I just received cfs3  I have loaded it have had no real prob     yet.  Flown training missions and stated and lost my first campain.  I feel lucky from what i have read that it get to play at all.   But before I have any real prob with it  should I down load the patch first or  the dirext x?                                    I have been running the graphics in the low end  so it would not stuter. I thought  the prob was the darn intergrated graphics                                                                                                                                      processor: AMD AthlonXP 1800+                                              hard drive: 60GB                                                                              memory  : 512 DDR-SDRAM                                                      graphics   : sis 740 intergrated graphics                                            Other than a new/used any thing but the curent graphics what should I do next?

you have a AMD Athlon 1800 and can only play in low res mode? I have a P-4 1.3 with 512 MB of RAM and I can play the missions and campains with my sliders up all the way.( Onlile is a different story). If you are having this studder problem at low res. I would install DX9 or newer,Patch the game and look tp see if your motherboard has an AGP slot. You can buy ATI 9600, 128MB, clone, vid cards for, $100 or less. I wish I could figure out how to post photos here, I would post some of my screenies from the game; Some look like well done paintings. A good vid card is really the way to go m8.

JayS,

Yes and yes. I upgraded my graphics card, only 32mb but for some reason or another the game runs perfectly. Not a single stutter. Now, about disabling the On-board graphics controller. I did exactly the same thing. Disabled the on-board one and put in a new AGP one. Go to Add/Remove Programs. If you see any software to do with your old graphics card, get rid of it. It will be fine without it. Turn off the computer, and when you start up press F8 or F10, I can't remember which. Try both at the same time, it works. (I use XP Pro.) Look under the menus and somewhere you will see a PCI manager, it changes through almost every system, so have a look. When you find the right one, you will notice a drop-down box that says "On board Graphics Controller." Set this to disable. Then Windows will start in "Safe Mode". Shut it down. It is probably a good idea to put on some latex gloves to stop static electricity wrecking your nice new card.  Put in the new graphics card into your empty AGP. Turn the PC on again and you will have the welcome screen. Log on, right click on the desktop and select Properties. Check that under the Display tab, the Adapter reads the make of your new card. If it does - well done, it's worked. You can reset your resolution and play CFS3. If it hasn't, then make sure you have uninstalled all old drivers, make sure your new card has the lastest drivers. If this till doesn't work, then shut off your PC, and check the card is in properly. If that doesn't work, then I have either missed something, or there is something wrong with your card.

Sorry this is so long, but it worked for me.

I would recommend you refer to your card's manufacturing instructions for any other details (in fact look at it anyway).

Hope this helps.

Jonathan

Great, I hope it works. It really is a brilliant game.