Hoping for Better ?

[Guest]

Hi GuysAny advice - I have a system that is 2.6 Intel processor with 1gig ddr ram and 128mb 4x agp video card [actually N Vidia mx440 8x agp card limited by the MB to 4x] and 30gb 7200 hard drive.When using FS9 I can never get any frame rates higher then 15 to 20 with all FS settings turned down and 10-12 fps with everything turned up and some weather. [Low density scenary area at 1024 res] - however every few seconds the frame rate jumps to 30/40 momentarily and then drops again - I have no anti-virus software running. My system also suffers a stutter - slight but noticeable, especially in turns - I was just wondering if anyone thinks I have something happenning to slow this system down or is this as good I can expect. I have tried turning off the vitual memory but no difference.I was hoping my system would perform on FS9 a little better than this.Be glad to get any comments or suggestions

[Ray Proudfoot]

Roger,You haven't mentioned the chipset on the AGP card. That could be the crucial factor. Details please.Stutters are present in almost every system and have been around since FS first went to a Windows platform many moons ago. Stutters in turns are common and are to do with extra calculations with the scenery being displayed at an angle.A few tips...1. Set your page file to a fixed size of 1000Mb (1Gb).2. Clouds play a big factor in performance. If you're downloading on-line weather try using inbuilt weather themes for fair weather.3. Defrag your hard drive - regularly.4. Run EndItAll - a freeware utility that closes all non-essential programs. Search using Google.5. Set your frame rate limiter to 20. Does that help?Any system is only as good as its weakest component. It sounds as though your graphics card could be an issue. Once we know what it is then the remedial work can start.Cheers,

[michal]

A little bit of investigation would be helpful. What I would do is to go to some remote, island-based airport (say San Salvador, Bahamas), set up with no weather (clear skies), set all your ground options (scenery quality) to high (massive textures, extended scenery, but no-shadows etc.) and then you should see some very high frame rates. You should because with my PIII 500 in a scenario outlined above I can easily get 25 fps flying default Cessna. Even with "fair skies" clouds I get 20 fps on my system at San Salavdor (fps set to 20). And then moving to Monterey, California - where airport has some buildings and terrain is getting more complex you should still see very good frame rates provided your weather is very simple. If this is not the case then there is something wrong with your system. When testing above it is important to turn-off autogen, ground shadows and AI aircraft. Michael J.http://www.reality-xp.com/community/nr/rsc/rxp-higher.jpg