HI guys,I just upgraded my specs. I had before:- MB socket 478 AGP 4x- CPU Intel P4 2.66Mhz- 1GB RAM (incredibly with diferent speeds DDR333 & DDR266!!)- Nvidia GForce4 Ti4600 128MbWith these specs, I get usually with "heavy" aircraft panels, like:- High 10's on medium complex sceneries- Between 6 and 12 on heavy complex addon sceneries- High 20's airboneI have AI traffic always 100% and display settings to medium level.I upgraded the following:- MB Asus P4P800E-Deluxe- 1GB RAM DDR400 Kensignton- Asus Nvidia 6800GT Ultra AGP 8xAnd I'm a little disappointed, because of the change of MB, I need to reinstall Windows from scratch, as FS9, however recovering back my old fellow FS9 directory, and "killing" the processes unacessary.I'm disappointed because I'm getting a respectable high 30 or 40's on airborne, but with, lets say LD767, PMDG747 for example, I don't see too much improvement on heavy but good flown sceneries like Flytampa KSFO, or Simwings LFPG. I'm getting 10-16 on these sceneries, with AI 100% as usuall, and not increasing the display settings.One thing that I don't know exactly, is the change I need to do on Display.cfg to match the best drivers for my graphics card. I tried severall however I'm not sure of the rigth one.Some help will be very welcome. Thanks in advance.CheersMiguel

Greeting Miguel,You should take a gander at post #269082. It talks about FPS and fluidity in FS and a comparision PDF between two setups. Just off hand I would look at bringing traffic down a bit to 50%. That can take its toll on a system.-Todd

Hello Miguel, Well, all I can say is, welcome to FS9 syndrome. I have AMD2800xp+barton 2.1ghz ,asus A7N8XDELUXE mb ,Nvidia 6800gt agp, 1.5 gigs dual ch ddr ram and I have troubles too. Unless you have all your sliders maxed, you should be getting better than this however. I lock my fps at 25 and get on average 23-25 fps with the most Add-ons. However, some do not do as well. If you have the time, read all of the forums about this subject. Also, rebuild your fs9cfg. When you make changes with drivers and such, using the older cfg file will cause problems like you have. Post an update when you can, and myself and others here can help you. Best of luck. Best regards, Jeff

I run nothing less than 100% traffic, with an AMD FX55 no less. And my frames always suffer when flying in the virtual cockpit of aircraft using even default scenery. Add-on scenery is almost a slide slow, but still acceptable. It's just the way the game is programmed, its still in the dark ages in terms of graphic card power. Check out the tips and tricks and hardware sections for some fs9 tweaks, get aardvark, cdai/evolveai, fspainter/project ai models, and you should be getting a little better frames. Don't expect a perfectly smooth and stutter free experience though. Not until FS10

Thanks guys.I don

Have I missed some news about FS10 being 'smoother' or do you just think that it will be because of the newer programming?Dennis

Hey Dennis, I would love to know too. I would think that subject will be addressed at the sim conference. I have had it up to my eyeballs with the performance issues (studders)in FS9. I have spent everyday since it came out tweeking, tweeking, tweeking and ALOT of $$$$$$$, and have gotten it as good as it will be I guess. I am waiting to see what they say this time before I go out and rebuild my system again. This way the money will be well spent (I hope). Best regards, Jeff

well they have hinted at using the latest DX9 technology for shadows, lighting, etc. So it seems as if they are trying to update the graphics engine to take advantage of the processing power of todays top end graphics cards, instead of using ancient technology that we know and love called FS9.

>One thing that I don't know exactly, is the change I need to>do on Display.cfg to match the best drivers for my graphics>card. I tried severall however I'm not sure of the rigth one.>Some help will be very welcome. Thanks in advance.>Cheers>MiguelHi Miguel,This might be of interest. Check out this forum link at http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?&threadid=121190 which deals with PCI Latency for high end AGP cards. I tried it and saw an improvment. If you want to give the utility a try, there is a newer version at http://www.savefile.com/filehost/files.php?fid=7309235Regards,Lawrie

Can I just add that the human eye does not see any difference when framerates are 25 and up...

Here we go again :-)...anyone interested in this issue just needs to do a search as there are hundreds of comments posted supporting all viewpoints.Doug

I too have an FX-55 CPU, but I sure don't have any "slide show" problems. It may be that I'm running a new GeForce 7800 card, but my FPS are perfectly adequate all the time, even with heavy clouds. (20 FPS or better). All settings are maxed. I'm using the following software at 1280 X 1024, 16x Ansiotropic, 8x AntiAliasing:Win XP64Flight EnvironmentUltimate Traffic at 100% ( I did turn off GA traffic, however)FS Genesis US 38m Terrain MeshAmerican Data Roads, Bridges, and StreamsNu PaverActive Sky 2004.5FS NavMega City DallasPMDG Beech 1900D, 737, and 747Flight 1 ATR and MalibuCS 727Other Assorted Freeware A/C and sceneryGuys, the upgrade wasn't cheap, but it's pretty much the "holy grail" of performance!

>Can I just add that the human eye does not see any difference>when framerates are 25 and up...That is utterly false. Around 72-75Hz (screen redraws per second) is where where the human eye stops being able to detect flicker from a CRT's electron gun redrawing the screen. Try it - set the refresh rate to something high, and then set it down to 60. (85Hz is my personal point where it stops hurting my eyes)The generally accepted FPS to shoot for in the gaming and high end graphics world is a sustained 60+FPS. You will see this on any good hardware review site.Now, with respect to the actual issue here:Miguel,Did you really install a new motherboard and video card without reformating and installing Windows clean?? That is your problem if so - changing a motherboard is a huge shock to Windows because so many resource routings change etc. Reformat the system, clean install XP SP2 and all the updates, get the latest drivers installed for everything, and I bet you'll see it run a lot better.

Hi Ryan,Nice to see you here. Thanks for the advise. I know that, and in fact my previous Windows didn't start!! Just simple!!! Rebooting all the time!! Not even on "Secure Mode"!!Yes I did a full Windows Install, followed by the installation of Motherboard drivers, Graphics drivers, Joystick drivers, and finally FS9.I'll try some of the things on FSTweak site, and specially something I forgot completly: PCI Latency, because I had set it to 32 on my previous configuration.!Thanks guys. Some clues worth the thread!Best to you all.Miguel

Proving once again that the CPU is still the master of performance in FS and most other games. Newer video cards can give some fps, more memory can help with texture loading but nothing like a CPU upgrade. Sorry, but the P4 266 is an old CPU released in May/June of 2002.Thats eon's ago in the CPU world,I'm still running an AMD XP 2100 from the same time period, It can't keep up with most sliders maxed so..I'm looking to upgrade once again in the fall.DavidScroll down to the DOOM fps numbers and compare...http://www.tomshardware.com/cpu/20041221/cpu_charts-14.html