Hi there!I'm new here, but I have a hardware problem with my new FSX.I use a laptop computer:Acer Aspire 5680-6509Core 2 Duo 2.16 GhzGeforce Go7600 256mb2gb DDR2I have all scenery sliders at max and it runs just fine if I limit it to 20 fps. But, after about a minute, the frames drop to 5-6 fps. They stay that way for some time and the funny thing is, if I Alt-Tab to my desktop and go back in, the frames are back at 20. So, after some time, they hop back to 20, but most of the time they stay low.If I reduce the graphics in FSX, I do get more frames (more than 20, if I cancel the limit) but the drop to 5-6 fps stays...I have no idea what that problem might be, it worked just fine with FS9 or other games.My system says I use about 1,34gb of RAM, so there's still plenty left. I used different graphic drivers, but same problem...Any idea anyone??Help would be greatly appreciated.

Any idea anyone?Btw, I'm running Vista Ultimate 32 bit

Are you at a big airport with high traffic? Jetways and traffic begins after a few minutes of the sim running and can cause a huge load on the system, especially with moving jetways.

Welcome to the fourm.The more you hang out here, the more you'll see that yours is a common story. FSX is one demanding piece of software. Here are some things to try. Your graphics set up is not enough to run all sliders at max. So you'll have to experiment with backing them off a notch or two to see which ones give the best results. Back off traffic to 50% or less. Sounds like somthing is loading after you start playing; could be more scenery, or some backgroung program. Shut down everything you don't need like email, anti-virus,even disconnect from the internet. Locking the frame rate may or may not help. these would be places to start. There are plenty more things to try.Bob

Hi!Ok, I realize that I can't run it with all sliders max, however, that's not the problem. I get up around 28 fps with all sliders max und around 35 with reduced settings.I don't have ANY addon scenerys installed, I'm just trying to fly the missions, which is impossible with framerates around 5 (plus, it's not fun).The problem is the framerate drop. It runs very smoothly but suddenly it doesn't anymore. I realized yesterday, that it also happens in other games, not just FSX. I disabled antivirus and other than that nothing runs in the background (at least nothing I know of). I don't know what that is, I might try to reinstall my whole system, but that would be a last resort for me.Any other suggestions or ideas are very welcome!

This seems to ring a bell as far as missions go. You might do a search here and/or check out the missions forum. I seem to recall someone having a similar problem with missions. Good luck.Bob

Thanks for your replies, guys.I think I solved the problem. I defragmented all my disks and now it runs smoother. And the funniest thing is that I still have that drop (not as often and long now though) at the one mission I was testing it. With the fewer drops I completed this mission and moved on to the next one and ... no framerate drops on this one (I even improved the graphics...)Well, thanks, seems to work now :)