Well, I finally installed FS9 on the XPS Gen 4 (3.8 Ghz) and it is superlative. In 1600x1200x32 bit, with FSAA 4x and Aniso of 4x--initial experimental levels for now--and all sliders set max right except for max vis of only 100 nm and clouds of 60nm, I am getting fantastic visuals and good frames on LCD monitors. Ranges are from a low of 22-23 at KSEA on takeoff roll in the default Boeing 744 to a high of 70 in the same plane at 3000-5000'. Average, if you can say there is an average, seems to be around 40-45 range. The thing I am observing is that even with massive cloud and t-storms, and rain, etc., the frames remain strong, up in the 35 to 40 level. I am impressed especially given the "native" 1600x1200 res of the bigger LCD monitor.The drivers on my Radeon X850XT PE card are ATI 6.14.10.6490. I have no idea what that means--I only know nVidia. But heck if the visuals are great, do I need to upgrade?I am going to spend the next month testing every add-on transferred from my other DELL P4, piece by piece. This is looking good. I may finally be getting something close to TV motion quality.JS

Congrats on the new system! Sounds great.With all that horsepower you should be able to crank up the AF above 4X. Try it at 16X Quality. Also, try the AA at 6X to see if you like it and how the system handles it. That video card can certainly get it done!!"..are ATI 6.14.10.6490."I believe your drivers are the 4.9's. You might give the latest versions a try. Starting with the 4.10's there are specific game optimizations (our sim wasn't included - blah), but some of the optimizations are also for all games that use the DirectX API.Be sure to use Drivercleaner to scrub your system when changing drivers: http://www.drivercleaner.net/Finally, see my post #12 here for maintaining monitor drivers.Cheers,Greg

Thanks, Greg, will look at your link later and might try to upgrade.JS

They key step when changing the video driver is to use the cleanup utility in safe mode. I did not know it and immediately got into trouble. Greg rescued me ...Michael J.WinXP-Home SP2,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8,Radeon X800Pro,36GB Raptor,1GB PC3200,Audigy 2

OK, slow for me for now.Just re-seated the CMOS battery after getting ALERT! on startup all the time.One thing at a time, every day. Drivers will have their day with me....eventually.So far the XPS looks great. Its big blue light keeps me calm and steady.And I got it at half price. What a deal!JS