EDIT- This is about FSX Acceleration.I prefer the ground textures and add-on photo sceneries to having autogen on. I feel I need scenery complexity maxed though, and in NYC I'm getting around 20 fps, which isn't very smooth. In the rain, it dips down to 14 fps. When I turn set scenery complexity to zero, the fps shoot up. What is lacking in my hardware that I can't achieve a smoother frame rate with scenery complexity maxed? My specs: 1680x1050 monitorP35-DS3LQ6600 @3.4Ghz5850 stock clock, dedicated sound card, 500W PSU500GB HDD4GB DDR2, Windows 7 64-bit.

Are you talking about FSX? I am little surprised that you are just getting here now.FSX is a hog of a program, there is no way you can max out scenery on your current system. Even the guys on the most current systems are struggling with high settings and smooth operation.Your system (like mine) is an antique. One day when we win the lottery we need to invest in a new system.I would try this first: http://www.simforums.com/forums/topic34141_post198187.html#198187Then if that doesn’t sort it out try this http://www.venetubo.com/fsx.htmlYour whole system is lacking.

I don't think my computer is that old. The CPU is probably the oldest part and quads are still workhorses in PC gaming today. Anyway, I reduced Scenery complexity to very dense, mesh resolution to 10m and a few CFG tweaks got me to 26 fps in the middle of NYC(day, fair weather), which is much smoother than before. However, will I need to overclock my CPU higher? There's still traffic and weather to worry about. I also want to add REX, tileproxy, and possibly some payware planes that might affect my framerate.

Run maximized windowed. You'll be surprised what fullscreen does. When I had my old core2quad, which was a higher model than yours, I could never get decent performance with REX and complex addons. However, if I changed from fullscreen to windowed, and maximized the window, I would gain significant performance increase. Yes, it may reduce the resolution a little and cockpits seem a little stretched, but it was worth it to be able to fly smooth(ish).

You could clock it higher but the Q6600 isn't known for being an overclocking beast. It won't reach the 'magic number' of 4ghz the only thing you can really do beyond that is upgrade your CPU, motherboard, and RAM.

You're limited by your CPU.The Q6600 isn't bad but 3.4 is probably the max OC you'll get... maybe 3.8 with really good cooling and good luck.All that aside, some things to sacrifice:Run 2x low waterzero cars on roads (if using UTX disable it in the config program)Lower AI to 30-40%Autogen Normal to Very Dense... see which works best. Running normal sometimes is worse than dense.The ATI cards are notorious for issues in thick cloud coverage, especially with AA on in the driver level... that's probably why you see a large dip in rain showers.I'm worse off than you and I just stay away from big cities unless I'm on vatsim - and I know the consequences. ILS 31R at JFK... 10 fps in the mustang woohooo! Doable hand flown haha!

Make sure you apply "Bojote's Shader 3.0 mod" as ATI cards are especially sensitive to clouds/rain.Cheers,- jahman.

You're limited by your CPU.The Q6600 isn't bad but 3.4 is probably the max OC you'll get... maybe 3.8 with really good cooling and good luck.All that aside, some things to sacrifice:Run 2x low waterzero cars on roads (if using UTX disable it in the config program)Lower AI to 30-40%Autogen Normal to Very Dense... see which works best. Running normal sometimes is worse than dense.The ATI cards are notorious for issues in thick cloud coverage, especially with AA on in the driver level... that's probably why you see a large dip in rain showers.I'm worse off than you and I just stay away from big cities unless I'm on vatsim - and I know the consequences. ILS 31R at JFK... 10 fps in the mustang woohooo! Doable hand flown haha!

I'm using most of your settings and I gotta say wow it's playable now. I haven't tried bojote's shader yet, though REX weather seems to run smoother than default weather. I realized if I'm using photo scenery I don't need moving cars and boats, and same thing with not needing dynamic reflections in water.

Run maximized windowed. You'll be surprised what fullscreen does. When I had my old core2quad, which was a higher model than yours, I could never get decent performance with REX and complex addons. However, if I changed from fullscreen to windowed, and maximized the window, I would gain significant performance increase. Yes, it may reduce the resolution a little and cockpits seem a little stretched, but it was worth it to be able to fly smooth(ish).

Wasn't it running better due to there being no FSAA or vsync when not fullscreen? I can't sacrifice either of those.

There is still FSAA and V-sync, but less than what is seen in fullscreen. If your struggling with performance, you must sacrifice.