Problems with Jupiter´s clouds and FSAA 6XS

[danielj]

I enabled FSAA 6XS and the Jupiter clouds(of the cloud map) started to show many textures appearing and disappearing above the clouds(look like pieces of orange texture,mimicking lightnings).When I toggle the clouds off,the problem disappearIt?s very weird.Anyone know what?s happening?

[Guest]

My guess is that by enabling 6xFSAA you've used up all your video memory. Celestia seems to do weird things when that happens.

[Don. Edwards]

Try running with 4x FSAA and see if it still has this effect. If it doesn't than you just found your cards limit. Just because there is the option for 6x or even 8x FSAA doesn't mean you can actualy use it. 6 and 8 X FSAA really only works on the very fastest of video cards. Meaning the top of the line cards. You didn't specify what card you are using so without more info we can't go any further.

Don. Edwards

[TERRIER]

Is the 6XS setting only compatible with Direct 3D and not Open GL?
Hence problems when trying to use this setting with Celestia

regards
TERRIER

[Don. Edwards]

Again that will depend on the make of the card (ATI or NVidia) and what model. We still haven't heard back as to what me is using.

Don. Edwards

[Guest]

As I told before,my video card is a Geforce FX 5700 128 MB DDR from MSI.There isn?t artifacts with FSAA 4X.

Again that will depend on the make of the card (ATI or NVidia) and what model. We still haven't heard back as to what me is using.

Don. Edwards

[danielj]

As I told before,my video card is a Geforce FX 5700 non Ultra 128 MB DDR

Again that will depend on the make of the card (ATI or NVidia) and what model. We still haven't heard back as to what me is using.

Don. Edwards

[TERRIER]

Do you have the 8x option available Daniel ?

If you do, are you witnessing any problems using this setting ?

[Don. Edwards]

The 5700 chipset is a derivitave of the 5800/5900 series. It has fewer features sets in some areas. I would have to go to NVidia's site to get the specifics but it is very possible that is were the issue is arising. Again as I had posted earlier just because the driver control panel offers a setting of 6x it doesn't mean it can do it well. The 5700 only has about half the memory bandwidth of the 5900 series cards, 10gigs versus 20+gigs for the 5900 series. I have a 5900 and I can do 6x and even 8x times but at 8x things slow down a bit. I would think it has to do with the memory bandwidth issue, simple as that. The 5700 is still considered a budget card. The 5700 chipset replaces the 5600 which did have a few issues. So all in all I would say that at this point there isn't anything you can do. The drivers treat your card the same as the 5700 ultra and of course offers the same features. But of course these cards have different memory speeds and memory bandwidths.
Another option is that you just may have bought a bad card. It does happen. The chip probably passed all the tests that NVidia puts them through. But your cards chip may have issues with the 6x setting. I have a similar problem with my card. I have read many articles about slightly overclocking my model video card. Most users have been able to get very respectable speed ups. I on the other hand can't overclock my card at all. It just starts acting up. The culprit is the memory. I clock the chip up but not the memory. So I gave up and will just live with it the way it is.
So depending on who made your card you may be able to get an exchange with the manufacturer if they have a liberal exchange policy. Also if you just bought the card you can always return it and exchange it for another of the same model and retry testing and see if the 6x setting than works. If it does you can point to the card. If it still doesn't work than it is either the fact that it simply can't use 6x FSAA with Celestia or it is a driver issue. As you can see there are several reasons why the 6x FSAA isn't working for you. You will have to choose how to handle the issue from here. There is also the possibility that a future driver update may fix this problem for you. Stranger things have happened.
As you can see there is no really easy answer from here. IO could go on and on how to try and debug the whole thing. There is the possibility it is the aforementioned drivers, it could be your install of Windows. It could be your AGP settings in your bios. It could be a conflict with your motherboards chipset. As you see I really can keep going.
What I would do is this. First if you have an old hard drive lying around you could try and do a totally clean install of Windows. You didn't mention what version you are using. Install windows and then all the needed drivers. Then if possible copy your present install of Celestia onto that drive and give it a try with the 6x FSAA option. If you still the problem than you can look elsewhere for an answer. Sometimes Windows substitutes parts of NVida's drivers with there own version. This will of course make Celestia not function properly. I really can't go any farther. I work as a computer repair tech so I could go on and on. It all depends on how familiar you are with the workings of your computer. If you per say built your own system from scratch you have a very good chance of working this bug out, if it can be worked out. But if you just went down and either ordered it from a big OEM or a local shop than you are definitely going to have some major trouble working this out.
If you are fairly computer literate, meaning you know to build them I can try and help you some more. But at this point all I can do is start to get very technical about things. Not the best way to teach someone how to debug there system. If you have any further questions you can send me a private message and we can discuss your system, its components and what all might be the problem. Free tech advice isn't easy to come by.
I leave it up to you.

Don. Edwards