Indeed, running in windowed mode on my box drops fps into the teens from a steady (1% or less variation) 30 fps when locked at 30. I can also lock at 60 and get 45 to 60 anywhere but I think the less variation in fps, regardless of the number once you get at or above 24, generally the smoother it will fly.
That being said, I will still get an occasional single "micropause" (for lack of a better word) from time to time regardless of my average fps and it's steadiness. I interpret a stutter as 2 or more pauses in quick succession. I'm thinking it has to do with scenery load / autogen and the video card capabilities. My 280 certainly has the specs to do a creditable job but again, we're talking FSX, anything can and will happen over time. It seems like you can have stable and sufficient fps and still get graphical glitches. On those extremely rare occasions I've seen a comparative bar graph test of various OS's or GPU's or CPU's trying to drive FSX I know that just because the bar shows 35 fps out of a major metropolitan area with a given card does not guarantee stutter or pause free performance, just that you can average (or peak) at those numbers. I find it's not unusual when turning onto final approach for some sort of visual glitch, stutter, whatever, to occur as the runway lights (or any lights for that matter, ie. AI) come into view. Rapid changes of view: panning, snap panning, inside to outside and back, rapid banking at low altitude all increase the probability of a burp in the program.
I've tried all the tweaks, some work, some don't, some have little or no effect. I can live with what I've got at this point. It's unbelievably good 98% of the time, so buttery smooth. It's that 2% that grates. (Well it's probably much less than 1% of actual flight time...but 2% sounds more dramatic).
I can no more turn down my aggressive grahics settings than I can drive 55 so I never try that approach. I'm primarily a VFR flyer.
I continue to maintain the steady strain and enjoy FSX. But, I do look forward to Win7 & FS11.
That being said, I will still get an occasional single "micropause" (for lack of a better word) from time to time regardless of my average fps and it's steadiness. I interpret a stutter as 2 or more pauses in quick succession. I'm thinking it has to do with scenery load / autogen and the video card capabilities. My 280 certainly has the specs to do a creditable job but again, we're talking FSX, anything can and will happen over time. It seems like you can have stable and sufficient fps and still get graphical glitches. On those extremely rare occasions I've seen a comparative bar graph test of various OS's or GPU's or CPU's trying to drive FSX I know that just because the bar shows 35 fps out of a major metropolitan area with a given card does not guarantee stutter or pause free performance, just that you can average (or peak) at those numbers. I find it's not unusual when turning onto final approach for some sort of visual glitch, stutter, whatever, to occur as the runway lights (or any lights for that matter, ie. AI) come into view. Rapid changes of view: panning, snap panning, inside to outside and back, rapid banking at low altitude all increase the probability of a burp in the program.
I've tried all the tweaks, some work, some don't, some have little or no effect. I can live with what I've got at this point. It's unbelievably good 98% of the time, so buttery smooth. It's that 2% that grates. (Well it's probably much less than 1% of actual flight time...but 2% sounds more dramatic).
I can no more turn down my aggressive grahics settings than I can drive 55 so I never try that approach. I'm primarily a VFR flyer.
I continue to maintain the steady strain and enjoy FSX. But, I do look forward to Win7 & FS11.
