To Anyone interested in this upgrade, Went from AMD 2400+ on Gigabyte GA 7VAX KT400 MOBO AND 1GB 2100 DDRmemory to ... AMD 64 3500+ 90nm Winchester core on Abit AV8 3rd Eye VIA K8T800 with 1GB Corsair DDR 3200...... The results are outstanding..... The following before/after test is set up at KLAX in FS2004. All sliders maxed except for water at the midrange, high cirrus day 30 miles vis, stock B737, 100% AI traffic both airline and G/A selected with MyTraffic 2004 installed. Res set at 1600x1200 ATi 9800 Radeon graphics card 4.10 drivers. Windows XP Home SP2.Takeoff runway 7L ... Before 13.0 FPS ... After 34.0 FPSApproach runway 25R .... 13.0 FPS ... 31.0 FPSSimulation runs as smooth as glass. FPS will not run under 25.0unless multi-level clouds set up. In flight sim heaven. This CPU is the "Sweet Spot". Sorry for lengthy post but thought others thinking about this type upgrade would be interested.......JayDub

Wow! Sounds great! Tell us something about the details of your upgrade? Did you just replace the motherboard and CPU and that was it? Since bother motherboards used VIA chipsets, did you have to reinstall your OS?Thanks,RH

RH,Purchased the pre-tested MOBO/CPU with a Thermaltake heatsink installed from Monarch Computers in Tucker GA. USA.... Also purchased the Corsair memory from them but now find it could have been found for a little less than I paid. You can select any motherboard/CPU combination you like off their website. Did the upgrade myself after the combo was shipped to me. Had to do it twice as had some heat issues with the original shipment and they Sent RMA for return of the item. Rebuilt the 2400+ for a week then reinstalled the 3500+ combo when it was returned to me. I reformatted the main drive and reinstalled Windows XP Home just to make sure I had a clean system. The VIA drivers I installed from CD and they are simply the latest VIA 4 in 1 drivers. AMD 64 drivers also included on the Abit install disk.... This CPU is outstanding I can't imagine how fast their 3800+ 4000+ or FX CPUs would run. In any case in FS2004 it would be overkill. With this setup you can run FS2004 without any compromises just max it out and let it rip. Have seen my first enroute FPS well above 100 FPS... Had to limit my AI to 40 percent airline only to get 20 FPS with my old setup. I am obviously pretty excited about the outcome of this upgrade and would recommend it to anyone.JayDub

I have a similar system and I lock my FPS @ 25 and havet seen anything lower then 21, I love it. Going from a PIII 500, this thing is screaming!

Hijust wondering if you have the PMDG ac, and did you run it in the VC mode what were your results like then.rgds

Thanks for the info! What kind of settings do you use for FS2004? Do you have lots of add-ons?Thanks,RH

Re PMDG and VC question.....Have PMDG 737NG ..... Under the same test conditions listed in my first post the results are the following. 1600x1200.KLAX Rwy 7L takeoff ... PMDG 737NG ... 2D 21.0 FPS/VC 23.0 FPS Stock B737-400 ...... VC 38.0 FPSTakeoff roll is smooth in all condtions ..... And remember this is with all sliders maxed out including 100% AI with MyTraffic 2004.Cut back on the AI and the frames can be increased another 5 or 6 FPS.Any card better than my now midrange ATI 9800 128MB should see even better performance..............JayDub

wow thats amazing resultswhat were your results in the PMDG VC on your old computer?

What made you decide on the Abit AV8 3rd Eye VIA K8T800 and not some of the other options? What was it about your original setup that made you have some heat issues?I just might have to go with a similar setup from Monarch.Thanks,RH

RH, and Clayton,PMDG 737NG VC on the 2400+ system probably in the low teens on takeoffs and approaches but had to limit AI to accomplish this and it was not very smooth. Enroute the FPS seemed much better. 737NG is much smoother now in all conditions.Heat issues.... Seems combo may not have been pre-tested as advertised. On initial boot up after I installed MoBo/CPU combo had beeps and automatic shutdowns. Sent the combo back to Monarch and they had same experience on the test bench. They pulled the Thermatake heatsink and reset the CPU in socket.... Reinstalled combo when shipped back to me a week later with no problems to this point. Will be watching the temps very closely for awhile. Bought the two year extended warrenty on the combo just in case..... Had VIA chipsets on my last two MoBos and was happy with them. Also liked the kind of cool "Guru 3rd Eye" clock system that ships with the board.....Board supposed to be easy overclocker thru the Abit software but don't plan to be going there until I feel left behind in race for more speed further down the road..... Another benefit is after all the upgrades to this original system I now have enough spare parts to build a full AMD 2400+ backup computer. Lacking only the case .... " My wife is just thrilled "....... JayDub

Well, man, thanks for the info! I will probably go with Monarch if I decide to upgrade to a A64. It was bad that they did not pretest your combo but great that they took care of you after the sale. I don't live too far from Tucker GA, so I would be good to help out the locals.RH

Thanks for the info, jaydub!I've ordered the Abit 3rd Eye and AMD 3500 Winchester. I'm not too sure about which cooling fan to use - I've always used Zalman before on my AMD builds. Some more questions:Which variety of Corsair DDR 3200 are you using?Which monitor? I was thinking of TFT but like to view FS9 when I'm doing work on another desk... Which joystick/rudder pedals?Thanks.

Betel,See system info below.... Don't panic if 3rd eye "Guru" clock shows some high temps. Abit and other hardware bulletin boards indicating BIOS temp reporting error problems on several makers of socket 939 MoBos. I see 63C under max CPU load with system being very stable. Others have reported seeing 70 to 75C under full load also without problems. JayDubLian-Li PC 60 Aluminum CaseAntec 400W ATX Power SupplyAMD Athlon 64 3500+ 90nm WinchesterAbit AV8 "3rd Eye" with VIA K8T800 Thermaltake heatsinkATI 9800 with 4.10 Drivers1GB Corsair DDR 3200PT 2x512 Windows XP Home SP2Creative Audigy XGamer 5.1ViewSonic19 Inch Flat Screen Saitek X36F/X35T Flight Control System

Thanks, jaydub. Wondered about TFT but probably not - too pricey and not viewable unless sitting directly in front.

Interesting to hear! I've been wondering which way to go ie: Intel or AMD. This could seal it for me. How has this new rig performed with 3rd party airport sceneries (for example FlyTampa or Heathrow Pro) with a reasonable level of AI and a 3rd party a/c like PMDG???Many Thanks, I hope this tread hasn't gone dark just yet.Cheers Stan.:-beerchug