SUCCESS! I just landed at George Grimshaw's detailed KBOS and not an artifact in sight! 22 FPS with AI at 60%, AA at 8x and AF at 16x.Cool!Have fun,

Awesome!!!Congrats and you should do even better when you are running matched 1333 memory to your 1333 FSB + you can overclock on these sticks all day... Even on air with no voltage adjustments you should be able to hit 3.8 by just bumping up the FSB.Enjoy,-PaulHa, I am waiting for my UPS driver with my NewEgg delivery too... I am going from the 24 to a 28 inch monitor. Amazing how we rely on Newegg and UPS ;)Primary RigLiquid CooledIntel C2D E8500 468X9.5 @ 4.45Asus Maximus Extreme2 gigs OCZ Reaper DDR3 @1400Dual OC'd XFX 8800GTX @ 2 gigs24 inch Widescreen LCD 16XAA/16XAFDual 19 inch LCD'sRaid-0+1PCPower and Cooling 1k Quad SLIhttp://home.comcast.net/~psolk/3monitorsa.htmlBackup RigAMD 4000 San Diego @ 2.72 Gigs Kingston Corsair XMS CL2XFX 7900 GTX Raid-0

ATI dosen't like Mip maps? We'll have to keep that in mind. Nvidia still owns the road. That 8800GT is down to $150 these days. On the O/Cing front, remember that a 1333 FSB is actually a quad pumped 333Mhz buss. DDR ram will Double that Data Rate (DDR). Any ram that is installed will run at 333 x 2 = 666. Your ram is perfectly matched to your system (Isn't if funny how little 'ol DDR2-667 ram is Just Now being required by stock machines? Not!) Point being . . . overclocking involves increasing the FSB. As the FSB increases, so will the CPU clock, but also the ram speed. At a 350 FSB that DDR2-667 ram will be at 700mhz and about (reliably) topped out. If you want any significant, reliable O/C, you will need faster rated ram. Luckly, DDR2-800 is $20 per 2 gigs these days. For ~ $100 (4Gs Ram + a good CPU cooler) a reliable, 24/7, 4.0ghz O/C is a Very real possibility with that CPU.This will make a Huge difference in gameplay. You might consider it.

Now, I'm confused -- this assumes I keep my curred DDR2 memory set up right? I had posted earlier that I was looking forward to getting my 2 gigs of OCZ Reaper DDR3 RAM rated at 1333 -- which is sitting in the UPS box at my feet as I write this! :-)

Have you ever tried to get 3 screens running AA right with an nVidia card and nHancer? I have, and if I start on Friday after work I may actually be in the air by the time I have to go back on Monday. :-DEDIT: I just got home: did you guys know DDR3 RAM DOESN'T fit a DDR2 MOBO? I didn't even think about it when I ordered yesterday! :-lol PSOLK: I guess I just learned one of the differences between the Maximus Extreme and my Maximum FORMULA!

This board? http://usa.asus.com/products.aspx?l1=3&l2=...889&modelmenu=1Specs describe this is a DD2 mobo only. So what's going on here? Ram speed capabilities keep increasing. 'Round about 1333mhz, they just changed the form factor so the faster rated ram - physically - would not install into older mobo. Why? The whole world would have to re-buy a new "DDR3 capable!" mobo. It's a total rip off, but so it goes. Remember though, stock FSB speeds are just now needing DDR2-667 ram speeds. There has been a big discussion about increased ram speeds equating to better FS performance. For we non-computer scientists, these reported increases can still only be imagineered on the basis of the most optimistic assessments . . . once again . . . but so it goes. Your sig describes DDR2-667 is currently installed. The mobo's spec does not describe that it is fitted with DDR3 physical slots. If all this is true, the DDR3 ram - physically - will not fit on this mobo. If all This is true, trade it in for some DDR2-1066 stuff. Your FSB target is 425mhz (425 X 9.5 = 4Ghz). The ram will DDR to 850 (425 x 2 = 850). This will give you room to play with ram timing stuff like CAS and RAS. . . (or pass!)BTW, that 667 stuff's gotta go too. It'll top out way before you get to your target FSB. Whatever you get, get two, 2Gig matched sticks. (Sell the DDR2-667 stuff to one of the kids!)

Thanks, that's exactly what I plan to do: see my post below. It's all returnable. I should know better than to try and order parts from work. But I HATE to RTFM. :-)

You might consider ditching the Raptor too. It's way obsolete. A modern 7200 will beat it's performance while and providing 4X the storage space. The 8800GT(S) will provide significantly better performance than the ATI card for less $$. I'm running 3 (sometimes 4 monitors) on 2 Nvidia cards with Nhanser fully engaged. It just worked.

>You might consider ditching the Raptor too. It's way>obsolete. I suspected as much. Unbelievably loud too. But I do like how fast fs9 loads up -- I have a new WD 750 gig behind it, though, I image to that so who knows? I've been way too distracted with this autogen craziness to work on ANYthing else.

This problem came back. Just for future posterity, the only way I got rid of it was by uninstalling ATI's CCC manager. I'm now using just the latest release drivers from the ATI website with TrayTools exclusively, and it took me several installs and uninstalls with proper use of Driver Cleaner Pro each time in between to figure out CCC may be the culprit. Everything seems to be working fine, and I think I'm now ready to move on to more refined tweaking.By the way, the Omega drivers didn't work at all well on my system. In fact they were the worst of the lot, causing stutters and delays.Just an update and another word of thanks to those who helped. Tomorrow I get my faster RAM and I try a second HD3870 in a crossfire configuration. (They're on sale at BestBuy this week!)

This problem came back. Just for future posterity, the only way I got rid of it was by uninstalling ATI's CCC manager.CCC is very much like lung cancer in a smoker... they know better and know how those things will kill them, but because cigs are so prevalent they keep smoking them. Ditch CCC and be happy (with ATI Tray Tools).By the way, the Omega drivers didn't work at all well on my system.I've tried literally hundreds sets of Omegas (both Beta's and release) and had very few problems over the years. I'd recommend hitting that DriverCleaner in Safe Mode again... thoroughly. The Omegas are rarely (if ever) faster but IQ is a notch above the stock drivers (both ATI and nVidia).

It's great fun to play, but don't be disappointed if SLI (oops, Crossfire) doesn't help FSX. Try it out on Crysis though. Bet it will help there. Also crossfire limits you to One monitor out. The Duel head can power two, but the third will be closet bound. Take back both ATIs and get one $150, 8800GT. Increase your FSX performance and power all three monitors. Keep your amo dry, The 9900GT is due in July. It might be a double over the 8800GT. Still too early to tell. Also remember that "faster ram" is only ram that is rated to go faster. It's like installing tires rated to go 350MPH, then being disappointed your Corvette still seems to top out at 210. It's not the tires. You Can increase the ram's speed beyond a simple DDR (Double the Data Rate of the FSB), but that will NoT increase your system's performance. We've seen ram speeds (alone) don't start to make a difference until a user is willing to buy a $400+ on a DDR3 mobo, then hundreds more on science-grade DDR3 ram. Even then the results are subjective. Your new DDR2-1066 is the perfect stuff and will let that E8500 run to, what? . . . . your turn to do the math. Once you get this thing tricked out, you won't recognize it as the same rig.

Sam:>>and get one $150, 8800GT. Sam: I did that in Friday. Once I got the bloody nHancer to work, on my system, the 8800GT was much slower -- a full 4 or 5 FPS. I took it back after 2 full days of tweaking. (I think you're referring to an 8800 GTS, aren't you, which is not readily available here. But that is an option.) And keep in mind right now we're talking about FS9 only.I saw your other thread here: in your opinion, do you think I need more than 800 Watts of power? Forget rails, forget manufacturers, I can figure that out, but unless I have corrupted texture files somewhere the only thing left is that the card is not getting enough power. If you'll recall, last week I tried a 700W unit with just the MoBo, 1 hard drive and the card attached and still got the exact same problem. Maybe there's some incompatibility between the E8500, my ASUS board and the (antique?) FS9, but I doubt it.If the RAM doesn't help AT ALL, I'm going to do another clean install and then a hook up a second, dedicated power supply to the video card as a test. If that doesn't work, the whole thing goes back in the box and I go back to my Dimension E520 and admit complete and utter defeat.Thanks again for your time.

Greg: the problem is back again. CCC's gone, so gotta be textures or lack of power now (but I already tested this!). See my post to Sam below. If you have any other ideas please let me know.Thanks for taking the time!

With FSX, when you get to the level of the 3870 or 8800GT, FPS is entirely a CPU issue. The vCard is about eyecandy. Leave Autogen and all AI Completely OFF for now. There was something else going on.The 8800GT is a stronger card, especially at the higher resolutions the dual head will be using. nHanser can help a bit, but it will not be FPS related. I would suggest you get the system stabilized with the Nvidia card. Those ATI drivers and CCC can take some finesse. The Nvidia stuff will just work. Don't use betas or any other performance enhancers. Walk first. The ram will Not help this issue. The only point of getting faster rated ram is to allow a full CPU O/C. SO, 1) Get an 8800GT and install it. The GTS is only worth another 5%. Use drivers from Nvidia's (non-beta) site. If you have to reformat to get all that ATI stuff out, consider it a lesson learned, (like me). If you have access to Vista 64, use that for the reinstall. The 88s will - just work - without making you work. Stop messing with Vcards. Get that part stabilized first. 2) Get the system stabilized at 3.6 Ghz, and go from there. ThaT's your 40% FPS increase. Then start tweaking. Look through the power supply thread a couple of threads up. A good 600 watt PS is plenty. I've finished up with Greek history now. On to Rome . . . that wasn't built in a day. This takes a while!. Mainly, don't give up.