When FS9 first came out and even after the FS9 SP1 came out, I had to use all the tweaks of the time ( such as changing things in the CFG file and using different cloud texture files, etc) to make it run OK on my old AMD2400.I am just about to build a Core 2 Duo 6700 machine and from what I have read, apparently I will be then able to run FS9 "butter smooth".My question is - what about these tweaks - will they be necessary any more?Thanks Barry

Hi Barry,I build a 6800 machine a couple of months ago with a 8800 GTX Video card. I hate to say this but you will still have blurries. Most of what I have done regarding tweaks found here have been snake oil at best. Steve Lacey's blog regarding blurries has been nonsense. It is FS code and not hardware limitations. FS2004 has been out 4 years and still has blurries with todays hardware. I tried the ones on Vista oz forum, AVSIM and again no joy. You will get great frames and graphics up close with your system with no stutters.

Some settings like theThe TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT setting need to be tweaked simply because they where set for older graphics cards that didn't have the capability we have nowadays.Tweaking the FS9.CFG is always usefull but on new higend rigs its not as needed as in the old days.On my top off the line (in 2005 :-( ) hardware I use a tweaked TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=400 settingI have TERRAIN_USE_VECTOR_OBJECTS=0 to spare some resources (I hate those vector objects anyway)The biggets tweak I sometimes use is:MAX_UNLIMITED_VIS=33000CLOUD_DRAW_DISTANCE=3You need to set it by hand in the FS9.CFG (its reset every time you enter the display menu). This last tweak reduces the maximum visibility to 33 km (not to unrealistic if you come from Europe).As a last measure I use a caped framerate of 30 fps.All the settings have a measured verifyable result. In combination with my trusty ATI X800 (set to 4x FSAA, 8X ANI) I get great visuals without 'the blurries'. This is by no means 'snake oil'.Building a new rig is not a silver bullet. Medium hardware with a wel tweaked fs9.cfg can beat high-end hardware. Its one of the great things in this hobby.