I think I've tried pretty much everything on this thread and I still get the stutter. I've been halfway wondering if it's due to internet speeds.

SB24 where there is a lot of action is a prime example. When there are a lot of ships on the screen I might as well just give up. Half the time I can't tell what's going on, the other half I'm already dead but just don't know it yet.

what fps should we be aiming for to insure smooth running?

following advice on number of other threads, i've set shadows to low, how helped no end and is running rather good

25 fps is the minimum standard for smooth gameplay, 60 is the eyes limit and 61+ is for benchmarking.

I think I might have found my stutter problem. In the technical support area there is a small program for testing internet speed. In the instructions it says all the numbers in the second column should should not read lower than 250, if it is lower there is a problem. Mine is MUCH lower. The max is 120 and the low is 50. There's been some noise on my phone for some time but I've ignored it. After the test I called my IP and we did some test. My DSL modem is bad. Another one will be here Monday and I'll give it a try. I've not really noticed an internet slow down but the upload speed is horrendously slow. That's what I get for not paying attention. I'll post back and let everyone know if this helps.

Just as a reminder, 60+ FPS doesn't necessarily mean smooth gameplay, even though you're correct about people being unable to tell the difference after 60. One can still get 60 FPS on average but see uneven rendering due to things like SLI/Crossfire, extremely big resolutions (ie: triple monitor resolutions) and CPU/memory/drive slow-down when loading files.

Thats why i never said anything too specific about smooth gameplay, that comes with a lot of variables and as such only made reference of gen gameplay fps.

I had written earlier that I had an internet problem and I though it might be part of my stutter problem. It's not. I received a new modem today, the speeds are now where they are supposed to be and it still stutters.

I think if I could cure this problem my scores would be better in the scored battles. As it is I really can't see what's going on when there are a bunch of ships battling it out. It takes a lot of fun out of it.