My only experience with 'BufferPools' was when it was first mentioned as a tweak and I was looking for better performance after SP1. I put it in and tried a few different values but it just seemed to make things worse so I removed it.When SP2 came along (Acceleration), my system could not handle that and I got auotgen spikes and BSODs all over the place and so I went back to SP1 which is what I currently run without problems.My video card is a 256Meg AGP card and Ive begun to wonder if the RTM->SP1->SP2 changes did not make things progresively worse for AGP users while shifting towards PCIe users.The one thing that surprises me very much are reports from people who have systems that appear to be much (MUCH) stronger than my Athlon64 2.4Gig with a 6800GT but yet they report lower frame rates than I get. It makes me leary of upgrading.BTW - my only addon is FEX and I run without a lot of traffic. (actually I have zero autos and only some GA traffic at the moment). Im hoping that the only reason those with much better systems report low frame rates is that they are using many complicated addons with very high settings. I use settings which give me as good of an appearance as I can get while maintaining at least 16FPS. Im often at my limit of 20. It works for me. :) I get dropped to single digits at places like FTX Perth or Sydney or Brisbane. My new system will surely do better (I hope)

zero means zero

Nick,Consider the following:[bufferPools]PoolSize=0has effectively, caused an increidible consistent, performance gain over the past two months. Now, We know it doesn't sound 'logic' or there is noscientific way to prove it.. however, think about this:In the early FS9 days... there was a tweak to DISABLE AGP aceleration, remember it? I think it was TextureAGP=0 or something like that.. that tweak didn't make any difference in my OLD PC's but it definitely did in my newer ones, so, my conclusion, at the time was.. well, maybe NOT using the Video Card memory, but using system memory is better... oh well Now, lets fast forward 3 years... BufferPools, Video memory speed and i7 processors..I have an nVidia GTX 285 card (default clocks), an Overclocked i920 @ 4.2 Ghz, with low latency (CAS 7) memory running its memory bus at 1595 Mhz (x2)now.. in my specific situation, my computer's memory, is FASTER than the Video Card memory.. so, I have, LOWER latency and FASTER bus speed on my system memory subsystem. What happens, if I tell FSX DONT USE THE VIDEO CARD MEMORY, use the system memory because its faster, lower latency memory (and here is where the PoolSize=0 makes sense to me) Again, its been more than two months, and PoolSize=0 was the miracle tweak for me. (along with a TBM of 15) yes.. 15

...an I'm up there at 150 meg... GTX9800

hi bojote, does your frame rate go up too?

zero means zeroit means you are not allocating any video memory to buffering geometry around the aircraft"EMFBI... But are you the same NickN who posted the fsx tweaking guide at simforums? If so..please allow me to offer a public thank you to what I believe is the absolute best FSX tweaking guide....I have used it and, as I have said in other forums...found my sweet spot. To those of yo who do not know Nick's work, take a look at this....http://www.simforums.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=29041again, thank you for your contributions to the betterment of our magnificent obsession.Sherm

hi bojote, does your frame rate go up too?

No, it does not. For me, setting the PoolSize to 0 only offers a 'smoother' experience. Somehow, and for a reason I don't know. setting *ANY* bufferpools value, will cause what appears to be a framerate overlapping. I do mini warp jumps, which kills the inmersion.Another point to mention is this:The PoolSize=0 value, seems to be effective ONLY under Windows XP 32-bit. With Windows 7 64-bit ANYTHING below 300,000,000 will cause heavy stutters and artifacts, but 300,000,000 seems to be perfect... weird.As for poolsize having any impact in performance, it does. But you can't notice it. The only way to test is run task manager and watch CPU utilization. With poolsize=0 you reduce CPU utilization by 1-2% and setting UNLIMITED frames 5% more, you can test and see for yourself.