BirdDogICT

Do yourself a favor and ignore the ATI tweaks...you don't need them since about Catalyst 10.3, especially with your 4870. The only exceptions might be Dual Pass Render, and anything that reduces immersion (like turning TAC on or Simulation Messages on). I run BHaH with a 5770, which is actually slower than the 4870, and don't use any of the ATI tweaks. I'm also running Catalyst 11.5. Set AA from within the game to 4X or 8X, then set AA in Catalyst to "Use Application Settings", and turn Morphological AA on. Set AF to 4X or 8x and Mipmap Detail Level to Quality. Ignore Tesselation, Catalyst AI, Vertical Refresh, and OpenGL Settings. This should give you the best balance of performance/appearance, especially when flying in dark, overcast clouds. Also, reduce Workshop settings like Ground Detail and Regional Air Activity. FPS are always lower on the runway, over the frontlines, near airports, or in giant furrballs due to the number of objects that are modeled. If this doesn't work, you can get a FPS boost by turning shadows off. Your mileage may vary.

Glad that helped. I haven't played with HDR Bloom that much...I always found it to be a little dark. Can't help you on this one. Try a PM to Creaghorn.

Not thick at all...keep in mind that most advice here is for older ATI cards. Not that I haven't added my own bits of advice, having played BHaH from Phase 2, and upgrading my hardware as I went along. With faster ATI cards and better Catalyst drivers, most of the overrides aren't that helpful now, except for those that aid realism (like turning TAC or sim warnings off). Defaults can be set by going to Workshop, click on Graphics Config, Click on File, then choose Default Settings (this will reset all overrides). Then click on Display Options, and choose your Resolution and level of in-gameantialiasing. Click on OK, File, and Exit. That should get you back to defaults (e.g., no overrides, default texture settings, and all sliders at 1). Try it and see if you still see artefacts. If not, move up sliders until you do, then back off a little. I can run all of my sliders at 5 with a single 5770, but the game is so much better behaved at 53355 Not meaning to be pedantic...sometimes it helps to start over at square one.

I meant in-game settings.

jamieandnici, Be careful adjusting the z-bias...it's really best to leave it at default settings. While some adjustment may reduce cloud flicker, adjusting z-bias can cause problems like cockpit gauges flickering. Also, much has been written about ATI overrides...they helped with my old ATI 1950X card, but default settings are fine with later ATI cards and Catalyst drivers, starting around 10.3. Try using default graphics settings without any overrides. Overclocking can easily cause the problems you describe...DDR (or for that matter, DDR2 and DDR3) memory can be easily overclocked and be completely 2D stable, the same isn't always true about its' 3D stability. Same applies to your GPU memory. Some games are more sensitive to overclocking than others. BHaH seems to be one of them. Checked for power or cooling limitations with the GPU?

Jamieandnici, I'm using Catalyst 11.5 drivers without any problems. However, I've noticed some minor texture artefacting with Supersample AA and my single 5770 card, especaily at altitude. You might try the option of switching to post-processing. Set Catalyst to Use Application settings for AA, AF, and click on Morphological AA. This should turn off SuperSample AA for Crossfire, which may be the source of your problem.

My last rig ran BHaH pretty well with a 2.8GHz processor and ATI 4870 with sliders turned down like your. The 5770 I use now is actually a little slower than the 4870, but moving up to 3.6GHz with faster memory and the latest graphics drivers made a huge difference. Those stutters are more pronounced when close to the ground, especially near airfields. Have you turned down Workshop settings like Ground Object Density and Regional Air Activity and In Cloud Fog?

BHaH is very CPU intensive due to the amount of activity that is modeled, especially over the front lines, near airfields, in giant furrballs. CPU speed of 3.2 was the minimum acceptable speed for my rig...I'm currently overclocked to 3.6 and it's about perfect.. Terrain and Scenery sliders makebig demands on the GPU. The FAQ at http://www.overflandersfields.com/FAQ.htm#Installation_and_settings recommends these sliders be set to 3 or 4. I have a decent setup, and can run them at 5, but I have no lags or stutters when they are at 3.

Why not just pony up the money and buy Phase 3? Works great with Windows 7 64 bit. Vast improvement over Phase 2.

Panama Red, Thanks for sharing this excellent article. Should be read by anyone wanting to understand latest nVidia and ATI drivers and hardware. The major takeaway from the article is that driver support for many recent games is lacking. Also supports my latest efforts at optimizing BHaH: set 4X AA from within the game, use default overrides, set sliders to 53355, and set Catalyst AA to "Use Application Settings":and check Morphological AA. Seems to give the best combination of appearance & performance. Also helps to greatly reduce TrackIR artefacts and maintain high FPS in heavy clouds. Your mileage may vary.

Buddy1998, I hear what you're saying...when playing around too much with the settings, you reach the point of diminishing returns pretty quicky. The CFS3 graphics engine is already pretty solid, so how much you tweak depends on how much aggravation you can tolerate. The recommended setting for Fullscreen Swap Effect for ATI cards is D3DSWAPEFFECT_FLIP, according to the FAQ http://www.overflandersfields.com/Tips.htm. This was the recommeded setting for CFS3 and ancient ATI cards, and is still valid.

Are you a closet DCS-A10 user???

Since Catalyst 11.2 and 11.3 are designed to optimize DirectX 11 settings with 6000 and 5000 cards, ATI has introduced a few anomalies with the version of DirectX used by BHaH (I think it's 8.2) Note that CFS3Config.exe has a glitch...if you close the utility by clicking on the right upper hand X, your settings won't be saved. You have to save settings by using File, Exit. (CFSConfig.exe sets graphics settings from within Workshop, or you can open it outside BHaH. It's located in the C:\OBDSoftware\CFSWW1 Over Flanders Field directory) I haven't noticed the same problems with Catalyst effecting my BHaH settings..I set game settings where I want them with CFSConfig, set them in Catalyst, and then created a Catalyst profile for BHaH. (Catalyst presets have been a little glitchy with versions 11.2 and 11.3...not having any problems with BHaH, but when I created a preset for DCS-A10, my program icon disappears after activating the preset.) Despite a few glitches, I think that the latest drivers give a huge boost in performance. Glad everything's working well for you. Now it's time to stop fooling around with graphics settings and kill, kill, kill!!! ,

ReDDoT, Thanks for posting your settings...more than one way to skin this cat. My settings are very close to yours, and I'm having good success. After some more experimentation, I seem to get the best performance by setting AA within the game, then set Catalyst AA to "Use Application Settings" with Morphological AA turned on. Works especially well to prevent big FPS drops with overcast skies. I'm getting 45-60 FPS all the time. Also, I can't tell that D3DOverrider is a help with the new ATI drivers. Not really worth the effort, but still the only way to get Vsync to work, which may or may not reduce white jaggies with TrackIR. Turning down TrackIR speed and turning down game sliders helps a lot. I have a couple of questions, though...since installing Catalyst 11.2 and now 11.3, I am noticing a weird artefact when looking behind with TrackIR while sitting on the runway: the textures for the sky appear in the shadows of the plane's fuselage. In other words, part of the plane's shadow is whatever texture of the current sky (e.g., gray if overcast, blue with fluffy clouds, etc). No combination of settings will clear this up. It's a minor problem and disappears after leaving the ground, but is kinda weird. Thought I'd mention that Olham's recommendation to set Fullscreen Swap Effect to D3DSWAPEFFECT_COPY_VSYNC prevents my Quick Combat missions from starting...problem goes away if I us any other option. . After some more experiementation with Catalyst 11.3, I can't recommend SuperSample AA. When it is turned on, it causes artefacts when showing plane damage. We're both using a 5770, so should get similar results. Thanks again.

The fourth pin is for Pulse Width Modulation (PWM), which is a method of using electrical pulses to control fan speed and reduce signal noise or interference. It replaces the need for a rheostat to control fan speed. Normally a 4 pin fan power cable is plugged into the 4 pin cpu fan header on the motherboard. But. you can use a 3 pin power connector with a 4 pin fan header on the motherboard, the only issue is that there is no fan control, so the fan will always run at full speed. When using a heatsink fan with a 4 pin power connector with a 3 pin header on the motherboard, the fourth pin with the blue colored wire is not connected. There has been an update to the original PWM specification developed by Intel back in 2003. The update allows PWM and fan control with a 3 pin connection. In some modern motherboards there may even be a BIOS setting which allows switching back and forth between 3 pin and 4 pin fan control. You'll need to check the specs for your motherboard. If using a motherboard that supports AMD's "Cool and Quiet" , you'll have to turn this feature off in BIOS. I have an older Zalman CNPS7000 cooler with a three pin connector that plugs directly into the motherboard or can be used with their manual rheostat. PM me and I could send it to you, including AMD/Intel mounting hardware. It's short and squatty so may not fit some newer CPU socket/memory layouts. What socket do you need to fit?

Shiloh, The CH rudder pedals are extremely durable and well made. Can't imagine flying a Camel, or any other tail dragger, without them. CH's main business is industrial controllers, and they make their products to last. My CH Pro Pedals, Pro Throtle, and Fighterstick have been in daily use for 5+ years and still function like brand new. I was lucky to get two years of use out of cheaper brands and had to replace springs, pots, and/or pushbuttons several times. There is a steep learning curve with the programming software, but ready-made OFF profiles can be downloaded from the CH forum. Welcome

The stock AMD K8 cooler for my last two builds came with the 'pad' of cooling compound. The stock cooling compound is actually pretty good, but you can't control it's thickness. If you're running at stock speeds, that's not usually a problem. BUT...being the fussy builder that I am, I usually clean it off with alcohol and apply a thin layer of Arctic Silver. OR, if I plan to overclock, I throw away the stock cooler and use a much bigger one, my favorite brand being Zalman. Never had one fail yet. No matter what cooler you use, my experience is that CPUs typically run hot due to improperly applied thermal paste.

BHaH is definitely good looking. Are the white jaggies with TrackIR? They are hard to get rid of when on the ground, flying low over an airfield, over the frontlines, or in giant furrballs due to the large number of objects placing demands on your CPU and GPU. They usually appear when I'm first looking around before takeoff, but go away after I'm 1,000 feet in the air. One solution is to turn down your Motion Control speed within the TrackIR software. I run mine at about 0.7 or 0.8...slows down the panning enough for the graphics card to keep up. Turn down your terrain and/or scenery sliders one notch. You may be able to run them on 5 when nothing's happening, but in clouds, furrballs, or over the frontlines, gameplay is much smoother if they're on 3 or 4. Everything else can be on 5. When CFS3 first came out, most people were turned off by the constant stuttering in the game. The FPS settings in the XML file were a big help in reducing stuttering with older CPUs and GPUs...maybe not so much now. I'm using D3DOverrider in Win 7 64 without any problems. You can tell if it's working if you hear a Windows sound event before your flight. You should hear it sometime after Pol yells "Contact" when Quick Combat is loading. I'm assuming that the refresh rate for your monitor is 60. If D3DOverrider is working, your framerate won't ever exceed 60 (you can check FPS by hitting the Z key, or use the third party FRAPS utility). If you're talking about very minor AA artefacts when on the ground that disappear after you gain some altitude (you may notice that they make the ground textures shimmer slightly), they can be resolved by settimg SMOOTHVISION HD Antilaiasing to 4X, Box Filter (uncheck Use Application Settings and Morphological filtering), and set Anti-Aliasing Mode to Quality (Super-Sample AA). This will put greater demands on your GPU, so will result in a lower average frame rate, somewhere around 30 (but down to 22-25 on the gound or over the frontlines). Also, set your Workshop settings to medium or low settings. I always try for the best graphics performance I can get, but the biggest immersion killer for me is stuttering. You should aim for good looking graphics AND smooth gameplay. Hope this helps...

The three icons problem you describe is normal...it's for those overachievers who use three screens with Eyefinity. Sounds to me like your install is fine. Catalyst 11.2 takes a little getting used to...it's a major leap forward in driver support for the 5000 cards. If you feel you MUST re-install, Parky's method should work. Make sure that you're using a new release of Driver Sweeper for Win 7 64 bit...some older versions have been problematic with ATI drivers, borking users' Windows installations. I used to be a fan of Driver Sweeper back in the days when we had to uninstall ATI drivers each time we upgraded Catalyst, but I haven't found it to be necessary with more recent Catalyst versions. As of Catalyst 10.2 or so, the Catalyst installation has been painless, since the Catalyst install routine does a good job of deleting the old Catalyst drivers before installing new ones. But I've had a few instances in Windows 7 64 bit when one or two files didn't install correctly and I had to run through the re-install a second time (didn't uninstall Catalyst, just ran install again). You should always choose the option in the install routine to echo back the results at each stage of the install to make sure all components installed correctly. I've had probems only when I forget to close down all unnecessary processes before installation. I haven't encountered any driver incompatibilities with 11.2, but you never know what might cause problems. Before reinstalling go to Start Menu -> Control Panel -> Uninstall a program -> Turn Windows features on or off and make sure that the checkbox of Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5.1 is checked. Some prople have had problems with Catalyst and Win 7 64 Bit Service Pack 1 (hasn't been a problem for me, though). Hope you get it sorted. If not, we're here to help. P.S. I also agree with Parky's assessment of your computer guru.

I forgot to mention Olham's sticky on graphics settings...makes it very easy to understand. Good luck.

Not that this helps much after the fact, but I also had problems with Kaspersky and CFS3 in WinXP several years ago. Kaspersky would halt CFS3 in it's tracks until I designated it as a trusted application.. Oddly enough, I didn't have to designate CFS3 as a trusted application when I migrated to Win7 64bit. Due to different version of DirectX, maybe?

No, I believe that D3DOverrider is included in RivaTuner. I use a standalone version of D3DOverrider found here: http://www.mediafire.com/?2zzymudjfbh it's simple to use and doesn't write any changes to your registry. I simply start it before running certain games. (e.g., older sims like Battle of Britain II or Lockon Modern Air Combat) that require VSync to reduce problems with screen tearing. I initially tried VSync with OpenGL Triple Buffering to try to reduce the "white jaggies" from using TrackIR, and had some success. From experiementation, I've found that a combination of VSync and reducing scenery and terrain sliders one notch greatly reduces TrackIR problems. If you decide to use Vsync and Triple Buffering, I think that you can enable D3DOverrider through Rivatuner (I haven't used Rivatuner for several years since ATI got serious about improving their drivers, so am not current on it's inner workings). Are you using Catalyst AND Rivatuner together? I know that there have been some problems with that approach since around Catalyst 10.3. FWIW, I would first try MLAA without VSync and see if you're happy with the results. You can always add it later.

ReDDot, Parky is right on the money as to how those settings work. Many of the new driver features are for optimizing DirectX 11, so don't effect BHaH at all. However, BHaH performance is much better with Catalyst 11.2 than previous versions of Catalyst.. Your settings look okay, but here's what I use: First off, turn off AA from within CFS3Config. While you're there, you may want to set overrides as per the FAQ http://www.overfland...tm#ATI_GRAPHICS These overrides greatly helped performance on older systems...not all of them are necessary on newer systems. Some, like turning messages off, are a matter of personal choice. Second, try these Catalyst AI settings: -Check "Use Application Settings", and "Morphological Filtering" (BHaH runs better with Morphological AA. Since MLAA is post-process, it's less of a resource hog than traditional AA. Keep in mind, though that if MLAA is turned on all of the time, it may cause blurring in other applications). -Set Anisotropic Filtering to 4X (or higher if you want) -Set Catalyst A.I. to Performance -Set Mipmap Detain Level to Quality (or High Quality if you prefer) -Since you're using MLAA, it doesn't matter what setting you use for Anti-Aiasing Mode, since you've turned AA off in the game. -Vertical Sync and Triple Buffering are a can of worms...you have to install a third party program like D3DOverrrider for these functions to work, so set Vertical Sync to Always Off, and it doesn't matter whether Triple Buffering is checked or not (I've used these setting quite a bit with D3DOverrider and was happy with the results, but don't recommend that you go down that path unless you have a LOT of screen tearing problems). Fourth, -Consider using Hellshade's z-bias trick to stop cloud flickering. http://combatace.com...__1#entry455111 Solved my problem completely. This may seem like a lot of tweaking, but it's really simple. If you experience problems, turn your sliders down a notch. This is particularly true is you have issues with white jaggies while turning your head with TrackIR. MLAA has eliminated that problem for me. FWIW, our system specs and are similar.

How about "Electric Mud" by Muddy Waters?

The film is Master & Commander. An absolutely fantastic soundtrack, not only musically, but sound effects are great. Makes my Dolby 7.1 system sing. When the crew is beating to quarters, I could swear they're running on deck just above my head. I've been singing with local symphony choruses for years, and have done hundreds of great pieces, but I never get tired of these three: Pilgrim's Chorus from Wagner's Tannhauser It's hard to find a decent recording... Brahms Requiem Faure Requiem