lose their jaggies in MLAA-only, and the power lines to the right and left of the scene, which become smooth in MLAA + 8x MSAA mode. This does not seem consistent with the claim these AA modes are technically impossible in TSX mode, and I wonder if it varies depending on GPU (I'm using a Radeon 6850) or if it's just the differences are too subtle to be as noticable in-game.

I missed this post yesterday in reading the back and forth on performance more generally (still trying to decide whether to get NEC). This is very interesting. I've not tried lower than x4 myself, but noticed no real difference I could detect at higher settings, except for lower FPS. I don't take screenshots though. I do in FSX a fair bit and have noticed different AA in the pics from what I experienced in the game and so have wondered if there is an AA difference in screenshots from in sim. But it could be that not noticing any improvement at higher settings is just due to the subtlety of the difference while moving in the sim and paying attention to driving (or even my aging eyes). I do see the difference in your screenshots.

I've also heard that TSX doesn't implement AA, so I'm still very curious about this.

I'm more curious about how NEC runs with TSX on and off, and which looks better. Adam's stated performance seems promising. But there seem to be many others who experience even the regular NEC scenarios at low frames. Horseshoe can really crawl for me, while all other routes I've run, and I think I've done at least one scenario from all of them now, run mostly locked at 30 or 40 (depending on the limit I set). With TSX off, do I just lose light and shadow and Rain effects, or are the graphics different in a larger way? When I run other routes in the rain with shadows at medium, performance is fine.

Phil

[Importz2k1]

Hi Phill,
I'd also like to note that I'm not 'using the community to test the DLC' here. All our conducted testing has not shown these issues, and we have a full range of machines and OS types. We are also not seeing a flood of emails in support noting huge performance drops in the NEC route.

I'm merely trying to help you guys on this thread :)

Regards

Mr. Adam,

Please don't take our levels of frustration with the game and think we are bashing, we are not. Speaking for myself, I spent quite a bit to build a new pc just for this game only to have numerous problems aswell.

GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3+ AMD 990FX SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
G.skill Ripjaws X Series 16gb (4 X 4gb) 240-pin Ddr3 Sdram Ddr3 1600 (Pc3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800cl9q-16gbxl
Phenom II X4 980 3.70 GHz Processor - Socket AM3 PGA-938
XFX HD-695X-CNDC Radeon HD 6950 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity
PC Power and Cooling Silencer Mk II 950W High Performance 80PLUS Silver SLI CrossFire ready Power Supply
2-Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler, RR-B10-212P-G1
Windows 7 64-bit

Since the 2012 update, I've already had to re-install the game 3 times. (not a problem though, whatever it takes to make it work). There have been others that have spent far more than me having different problems. (which is where the frustration is coming from). I am confident that you and your team will get it right. We appreciate all of the hard work the RSC team is doing.

Jay

[gwgardner]

Just got the NEC, FPS constant at 14, with all settings to highest, with exception of shadows to high. No choppiness or stuttering. I don't have a great computer, but don't see any problems with NEC. The rain scenario was no different in terms of smoothness than the others.

I5, 4 gig, Nvidia GT 220, screen res 1440x900, basic settings at medium (MLAA + MSAAx4)

[dcushing]

I want to suggest to anyone having lockup problems to delete the NEC and the verify the cache. I must have originally gotten a corrupt download bucause after doing just that, my NEC now runs fine. Now to go hunting for an Acela Express.

Duncan

[spacedyemeerkat]

I'm more curious about how NEC runs with TSX on and off, and which looks better.

Here, try these screenshots I took this morning to email to RSC.

TSX off -


TSX on -


I personally think the NEC looks better with TSX off, primarily because of the vastly reduced aliasing which, frankly, undermines much of the good work RSC has done.

[Toripony]

I'm just an observer on these threads about problems with the new routes... ... it still perplexes me that I see the most problem posts from players with custom, super built PCs, while those with hum-drum factory built systems report these routes running fine?!?!?!?! (need a head-scratching smilie here) I'm not insinuating ANYTHING.... it just really puzzles me. Is it just the ratio of geeks vs. average PC users posting here or is there something about newer "super" hardware that doesn't like some piece of TS12 or the TSX engine (maybe an antiquated file type, a certain piece of recurring code or something)? And the problems are all over the board! If RSC help desk ticket counts look like the picture I'm getting from the forums, I bet they are puzzled, too.

P.S. Afterthought..... geeks tend to load lots of tuners, testers, fixers, monitors, and other special apps that only geeks like to use... I know, I used to do it too. But the average users tend to have "cleaner" setups (albeit, usually with a trashy Windows registry)... I live in this computing realm myself now-a-days. I wonder what would happen if all the super-users had a clean setup without any unnecessary processes or services running? That could help explain the randomness of the problems and maybe why Adam's setup appears to perform so well. Adam, whatcha got running in the background?