Low FPS in Flight Sim X

Flight Sims, especially FSX are very memory intensive. I beta tested this game, so I am familiar with it. Im not sure where your at, so here we go. Take it one at a time....

You might go into graphic settings, use a lower resolution and cut back on some effects. Some settings, like distance or terrain, can really speed things up. Sounds like you did this already, so we have other issues.

Unless your using a 64 bit operating system, your computer only sees 2 of your 4 gigs of ram. While I doubt this is your problem, it might help since your gaming http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/system/platform/server/PAE/PAEmem.mspx

All drivers need to be checked. Not the CD that came with it, but from the manufacturer. Heres some links:

Motherboard:
http://majorgeeks.com/Intel_Chipset_Software_Installation_Utility_d1667.html

Video card:
http://majorgeeks.com/ATI_Catalyst_Drivers_for_Windows_XP_d4038.html
Unless your using Vista:
http://majorgeeks.com/ATI_Catalyst_for_Vista_d5503.html

Sound card:
http://majorgeeks.com/Realtek_High_Definition_Audio_for_2KXP03_d4902.html
Unless your using Vista:
http://majorgeeks.com/Realtek_High_Definition_Audio_for_Vista_d5513.html


Have you done any tweaking to XP? Just some basics? For example under Windows Explorer, right click your main drive (probably C and uncheck allow indexing service. Click "ignore all" on the error you get.

If your a gamer, disabling some services and startup items can free up memory and speed up boot and everything else.

Every couple of weeks to a month:

Download CCleaner, clean your drive and registry. You can use it to disable startup items not needed as well. http://majorgeeks.com/CCleaner_Slim_No_Toolbar_d4191.html

Defrag your hard drive. Windows Defrag works good for now. Close everything when doing defrag.