I'm running MSFS2004 on:a Dell Dimension 8400 3.6ghz processor (admittedly several generations removed from today's latest and greatest CPUs), w/4GB RAM running WinXP sp3 using NVidia 7950GT overclocked w/512mb RAM running 3-21" monitors (via TripleHead2Go) at 3840X1024 and 1 17" monitor from the video card's second head at 1024X768. I am using 9 GoFlight units and CH yoke, throttles, pedals. Finally use TrackIR. I have lots of complex airport scenery and many complex aircraft.......but the sim runs with reasonably good/adequate framerates for my purposes. In FS9 I set the FPS limit to 25 and when I run the most complex scenery I have (Fly Tampa's Kai Tak and Portland) and aircraft (Eaglesoft Cit X and a few others) I get 18-20 FPS at altitude in moderate amount of clouds or about 10 FPS while taxiing on the ground in those situations.My sim is tweaked to the max....as I have, over the years, faithfully read and followed (and tried) just about all the hints for getting the best performance. I do not plan to switch to FSX. I also do not plan to upgrade to the latest quad core computer since my setup works well. Is it still possible to eek out a few more FPS?Question: Since the prices are very reasonable on these, would it make any sense to upgrade to a new Video card (lets say something like GeForce 9800 GT 1GB GDDR3 ? or is the limiting performance factor for me trying to gain more FPS in this case essentially the CPU (not the GPU)?Thanks in advance,Mike

Er, don't you have two threads on this? That's generally frowned upon...Anyway, as cheap as those cards are now, it's probably worth it, but you'll still be CPU-limited and would see an even greater increase in performance by upgrading your processor rather than the video card. Unfortunately, that ancient PC won't take a CPU upgrade.

Er, don't you have two threads on this? That's generally frowned upon...Anyway, as cheap as those cards are now, it's probably worth it, but you'll still be CPU-limited and would see an even greater increase in performance by upgrading your processor rather than the video card. Unfortunately, that ancient PC won't take a CPU upgrade.

Oooops....certainly didn't mean to break any rules by posting in two different forums. My initial questions were a bit different (because in this forum I had asked about a specific card upgrade. If I shouldn't have done both postings I have learned, and it won't be repeated.Thanks,Mike