I dunno if anyone remembers me, but I'm back! I disappeared for awhile there (sorta lost interest in FS) but now I've decided to rejoin the FS world and start flying again!I haven't done any simming in at least 6 months so I'm not exactly up-to-date on how to tweak FS9 for my configuration (I tried searching, but nothing useful came up). I was hoping perhaps that if I listed my specs someone could give me an idea of what to tweak fs9 for to get optimal speed/quality.Specs:Athlon XP2800+ @ 2153MHz (12.5x172MHz @1.70V [1.67V actual])BBA Radeon 9600 AIW Pro (450/740 for now, runs stably at 465/770 and above @ 1.7V) Catalyst 4.3'sAsus A7N8X-X1GB (2x512MB) Geil PC3500 RAM ([email protected])WD 160GB 7200 RPM 8MB HD (Windows on one partition on this drive)IBM 45GB 7200 RPM 2MB HD (Apps on this drive)Win XP Pro (tweaked to run as few processes at all times as possible and take the least amount of resources)I'd like to run 2xAA & 8xAF, if possible.Does anyone think this would be possible with my system and FS9?I score right at 4000 on the defaul bench in 3dmark2k3, if that helps any...Thanks in advance,-Max Cowgill

http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...sg_id=230&page=

Thanks, Word Not Allowed, nothing there I haven't read before though ;)I was looking for something a little more detailed than what's in the "read me first" post. I should have specified that in my OP. Anyone with a system similar to mine care to share their experience with FS9 and tweaking for optimal quality while still maintaining an adequate level of performance, even in the most demanding situations?I do a lot of flying around large cities, and in large aircraft so I need to tweak for extremely demanding situations, as you can see.Thanks,Max

Hi Max,You and Paul dropped off the map about the same time... the place turned into a morque. :-) What BIOS and chipset drivers are you using? I have a 3000+ Barton 400 running at 2.4 with 1Gb of Corsair XMS PC3200 and 9700 Pro on a A7N8X Dlx Rev. 2.0. All runs well, though I recently picked up a stutter that I'm chasing down.OneTinSoldier's guide is useful: http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...esg_id=25&page=

Hi,Thanks for recommending my guide Greg. :D Check it out Max. Btw, I remember you too. ;) To let you know, I run my sim with very high settings all the way around. How high you can put your sliders and such depends on a few things, like how much AA and AF you use(which you made mention about) and how high of a resolution you use. I use 4x AA and 16x AF, but I also have a little bit newer computer and video card than you. Unfortunately, I don't always get the greatest FPS around large cities with complex airports myself. But I usually stay at 10 or higher anyway, more often 13 or better. It just depends. Most of the time I average 22 FPS, it's just the big cities with large airports that can cause a drop. If I go below 13 it's kind of a bummer. 13 or better though is smooth enough to be very enjoyable. Just play with your sliders until you find your happy medium. Btw, I run at 1600x1200 resolution with the above mentioned AA and AF settings. It's takes a ton of clouds before my system will start bog down a little, but I really like FS2004's clouds so I put up with a little slow down if the real world weather contains a ton of 'em.Here's little summary of my settings which includes what I said just above:-----------------------------------------------------------------My settings are 1600x1200 resolution, 4X AA, and 16X AF with Quality on. I use MyTraffic 2004 with AI Traffic at 100%. Everything in the sim is turned up and on, sliders full right except the following...Terrain Complexity(Mesh): 85%Scenery Complexity: Very DenseAutogen: Very Dense (I'm also using a file in the Avsim library named: fs9xml.zip)Not all my Weather sliders are full right...Sight distance: 100 mi.Cloud draw distance: 60 mi.3-D cloud percentage: 100Detailed Clouds checked.Cloud coverage density: Maximum(100%)My average FPS is usually 22. I have it locked at 24. If I lock it a little higher I get some more FPS but then the FPS jumps around more. I do not get an average of 22 FPS when I am around large cities with complex airports, but it is still not too bad even in those areas, certainly flyable for me.-----------------------------------------------------------------Good luck Max and Welcome back. :)Cheers,Jim

Oh, I should mention that if you really want to knock out everthing that could possibly eat at performance on your system after going through my guide then you might want to try out Ken Salter's FSAutoStart here in the Avsim library.Regards,Jim3.06 GHz Intel P4 on Asus P4T533-C(533 MHz FSB), 1 GB PC1066 Samsung RDRAM, NEC MultiSync FE2111SB 22" Monitor, ATI Radeon 9700 Pro Videocard w/ v4.2 Catalyst Drivers, DirectX 9.0b, Creative Audigy2 Soundcard, 120 GB w/8 MB Cache Western Digital HD

Thanks for the advice, Jim and Greg!Time to start tweaking my system again :)-Max

Just thought I'd stop back in and let everyone know how FS9 runs on my system:1024x768x32 2xAA/8xAFAll sliders far right except-terrain mesh @ 85%-autogen @ normal-lens flare/glare effects off-detail land only-water detail off-mipmap quality 5-fps unlockedMy FPS varies from 20's-80's depending on view mode, scenery density, weather and the like.Let's just say that unless I'm panning around in spot view mode while flying over O'Hare with bad weather in a complex a/c, fps isn't really a concern ;)Is there any other single feature which affects performance in this sim which I can change to gain performance without affecting image quality or vice versa?Thanks again,Max Cowgill

Hi,Just thought I'd say that it sounds to me like you have it running really spiffy. If you haven't gotten Chris Arrington's recently released 'Airport Enviroment Upgrade 6.0' (aeu6.zip) you might want to go get it and check it out. It is very nice. It does not help performance. In fact, I hope you do not see any degradation in performance after installing it. You probably won't. Neither I nor the vast majority of others have seen any difference in performance after installing it but it's possible ymmv. If you get it don't be too alarmed at the size difference in some of the textures. One of the reasons they are larger is they are mip-mapped specifically for performance reasons. At any rate enjoy your sim and have fun!Cheers, :)Jim

howdy Max,i got nothing useful to add,as OneTinSoldier already did that,but welcome back anyway!now stay simming will ya? ;-)cheers