let me try :) 1 - it depends how grafic apps are using the 3d card. poser doesn't use that much - though it gained somewhat of performance as i changed from the same card you have to msi's gforce4, but mostly due to "brute force" of the card. if poser would utilize opengl or direct3d, the impact would be substantial. 2 - again it depends what 3d apps you are using. i'm working daily with max, and performance improved :) 3 - there are lot of them, do a search in google on "3d benchmark 2001". 4 - sorry, i won't dare. defaults are working mostly pretty good. you can always save your settings and change them if you don't like them...