Hi,I always had stutters on my system (or very few with sound off). Despite all tweaks, gurus advices and everything I still have stutters and it destroyes all feeling of simulating a flying or rolling plane. Its a shame. By the way I have a excellent 50 fps.Recently I switched to a new plane ( I was always on the same turboprop model since I do use a real cockpit with several networked computers).While taxying I had the impression that the stutters were gone and in the same time I had the bad impression of no motion. But the stutters were gone.For a little time I was almost convinced that my former flight modell was the cause of all trubbles. Then came in my mind the fact that M$FS switches the view ratio back to original 1.00 when changing an aircraft. That explained the feeling of no motion since I am always in full screen at 0.70 ratio which is a bit wide angle but give the real impression of speed when taking off, landing and taxying. The 1.00 ratio has a long lens effect.So I switched back to O.70, had finally the goos speed effect but got back as gift.....the Stutters. AMD 2500 Barton 2661024 DDR RAMASUS A7N8X-X with latest driversSAPPHIRE Radeon 9600 XT 128 RAM with latest Omega driversOn Board sound Realtek AL650 with latest driversOnly WINDOWS 2000 PRO and FS2004 running. Thanks for any advice

Does this work for you in both 2D and 3D views?Terry

What do you mean by 2D / 3D. Windowed or full screen ????When I do use the windows frame it gets in fact a bit better.Roger

SHORT360,The fact that you're reporting frame rates of 50 suggests you have not set the limiter. FS should be much smoother if you limit frame rates to 25. Try it and see if it helps. Large amounts of cloud have a detrimental effect on frame rates as does turning the aircraft.Also, on-board sound is taking processing cycles away from FS. You can help performance by investing in a sound card and disabling on-board sound.Cheers,

Ray,Limiting to 25 fps gives when making turns airborne or on ground when taxying a strobe effect I really hate and it does not help that much as regards stutters.I never use real clouds and use the sim the major time just with low visibility for IFR training.I already heard about the onboard Sound card being responsable. I tried with an older SB Live value. It did'nt help but it is an older card and I am that confident in the recent SB Win2000 drivers.Which sound card is able to "unload" the processor as regards the sound task. I am a bit lost since the expensive cards have so much features not very usefull for a simmer and more adapted to audio fans.Roger

Roger,I haven't seen this strobe effect. I assume you're using a TFT screen. Is your refresh rate set correctly? Mine is set to 75Hz as I have a analogue input to my LG 1811S 18.1" TFT but I understand that if a DVI input is used the default 60Hz is set. If you're using an analogue input try increasing the refresh rate if it's set to 60Hz.The SB Live is not really suitable anymore. Your best bet is to buy the older Audigy which should be available for a reasonable amount. That served me well for 2 years on my old machine.Cheers,

Ray,I do use a CRT Monitor at 75hz. But you know the 25 fps story is an old one which would be too long to tell. As a filmmaker for 30 years, I am mid in the problems due to wrong Fps. Really believe, I cant be happy with 25. It's probably a bug in my head.Fluidity and smoothness of any system is achieved with 50 Fps, like the television system in Europe. Motion pictures at 24 fps are just an illusion of motion. It's not fluid. It's fine for a story were you are focused on characters but as soom as you will imitate the real motion you have to go to 50 fps. I have among other movies directed some amusement park movies called motion ride films, shot in 65mm at 60 fps, because at 24 it simply was not possible. Flight simulation is the same thing. But I can understand that the majority does not feel the differences.Anyway I will see if I can find an Audigny card. ThanksCheers,Roger

Roger,If you're using a CRT then with a refresh rate of 75Hz you could be experiencing screen flicker which is not unlike the strobe effect you describe. If the monitor will allow ncrease it to 85Hz and the problem will go away.On the subject of frame rates all I can say is 25 appears totally fluid to me but I accept everyone is different. It might help if you just turn off the counter.Cheers,

I had stuttering, and also note that I had (like you) onboard sound (AC'97). Dropped a sound card into the machine last weekend (SB Audigy), and now stutters are gone. Totally. Bruce.P4-2.66G1G PC-2100ATI-9800 Pro

I am convinced. Card is on its way. New Hercules Fortissimo 7.1ThanksRoger

Remember that your mileage may vary!Bruce.

There is a lot of controversy about limiting frame rates. There is information on the forums that for ATI cards it is better to have unlimited frame rates, and that limiting them holds the card back. Limiting frame rates is something that was done in an era of weaker cards that couldn't process all the information required. I have a 9800 pro, and I find this to be exactly the case. If I limit the frames to 25, I get really crappy performance. Another thing that limits performance and contributes to stutter is the WinXP refresh rate bug. It is well documented that when running games in WinXP, it defaults the refresh rate to 60hz no matter what you have the refresh rate of your monitor set to. I have found that using a utility like Refresh Force or RTool etc... have really made a difference both in visual quality and stuttering.

I had the same trouble when I first got FSCOF.If you have not tried Black Vipers Service Configuration, set up a gaming profile and follow his gaming set-up. It worked for me, smooth as silk. I run everything maxed, PMDG, AS2004 w/10 cloud layers, many payware sceneries, and tons of AI. Locked at 25 and very very rarely see anything below 20fps, and I have it locked at 25fps.www.blackviper.comMaybe this might help if you have not tried it.

>It is well documented that when running games in WinXP, it defaults >the refresh rate to 60hz no matter what you have the refresh rate of >your monitor set to.I've heard this from so many sources for so long that in a sense you could call it "well documented". The problem is that I've never had it happen, on 3 or 4 different computers and a good half dozen video cards running on WinXP. And I know what 60hz looks like, terrible! I don't know why I havn't experienced this, just stating the fact.David

Hi,One may compare what's comparable. I often heard people claiming that the sim is as smooth as silk and when I came physically there to see it I was totally disappointed, and reinforced in my opinion. Recently there was a show on Dicovery Wings UK telling about the King of simulators. James Price an Co who have scrapped real planes and linked entire Boeing 737 cockpits spending 20.000 or 30.000 $ around in order to get running a soft for.......60 $. Some had 10 computers runnig networked in order to unload a maximum of CPU task only dedicated to FS9 and result:..STUTTERS ....and a lot of STUTTERS. It's just uncomprehensible. WHY:Simply (as I also do since I am also a cockpit owner),because we do run the sim at full screen with the 0.70 ratio. When I take a complex payware plane, with the 2D panel and run it a 1.00 ratio in the little remaining screen above the panel, I also have a (relative) smooth simulation. But that does not give you any sense of motion therefore any sense of flying simulation.Today I installed a new Herculed Fortissimo III sound card since I read here that the onboard chips are responsable for the stutters. NO change at all. I just think that piece of junk called FS9 can't do it. I just ran Xplane ( which I know has several weak points, no matter about that) to compare and it is incredible!!!With X-Plane at 30 fps I just have the impression moving in Oil, in Water, in one word in a "Fluid". FS at best performances is lightyears far from that feeling even wenn I get solid 50 fps without stutters what happens when I fly straight ahead. Stuttering starts in turns and are simply heavy in curves while taxying. It's a shame. Period.There is a huge market waiting for talented, skilled people willing to program what still does not exist for the PC computer. A simple real flight simulator. Roger