As described above. I ordered FS2004 today, and also bought a GeForce 9800GT 512 MB card with the newest drivers installed. I have a pentium 4 at 3Ghz(I know) and 3GB DDR ram. I get around 10-12 FPS on extremely high settings. However, with this set up I was expected to clearly run it perfectly. The graphics are also choppy and the game stutters. I have no idea what's wrong, is the CPU being a bottle neck? I didn't think it would be that big of a problem. I'm assuming FS2004 will also run slow. Can anyone help me fix the performance?Screen shots can be posted of the graphics if wanted

As described above. I ordered FS2004 today, and also bought a GeForce 9800GT 512 MB card with the newest drivers installed. I have a pentium 4 at 3Ghz(I know) and 3GB DDR ram. I get around 10-12 FPS on extremely high settings. However, with this set up I was expected to clearly run it perfectly. The graphics are also choppy and the game stutters. I have no idea what's wrong, is the CPU being a bottle neck? I didn't think it would be that big of a problem. I'm assuming FS2004 will also run slow. Can anyone help me fix the performance?Screen shots can be posted of the graphics if wanted

Just installed FSX and something is definately wrong. I think it may be my motherboard? I have no idea. FSX barely runs. I found a youtube video where a person had the same settings I did on a similar system (his P4 was lower) and the picture is a lot better than mine. I have no idea what is wrong.

sounds like something is screwed up with either your hardware or software (operating system). I'd suggest a format with a clean install of windows. With that setup you should be able to run fs9 default at max pretty smoothly.

So you are having trouble with FS2002, FS2004, and also FSX? I am confused since you name all three in your post.With those specs FS2002 should run fine, FS2004 (FS9) should run pretty well until you throw a lot of AI at it, but FSX is going to be a little bit more of a struggle unless you dial back some of the settings.

So you are having trouble with FS2002, FS2004, and also FSX? I am confused since you name all three in your post.With those specs FS2002 should run fine, FS2004 (FS9) should run pretty well until you throw a lot of AI at it, but FSX is going to be a little bit more of a struggle unless you dial back some of the settings.

Sorry about the confusion. I currently have FS2002 and FSX, with FS2004 coming in soon.I played FSX and it was slow, but it wasn't surprised since it is very CPU demanding.However, I was shocked when I saw that I got a laggy, choppy 10 FPS on ultra high settings (and graphics were still horrible)

Your system is unbalanced for flight sim, with your graphics card way outclassing your CPU. Upgrade your CPU to C2D at least and the FPS gods will smile upon you.

Your system is unbalanced for flight sim, with your graphics card way outclassing your CPU. Upgrade your CPU to C2D at least and the FPS gods will smile upon you.

Agree. An inexpensive motherboard with a low-end $110 Core-2 E7400 CPU would do FAR more for performance than a new GPU. And for a few bucks more, an E8500 (and 4GB of decent RAM) will have FS2002/2004 running away from you.RegardsBob ScottColonel, USAF (ret)ATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VColorado Springs, CO

Ok so a Core2Duo E6700 at 2.66ghz is the max my motherboard will handle. So I'm going to buy a used one. Should my performace be good then?

Ok so a Core2Duo E6700 at 2.66ghz is the max my motherboard will handle. So I'm going to buy a used one. Should my performace be good then?

If you're running a Pentium 4 now, I really have my doubts it will support a Core2Duo CPU. You sure about that?Assuming that's correct, a Conroe CPU will produce about double the throughput of the P4 at the same clock speed. You'd want to get that chip up to 3 MHz if possible.RegardsBob ScottColonel, USAF (ret)ATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VColorado Springs, CO