'm running XP SP2(also with SP3,same problem)with FS2004.No clouds add ons installed or clouds textures,Fresh install(already installed PMDG LDS etc and scenery but it doesn't matter because It was from the start).Every time I'm flying with CB or overcast clouds or just heavy clouds.the frames drop to 5 to 10 FPS.The problem is definitely the clouds because when I pan to the ground without eye contact with the clouds the fps is going back to 30(locked 30).It has nothing to do with the aircraft,Cessna or PMDG 747,same results.I tried DXT3 textures and got the same results.Any suggestions will be highly appreciated.ThanksErez

What's your video card and driver version?Jason

8800GTS by Asus 320MB169.21 is the driver version.Erez

Rest of your specs? also what are your AA and AF settings? The most important thing to do when you get a new card is find the right drivers. Having The latest driver won't mean you have the best for your setup.Rob

It's not a new card,I did not had the problem before,this is on a fresh install of XP.previously I didn't had the problem.I'm using nHancer because Nvidia's AA isn't working.AA in nHancer is supersampling 4x4 and AF is 16.

SorryE6750 and 2GB.

Have you tried other drivers? also reducing cloud draw distance? I had a major problem with Cloud FPS on a new build that is a little faster then yours and a ATI HD3870 512MB. It took a while but hunting for good drivers fixed it for me. Have a look in the Hardware forum.Rob

If you were running Vista, it would be assumed that that was yr problem. lol...I've pretty much always found this situation to be the case. Under most circumstances on both my previous XP/nividia gpu system and my current (much more powerful) Vista/ATI gpu machine clouds were/are no problem. Only under heavy overcast situations do things get stuttery. I've had lots and lots of different drivers installed over that period and it's always been the same. I've always found it a bit perplexing becuase its a circumstance where visibility is at it's lowest so I wouldn't really expect the density of cloud cover to be a huge problem but for some reason it is. It almost seems like the system continue to draw clouds up to yr max visibility settings even though the actual weather condition is such that visibility is only less than a km or two...I suspect folks who are able to get a better result from changing the drivers are probably finding drivers that have some setting turned off or down by defualt which improves performance, but at a price they perhaps aren't even aware they are paying. Anyway, I've never had any luck finding different drivers that solved the problem...

Try turning your AA down to 2X in your video card settings and see if that has any affect. I used to have the same issue and turning the AA down helped a lot.

So problem solved.It was the nHancer.I tried a beta version and now it works!29 FPS solid with overcast.Thanks for helping guys,I really appreciate it.Erez

As far as I've gethered from other people's posts here the low cloud performance is a nvidia driver issue. That's why I got myself a 7900GT even when the 8800GTS was already on sale. It looks like the latest driver (174.74?) is better though, at least for FSX. It is worth a shot. more about it here:http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho..._id=38633&page=Jason

Thanks Jason,I did installed 174.74 and now the AA and the FPS is good.Erez

Rob-I just bought a 3870 OC edition on Sunday. Would you mind sharing with me the drivers you're using and where you got them? I have a brand new build (specs below) and have been having sever texture and/or autogen loading problems. I've spent literally 4 or 5 days tweaking and still can't get it right. My old e6650 loaded autogen better! :-)Thank you.

Erez:Could you share with me your nhancer settings for AA and AF please and thanks and also confirm is it currently now the video drivers version 174.74 you are using and things are now fine?Thanks.Paul.