You need the UsePools=0 entry, Dean, and I think the proc has to be up in the upper end of the 4 - 5 gig spectrum, and depending upon the severity of your graphics load and your pc-specific settings. Personally - I run a very 'lean' Windows 7/64 with all the 'trappings' and enhancements turned off; the bios is setup for a very solid, water-cooled, 4.8 gig; memory is 8-8-8-24@1600. FSX is started by running Alacrity to clean up the running processes and defrag memory, then launching TrackIR5: I then start a batch file which launches 'Shade', 'FPSLimiter02, then launching FSX with a fresh fsx.cfg file. .. Some guys use a LOD of 8.5, for e.g - I just use 4.5. Pair that with 'max autogen', & 'max scenery complexity', high traffic, clouds and water - it might be just a tad too much for the 25/2600k-580... and so - use a pool and set a reject threshold. Mine was 8MB, with a 128KB RT, and it worked just fine, quite smooth. I started with much higher settings, but now - BP=0, and she's fine. cpu-gpu in one easy step. Of course the 'rider' has to be "YMMV" - as DJ above notes - his increases the performance: and it should, and so did mine. For me - I'm now an old fart - it takes time, work and fiddling to get it all in line, but it's all worth it.

Yeah, I know, Jim; it's ok - just remember - Nick's 'BufferPools' post is 2-3/4 years old - before Win7/64 and before the 2600K-GTX5xx series hardware. Some of the other info is still valid, but there's lots there which has been superseded with later knowledge. In the modern system - graphics processing has been moved off the system proc and pushed to gpu's like our 580's. Enormous power! Hence the gains in FSX performance. "You seem to be an expert in these matters" - thanks, but no, not with the Windows operating systems; I've just retired from (initially) an avionics career, my own electronics company, and latterly some 20-odd years in IT, the last 15 as a Senior Systems Admin responsible for a bunch of Sun Microsystems servers, running Solaris 6, 8, 9, and 10 Unix os's. Nothing wrong with 'tweaks, Jim - they have their place. Almost every iteration of an Oracle database has a ton of 'tweaks' that must be done. Same with a large disk array, same with a network running data and VOIP. The difference we feel, Jim - is that we hobbyists/users of the flight sim have little knowledge of the application itself, nor of the OS, nor of the hardware! So we grope around: it's not until a developer or someone like Nick or ******* gets really involved - that we get some direction. Unfortunately - it's often changed as the technology advances. What was the case - is often now, not the case. (if that makes sense)

Thanks for that info Paul. You have an interesting background. I have been "playing" with computers since August 1991 but no formal training except from my son who is now a Vice-President of a small company and is in charge of IT (well, it is a little bigger than a small company. The company has done the opening and closing ceremonies for the Olympics, the Democratic Conventions, and some advertising when Microsoft comes up with a new product). Google is my friend as he lives with his family some distance from me. I thought I had read that Nick maintains and keeps that article on setting up FSX constantly. Of course, he is busy with GEX and other things too but many new flight simmers (and old ones like me) visit it regularly for tips and information. FSX IS an old software program but I agree new hardware and software have changed a lot of things since FSX was first born in 2006. I know he has now set up a separate post on Windows 7 and FSX that you can visit through his "old" forum posting. Thanks for keeping me straight! Best regards,Jim

I've added the bufferpools section, and I'm seeing a noticeable decrease in stutters. Though i've only tried it doing 800' circuits over FTX airports in the wonderful Dog. My favourite mode of FSX. You can only fly the tubes for so long. Thx Paul. From another old fart.