FS2004-true cost

[Bray 1]

My specs : P4 1.9/512RAM/GEforce2 MX400/XP. PC is 18 months old so I know the video card is way behind. Nonetheless my first impressions with FS2004 with default settings and real world weather is very poor. Frame rates around clouds down to 4; like a slide show. Point is, all the reviews and hype must have been on a state of the art system, so if you have anything close to mine, save your money and dont get 2004. Of course if you want to chase MS and get new hardware then by all means. Better video cards are $300 plus, and they are all having some kind of problem with 2004 from what I am reading.I remember beta testers for 2000 said clouds were 3D in beta but was released in 2D and we couldnt get a good answer why. Well now we know..This 2004 is the "patch" for 3d clouds and as pretty as it looks it stutters like hell. And the rendering of clouds/fog around mountain tops is still jaggy.I honestly think with the resources of MS users deserve better treatment than this. If FLY! can produce a wonderfully smooth cloud rendering engine then why cant MS?The ATC is a little betterOther minor issues but this is enough for now. I will take the flames if any but be warned! I may put my copy on ebay for sale. :-)Bill

[Guest]

My PC is a fraction of your Specification, so I'm keeping WELL away from FS2004 :-lol Thanks for the warning! :)FS2000 V2, anyone?! :-lol

[LAdamson 240]

I'm still running an Ahlon 1900XP/Geforce3Ti500/512DDRram that's also 18 months old. FS2004 has been working like a "charm" for a good month now, since I got the gold beta addition. Wouldn't even think of going back to FS2002.................ever seen my screenshot's ------ including clouds? --------and what about the 4 fps syndrome with FLY, and many, many other issues. Do you really want to compare?------------L.Adamson

[Geofa 108]

My system-athlon 2100+,gforce ti4200, 512 megs ram.I run with almost all the sliders to the right-except clouds which I keep on default, and mip mapping at 4. Always use real weather.fps 18-20 majority of time-an occasional dip down to 10 at a heavily rendered airport while on the ground.Suggest you play with the sliders some more-and take into account some of the minimum sliders on fs2004 equate to maximum on fs2002.http://mywebpages.comcast.net/geofa/pages/Geofdog2.jpg

[W2DR 1,859]

Bill - Something is very wrong somewhere. There is absolutely no reason for the poor performance you're seeing. The video card is, indeed, a little long-in-the-tooth, but it wouldn't cause the problem(s) you describe. The FS2004 framerates are generally no worse that FS2002. I wouldn't give up yet. Take some time over the weekend, maybe have a couple of beers, and play with the settings a bit more. I think it'll eventually all come together.Doug

[Chris Willis 8]

Hi Bray, Welcome here and #1 typical post, first let me tell you fs2004 use direct x 8 and 9, the gforce2 and gforce4 mx, do not support direct x8 and 9.Second, you are getting poor performance, you are getting all the slide to the right, do not use windows me and be sure your system is not corrupted or too many things running in background with mixed drivers or old one.#3 If FLY! can produce a wonderfully smooth cloud rendering engine then why cant MS?Compare apple with appleThrere is slider my freind, and we don't want clouds that's are only around the aircraft, do not touch the ground, limited layers with 1 type of clouds, old thecnologie weather engine system and a sun that's have a cutted line at dusk. Do not talkme about any others weather engine, which are old and limited my freind.Cheers!ThanksChris Willis[link:fsw.simflight.com/FSWMenuFsSim.html]Clouds And Addons For MsFs

[Bray 1]

Thanks for all the replies and encouragement. Especially from Doug about having a beer or two :-)I must say that the video card is ancient and probably has to change. But it irks me that we always have to spend money chasing FS.As far as other stuff running I always turn everything off and keep my system in prime condition; ie defrag, up to date drivers etc etc. And none of the sliders are to the right. All are the default MS settings. So I will have to move them way left to see if there is any help. If not back to 2002.Just thought I would let users with specs like mine be aware of the problems before jumping in. FS2002 runs silky smooth on my system so I was shocked to see FS2004 with the stutters and slow frame rates. When I say silky smooth I mean it. I would rather have a Red Stripe now then and thanks for the input :-)Bill

[Guest otter55]

your problems are not with fs2004, but somewhere else in your system.my sons lowly p4 1.5, 768mgs ram, gforce 5200fx($89.00 at walmart) runs it just fine with the new clouds.look elsewhere for the culpritdon

[Dillon 2,194]

Hey Bray I bet you need to reduce your view distance (say below 120 miles out), also reduce your 3D cloud distance. You'll see a huge change in performance. Now if I can only get that VC view to speed up when panning around...

[Guest SoarPics]

Hi Bray,Gotta agree with the others here... your system should do OK. I would definately upgrade the video card. Radeon 9500, 9600, 9700 or 9800, or some of the nVidia FX series are excellant choices. Another 512 Mb of RAM wouldn't hurt either.The new sim is really very good. It runs much better on my system than 2K2 (and it wasn't bad!).Don't give up on it... you'll be glad you didn't.Good luck,

[Tabs 2,790]

>I remember beta testers for 2000 said clouds were 3D in beta>but was released in 2D and we couldnt get a good answer why.>Well now we know..This 2004 is the "patch" for 3d clouds and>as pretty as it looks it stutters like hell. And the rendering>of clouds/fog around mountain tops is still jaggy.LOL - I don't think I've heard 2004 called a patch for *2000* before!! I think your video card is to blame, a GF2 MX is really not what you should be running this sim on... GF3 or better I'd say. It's stuttering because your card doesn't have enough texture memory and I'm betting the jaggies in the clouds are due to it using alpha blend modes the card doesn't support - I've seen some VERY realistic looking screenshots of clouds around the terrain and many people said that they fixed the hard drawn line between clouds and the terrain.Ryan

[Guest sdickson1968]

Bill,I have an Athlon 1700XP (1.4GHz), 768MB SDRAM, GeForce 3 Ti200 and am seeing consistent framerates in the high-20s, low-30s with 100% 3D detailed clouds, 90% mesh, autogen/scenery set to very dense and textures set to highest quality. Now, granted, I do have to run at 1280x960x16 with no anti-aliasing, no reflections, no ground shadows and a few other compromises in order to keep the framerates that high but even so the image quality is excellent.Your processor is significantly faster than mine but I have more RAM and a slightly better video card. However, I don't think the RAM and video card alone are sufficient to explain why you're seeing framerates that low.

[Joseph29 225]

I have the exact computer specs as you Bray (except I have a bit less RAM and I'm still using Win98) When I get FS2004 I'm hoping everything will run smooth.(I do plan on getting a new graphics card sometime in the coming months)

[Bray 1]

As an update it really appears my video card has to go. I will have to decide on which one to get. I see some Ti4800 around $150. Not sure if I want to spend the bucks for the FX or top end ATI.I went back and turned the 3D clouds all the way left and frame rates shot up back to what I was used to in FS2002. Like a steady 35+ and then it drops to teens around the clouds. I Left the other sliders as they were. So I guess I will live with that for now. The clouds dont look all that bad with the 3D turned down. The other weather effects look ok as well.If anyone cares to convince me on a good card please jump in. If I have to spend $300 I can also get an extra 512RAM for $150. So I would just as well do both.Thanks again to all the responses.Bill

[Guest SoarPics]

My suggestion:http://www.newegg.com/They still have the Radeon 9500 Pro in stock for $198.00 (though that won't last much longer). Great bang for the buck!!! Throw in another $100.00 for the memory, and you're good to go. NewEgg offers free 2 day shipping to the lower 48. Top notch outfit... never had a problem with them.Cheers,