FSX FPS problem

[ryanbrown321]

I was wondering if anyone had some insight on a problem i am having.  When i do a fresh install of FSX on my comp i get good framerates with high settings (approx 25-30. i have it locked at 30)  Now after about a week or two of flying my framerates drop to around 3 and stay there.  I have not tweaked anything to cause the change and for the life of me i cant figure out why it works great and then a few weeks pass and i fire up FSX load a free flight and i stay at 3 FPS even if i crank every setting down to minimal. Here are my computer specs:
Manufacturer: Dell Inc. (optiplex 745)
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6600 @ 2.40GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.4GHz
Memory: 4030MB RAM
Hard Drive: 250 GB
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GSO Fatality
Monitor: 42" LCD TV
Sound Card: SB X-Fi Xtreme Gamer [CCE0]
Speakers/Headphones: Logitech 5.1 surround/ Sony Dynamic Stereo Headphones
Keyboard: Logitech wireless
Mouse: Logitech wireless
Operating System: Windows XP Professional x64 Edition (5.2, Build 3790) Service Pack 2 (3790.srv03_sp2_gdr.090805-1438)

any help would be appreciated.  on a side note last night i installed Windows 7 Ultimate x64 bit and im going to reload FSX and see if this still happens after a week or two of playing.

[Thud]

FPS slider locked?

[ryanbrown321]

yes i have it locked at 30, and have also tried unlimited but to no avail.  I have no idea why it acts the way it does. i wonder if there is an FSX file Cache somewhere that needs to be cleaned every so often

[Thud]

[quote]yes i have it locked at 30, and have also tried unlimited but to no avail.

[Thai09]

Hmmm...

Dell?

2.4 Ghz CPU?

9600 GSO?

A 42 " TV?

I'm surprised you get this off the ground in the first place!

I have no other advise than turning down your settings, and turn up the CPU and card...

[ryanbrown321]

well after installing FSX with windows 7 my frames are now jumping while sitting on the runway from 30 down to 3, then back up to 30 and then back down.  When i get home tonight i think i will try installing FSX on my spare hard drive and see if i cant tweak around with the fsx config file and see if i cant figure this out.  Thanks for all the suggestions so far.  Thai09 yea i know my system isnt all that great but it use to run really well and just craps out all of a sudden.  Once i get this worked out i will post with what changes i had to make

[Thai09]

Amazing IMO you can/could run it!

Why don't you try the FPS Limiter tool to get a more balanced

[ryanbrown321]

[quote]Amazing IMO you can/could run it!

Why don't you try the FPS Limiter tool to get a more balanced

[Tomcat5]

On my old computer, I noticed that if you plug in your controller before you start up you computer, if gives you a jump.  Btw, try running in high priority mode.  Go to task manager, show processes from all users, right-click fsx.exe, hover over priority and click high.  Gives me a nice boost.

[ryanbrown321]

[quote]On my old computer, I noticed that if you plug in your controller before you start up you computer, if gives you a jump.

[ryanbrown321]

well thank you everyone for your help.  I formatted both my drives and installed windows 7 on the 250gb hard drive and FSX on the 80gb hard drive.  i followed Nicks advice to the T.  I guess because i didnt re-boot between the FSX and FSX accel. install that caused the problem.  I took my time installing it and now its running at 30FPS (its locked at 30) with Active sky X running and also running REX.  Thanks for all the pointers and yea it looks AMAZING on my new LCD TV.