HiI get the feeling I am missing something with fs9. I get ok performance with my rig - I limit to 24fps which drops in detailed areas like FSDT's JFK. I also use Activesky and nhancer and have AI up to about 75%.I have read numerous posts about improving performance but none have really helped to any great extent. I just get the feeling that I should be getting slightly better performance than I actually do. Clouds are a major problem for me. I use the DXT textures from Activesky because I think that these are less of a burden on performance than others (but please correct me if I am wrong). I also limited the thickness of cloud layers to 1000m and layers are limited to 2. I have GE pro 2 installed as well.Outside of the sim I use nhancer to set AA/AF and both are set on minimum. I have tried playing around with fsautostart but can't really see that this makes a difference for me. I defrag on a regular basis and there is plenty of HD space left. The reason I ask is that I am thinking about getting REX FS2004 but am reluctant to do so if it kills my fps.Any light you could shed on what is holding me back would be great! Thanks in advanceSpecs:-Intel CPU Core 2 Duo E8400 3.0GHz 1333FSB LGA775 6MB-GIGABYTE motherboard 4 Core 1333-FULHD LGA775 ATI RS600 DDR2 Gigabit LAN-Nvidia

Something is definitely up with your computer. I run an old p4 @4.2 GHz with 1 GB ddr2 667 ram and still get the same FPS as you using PMDG 747 and MD-11 at cruising altitude, and about 15FPS when landing at aerosoft Hearhrow 2008 in PMDG. I am also running active sky in fs9 with that performance above but my settings are only slightly lower. First:what defrag software do you use?How do you defrag? (what type of defrag)second: what are your fs9 settings at?What are your nhancer settings at?Third:what was your fs9 and fs9 addon install like?Eg. Everything installed in one, or install one, reboot, run fs etcfinally:Look and follow this guide (not my own):http://www.simforums.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=29041It is dedicated to enhancing fsx, but you can skip the fsx parts and follow the nhancer, defrag and tune up guides available. Follow it word for word, it should help!

Something is definitely up with your computer. I run an old p4 @4.2 GHz with 1 GB ddr2 667 ram and still get the same FPS as you using PMDG 747 and MD-11 at cruising altitude, and about 15FPS when landing at aerosoft Hearhrow 2008 in PMDG. I am also running active sky in fs9 with that performance above but my settings are only slightly lower. First:what defrag software do you use?How do you defrag? (what type of defrag)second: what are your fs9 settings at?What are your nhancer settings at?Third:what was your fs9 and fs9 addon install like?Eg. Everything installed in one, or install one, reboot, run fs etcfinally:Look and follow this guide (not my own):http://www.simforums.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=29041It is dedicated to enhancing fsx, but you can skip the fsx parts and follow the nhancer, defrag and tune up guides available. Follow it word for word, it should help!

Chris,Thanks for taking the time to reply...Off the top of my head (im at work presently) I think I use something thats called Utlimate Defrag or something similar - definately not the default one that comes with Windows. I tell it only to defrag the fragmented files it finds - Im not sure about the other settings - I read somewhere that moving FS2004 to the outside portions of the disk speeded things up?My fs9 settings are not all to the right by any means - like I said I am at work so not sure. I have a big widescreen monitor and have always been a little confused by what resolution to run fs9 in - thinik monitors native res is 1680x something - If I run fs2004 in this it's a slide show..I think that parts of my install were from another install on a different pc as was very reluctant to install everything again. Addons have been installed on a rolling basis. Im beginning to think that uninstalling everything might be the way to go with this and start again...but perhaps you could advise me otherwise?

You would be surprised at what the installing routine does to your fs, especially in the fsx. What to do is take some screencaps of your fsx display settings pages (all of them) and post them on here when you get home. That way I can see if what your trying to squeeze out of fs9 is too much or not. I think that after trying a few settings modifications, you should try uninstalling your fs9 completely, and going to that guide I linked to, and following it word for word. Best thing to do, however we should check your settings first. Also, you should always try and run your fs at your monitors native resolution, so if that is a slide show, it may be your settings or hardware setup.BTW: I'm not planning on keeping my P4, I'm about to purchase an i7 rig ;) it's gonna be sweet!!

You would be surprised at what the installing routine does to your fs, especially in the fsx. What to do is take some screencaps of your fsx display settings pages (all of them) and post them on here when you get home. That way I can see if what your trying to squeeze out of fs9 is too much or not. I think that after trying a few settings modifications, you should try uninstalling your fs9 completely, and going to that guide I linked to, and following it word for word. Best thing to do, however we should check your settings first. Also, you should always try and run your fs at your monitors native resolution, so if that is a slide show, it may be your settings or hardware setup.BTW: I'm not planning on keeping my P4, I'm about to purchase an i7 rig ;) it's gonna be sweet!!

Thanks - Ill do that tonight.Do you think letting fs rebuild fs9.cfg might have a positive effect?

If you recently changed hardware, or did a new driver install, it would be a good idea to try. Will not do any harm. Even if you haven't changed anything, still give it a try to see.

Get a new graphics card. It's holding you back. I'd go for at least the 8800...9500 was never meant to be a 3d game card. If you can, overclock that CPU too. With my specs, I have fps locked to 60 with all major add-ons. Lowest fps is around 25 at major airport, with 2 overcast layers, in PMDG.

A few things:1. The 9500gt isn't the limiting factor, it's something else.2. I'm getting similar performance on an older and worse computer3. He may not be comfortable with OCing. You may be familiar, but everyone starts somewhere!As per no 2. it means it's something wrong with his software setup.

A few things:1. The 9500gt isn't the limiting factor, it's something else.2. I'm getting similar performance on an older and worse computer3. He may not be comfortable with OCing. You may be familiar, but everyone starts somewhere!As per no 2. it means it's something wrong with his software setup.

His 9500 is certainly limiting as its the slowest part of his computer, and it's slower by a long shot. When you start combining heavy 3D scenery add-ons (airports), you absolutely need a better card to maintain performance, and the 9500 is about as bad as you get.There can also certainly be something wrong with his setup. Jack, have you always had this performance, or did you recently do something that lowered it?

A 9500 GT is a rather meager gaming card, even for FS9. It should be "capable" but when using Nhancer to "enhance" graphics it's probably tasking the graphics card too much. Try not using Nhancer to test this hypothesis.

My point was that if you compare my specs I posted further up to his, and the fact that Im getting similar performance under the same scenery softeare, add-ons etc, there is something wrong.

Well...I got home last night and made some screenshots of my fs9 - unfortunately I left them at home on the USB stick this morning - I am never moving house again if it takes this long to get broadband up and running again!However I did make some observations:1. At KSEA with default 737 loaded I get c. 40fps with activesky running stormy weather and ai at 75%,2. At Heathrow xtreme keeping everything else the same I get c.30fps3. At FSDT I get around 22fps.4. Taxi lines and other horizontal edges running accross the screen are very jaggy.5. Climbing out through clouds gives me a massive stuttering effect which is more pronounced when looking out of the side views.What I will say about the fps figures is that these were fluctuating all the time.At the moment I am leaning towards the fact that my graphics card is either installed incorrectly (drivers perhaps) or is not up to task, but I guess without being able to give you guys an idea of what Im looking at it'll be difficult to say.

hey dude i got 9500GT too and i have some probs with FSX.Take a look at my topic http://forums1.avsim.net/index.php?showtopic=269468i think it`s driver problem or something....my current driver is 186.18 and i cant update to 195.62 for some reasons....My other pc specs are:XP 32 bitM2N moboAMD athlon x2 64 4200+3GB ram500 GB HDRegardsBoris

For the 8 and 9 series cards, use 182.50 drivers, period.