Before I start FSX for the first time on my system, what is the "must-have" tweaks, edits, etc to make the performance better?

This article pretty much sums it up:http://ops.precisionmanuals.com/wiki/FSX_FPS_GuideHope this helps,Pat

That there is a pretty helpful guide!You may also want to install 'TreesX' downloadable at the file library under FSX utilities (I believe). It is reported to have a noticeably good effect on framerates. I installed it but never ran the program without it so I can't compare. But I can tell you that with only a 2.0ghz AMD processor, geforce 7600gs video card w/512mb, and 1.5gb ram I am getting between 12-25fps around LAX with scenery set to 'dense', airport vehicles at 'low', airline traffic at 14% and other sliders set very low or off. Not too shabby for a slower system so maybe the treesx helped.Also,if you have Anisotropic filtering available, be sure to check that along with Anti-aliasing, and set your framerate limit to unlimited. Those made a big difference in my framerates.

Awsome! Thanks for the advice guys! Doing it all now as we speak. :)

>Before I start FSX for the first time on my system, what is>the "must-have" tweaks, edits, etc to make the performance>better?I know you're downloading the tweaks. Some indeed may not be helpful as indeed was posted by one FS team member. I would personally not use any tweaks until SP1 comes out. It's supposed to be on a clean install anyway so the tweaks will have to go one way or the other.

As I always say the three best things you can do for performance are disable light bloom and ground scenery shadows, and set water no higher than low 2.x. Just as a test I maxed all scenery settings, and got around 6fps over Vancouver, I then changed only the three settings above, and was instantly getting upwards of 20fps, and I still had autogen at maximum.

I can vouch for the fact that light bloom, ground shadows, and water 2.x need to go in order to improve frame rates. I had played around with different settings to see what was effective, and I found that I really don't want to live without anti-aliasing or anisotropic filtering, while the light bloom, shadows and water didn't bother me at all to live without. I built a system not long ago with:MSI p6 SLI motherboardC2D E63002GB Corsair DDR2-8008800GTS 320MB Video CardIn most situations, my frame rates are in the 40's but like most others, it really takes a hit flying low over cities. I keep scenery at dense and most sliders cranked except for the 3 mentioned above and fps falls to the teens when flying over cities.Come on, SP1!