I am considering upgrading to Athlon XP2100 from T-bird 1.4. My current setup is Abit KG7 (no raid)512 MB PC2100GeForce 4 Ti4400I am interested in frame rates for FS2K2. Currently getting low rates in busy airports 6-13 FPS(like most people, for instance simflyers LAX with very dense or dense details turned on, I use PAI planes for AI traffic). Wondering what kind of rates with better CPU, similar system I would get? Can anyone with similar upgrade tell me if it was worth it? ThanksBrian

You wont see that much improvement by going to the 2100. If you like the AMD line I would wait until this fall when the newer AMD chips come out. To be honest with you I would wait until you start seeing video cards and cpu's that will be fully Direct X 9 compatible. That's when you will see the biggest improvements in your framerates.In the meantime. Play around with your GF4 settings. Your Anisotropy level for one is a big frame rate killer. For me, I leave mine off and just use BI/Trilinear filtering. Your Anti-Aliasing settings too play a big role. I leave mine set to AUTO and then switch them on with the sim. If you set your AA levels too high, like above Quincunx levels, your asking for a frame rate killer.Finally take a look at how much AI aircraft you have and what kinds of AI models your using. Those play a big role also. The more is not merrier, the more the slower. Hope that helps, its my 2 cents. I am sure that there will plenty that will disagree with me and have you spend your money. But just to let you know my friend has that same set up you have (minus the DDR memory and with a Ti4600) and I have an XP1900 with 266e mobo + DDR ram and so far we haven't seen any measurable frame rate difference in any program/game, except for me having more bragging rights to a Mad Onion score.- Josh[div align=center][link:members.cox.net/fstimes/wetimage.html]Click Here For Weather Image of the Day!

Hi Brian,I agree with Josh. Save your money for the Barton platform which should be released soon (this fall?). I believe this may be the last AMD chip to support socket A, hard to say at this point (at least for me with my limited knowledge). Couple this with DDR400 memory (and a MB that will support it) and you should see a significant improvement. But with currently available AMD choices, I think you'll be disappointed.You could switch over to Intel (gasp), where the 2.26 to 2.53 GHz Northwood's, coupled with Rambus RAM (off the top of my head, I believe the best option is 1066), should literaly fly (pun intended). But as soon as you get this dream system, DDR 400 will be around the corner. Then you'll likely wish that you waited.Sope this helps some.

I just upgraded my Pentium 4 1.3GHz to a Pentium 4 2.2GHz and was abosuluely amazed at the difference. I actually built a whole new machine, as my old 1.3GHz computer was a boxed PC (never gonna buy a boxed one again :-) )Ryan-Flightpro08 :-coolVATSIM Pilot/ControllerZLA ARTCC Controller 1 (C-1)SAN TRACON Lead [link:www.taxiwaysigns.com]Taxiwaysigns.com Scenery Designer

Greetings!Why will you never buy a PC in a box again? What difference does a bit of cardboard make? A related question that somebody here might have the answer to, is the following. In ads and catalogues one often sees processors offered in two versions: plain, and "in a box". The version in a box is always considerably more expensive than the version without a box, although they seem to be exactly the same processors. Why would the wrappings of a PC or a processor make any difference? I never could figure that out...Be well!Jaap Verduijn.

I'm sorry but, LOL!!! :-lolWhen a person refers to a boxed PC, they are talking about a computer that was made by a company (Dell, Hewlett Packard, etc.), not because it is in a 'box'. Yes, my new computer is in a Turbo Gamer ATX Mid-Tower, I need it to keep my hardware cool. :-eekRyan-Flightpro08 :-coolVATSIM Pilot/ControllerZLA ARTCC Controller 1 (C-1)SAN TRACON Lead [link:www.taxiwaysigns.com]Taxiwaysigns.com Scenery Designer

I think I need a bigger box :) (woof)I'm thinking of upgrading my system as well (also NON boxed).I'm not too happy with this AMD and VIA chipset (I think it'sthe VIA thing that has my system running sluggish).I have 1.4ghz AMD Athlon. Maybe a different MB that handles thingsbetter. either that, or sell this one and go back to Intel as thisis my first attempt at AMD.RebelHearthttp://www.pbmo.net/suburb/rbarrett/banner2.jpg"Fly Fast...Live Slow"[email protected]

I can confirm this,I also built a new system with a P 4 2.2GHz and a GF4 4600TI and I am amazed about frames AND quality!!GreetingsThomas

Processors "in a box" are retail versions that, with intel for example, include an excellent fan. "Plain" are Original Equipment Manufacturer versions are meant to go to companies that put "boxes" together (e.g. Dell, Gateway). Someone corret me if I'm wrong.