what's the difference I am confused. I have a geforce 7600 gs graphics card if that helps.

I have the same card. nvidia reccomends unlimited:http://www.nzone.com/object/nzone_fsx_techtips.htmlThat used to work for me..now it doesn't with a different monitor and resolution.You just have to experiment with what works best on your system.I have no blurs or stutters-after experimenting with my new setup. http://mywebpages.comcast.net/geofa/pages/rxp-pilot.jpgForum Moderatorhttp://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/

I've heard that if you lock your FPS the engine will devote the extra CPU cycles to terrain loading, though I don't know how true that is.In regards to those recommendations, I wouldn't use them. I mean they recommend water at Max 2.x and scenery complexity and autogen at sparse, which to me a rediculous idea. How you can make those recommendations based a GPU is beyond me, as the main factor in setting those is CPU performance.In my opinion a much better set of recommended settings is found here.http://ops.precisionmanuals.com/wiki/FSX_FPS_Guide

I think the point is we all have to search for the truth on our individual machines.7 days ago when I upgraded my monitor for 17" to 24"- I was almost in the negative you know what blurry camp after a couple of hours. But about 8 hours of checking settings I got back in the positive camp...Had to push the limits, question everything, well worth it-kinda like life :-)http://mywebpages.comcast.net/geofa/pages/rxp-pilot.jpgForum Moderatorhttp://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/

>I've heard that if you lock your FPS the engine will devote>the extra CPU cycles to terrain loading, though I don't know>how true that is.I think there is allot of truth to that.I experimented with unlimited when I first installed FSX, and got great frame rate results. But that was probably the desire to get frame rates closer to what I was able to achieve in FS9 in order to make myself feel better about 'going backwards' in this regard.What I finally did was lock my FR's to 20-25 depending on the complexity of the aircraft I'm using. That allows to terrain and textures to 'snap into focus' much more quickly....in fact 'blurries' are not much of a problem really. When I consider how long it took to get FS9 sorted in this regards, I think FSX is actually much better, if....if...you are willing to 'balance' your system and allow your processor do it's job efficiently.And finally, FSX really does run smoother even when occasionally, but rarely, dipping into the lower teens (or even single digits) than FS9 ever was.

>>I've heard that if you lock your FPS the engine will devote>>the extra CPU cycles to terrain loading, though I don't know>>how true that is.>>I think there is allot of truth to that.Considering that ACES has repeatedly stated this as a fact for the past (how many?) years now, I'd venture that's an understatement... ;)

HelloHere are a couple of articles from a guy who had a hand in writing this stuff, now sadly moved on (to google i think)The Blurrieshttp://www.steve-lacey.com/blogarchives/20..._blurries.shtmlStutters http://www.steve-lacey.com/blogarchives/20..._stutters.shtmlhttp://www.freewebs.com/reading1871/30.jpg

There was something by MS on why it is smoother at lower FPS and had something to do with pre-rendering something but I can't find the MS article on it. I'm finding 10-12 can be flown without stuttering or pauses unlike FS9 and that 18-20 fps very smooth.Complex aircraft in large cities are still a problem though at least with my hardware but I find if I'm flying a complex airliner I'll lower the FiberFrameReaction to .10 to sacrifice clear textures when my system gets overloaded. When flying GA though I crank everything up and can lock at 20 or 30 depending on area without a problem.

Yes- it makes sense. However, despite knowing this-I found with my previous monitor that running anything other than unlimited gave me massive stutters ( I never got blurries-gforce 7600 gs). Then I saw this from nvidia on their recommendations of fsx settings:http://www.nzone.com/object/nzone_fsx_techtips.htmlNotice they recommend "unlimited". Now one could say the Ms programmers should know their program-yet one could also say the video guys know their card!In any case-when I just went to a 24" monitor-now running anything except locked (20fps) produces both blurries which I had never had-and stutters.Go figure....http://mywebpages.comcast.net/geofa/pages/rxp-pilot.jpgForum Moderatorhttp://geofageofa.spaces.live.com/

>what's the difference I am confused. I have a geforce 7600>gs graphics card if that helps.My system runs best when set to 'unlimited'.

Two things every FSX sim pilot should experiment with:Locked FPS vs UnlimitedFullscreen vs Windowed ModeSometimes the differences can be unexpected and dramaticJeff ShylukSenior Staff Reviewer, Avsim

I really appreciate hearing from Steve Lacey again...however, his comments precede SP1 and certainly the upcoming SP2. His blog is dated 2005! Haven't there been many changes in our sim since then? Some of the Weather, Landclass, and Mesh programs that have been introduced have also "introduced" many complexities that have each of us changing our configs to new parameters.Just my $.02 worth.