I am planning to get a P4 2.8 GHz HT with 512 MB RAM and ASUS 128 MB GeForce FX 5200 card.Will I get a decent gaming experience on FS9? Don't have the budget to go for the higher end FX5600 or 5800.Thanks.Jinesh

I've got a similar box with 1 gig of ram and a ti4200 card with 128 megs of ram. I'm very satisfied with fps set at 25, and average performance in the upper teens, but less on busy airports with heavy ai. btw, I overclocked my mobo by 10%. one more note, the upgrade patch makes performance very smooth, even when fps fall back into the single digits...sherm

Thanks Sherm.I guess I shall go ahead with my plan...Jinesh

Hi Jinesh, are you building yourself or is this a custom box? Which resolution or kind of display do you intend to use? If you build yourself and don't do Linux, 3D glasses or some other ones, I'ld suggest an Ati 9600 or above for FS. Ati, because they don't suffer too much with clouds (thus you could use FS with AA/AF @ 1024x in a very satisfactory manner). Also, AMD has just released a few new 64-bit CPUs and slashed the prices again. It might be worth a thought to go for an equivalent 64-bit CPU? FS l

Thanks Jaap for the help.This is a custom assembled one.Plan to run FS at 1024x resolution.FX 5200 is the maximum I can get in this part of India.Thanks very much again.Regards,Jinesh

That's a pity if you don't run Linux or alike and the aim of your investment is FS. Maybe there's a hole in the market? The products I hinted should be sold in India top urgent!! Leave no Indian simmer beind!! Biiillll?? Are you listening?? Nevertheless and in general, FS looks beautiful with more than 2xAA. You've got the CPU which can power a card @1024x @4xAA no prob. So, perhaps just check your new system and if you don't like it, you could still sell the card and get a second hand 9600pro i.e. I'm sure there's a way to get one to where you live. The price difference is well less than 50%. And if you can't push your 5200 beyond 2xAA, at least you know a reasonable solution. Your RAM is a little on the low side too, but not much of a problem @1024x. Hope this adds to ideas. Have a lot of fun with your new system, Jinesh, good luck and kind regards Jaap PS: I don't know what happened, but I couldn't post in reply to your post, sorry for that

Thanks much for your kind advice Jaap.Shall try to get a 9600 somehow.Thanks very much again,Jinesh.

The 5200 is not too bad for the price. "being it's about the cheapest dx9 card you can buy" Clouds may get to them more than the ATI cards, but it's still quite usable in most places. But I would stay at 1028x768 res...The frame rate will suffer if you go too much higher than that.I'm using one here, thats overclocked a bit...It ain't no 9800 pro, but I don't have any real problems flying. My scenery settings are maxed for the most part, and I'm usually in the 20-30 range at 1024x768. If the clouds get thick , I'll drop below 20, but most of the time, it's still flyable ok...Heck , at high alt, it'll do 60-70...I'm running a P4 2.4... But also people vary...Some people hate anything less than 30 fps. Some 20... Myself, dropping below about 16 or so is where I start to noticing a chop...20 is usually fine with me, if no stuttering...30 is great to me...Anything over that doesn't mean a whole lot to me...In fact, I limit mine at 30, to make it smoother overall....So anyway, don't feel too bad if all you can get is a 5200. It'll work ok until you can get better. MK

Thanks MKJinesh.