Just a suggestion or idea. I am getting very confused and unsure trying to make any sense out of these posts regarding the results of SP1. Everyone has different hardware, addon software, uses various settings in both the GPU and sim, uses different config tweaks and, maybe most importantly has different standards or levels of acceptance in determining their satisfaction level. What impresses some may not impress others. I've seen some screen shots that to me are just awful and other shots that truly look awesome, however the poster's impressions are quite the opposite. What I propose, or throw out for thought, is can a moderator or one of the many very talented and knowledgeable folks here set up one or more standard scenarios at a high detail airport/area such as SEA or LGA or ORD or LHR with set criteria so we can all compare screen shots with fps shown on a semi level basis. I think there should be one thread for single core and one for multi core users. It would be best if all participants were using a default installation of FSXSP1 (no addons), but can use/specify in game tweaks and settings and config mods. E.G.:Single core system: (that's me) CPU - GPU - RAM - Hard Drive - Default 737 (or whatever)LGA (or SEA, LHR)Fair weather0900/June 01Gate #----FPS achieved:Game slider/box settings: * * * *Config tweaks used: * * *(and so on)Participants can use their preferred settings in the game, config and GPU to get the best results which they would specify when they submitted their screen shot. Then I could compare my results with others in a more meaningful way. This may not be viable, but there should be some more or less standard way to evaluate or compare my results with others that have similar systems or maybe make a determination, looking at other systems results, what new components or complete system I would like to buy. Just a thought. Shoot holes in it!!!Scott

The thought is good, but unfortunatley the few attempts that have been made by forum users to produce an FSX benchmark have been lowly subscribed, then often transfer then retire in the relatively quieter hardware forum.For example, here is one of the more successful FSX benchmark threads http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho..._id=24071&page= that was recently resurrected when SP1 came out, and there have only been three people (myself included) post updated results.Although any benchmark can be criticised for not covering every users FSX setup (eg. the aforementioned thread uses bloom, which most of us don't use when flying), they can be very useful to compare peoples systems that differ by one notable component (eg. GPU or CPU), or a good before and after comparison after an update (eg. SP1).In fact, I think the subject benchmark would be great for quantifying the SP1 benefit of two or four CPU cores over one, but it's very hard to get any takers. People seems much more likely to give subjective assessments of performance (or image quality) rather than use an objective benchmark. With the amount of misinformation that causes, it is hard to sort the wheat from the chaff in trying to see what really make FSX tick.In the interest of finishing up this post on a more positive note, I suggest that people either run the benchmark in the linked thread and post their results or come up with a better one (perhaps that includes a screen cap for IQ comparison) for us all to run!Gary

Gary - Benchmark---that's the word I was looking for!I'll look at that thread for sure. I'm kind of surprised at the lack of interest in a benchmark for FSX. Folks are always referring to benchmarks for computer hardware??? I find it difficult to asses other simmers comments which seem to be all over the map.Thanks much for the link and the response.Scott