Loading speed has nothing to do with loading stars, it only affects landscapes (and I think in 0.980 there is a bug which makes it have no effect at all).
HD I am seeing a bug - or maybe this has to do with an add-on I need to remove? If I visit a large number of planets in a short time (like 5 planets in 30 min) the landscape loading indicator keeps running (the circular thing in the upper right) and if I click on the solar system diagram, the member planets of that system keep blinking. Sometimes the planetary landscapes load slowly and while they are loading I can see through them. Eventually, if I visit enough planets, the program crashes and I have to reload the program. Upon reloading, the same issues start happening again and I have to do an entire reboot to get them to stop. The other thing besides loading planet landscapes which causes this is if I visit a black hole and then go to a planet. What do you think is going on and how can I fix this issue?
SE 0990 runs MUCH better, even with the GAIA 5 million star add on. I dont get any of the issues that I had with the earlier version, even when using the ultra preset, which is what I am using! I boosted saturation, contrast and sharpness to max and the colors and terrain really pops!I think those sound like typical SE issues and I doubt you can do anything about it.