Hello all,after almost 2 years running the same system I think it's time to upgrade it. The reason for this is that I get heavy stutters almost everywhere in the sim and especially on the ground during taxi.It's so bad like watching a quick slideshow.My current specs are:P4 2.4Ghz, 1x512Mb DDR2700, Gigabyte MB with Intel 845PE chipset, ATI Radeon 9600XT 128Mb, SB Audigy player, ATA133 Maxtor 200GB HDD (But operating DMA5/ATA100 due to the lack of support of ATA133 from the chipset).I'm thinking to upgrade to the following:AMD 64 3200+ (939) (Venice core), MSI Neo2 Platinum or Gigabyte K8NS Pro939 or K8NS Ultra939, 2GB 4x512 DDR3200 CL2.5 RAM.That means that I will be keeping my ATI 9600XT and sound card since they have still a lot to offer.The advantages I get from this are summarized to:1. ATA133 support, which theoritically will increase HDD accessperformance.2. Increased RAM should decrease and hopefully eliminate the stutters.3. 64Bit processing ready for the future OS.4. 1000Mhz FSB compared to the 400Mhz FSB P4 2.4G operates with.The only strong thing that make me ask for your opinions is the phsycological factor moving from 2.4Ghz clock to 2Ghz clock (that the AMD 64 3200+ operates).I don't care about getting 100s of FPS. I will be happy with just 25 STEADY and smooth FPS. After all, anything beyond 25fps are ignored by the human eye.I would love to hear your opinions.Also, I remember there was a site with FS benchmarks and comparisons of various setups. Is it still around? Anyone has the URL handy ?Thanks!George DorkofikisAthens, Greecehttp://online.vatsimindicators.net/811520/1704.pnghttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/betaimg.jpg

Hi George,The 2Gb of memory would be a waste of money. 1Gb will do just fine as long as you don't game while having high end graphics apps and/or doing video work, etc. all at the same time.With regard to the speed of the AMD64 CPU compared to your current rig, there simply is no comparison. As a quick test I just ran some memory bandwidth tests in Everest Home, and the system in my sig is moving data (Read/Write/Latency) right at 3X the speed of your curent system. Keep in mind that I'm nicely overclocked, but even at stock speed the AMD system will easily move data at a rate that will impress you.The MSI Neo2 Platinum is very nice. Ran one for a few weeks before going to my current rig. It just loved my memory. Overclocked quite nicely with it. Any memory that uses the Samsing TCCD or TCC5 modules will do quite well with the MSI board.Hope this helps,Greg

Hi Greg,Yes, I know 2Gb may be a bit too much for FS but I also do a lot of large image editing and video editing, so in that case the extra 1Gb will help those applications. And in case I will be ready for FS2007, since I plan to keep the new system at least 3 years.I'm still confused with the benchmarks. Compared to the directed competitor, the Pentium 4 540J (Prescott 3.2Ghz), the AMD64 3200+ seems to be ahead on most tests except the DirectX 9 tests where the Intel takes the lead! And since FS is a heavy DirectX 9 user...It's a tough decision. Most probably will go for the AMD because of the ATA133 support (no other money to change to SATA HDD) and the HyperTransport feature and the intergrated memory controller which will certainly speed things up. One thing that hasn't yet changed in the PCs as we know them is the slow communication with the memory!Thanks for your advise.George DorkofikisAthens, Greecehttp://online.vatsimindicators.net/811520/1704.pnghttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/betaimg.jpg

Hi George,"...the Pentium 4 540J (Prescott 3.2Ghz), the AMD64 3200+ seems to be ahead on most tests except the DirectX 9 tests where the Intel takes the lead! And since FS is a heavy DirectX 9 user..."Please post links to this testing."Most probably will go for the AMD because of the ATA133 support (no other money to change to SATA HDD) and the HyperTransport feature and the intergrated memory controller which will certainly speed things up."The ATA133 support wouldn't be all that important to me. Few hard drives can deliver a sustained rate to take advantage of that spec (most can't even come close to bursting at that rate).Certainly the integrated memory controller has played a huge part in AMD's taking alot of gaming business away from Intel. AMD builds the best gaming hardware these days, and we can only hope that Intel will get it's gaming technology back in line for some healthy competition (always a good thing for us consumers).GregEdit: Here's another benchmark (for what they're worth) of CPU's. The Venice you mention would be about the same speed (probably a bit faster) as the "AMD 64 3200+ (.09u)".http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/118442.jpg

Very interesting benchmark. Certainly differs from the ones I found over at tomshardware.com.From which site is it?In any case, I've made up my mind. I'll go for the AMD64 3200+Now that I think of it... It's the pattern I use every time!Intel Pentium/166(188)-AMD K7-2/300(333)-Intel PIII/450(512)-AMD Athlon/900(the only one I didn't overclock!)-Intel P4/2.4G(also not o/c)...And I dare to say that the AMD900 gave me performance with FS2002 which could be compared to the one I get from the P4 2.4 !!!Thanks for your help.George DorkofikisAthens, Greecehttp://online.vatsimindicators.net/811520/1704.pnghttp://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/forum/betaimg.jpg

Greg hello,I can see that you are using the WD raptor HDD. I am considering bying one so I would greatly appreciate it if you can give me your opinion on the speed and more especially the noise level of it. I was thinking of the small one but maybe I should go for the larger since it is a later version.George sorry for hijacking this thread, have a lot of fun with your new system.Thanos AnogiatisAthens, Greece

Hi Thanos,The Raptors are outstanding. They're a solid, well built drive, and I've had no problems from either of them (had the 37 for 18 months and the 74 8 months).Keep in mind that they will do nothing to enhance the performance of your gaming. They do load apps faster, though.With regard to noise, this is very subjective. Oeqvist has stated he hears his, mine are not a problem for me. But he uses PC cooling while I'm on air with a fan sound between 28-32Db. Another thing that may make a difference for me is that I have an EX-23 Expansion Hard Drive kit in my Lian-Li case. Uses an 80mm fan that blows air from the front across the drives into the inside. Finally, the distance you are sitting from the case will certainly be a factor. I'm a little over 1 meter.I do not array the drives in any way. Doing so isn't worth the risk/set-up time to me.Hope this helps,Greg

Hi Greg,thanks for replying. I bought the 74gb raptor and indeed it is fast and for me "quiet enough" since my fan is more or less louder than this hdd.I think it was a good buy. Once again thanks for your reply and happy simming.Best RegardsThanos