Hello, I've played both FS2002 and FS2004 and I bought FSX at release but ever since I bought and installed FSX I just do not enjoy flying any more. The reasons mainly being that it doesn't run smoothly or look at least like FS2004 graphics wise, it looks worse! I've tried just about everything, tweakguides, graphics guides, computer optimization, everything without sucess. I've even tried reinstalling Windows and reinstalling the game followed by service pack 1 and service pack 2 and I am still experiencing the same problems.First off my system is equipped with the following:Intel Core Duo 1.83ghz CPU2gb DDR2 RAMATI X1600 256mb GPU (Omega based on ATI 7.12)Windows XP Home SP2 (Totally optimized)All my other games run fine (COD4, Source games, BF2) except FSX.One major problem that really annoys me is the crazy FPS fluctuations! It's just not stable, one moment I am looking straight ahead at a smooth 22fps and the next without me doing anything it dips to 15fps for a few seconds.Another major problem is that only the ground textures around me are sharp and defined, anything more than a mile or two away looks blurry and undefined. In FS2004 everything looked just fine.I was really hoping that you guys could help me some because I have really enjoyed previous FS games but I have not been able to enjoy FSX. Ever since I bought the game I have played it no more than twenty five times or so, every time I want to play I just get discouraged because of the issues described above.If you guys can't help me then at least please tell me what settings I need to set FSX at so it looks as good as FS2004.Thank youP.S. I know I do not have a very powerful computer but I was expecting FSX to look just as good as FS2004 at least. I've waited till SP1 and now SP2 before asking since I knew they were coming but they really haven't fixed anything for me.Please, please, help me.-Kris

Seems some ATI Cards, especially the HD Series has serious issues with clouds and certain effects (like rain or snow kicked up by tires). Try using simple clouds to see if it helps. They aren't actually that bad I find, even for IFR weather.

Sorry, I meant ground textures.

turn sliders all the way down to the left and start from there, as you have an ancient CPU and a mid-range graphics card that is 3 generations old.water 2.x, bloom, and shadows all require an additional pass, so turn water down to 1.x and bloom and shadows off.I would reduce mesh to the 30m range, texture to 4m, and clear weather ( to reduce alpha and RMW vid memory access )