Since I am using FS9 I have got big frame hits with lots of clouds and on short final. Short final the frames are dropping always to around 9fps (locked at 18fps).I am thinking about upgrading my CPU from 1.8GHz to 2.4GHz. Should this improve frames a lot?Current System:Pentium 4 1.8GHZ768MB DDRATI RADEON 9800MAXTOR 40 GB 7200rpm, FS on seperate partition.Hope someone can advise me, thanks!Marcel

Marcel, assuming you have the software and your PC set up to do as well as possible, you can expect only about a 30% increase if you just change the CPU and nothing else. Of course the problem is, 9fps x 130% = 12fps, not too much better.Probably need to look at turning some sliders down a bit. Why don't you post your cloud slider values, resolution, and so forth to see where you can cut some detail and pick up some performance.Noel

My FS2004 settings;SCENERY: TerrainMesh complexity - 70Terrain texture size HIGHTerrain detait LAND & WATERWater effects NONEDawn/dusk texture bleeding CHECKED ONExtended terrain textures CHECKED ON Special Effects detail HIGH Scenery ObjectsScenery complexity DENSEAutogen density DENSEAdd-on dynamic scenery CHECKED ONand set to DENSEGround scenery cast shadows CHECKED ON Sun glare CHECKED ON Lens flare CHECKED ONAIRCRAFT: Global aircraft quality HIGH Virtual cockpit gauge quality HIGH Refections CHECKED ON Aircraft Shadows CHECKED ON Landing lights CHECKED ONWEATHER: Global weather quality CUSTOM Sight distance 80 mi/128km Cloud drae distance 40mi/64km 3-D cloud percentage 70% Cloud Detail DETAILED CLOUDS Cloud coverage Density MEDIUMHARDWARE: Target frame rate 18 Display Resolution 1024x768x32 Render to texture NOT CHECKED Transform and lighting CHECKED Anti-Aliasing NOT CHECKED Filtering TRILINEAR MIP Mapping quality 4 Hardware rendered lights 8 Global max texture size HIGH

Marcel, these settings are moderate to high as you know, and seem reasonable to assume you can expect about 30% increase. I am amazed you are only running at this very low resolution, not benefiting from 1600 x or higher on your 9800. It's a tough call--going from 9fps to 12fps in difficult areas seems hardly worth it, though of course when you are running 15fps now, this will go to 20 or so, which should be noticable.You may want to lower cloud density to low, sometimes this will buy you some FPS. Also, a dedicated sound card, like Audigy II, will add roughly 10% performance over an onboard sound chip in most cases.Good luck!Noel