Hi all, I am planning to build a new PC as my current one just isn't doing the job for me (Intel 3.o ghz, 1 G 800mhz ram, saphire ATI radeon 256 mb vid card) I am running FS9 and will NOT be installling FSX for the forseeable future). currently I get anywhere from single digits fps (scenery like Mega Frankfurt) to high twenties....will a dual core enable me to have those nice fluid framerates in complex scenery with lots of AI or am I just wating my hard earned $$ and will need to wait till the next generation of processors and video cards...any feedback would be much appreciated and if u could also post your secs along with fps with very dense scnery and AI......thanks!!

Goop,Right now, and i "guess" for the foreseeable future, the core2Duo or Quadfather, will be the way to go eventough fs9 isnt coded for multiple cores. That and a DX10 GPU, like the 8800 from Nvidia or ATI's pending version. Those are the main components of fs that will give you more FPS with denser settings.Keep in mind though with the next-Gen GPUs, since you aren't going for FSX a DX10 card, will future proof you since FS9/WinXP doesn't take advantage of that, you wont be able (according to the latest MS reports) use DX10 in WinXP. You'll benefit soley with speed, and thats good for FS9 none the less.(note: The higher your resolution goes, the harder your GPU needs to work)

I would be disappointed with your FPS on your system also. However, you should be able to get much better results than you have. I suggest looking at what you have running in the background. How many terminal stay resident (TSR) programs are eating away at your computers bandwidth. Remember, computers are serial runners, they execute one item after another. If they have to process useless programs on the way to the flight simulator, then you are going to have lower FPS.Another AVSIM forum, FSAUTOSTART (I think), uses a program to stop programs and processes, starts the flight simulator and then restart them on exit from the flight simulator.I would also review other cleanup programs and practices to get more from your computer.W. Sieffert