That FS is more CPU dependant, and thus upgrading the CPU will give more improvments than just upgrading the video card?

This topic is revived every one month approximately. Someone always comes up with the same question :-lolAnyway, CPU is more important, yes. Although, put 3.0Ghz and Geforce2 in the PC, and you won't really get far. Get the picture?

Which FS? FS8 (2002) Definitely. FS9 (2004) much less so, but marginally.Search the forum for the topics and you'll see.Allcott

It depends on the feature you are considering (the ones in your options menu, which are either more related to your CPU power, or your video card power to keep it simple).There has been an attempt to categorize these, per sub system impact, and it is available in the avsim library. Just do a search for "Reality XP FS2004 Tweak Guide".Hope this helps!

FS2004 is more CPU dependent than it is graphics card dependent but the gap is not as wide as it once was. There was a time that any half-decent graphics card would suffice but those days are long gone.Ask yourself the question "How strong is a chain?". The correct answer is "as strong as its weakest link". Same analogy applies to FS2004. You need a set of well-balanced components. No point having a P4 3.2GHz feeding a FX5200 or a Athlon 1400 feeding a Radeon 9800 Pro.Always buy the fastest CPU you can as it's more difficult and expensive to upgrade later. Some compromises can be made with the graphics card as price increases disproportionately to performance with the faster cards.Cheers,

tell us what you had in mindu have a 1.33ghz athlon with a geforce 3 or 4mx or somthnnow do u upgrade the cpu to a 2500+ or 3200+ or get a radeon 9800?in this case the video card will give you the most boost in framerate. It would be a big waste to go and get a new processorI dont know why people always say the cpu is the biggest bottle neckI would bet that if you took say a 2ghz pentium with a 9800pro and upgraded the cpu to a 3.06 you would hardly see a drastic increase in fps 5-10fps at most

Noone had a high end video card like we do today to test the old theory that Flightsim was CPU limited. Fact of the matter is all games are CPU limited to a point. They're also video card limited to a point. Video cards are CPU limited too. You need a decent CPU to get the most out of your video card. If you have a decent CPU ie; something in the range of a 2.4gig PIV or its equivalent, you'll see a huge increase in both framerate and image quality if you go from a mid range video card to a top end video card. As the post above said, it's the weak link in the chain that'll hold you back.

lol. Thanks all. I think this thread should be pinned since it's brought up every month ;)Thanks all for answering :)