My system is a Dell 9150/XP professional/SP2/P4 3.4GHz/2GB Ram/Nvidia GeForce 6800/300GB HD. I'm fairly new to FS9. Frame rates drop when I used the SkyDecks panel & the PMDG747-00, also when using Heathrow & similar airports. Most sliders are set to the right except for weather. I wonder if the 6800 graphics card is up to the job, & if a better one would help? If so, what? Thanks,TerryW.

Terry, it seems that you've been around these forums for a while; you must have noticed the number of similar threads over the past few years....FS is very CPU intensive, and not so much reliant on the video card. Sure, you could upgrade your card, but you'll not notice much difference in FS9...perhaps it'll be a little smoother, and textures may focus a fraction faster, but nothing to really rave about! A faster and more powerfull CPU is what'll really help; maybe look to one of the new Intel Dual Core CPU's...that may make places like Heathrow a bit easier! You have to remember, that although a decent video card (which you already have) will make things look pretty, at busy airports with dozens and dozens of AI aircraft coming and going; all following their own flight-plans, and ATC guidance, it's the CPU that is doing most of the work...it has to create the 'world', look after the ATC logic for each AI plane, and yours, follow each and every preset flight-plan for every AI plane on the ground and in the air within a certain range of the airport, and of course, look after the systems of YOUR aircraft, and, it's got to look after what the weather is doing....Quite a bit, eh?!?To get a good example of how well your video card is working, turn OFF all AI traffic, and then start a flight at Heathrow. With no aI around, you'll find fps running pretty much at whatever level you lock your fps at. Turn up the AI in small amounts; say, 5% at a time, and whatch those frame rates start to fall!! of course the video card is being taxed more, but as long as your AI is well designed, the textures shouldn't be eating into your frame-rates too much. If it's possible, just to test, replace your video card with something a little inferior to your 6800; maybe a 6600 series - you'll hardly notice a difference in fps...A newer and faster card will almost certainly give a big shot of frame-rate power to most other games: Call of Duty 2, Quake 4, Doom 3, etc, but not, unfortunately, to FS9, or FSX!!

Thanks. I've only got default AI. I'm going look for a new gaming machine from somewhere. I don't have to watch the pennies & I know someone who would snap this Dell up as a Christmas gift! Thanks for your advice but I usually keep away from big airports except when I fly from Victoria to Seattle. I want to install FSX so I'll wait for a new machine.