Computer Upgrade Recommendation

[Knight55 0]

Hi,I am currently running fs2004 on a pc with the following specs:Pentium 4 3.0 GHz HT ProcessorASUS P4S800D-X Motherboard350 Watt Power Supply1024MB DDR MemoryATI X700 Pro AGP 8X 256MB Video Card80GB and 160GB ATA100 Hard DrivesDVD-ROM and DVD-RW DrivesWhen I configure the display settings to the "Ultra High" profiles with 25% Traffic and Mild weather changes I am able to get around 25 fps. I have been testing my frame rates flying around London's Heathrow airport and at the airport itself. I also have Traffic 2005 and Ground Environment installed. If I try to max out all the settings in the display section I am sometimes able to get around 20 fps but it fluctuates too much. I have tried all the tweaks that exist but it does not really help. I would like to be able to get between 25 - 30 fps with all the settings maxed out in the display section of simulator. I was considering upgrading my video card to the ATI X800XT AGP 256MB model. Will upgrading to this video card let me achieve the frame rates that I am looking for or do I have to upgrade to the whole computer including the motherboard, processor, and memory? Thanks in advance for all the advise.

[Guest jimcooper1]

Your system is more than adequate to run FS2004 on high settings and you would benefit from a GPU upgrade. However, I recommend you go for an nVidia 7800GS (AGP). This will be significantly faster than an X800XT and probably cheaper too!http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814130274Your PSU is only just 'big' enough to cope with this card though..so it may be necessary to upgrade your PSU too.RegardsJim

[Reset XPDR 1,271]

With FS9, a better graphics card may let you set higher AA/AF settings than what you can achieve now, but it will not improve the overall FPS over running your current card with AA/AF completely turned off. Give it a try if you want a free preview of a graphics card upgrade experience!A CPU upgrade to a Core 2 Duo would give you the best improvement in FS9 performance, but unless you go for one of those motherboards that provided backwards compatibility to DDR memory and AGP graphics, you'd have to upgrade most of the rest of your system anyway.BTW, 20 FPS with maxed out settings in a complex scenario is pretty good for FS9. Heck, even with my Core 2 Duo rig below, I see FPS in the mid-teens sometimes, especially with heavy AS6.5-generated cloud layers. Personally, I'd recommend staying with what you have until you want to FSX at some stage in the future.Gary

[Guest Adrian Wainer]

I'm agreed with Jim on a graphics upgrade seems your best option, the following is a very nice version of the 7800GS series QuoteConclusionIt is not rocket science. Gainward 7800 GS Bliss card is the fastest AGP card that we came across. It smashes the competition and it comes with 512MB of memory. This card is definitely going to get you the top performance out of your AGP system. It should roughly cost

[Guest jimcooper1]

I cannot reliably state that your FPS will improve with your current setup...BUT... when I upgraded from 7950GX2 to 8800GTX I did get a significant FPS boost with identical settings on the sliders. FPS went from 15-30 to 25-50 (around Seattle Tacoma).RegardsJim