If you have USB input devices like a joystick or mouse, you might benefit from installing the patch from Windows Update. It was reported earlier by someone that this patch improves performance in FS, by as much as 25%.It did indeed impact performance for me (I have a sidewinder precision pro USB and a USB intellimouse). I was one of those adversely affected after upgrading to Service Pack 1 - but this seems to correct the performance hit.Your mileage may vary, but I would suggest you give it a try if you have Windows XP (Home or Pro) with Service Pack 1 installed.J

Yup, I installed the update and my FPS got up by at least 20%. Incredible, but true. Running an Athlon XP3000+ on an ASUS A7N8X Deluxe board with WinXP Pro. Saitek X45 on USB. After getting rid of the crashes (thanks Greg! :) ) and installing this patch I don't even need a better graphics card for now! My old ELSA geForce 3 is quite adequate. Now, just what kind of hocus pocus is M$ doing anyway? To get such an improvement means that something was really messed up!?Regards,JureBush Flying Unlimited]"At home in the wild"[/i

Jure!!!!!!!!! Glad to see you up and flying!!!!! What was the fix?(Been trying to D/L this USB patch, but MS's download hangs. I'll keep trying.)

Hey Greg! :)Have you not seen the reply to "our" thread? Please, check here:http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...d=146138#146376Yup, I got rid of the crashes and I really appreciate your help, Greg! :)All the best,JureBush Flying Unlimited]"At home in the wild"[/i

Ahhh, I missed your last reply on the 26th. Glad you linked to it here.Don't know that setting the ram via "SPD" would cause the crashes. Others here might have better insight into that.I suspect your root problem is heat or a fussy RAM module. At any rate, good to see that you have it running. I really like this MB... probably not the fastest, but still an outstanding board. I'll be upgrading to a XP 3000 in a few weeks once the prices come down. And I'm very happy with the Corsair XMS... great stuff.Cheers,

If I have auto update set up on XP will I already have this patch?Also, will I have SP1? I've had the pc for about 12 months now.ThanksVictor

J - I didn't give it much hope (none of this stuff really helps, right?), but after installing the update I'm also seeing a 20-25% FPS increase. And the only thing I have attached is a cordless USB optical mouse. I've measured the performance increase every way I know how for a week now and it's really there. Unbelievable.DougNorthwood 2.2a at 2.508Ghz (Intel HSF)Abit TH7II-R512MB Samsung 40ns PC800ATI 9800 Pro (128MB)Cat. 3.7's DX9b WinXP ProWD's 20GB, 20GB, 60GB, 120GB, 120GBInwin case / Enermax 431W PSU

I looked for this patch too and couldn't find it. Is it part of the regular automatic updates? If not, does someone have a link or a file ID for it.ThanksBlair

I'd like to know this, too :-) . Could it be the file listed under KB822603 you're talking about?

http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...ing_type=searchThere is a direct link in the above thread.

Thanks for the confirmation :D !

Victor,right-click "My Computer" and you will see if you have Service Pack 1 installed. It will be under System: Microsoft Windows XP Professional Version 2002 Service Pack 1 <-----------If you have auto-update on, there is a good chance you have the USB patch already. I believe you can see it under "Add or Remove programs" in Control Panel under "Windows hotfix xxxxx" - but you must know the number of the update. There's a link further down in this thread.Regards,JureBush Flying Unlimited]"At home in the wild"[/i

I have a USB joytick (and various other USB periperals) and just now downloaded and installed the USB patch.It didn't do anything that I can see. Frame rate still locked at 20. The important thing to me though, it did no "seeable" harm or otherwise mess up my computer. It didn't help, but as the saying goes, "It didn't hurt, either."Regards,DonaldS

Try locking your frame rate at 30, instead. You may be locking in your frame rate too low to notice the performance gain.

>>Try locking your frame rate at 30, instead. You may be>locking in your frame rate too low to notice the performance>gain.Shows you what kind of doofus I am. I had no idea you could do something like that. I just hit Shift - Z after I installed FS 2004 and it said 20 frames locked, so; I just assumed that was that.Um, how do you lock in a frame rate at 30?Thanks,DonaldS