What should I upgrade? Need advice...

[ibanez737]

I built my system about a year ago, and now I'm looking to do some upgrades to make FS2004 run smoother, especially in cloudy and and heavy traffic conditions (where my current system commonly slows down to single-digit FPS). Here are my specs:Intel P4 2.4ghz 800mhz fsb processor w/ stock heatsink & fanMSI Geforce FX5600 128mb video card1 gig PC3200 RAMWestern Digital 80gb 7200rpm hard driveTurtle Beach Santa Cruz sound cardI'm debating whether to upgrade my video card or processor, but I'm leaning towards the processor. I'd love to have one of those blazing fast Geforce FX6800s, but 1. they cost a small fortune and 2. I heard that they don't make that much difference in FS anyway. Would that be true for my system? I was thinking about getting a P4 3.0 or 3.2 gig processor instead, but I heard that they run pretty hot. Would I have to upgrade fan/heatsink too?. I guess my main question is, would it be better to spend $200 upgrading my processor or $350 upgrading my video card? Thanks,Scott

[Guest SoarPics]

Yep, a faster CPU will enhance FPS while a new video card will enhance image quality. Having said that, the FX5600 simply will not match up with your system if you go to a 3.0 or 3.2 CPU.I always recommend an aftermarket CPU cooler. I use the Thermalright SP-97 w/ 92mm fan (quiet) on my AMD based system. Thermalright offers basically the same cooler for Intel based systems, but it's called the SP-94. These are both some of the best air cooling options available today.Cheers,Greg

[Guest GamePlayer]

You are better off buying a faster CPU like a 3.2GHz P4. I recently did an upgrade from a 9800 Pro to a Geforce 6800 Ultra and my frame rate went from 11.7 to 16.2 at LAX on runway 7L with overcast sky conditions. My graphics settings were 1600x1200, 32 bit color, 4x Antialiasing and 8x AF. When I upgraded from a P4 2.53GHz with single channel DDR 333 memory to a P4 3.0GHz with dual channel DDR 400 memory that was a much bigger improvement than the graphics card.

[ibanez737]

Thanks for the speedy and helpful replies! I'm leaning towards getting a a P4 3.2E Ghz from newegg.com. Now all I need is some money....:-roll -Scott