Specs:Windows XPAMD 28001 Gig 3200 RAMNvidia GeForce 5200FX 256 MB RAMsoftware...FS9PMDG 737NG AS 2004.5UT2004Now, would adding another 512 of 3200 RAM be more beneficial or would you suggest an upgrade to the video card, say possibly the 6600GT?thanks,EricT

Hi Eric,1024MB of RAM is more than enough. Your video card is very slow by FS2004 standards if you want speed and quality and is definitely out-dated. Upgrade it to MINIMUM of ATI Radeon 9800 Pro, or Ge Force 4 5950 or higher. Just to give you an idea, the latest video cards beat by miles the above Radeon 9800 pro and the 5900 series (i.e. cards like the ATI X800 or NVidia 6800 series) in performance tests done by http://www.tomshardware.com. So, your card is definitely in need of replacement.Hope you get a good one!John

I would also say go the V CARD upgrade, you wont see any peformance improvement upgrading your ram, a 6600GT would fit in nicely:-O

Okay, so even though the 5200 has 256 megs of RAM, the 6600 with 128 RAM will beat it?Im in the dark when it comes to video cards. To be honest, my system (which again is listed above) is working really good considering that I run the PMDG/AS2004.5, etc. into KMCO by Simflyers and all. It bogs a little in Atlanta though. Thanks again. I will look at the 6600. How does $200 from Tiger or Newegg sound?Eric

The 5200 has to be one of the worst video cards ever, sure they have lots of memory but there terribly slow and just don't do a good job, there great if you don't game or play solitare.

Really? Man, I guess the reason why I thought it was so good is because I had a 32 MB card at 4x before that one! I guess it is time then, right? Guess also that if my system is working so good now, then this new card is going to blow my mind then, you reckon?thanks again,ERic T

Eric256 Meg Memory is just sales gimmics, you will be ok with a 6600GT 128meg, try the Leadtek it is packed with games, best bang for your buck right now.

>The 5200 has to be one of the worst video cards ever, sure>they have lots of memory but there terribly slow and just>don't do a good job, there great if you don't game or play>solitare.It

Well, I did it. I went and bought the 6600GT and installed it. I cannot say that it seems much better than what I had (5200 FX w/256 RAM) but I do notice fewer stutters at my two main airports-KATL (default) and KMCO (SimFlyers). If there are fewer stutters, then that's really what it's all about. Oh yeah, the textures all seem to load quite a bit faster too!Eric

Good on ya Erici did the same thing last week, added 512 more ram and bought the 6600GT, i do see some improvements in the game not much, but then again its my CPU slowing things down.

Basically, it comes down to this I believe- I have now tried it at KORD and KJFK since I last posted my test results at Atlanta and Orlando, and I see no marked improvment in visuals, but I do notice fewer stutters while on short final and textures load a bit faster. This is good, but Im not sure it was worth $200.00 that could be used toward my flightdeck. BUT, it does provide smoother flight and since it will be a few more years before the flightdeck project is completed, then this cant be a poor decision for an upgrade. Thanks for the input. Now, 2nd question: Why are the hangars at JFK all crazy colored while the terminal looks normal?Eric T

Okay, why are my cloud textures shown as fs98 style marbled colored at night but not at day, when in full screen mode? Should I load the new drivers from Nvidia? I have only used the drivers on the disk so far. BTW, can this card be overclocked?Thanks,Eric

Eric the abnormalities are most definately your drivers, i suggest you download the latest nvidia drivers from nvidia.com

Yeah, I figure the same. I notice that in Windowed mode, the clouds look great at night, but in full screen they are marbled and copper colored. Thanks, I will try the new drivers. Good thing I downloaded the latest just the other day and now I will just overwrite the current one off the Nvidia disk. Eric

I'm surprised you didn't see any improved visuals. What settings were you using with your old card vs your new one? With the 6600 you should be able to use 4x FSAA and 8x anisotropic filtering for much sharper textures and less jaggies.