2004...geez, after reading all this..should I ????

[Guest daves0]

Hi,I bought 2004 today...at Walmart..tin with a Wright Flyer for $49.77...Its still in the box..I started reading reviews and bunches of threads here, but I'm not sure I even want to crack the box seals now....maybe it won't even run decently on my system...or, even worse, not at all...AMD XP1800+512meg ramgf3Ti500 64meg videoWin XP OSIs there a concise, honest, non-biased overview of this new sim...performance...a system spec that it will work on?A video card that will work ????It sounds that older systems have less problems than the newer ones...I've read P4 3.06ghz mzchines with frame rates that I would expect on a P2 system....what's reality here ???Is there really that much of a difference in 2002 and 2004???Or is 2004 just a patch with eye candy for 2002?

[Guest edrutl]

There are a million opinions on FS2004 - but keep in mind every single major FS website has given this rave reviews. And I'd bet cash money more for every person complaining - there are 10 of us absolutely loving this sim. As far as performance, IMHO it performs as well as can be expected if you keep a few things in mind how FS evolves. Weather, Autogen, and a lot of "little things" have been updated. You can't crank up the maximum settings like you did in FS2K2. But at the same time, "normal" settings in FS2004 are better than the best of FS2002. Personally I have found performance and stablity to be exceptional. I think your system will be fine.It's not a patch or more "eye candy", it's an update and in my opinion - worth every darn penny.ed

[Ken Pryor 0]

There are quite a few things about ACOF that I like better than FS2002. I'm not sorry I bought it. The atc, while still not perfect, is better. The scenery, in my opinion, is much much nicer. I have a slower system than you, but a better video card. I have:Pentium III / 800512 mb ramGeforce 4 TI 4400Win XP ProMy frame rates vary, depending entirely on where I fly. If I'm around major or even regional airports here in the States, the frame rates are around 5 to 8 with the detail sliders set fairly low. Not too great. I'm sure this would improve some if I turned down the amount of AI traffic. However, I mainly enjoy flying the Caribbean and I actually have all my sliders nearly at maximum there, with FPS around 12 to 15 most of the time.I'm not really certain how much your video card will hurt you, but probably not all that much. I can only say that I'm very happy with it and recommend it to you. I don't think you'll be sorry you have it either.KP

[Guest Andy_YXU]

The biggest difference I see are the clouds which are superB, however I get only 10FPS with them there the 2D clouds they offer are just plain ugly 100times worst then FS2002 so I can only fly with the 3D clouds as far as general performance never mind the clouds seems to me to be much better then FS2002.Looking at your system I believe that you would need a better Video card then what you got I have mine with AAx2 and can run as I said about 10FPS, sometimes better 15FPS sometimes I can see it go down to 8, but anything over 10FPS is fine with me if I was to turn OFF AA then I get much better frame rate, I run all the sliders to the MAX and alltogether I am happe, but the final decision is yours, I do like it and I am not paid by anyone to say it :-).I run with 45.20 drivers for my card which gave me quite a boost with performance in clouds and I was able to turn on AA. Only things I got OFF are the shadows (not that much frame rate killer maybe I get 2FSP or so because it's off) and that's all I can think off, there are some other goodies like the GPS looks pretty cool still learning to use it, virtual cockpit has very nice performance on my sytem so I am happy (never used it before FS2004).All in one if $50 ain't a lot of money for you I would kip it, still can use your FS2002 if you want when you got some more $$$ for new video card, but your CPU seems to be able to handle it fair after all you don't have to have it all maxed out and you can find some happy median.Hope it helps.Andy

[Guest daves0]

thanks so far for the opinions :)As we all know, I guess, the same deal happens with every new version of FS or any other sim....I mainly fly VFR and usually bush up in Alaska and Northeast US...but also love the Caribe ....So...maxing the sliders for detail is important for me...the price of upgrades isn't too bad...motherboard and cpu are fairly cheap...memory starting to rise, however...and those darn video cards are pretty darn pricey....I'll read some more before popping these seals...maybe tomorrow with the morning joe :-beerchug and :-spam1 I mean ham and eggs...Will the fs2002 scenery adds for Puerto rico work in 2004???

[Guest SlimDady]

well only one way to find if u like it.OK i have a amd 1.44ghz geforce 3 and 512mb of ram.. in many situations it runs better then fs2002 did, and it looks better.Tons of cool updates graphics wise.. and then better atc and all that..i totally think its worth an update

[Vulcan 14]

OK, I have a similar system except I have a GF3 Ti200 64MB card and 1GB RAM, although 512MB should be sufficient, so am in a similar position to yourself, considering what to upgrade.The graphics card problem is eased somewhat because I know I cannot afford the latest ones and here in the UK we tend to get charged dollar price, IOW what costs $200 in the US costs us

[Guest daves0]

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[1mikel151 71]

You fly pretty much where I do. I have a VA that operates in those areas, including the Caribbean. I have an Athlon 1 gig with a Radeon 7200 64 mb card, all sliders maxed, default clouds, AA off, res mid level, I get better performance than I did with FS2002. This sim is a VFR dream!Yeah, there are problems and some have peformance issues, even guys in my VA, but I can't go back to Fs2002 after this, no way, no how! It is a gamble and yeah, people with high end systems seem to be having some bad issues, but others are not, I say give it a shot, nothing like making up your own mind! LOLI am building a new high end system, I'll probably have problems then! LOLRegards, Michaelhttp://mysite.verizon.net/res052cd/mybannercva1.jpgCalVirAir International VAwww.calvirair.comCougar Mountain Helicopters & Aviationwww.cgrmtnhelos.com

[Guest daves0]

Well...I broke the seal and installed...Very nice :)I'm actually a bit amazed and surprised at my frame rate....escpecially with my system and reading all the complaints from folks with rigs twice as fast and new as mine...I have the thing pretty much cranked all the way up, and for the most part getting 15+ everywhere except in high density situations like LAX...but even there not bad....Turned FS AA on, and even then the drop isn't to the point of making the sim unflyableSo thanks much on the positive posts....Oh, San Juan has been upgraded a lot...looks pretty good..