This may only be a solution with my combination of hardware and OS.
XP Pro sp3
Intel Core duo E8500 @ 3.89Ghz <-- overclocked
ASUS P5Q Pro
4G G-Skill DDR2-800
NVIDIA 9800GT <-- stock speeds (Driver 186.18)
LG L227WTG 1680x1050@60hz
TrakIR
X52 Pro with Saitek Profiler software running.
19 processes running at game launch.
AH2 1680x1050 Hi-Res pack
All video effects turned on, all video sliders to max.
Game average FPS : 59-60
Since the release of this version I've had the following issues:
1. Self induced game lockups due to my overclocking the GPU.
2. Micro stutters when close to the ground.
3. Low frame rates sitting on the runway next to a mountain.
4. Sometimes letting the game sit with the clipboard open in the tower for 15-30 minutes , when I would start playing again, a lockup whould happen shortly after.
A.) The solution to (1.) was obvious. I returned the GPU to its stock settings. GPU - 600Mhz, Shader - 1500Mhz, Memory - 900Mhz.
B.) Numbers (2.),(3.) & (4.) seemed to be related and persisted after I returned my video card to stock settings. In my NVIDIA control panel I have everything game related set to application control. The micro stutters happened when panning my head around(TrakIR) looking out over the ground. They were like nano second stops while the ground was being redrawn. Visualy my head pans had a barely descernable hitch or stutter in a cyclic manner.
The only setting I had never touched in the NVIDIA control panel was (Texture filtering - Quality). It was on (Quality) since I installed the card. Last night I set it to (High Performance) just before manning a ship gun. The shadows in the water turned into large horizontal pixal masses. So I set it to (performance) and the pixal masses got smaller. I set it to (Quality) and the pixels blended back into the water and again became waves, shadows and reflections.
I still had micro stutters on land. At this point I set it to (High Quality). The micro stutters either went away, or are happening so fast now it is no longer perceptable. I had to attend to something AFK that unfortunatly left me connected to the game for over an hour in the tower with the clipboard open. I flew for several hours after I got back without a lockup. I still get the low frame rate sitting on a runway near a mountain(40-47). I get an even lower frame rate if I look down into the seat in the cockpit(30-35). But, I now am getting very smooth game play with no hitches or stutters. Normal game play frame rates hold for the most part at 59-60 but will fluxuate depending on objects near by down to 40 but recover to 59-60.
