I believe you may want to check the option \'Max Segments Drawn\'
If your setting is too low, large ships or multiple ships cannot be loaded all at once. Mine is at 5000, which I believe is the max you can set it. I\'ve had no problems keeping a dozen ships and a station loaded since I changed it.
Be careful though, as it will eat your frames if you already struggle, but from what I\'ve experinced it\'s hard to hit FPS lag, even when running server. In fact, I limit my FPS or it goes to big and my card starts to cry...