Hey everyone, I have been playing with my numbers in FS9 cfg display settings for a looooooooooooooooooooong time. Can anyone tell me of which values I have pointed out, effect FPS and smoothness the most? I can't seem to find a good balance. If I leave defaults, I get blurry scenery. Where they are now, as shown, my performance is not that good, especially at Add-on Airports like KBOS, KPVD etc... Any suggestions? Thanks to all who can help. Also my system is an AMD2800XP (2.1GHZ), 1.5 gigs Dual ch. ram, Nvidia6800GT AGP Video card. I have Ground enviroment, UTUSA, FE2004 In use.Here they are:[DISPLAY]UPPER_FRAMERATE_LIMIT= 28TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=140[TERRAIN]TERRAIN_ERROR_FACTOR=65.000000<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

If you read nothing else in this reply, know this: A faster cpu is the ultimate solution for you. Ground Enviro and UT will also tax your system additonally, but you know that. :)Comments:UPPER_FRAMERATE_LIMIT. I feel it's best to set this to 4-5 frames below what you typically get when testing with unlimited frames. Taking the default KSEA scenario, if you get 32 fps with unlocked frames, it might be advisable to lock your frames at 27-28 or so.TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT. I have experimented. This value is highly system-dependent. With my current setup (2 gigs ram, 7800GT/256) I presently use a value of 160. 400 was too high for me, 160 actually paints textures faster. But I'm still experimenting with this one. You need to test different vals on YOUR setup to find the ideal.TERRAIN_ERROR_FACTOR. In my experience this does not have a major effect on frames or smoothness...unless you radically turn it down. 96 is the maximum needed value in FS9. 100 serves no visual purpose over 96. Your val of 65 is unnecessarily low, imo. You will probably get the same smoothness and frames on 96 as you would on 65. If you don't, then by all means keep it at a low value. Personally, I couldn't fly with 65.TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX LVL. The max mesh res your sim can display. This does not have much effect on frames or smoothness imo. 20 is typically the most you need, 21 is for 19m? or 9.6m? terrain (if you have any) and can lead to more mesh tearing. You need to research (search function) these for details.TERRAIN_EXTENDED_LEVELS. Where did you get a val of 232. Rhett

Hello Rhett, Thanks for your reply. As far as the TERRAIN_ERROR_FACTOR number of 65. That value is tied to a setting inside the sim in display settings called Terrain mesh complexity, under display settings, the first slider. The 232 EXTENDED LEVELS number I got from another site recommending this and all the other settings. My default was 200, so I have no idea what this value effects? I appreciate your help. Thank you again. Also, I always thought that Ground Enviroment did not affect FPS? That's something for me to think about too.

Not sure what affects FPS the most but here are my settings:[DISPLAY]UPPER_FRAMERATE_LIMIT=50TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=60[TERRAIN]TERRAIN_ERROR_FACTOR=100.000000TERRAIN_MIN_DEM_AREA=10.000000TERRAIN_MAX_DEM_AREA=200.000000TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL=20TERRAIN_TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=8TERRAIN_AUTOGEN_DENSITY=2TERRAIN_USE_GRADIENT_MAP=1TERRAIN_EXTENDED_TEXTURES=0TERRAIN_DEFAULT_RADIUS=9.000000TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS=9.000000TERRAIN_EXTENDED_LEVELS=2 (I had this as high as 4 but sim got jerky so lowered to 2) With these settings my MegaScenery is extremely sharp and clear. Texture also renders very fast. I am also using System Booster, Version 2, which really enhanced my FS9 experience. I still receive stutters occasionally though.I got these settings from recommendations received from fellow simmers in the MS Flight Simulator Tips and Tricks forum (the FS9 Cfg: Care and Maintenance thread contains excellent recommendations); and the MS Flight Simulator Hardware forum (the top two sticky posts have invaluable info concerning these settings!).For TERRAIN_EXTENDED_LEVELS, I think the highest setting for FS9 is 4. I once had mine set to something like 132681 based on a recommendation I saw on another site and it really seemed to work great. But, in reality, the setting was defaulting to 4. Jim Young

Hey Jim, thanks for your input. I will try your set mixed with mine to see how things are. By the way, where can I get System Booster version 2 at? I did a google search and came up empty. Thanks again.

Hope the settings work for you too. Get System Booster here: http://www.systembooster.com/. Free to try for 30 days so it's worth a try.Jim Young

Thanks Jim, I think I'll give it a try. Can't hurt, thats for sure. I will let you know how it works on my system.Thanks again.