Need for speed...

[Guest Rudo]

Hi,I want to upgrade my computersystem soon. I still use Athlon 1.000mHz, ATI radeon 64MB, 40GB harddisc and 384 MB memory. I fly the PMDG 737NG with AS2004, Radar Contact, Ultimate Trafic and FS9 on Win2000. I get 12 FPS which is flyable ;-) The 737NG being a 'heavy' burdon on FPS.Now: what would increase the framerate? Processor? Fast Harddisc? Videocard with 256 MB? Is FS9 disc-intensive? Will it benefit from X.XGB internal Memory? Or does it still use the HD for scratch/Virtual Memory?What Framerates do you 737NG users get? Maybe this forum is not the best place to ask, but since the 737NG (B1900D and future products from PMDG included) is all I am ever going to fly, I give it a try ;-)

[Guest Ray CYYZ]

One word answer: EVERYTHINGI built:P4 3.2/800Asus P4C800-E Deluxe mainboard2x 512 Mb DDR ram2x 80 Gb SATA drives running RAID0ATI 9800XT videoSB Audigy/2 soundI'm happy, but I can kill it completely if I want to so the reality is nothing available except perhaps a quad Xeon (which I'm not laying out the required $70,000). I get frame rates anywhere from a zillion to <15 depending on how much crap I saddle FS9 down with.The key is balance. Upgrading one part and putting it out of sorts with all the others generally only increases performance marginally in one area. You have to build from the ground up with the goal of maximizing every aspect of the system.In order of priority, it's probably ram -> cpu -> video -> disk.Notice video is not the top of the list, as I have found out over the years, better video just means you turn more stuff on :-lol so the net gain is actually very small by the time you finish tweaking.Ray

[Guest Rudo]

Hi,I have noticed that FS9 writes/reads from disk a lot. So using a RAID0 is not a bad idea... Upgrading to >1GB RAM doesnt make a great difference if FS9 still uses the disc for scratch...

[Guest milliotseb]

hello,I had a duron 800, 512mo of sdram and fx5200. Now I have xp1800+,dfi nforce2 mobo and 512 mo(using 2*256mo) of ddr 400(working in 266 mhz)Fps is now around 25-28 (even online)So for me nforce2 chipset and 1go of ddr ram is very important. After that a xp fsb 333 and a mid range card is good.for all, I think 450-500 euros will be the cost but worth it.(only mobo+512 ddr less than 180 euros) Bye sebastien milliot

[Guest Ray CYYZ]

Yep, and that increases the more you crank up the detail and the more addons you hook into the place. Map type programs must read the databases to pull out the data to display it on your moving maps.I agree with you, greater then a Gig is a waste of money, but 512 Megs is simply no longer enough unless you enjoy stripping your machine bare with multi-configs to keep it clean while running FS9.Since todays boards require *sets* of identical panels, it simply makes sense to get two ***identical*** 512 Meg panels when you buy ram.If you need more then a Gig of Ram, you really need to think about flight while working at the office. Your priorities are just a tad off ;)The Raid 0 config is a nice little boost to help out the fact that IDE drives really suck ;) when compared to SCSI interfaced drives. It almost makes up for it and if you happen to be buying a montherboard, get the version that has built in Raid0 support. Insure you pair the drives up just like you do the ram. Nothing sillier then different performance drives in a Raid 0 configuration. No data security, but really, what else did you buy that DVD-RW for if not to back up your system? ;)Ray

[jjeffreys 12]

I upgraded from a 1800+ at stock with a GF2MX400, 512 2700 ram, and my IWILL motherboard. I was getting around 12 FPS. I first got a GF4Ti4200 64Mb (Ebay $65) and a 2600+ Barton Unlocked (amdmb.com trade forum $85). I am getting 25fps steady, I am overclocked to 176X12.5 which is 2200MhZ or an athlon 3200+. I am going to get a stick of 512X3200 momory when I get the dough but hopefully that will boost me up even a little higher. As far as I am concerned after $150 I am flying on a completely different system. I love it.

[Guest Buck Bolduc]

Using an Antec server case I had on hand!1: 430 watt Atec true Power cost $65.002: MSI Neo mobo + Athlon64-3400 + 1gig Corsair TwinX LLP memmory cost $854.003: ATI radeon Saphire 9800 Pro. cost $229.00Total: $1,148.00Used my old HD's but at some point would like to add 2 SATA drives in a RAID 0 config (striped).If you have a decent case you can save a few bucks by upgrading. I allready have a few more machines anyhow. I got my frames locked at 60 once in a while it drops to 50, never see it going any lower, maybe it does, but if it does it's only for a second. It dont stay at a lower value for more than a split second in any event. It pretty much rides at 60 FPS? I lowered it to 40 and tried it with severe weather (major T storm) and it locked up. Put it back to 60 and it didn't lock up? So I leave it thier. I'm not sure about what I'm doing regarding this FPS stuff so I try different settings to try and make heads or tails about it.Regards