If you haven't done this yet....

[beeker46]

Recently, I received a new computer, my old one died after many years of faithful service. The new rig is an Intel I7 8th Gen with gobs of goodies as a gaming rig. Happy with it, but with one issue; onboard sound. Okay, not a major flaw, still far better than what my old one could do, and that had onboard sound, too. FSX-SE with dense scenery and most sliders to the far right and I was getting anywhere between 20-80 fps, again, far better than what I used to get with the old machine, which could not even touch FSX.

Then I decided to buy a dedicated sound card. Since the MB is from ASUS, I got an ASUS Xonar SE gaming sound card. Not bleeding edge, 5.1 sound which match the speakers that I have. With that card installed and working flawlessly, my frames have significantly improved. In the same busy airfield with the same settings, instead of the 20-ish FPS that I was getting, it is now 60+ FPS. Everywhere else, is a quick 180+ FPS.

If you are still using onboard sound, do yourself a favor, spring for a dedicated sound card. Got mine from Amazon for $40, they are not expensive, and you don't need a high end card. Just something to take the sound load off the motherboard and your performance will improve. Thought I would throw that out there... The less tasks you place on the CPU, the better FS (or P3D, whatever you use) will perform.

[Tom/CalClassic]

Yep, anything you can do to ease the load on the CPU will help.

[abbotsford]

Now you have me scurrying off to the basement to search through the old components crate. I am sure I have an old Soundblaster in there somewhere. :-)