Updated to Patch 72, all went fine w\o a hitch...................
Went into Alpha using Video Settings AA slider set to None (to use the FXAA exclusively) w/ textures set @ 4096.
Went in game in Graphics Detail all objects detail, distance detail & tree detail sliders set to full right. EM set to 1 & Gamma set to 1.2.
All check boxes to disable graphics features are unchecked except for "disable other plane's skins", in flip section all checkboxes are checked so all lighting effects & FXAA are enabled....
In Capture the Flag arena...........
On runway all good w/ FPS in 54-59 range.
Fired up me ole Spitty Mk IX & went up....started getting random white screen flashes & some light stuttering but game stayed playable w/ FPS between 48-58. Climbed to go into the new clouds....white flashes started getting a little more active while the stuttering got less but game stayed playable w/ FPS dropping slowly as plane got closer to the cloud layers............
Entered the cloud layers....white flashes slowed in appearing w/ FPS down to 33 but game was still playable w/ practically no stuttering visable. FPS held here until plane started breaking thru the cloud layers then slowly started climbing as plane gained distance from cloud layers eventually getting back up to 59-60 FPS w/ white flashes getting very random w/ light stuttering as when I lifted off runway.
Started dropping alt to go back thru cloud layers...the white flashes started to get more active along w/ the stuttering w/ FPS dropping back down but they didn't drop back down to the 33 FPS range this time....hanging around the 42-44 FPS range but game stayed playable thruout.
Once I broke thru the cloud layers again the white flashed started getting more random, stuttering getting less w/ FPS starting to go back up as plane gained distance below the cloud layers.............
Lined up on runway & landed plane w/ random white screen flashes & light stuttering w/ FPS between 52-60 but game was very playable.
Exited back to tower to exit game, hit the quit button & here is where the game hung for approx. 1 1\2 mins then just went to the desktop....got no CTD or anything resembling any error occurred.............
Went back into the game........game started back up normally to tower, hit the quit button again & game shut down normally.
All seems fine but when I checked my vid card vitals in AB I noticed that the GPU speed didn't clock back down to the 300Mhz as it normally does........it was still hung at 733Mhz-832Mhz.
Opened BBS to type this report....checked AB & GPU is still clocked up at mentioned speeds.
Gonna close all out & restart box to see if all resets.......................
Clouds looked good but if I may say so, they looked more cotton ballish to me at distance but when flying thru them they looked more realistic.......
Liked how they blocked the sunlight rays & how the sunlight rays reappeared as plane broke thru the cloud layers...........nice!
Back to the grind..................
PS--Once I closed BBS & shut down IE.......GPU clocks dropped back down to normal 300Mhz range. Opened IE back & opened BBS & GPU clocks went back up to 732Mhz-832Mhz steady...............must be MS Aero picking up or thinking it's picking up some 3D content.................