Quite frankly this AMAZES me!!!!

[Arklight1 140]

I have been building gaming computers for myself and other for a LONG time and tonight my jaw almost hit the floor.For the past week or so I have been considering upgrading my computer. Maybe a new video card, maybe a new mobo, maybe a new processor....heck, maybe all three!I have been getting about 23FPS in FS2002, sometimes lower at really busy airports. IMO, 23FPS is unacceptable. I know it is probably considered pretty good for this game but to me I always want more in performance (call it a character flaw!). Well, tonight I decided to try out some new drivers. I thought I tried all of them but I guessed I missed a few (or didn't pay enough attention or didn't test enough). I tried the 22.80s, 23.11s, 28.32s, 29.42s, 30.82s, 40.72s, and 41.09s. I could have swore I have tried all of these before but I have made hardware changes since my last test so....Anyways, 22.80s sucked (low fps), 23.11s were unstable, 28.32s didn't offer anything, 30.82s had good image quality but the FPS really blew goats, 40.72s seemed unstable as well, and the 41.09s caused my computer to take 5 min. or longer to boot up (yep, they sucked) Then I tried out the 29.42s and OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!! What a performance boost! And the visual quality was like the 30.82s. What blew me away was the resolution and settings I can run at now with 25FPS.This is nuts!!! I set my monitor to 1600x1200x32, 4xFSAA and 8xAA, all settings maxed except water (set to detail...which IMO looks more realistic), and scenery set to very dense. I loaded up my new Tornado by LAGO and got 25FPS! I tried the Meljet 777 and got 25FPS!!! Next, I tried out the Flight1 C421 and got 25 FPS (keep in mind my FPS is locked at 25FPS).I decided to take the Flight1 C421 out since it is one of the more "system taxing" aircraft and it NEVER dropped below 23.5 FPS!!!!!!!Now, wanna hear amazing? Look at my system specs:XP2100768mb PC2700 DDRPNY GF3 TI500Soyo Dragon Ultra KT333 mobo30gb maxtor 7200rpm drive (14gb free)SB Audigy gamerNot exactly "top of the line" anymore!!Although I'm sure 25FPS isn't high to some of you out there with much better systems I thought it was AMAZING that my system would do this with 4xFSAA and 8xAA enabled while at 1600x1200x32 resolution!!! I turned off the FSAA and AA and set my max to 40 and it never dropped below 38 EVER!!! I even went to Pauls site and did those tweaks to get clearer terrain and my system didn't budge once!!I'm so excited!! Now I don't have to go upgrade (at least not this week! lol) :) :) :) If anybody out there with a system similar to mine needs a little bit more performance give the 29.42s a go!! maybe they will work for you as well :)Shane

[Guest RiddlePilot]

I loved the 29.42s, but as far as I know, they're not compatible with DX9. If you're using DX9, let me know, cause I would go back in a heartbeat.

[Guest]

Hehe,,,cool,Im using the same drivers also after trying all of the above,and always seem to find myself back with the 29.42's. I have most everything maxed out except the water detail, and framrate is locked at 27fps. Runs real smooth except when flying over large ports or cities then it drops to 12-16fps. I am currently building a gaming system, just recieved the P4 2.4ghz brain......ordering parts every month as the amex card permits......:DCurrent System specs:Windows MEDell Dimension 4100 P3 866mhz512MB SDRAMPNY GForce2 64MBIntel motherboard D815EEA chipset 133MHZ FSB :(20. gig Ultra ATA Hardrive 7200rpm (some generic Dell thing)Sound Blaster Live Value =Swiv=

[Arklight1 140]

DX9 all the way Riddlepilot! :)

[Guest]

Hi Shane,Looks like your realy tuned up! :)Yeah those 29.42 are still hard to beat for a GF3 card.I dont want to be the one to "pop" your balloon, but unless you have 128mb on that card As widely known the GF3-64mb (or anyother 64mb card) can't do AA x4 at 1600x1200x32. You can select it, but it will automatically kick it down to the next level which is Quincunx as there is just not enough room in its memory to do the resampling.That may explain some of your new found performance, 4xAA on even a GF4 is a real killer, just nocking it down to 2xAA will give it a bit of fresh air, thats why 2xAA at 1600x1200 is really such a decent setting.I can't wait to get my hands on a NV35 or R350! :)

[Guest]

HiJust installed the 29.42's and got a good 30% increase in fpsflyin around Vancouver BC with the flight-1 piper meridian I'm averaging 24fps Great tipFloydCYVRAmd 2.4asus a7n8x1gig ddr pc3200gf3 waiting for the fx :-)

[Arklight1 140]

>Hi Shane, >>Looks like your realy tuned up! :) >>Yeah those 29.42 are still hard to beat for a GF3 card. >>I dont want to be the one to "pop" your balloon, but unless >you have 128mb on that card As widely known the GF3-64mb (or >anyother 64mb card) can't do AA x4 at 1600x1200x32. You can >select it, but it will automatically kick it down to the >next level which is Quincunx as there is just not enough >room in its memory to do the resampling. >>That may explain some of your new found performance, 4xAA on >even a GF4 is a real killer, just nocking it down to 2xAA >will give it a bit of fresh air, thats why 2xAA at 1600x1200 >is really such a decent setting. >>I can't wait to get my hands on a NV35 or R350! :) Whatever it is, it sure looks good :)I have the Antisotropic Filtering set at 8x as well :)Shane

[Guest]

Just tried them with dx9 and they work fine (no difference from 8)Floyd

[1mikel151 71]

Well that explains why I get decent FPS with an Athlon 1.4, those are the drivers I have installed! LOL Had to check!Regards, Michaelhttp://mysite.verizon.net/res052cd/mybannercva1.jpg

[Guest]

Awww, now you've got me all excited after having recently locked down my hardware/software config as good - 2 days ago LOL - with the 30.82s. Rummaging through nvidia.com for the 29.42 driver as I type. Will report back later.GF3 Ti 200P4 2.7GHz512DDRGary

[Guest]

My Q&D assessment is that my low end fps readings are slightly higher, but not greatly so (2-3fps). Still, every little bit helps! Thx for the info.

[Guest]

Where can I (and others) get them?Robb

[glennc 5]

Try www.guru3d.com They've got every derivation of Nvidia driver there.Cheers,GlennWindsor, CANADA

[Guest]

I'm Using a MSI ms-Starforce Geforce 4 mx440 (nvidia geforce4 mx440) and a driver numbeed 2.7.2.0Will this upgrade help me and if so tell me what to do please thanks andy youngandyky134@aol.com

[Guest]

Thanks Glenn!