Triple Buffering, Af And Cloud Shadows

Thoroughly enjoying P3D v2.2,  ....

I'm having the issues that I think may of us are with fps tanking with clouds.  I've seen several people post their settings here in topics that relate to fps and/or "blurries".  I've also seen several comments about the effects of the clouds, but either missed the one I should have read or am just missing how to overcome this.

First, my AF is set to 16X (no NI or other entries into the NV profiles).  I see some that are less, maybe as low as 4X.  What's the trade-off when you reduce AF so much?

In Rob's settings, posted here in another topic, I see his AF is 4X,  but he has Triple Buffering on (mine is off).  Is there some interaction between TB and AF, so that one compensates for the other?   Does either a higher AF or having TB on make the "cloud effect" worse?

I have also read about reducing cloud shadows.  I assume that this is all on the "Lighting" page....  I see sliders for Shadow Map Count, Cloud Shadow cast Distance (which sounds like it could be what people are reducing??) and Terrain Shadow Cast Distance.  Then checkboxes to Enable terrain To Receive Shadows", and various Object Types with Cast and Receive check boxes.  Which, if any, are people using to reduce the "cloud effect"?

I have a  GTS 580 (3GB), so am not expecting miracles...

Thanks for any guidance.  Bruce.