upgrade question

[Guest milliotseb]

Hello,I have a goos setup xp1800+, 1 go ddr pc3200, 9600 xt 500/340 but when I fly on ivao(or offline) and if there is a good overcast weather, my fps are half of clear weather one. even with no AA and AF, fps drop to 15 fps sometimes(I use 1280*960 32 bits on a 19' monitor)CLera weather screenshothttp://perso.wanadoo.fr/okcmoua/seb/fs2002/pss3.jpgOvercast screenshothttp://perso.wanadoo.fr/okcmoua/seb/fs2002/pss4.jpgIt could also coming from the pss 340 but even with a free bae146 it decrease to 20-25 .I hope that my cg could do better than that?My processor is my oldest component (I coma from my config xp1800+, 512mo sdram,fx5200) as simulation use a lot of processor power so I look to buy a new processorMy choice could be :-xp2500+ fsb333 I heard that with a good cooling, it could work at fsb 400 (so work like xp3200+)-xp2800+ or 3000+ fsb 333 so work nice for coming months and I could push it a little with fsb help-xp3200+ fsb400 no overclocking possible du to me memory speed but fsb 400 could help a lot-xp64 3000+ or 3200+ (but need to buy a new mobo and total cost will be more than 300 euros)I also heard that socket 754 is not a good product and AMD will not use it a long time(it will be for sempron processor so low cost config)Can you help me? Maybe I could also buy like a barton 2800+ and buy a 9800 pro or 9800xt the end of the year(my 9600 xt is 4 months old so it should be quite good)Thanks

[Guest orenda635]

CPU prices have been falling. You've got a decent rig there. Remember that cinema movies used to run at 16fps and still produced smooth motion. They only run at 24fps today.I'd wait for the 64-bit market to stabalize and then I'd get a good rig. Once the 64-bit maket stabalizes, 32-bit CPU prices will fall as well. I'm already starting to see entire Athlon64 rigs with good components for about $800. That's Canadian money too so that's only 70 cents on the Euro.