Hey guys!After several weeks of struggling with my new rig (Fx55, GA-K8NSC-939, 2x512 Dual Channel, 200 Gb WD and PNY 6800GT, XP pro) I am able to say it is...almost finished, lol.Unfortunately, the sound card I had (a 16bit one, the ones with gameport) never worked, as it seems this kind of mobo will never allow one of the older SCs. It doesn't recognize the drivers, no matter which one I install. For that reason I am using the onboard mainboard sound. It seems this is affecting FS, as, when I get into an area with more traffic or some heavy scenery, FS starts to fail, mostly when doing spot view, and I get a freeze with the sound repeating itself until I press S and I am back in the 2d cockpit.So, although I hate to buy a SC, it seems I have no remedy but doing it.Just looking for your advice. If possible when advicing check it is available in compusa as it is the only store that exists here (PR) that has a good stock in harware. I would like to go to the store and buy it instead of waiting 4/5 days until UPS delivers what I can buy online.Thanks,Leo

Hi Leo,Are you certain that your old SC can't be used? Did you look at your BIOS settings to see if you can make a change there to switch from integrated sound to a PCI card?Having said that, I doubt that the integrated sound system is causing your problem. Try making a flight into heavy scenery with lots of traffic with the sound disabled (press the "Q" key). If the same failure occurs, then I'd look elsewhere. R-

Leo:I have the same problem after I up-grade my rig, I changed my mobo to Asus AV8 and upgraded CPU to AMD64 3200+ from AMD 2500+ (overclock to 3200+), I kept my ATI 9800pro.First, the fps dropped after up-grade and I heard popping sound from the speaker. I tried to install a new sound card driver (I have Sound Blaster Live) then got a message "no Sound Blaster sound card detected".Then I tried to use on-board sound by switching the sound card off thru BIOS without success. After few tries I finally figured out you need physically remove the sound card in order to use the on-board sound.With on-board sound activated, annoying popping sound disappeared but I suffered from inconsistent fps: sometime I can get 20 cockpit 30 outside for one flight but most of the time I got about 10 fps lower with the exact the same airplane (Aeroworx King Air) and the same airport (KSEA).I still could not figure out why this happened but I think I started with sound card problem why don't I buy another one to see if it is the cause of the problem. An Audigy SE costs $30 at local Compusa but I found a better deal on buy.com. They sell Audigy 2 ZS platinum for $75 after $100 rebate and I also have 10% off coupon they e-mail me so the final cost is about $60. I know this card is too much for me but you can not beat the deal.I haven't got the card yet but I will report the result when I install it.BTW, when I turn off the sound (Q key) I get 5 fps improvemnt, I guess this is how much the on-board sound can tax your fps. ~ Charles

Ron,I have tried everything possible (And I consider myself more than a novice in harware and software installation and tweaking), and no matter that I disable the onboard sound, windows does not recognize the installed drivers, although it does see the PCI card installed. I will try the Q to see if I still get those freezes before I get a new SC.I still think it is the onboard sound as, like I said before, previous mobo sound drivers caused crashes (the debugger showed IRQLs conflicts). I have seen people with this problem in other forums and it was always a sound driver conflict. Charles:I don't really notice any improvement in fps if I turn the sound off with the Q key. I guess it is because I have my fps locked at 25, and the processor and VC are able to run at 40/50 with heavy addons. Unfortunately, that doesn't help with this freezing problem. Let us know how you did with the new SC.Leo

It is possible your old sound card just will not work in Windows XP as many do not. And yes, on-board sound will cause frame rate drops.You can buy sound cards very cheaply everywhere and it doesn't really matter which one it is for FS9 as long a drivers for XP are available. You may want to think ahead a bit and if you plan on buying Vista later this year then you may want to go ahead and buy a good sound card.

Well actually the sound card works in my other system, which is a P4 3.0 with XP Pro too. I am new to AMD and 939 pins, so I assume the problem is that newest mainboards, with technology to handle 939 pins processors, won't accept the old card. It is not a XP problem though.What do you think?Leo

It was the sound card all along. I got a 24bit Audigy 4, installed it and the system recognizes the drivers.I also chaged the 2x512 with 2x1G Ram.I did a flight yesterday and FS was perfectly smooth. All freeze ups and stutters were gone.Leo