I cannot take credit for this fix or tweak, it comes to me from one of my fellow pilots at Canadian Virtual Airlines. But this tweak is an important one, and one well worth checking into. It is the most important, effective tweak I have done yet. First of all, read the links below:http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...d=425&mode=fullAs said by my fellow pilot:Apparently, newer high-end video cards hog PCI latency for no valid reason. This makes other components wait for access and causes stutters and lower frame rates. If you adjust the latency, users are reporting big improvements. I put my system under as much stress as possible and still found an increase in frame rates of 50 - 100%.Then download this small utility program that allows you set your PCI latency.http://www.audiotrack.co.kr/spboard/board....page=1&go_cnt=0I adjusted my PCI latency from 248 to 64, and NEVER had such smooth flying, even with the dark, ominus (spelt right?) clouds.Hope this helps some of you out!Harry

Great Advice,From the other thread, I also like & use Powerstrip, which can be found here:Power Striphttp://entechtaiwan.net/util/ps.shtmMore Info on PCI Latency Here:http://www.geocities.com/phileosophos/tech/pcilatency.htmlI have mine set at 32, and upped some others..Regards,Joe****************Grab My FREEWARE Cessna 172 Voice recognition Profile here:[a href=http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=fs2004misc&DLID=58334]Cessna 172 Voice Profile[/a].You will need the main FREEWARE Flight Assistant program to use it, get it here:[a href=http://library.avsim.net/esearch.php?CatID=genutils&DLID=39661]Flight Assistant 2.2[/a]

I have installed POWERSTRIP and have a question. I have a Geforce 4 TI4200 128 meg vid card . I have reduced the PCI latency using Powerstrip from 248 to 64.Firstly, flying the default Cessna at Seattle-Tacoma using real weather (lots of heavy cumulus clouds), my first impression is that of smoother flight. Frame rates are the same however. But I did really -with one flight only- get a much smoother sensation of flight. Only time will tell whether I continue to feel this way.My main question is this -- after having started the Powerstrip programme, setting the PCI latency to 64 and saving the action -- Do I have to turn on the Powerstrip programme everytime I want to run the computer to get this changed setting? -- or is the setting changed permanently until I run the programme again and change it back to whatever.Regards Barry

Like many other such allegedly miraculous tweaks advertised here before this one also does absolutely nothing for me. Michael J.WinXP-Home SP2,AMD64 3500+,Abit AV8,Radeon X800Pro,36GB Raptor,1GB PC3200,Audigy 2

"an increase in frame rates of 50 - 100%"Thanks for the reality check, Michael. This ain't no silver bullet!! It's just another part of good and thorough system tuning and maintenance.Regards,GregP.S. LatencyCfg is much easier to use than Powerstrip for this excercise. LatencyCfg is a legacy app and will create registry settings to make the system boot at whatever settings the user chooses. I've never used Powerstrip for adjusting the PCI Latency and don't know if it must be running (at start-up) to make the tweaks.

It's not "miraculous", and it won't make a huge impact on framerates (unless you're system is so poorly optimized to begin with that any tweak make s a huge difference), but it can definitely contribute to better overall smoothness and it can also help to resolve some sound problems. The trick for me was to set my vid card (GF4Ti4200) to 64 and everything else to 32. Now I'd imagine the more powerful your system is the less effect this tweak might have. An AMD 3500 with an X800 is likely fast enough to simply burn through the little bottleneck cuased by having the vid card set to such a high latency...but just becuase it doesn't make a noticeable difference for you doesn't mean the rest of us are deluded. Since I did this, I've had several days of some of the most pleasing flightsimming I've ever had. The sim seems just buttery smooth now without all the little jitters and stutters I used to get when panning or when maneuvering quickly.

Barry - you're a step ahead of me....I've just installed Powerstrip, but can't find where to change the latency setting for my GeForce 4400 TI card.Where should I be looking?Toni.

Toni,Right click on the PowerStrip icon in the tray and select "Options/Adapter Information". You need to untick the "read only" box in the lower right. You can then adjust your latency setting-the various adapters are shown in a scrollable list at the top.And no, once you apply your new settings you don't need to run PowerStrip again.Hope this helps,

Is this good for PCI-Express cards or just PCI/AGP cards? Couldnt seem to find a definite answer in the threads.ThanksBill

Thanks DonToni.

This is a good tweak for me. I'm using a P3/800, GF2, and 448Mb of PC133 ram. It didn't double my fps, but it definitely helped improve it greatly to the point where I was able to bump up my 3d cloud settings to 100% and set MyTraffic to 60% density at the same time and still be able to take off at the mytraffic KLAX except in the worst of cloudy conditions with fps above 6, which is acceptable on my rig. And hello, Zevious. I recognize your name from F1 Challenge. Hello from a fellow sim racer.

I gotta say this has helped me also. No noticeable increase in frame rate but its way smoother now. I had used Powerstrip before but it wasnt holding the settings. The latency cfg tool shown above has worked fine so far for a day or so. My 9800 was at 255! Its at 32 right now and running the sim much smoother.Thanks for the link to that fine little program!!Hornit

Hello to you too :)

Hey guys!When using the PCI Latency Tool, do I need to restart the system so changes take a effect?thanks,Claudio

Well. I have now flown a few flights after setting the PCI Latency for my Geforce 4 TI 4200 to 64 and 32 for my elcheapo Creative SB sound card - and I can report that there is a DEFINITE improvement in Sim smoothness , but no increase in FPS that I can see. Tye bottom line is that I will be leaving the settings at these new figures as I am very pleased with this little "tweak"Barry