I'm baffled by this.After a few complete re-installs of FS9, various config file changes, re-installs lol..No matter what plane I fly, even the default 737, anytime my engines are running my framerates are around 12, otherwise they stay around 29. I can repeat it.I have FS9 installed with a few addonsMytraffic2004Some payware planesA couple of payware airport sceneries.But this happens anywhere. I must have done something wrong because in the past I seem to remember having frame rates in the 30s.Anyone ever see this?Jeff

SOUND CARD! DOH!!I'm an idiot lol. Problem solved. I installed my old SB 16 PCI and now my frame rates are out of this world lol. And it sounds better.Long story:Last year I upgraded my PC by purchasing new mb/ram etc. At that time the local "experts" had told me that the onboard sound on this new mb was way better than that old crappy PCI sound card I had, so I just used the onboard sound. I re-installed windows and all my other stuff, not really having any problems, but always noticing that my FS9 FPS just wasn't what it should be... Finally today after seeing my frame rates go to 1/2 of what they were just by starting my engines, a light bulb went off in my head lol..So I installed the "crappy" old 16 bit sound card and now it's like I have a brand new computer! I hear things I never heard in FS9 before lol! And I am able to increase my view, my clouds, my AI, etc.. wow!Lesson learned.Hope this can help someone.Regards, Jeff

Hehe... very cool story with a happy ending, too!Out of curiosity, what brand/make was the onboard sound card causing problems?

LOL...sound card. I thought the fuel pump was a more likely culprit. Live and learn:-)DannyCZBB

Yes I'm elated right now lol. I just finished a long flight with all settings max'd out :)It's an MSI K8N Neo4 motherboard. Think it's GEforce4 something chipset, Athlon 3200 something lol.. Nvidia 6600GT something 128meg vid card, 1G of dual channel ram.. the onboard sound is ummm....Realtek ALC850 AC97 ?? lol sorry don't know for sure.I tried a few other games I play. One is Nascar 2003 and BOY does it perform differently now! I'm like a kid at Christmas lol..Still want to find that "Expert" that told me to use the onboard sound.

I used onboard sound with fs8 and fs9 for many years on various systems and never saw that kind of drop, not even with complex aircraft. In fact I would typically see virtually no difference with sound off. I would more suspect faulty drivers or some other culprit.In truth fs wav files are not exactly heavy lifting for ANY relatively new sound hardware. In any case, you sorted it out - have fun :)regards,Markhttp://www.dreamfleet2000.com/a320/custbanner2.jpgPC Power Silencer 470/3.2HT/2048mb/ATI X1950pro/SB Audigy