Tell me, of those of you who have upgraded your Ram, does it truly make a difference in this sim? Although I have a new Dell high-end system (2.8 gig), I ordered it a few months ago with only 512 mgs of RDRAM. Someone in my office (a network engineer, in fact) told me that XP really can take advantage of 1 gig of Ram. Is that true, and will I notice better frame rates in MSFS2004? Stan

Stan, while I can't speak on the matter of RDRAM, I can tell you that there is a difference between 512MB and 1024MB RAM since I recently downgraded from 1Gig to 512MB and I miss that extra 512MB already. While you won't notice a difference in FPS, you will notice a difference in fluidity in virtually all aspects of operation. Windows just seems to run faster w/1Gig vs 512MB as well as most all applications (including games). If you can pickup that extra 512MB for cheap go right ahead. I doubt you'll regret it. If, however, you could get a faster video card or a faster CPU for the same amount of money, I'd say get a CPU or video card instead since those will make more of a noticeable difference for you.-Max Cowgill

Max, I am using ATI 9700 Radeon with 128mgs of video memory. I remember when looking at Tom's Hardware site before I bought, that the 2.8gig and 3.0+gig machines were not that significantly different. The RDRAM costs about $149.00 per 256 stick. So, about $300.00.That's good news about FLUIDITY. I assume you mean "lack of frequent stutters"? Stan

Stan,I upgraded from 512MB to 1GB of RAM about a month ago. In short, I noticed very little difference in FS2k2 (I'm now using FS2k4). The only major perk I noticed after upgrading was that all of my programs loaded/closed A LOT quicker than before. Being a very picky person when it comes to computer performance, this was a nice little bonus. Since RAM is so cheap now, you really can't go wrong. :)Ryan-Flightpro08 :-cool VATSIM Pilot/ControllerZLA ARTCC Senior Controller (C-3)Help Fight Cancer! www.ud.comhttp://vatsim.pilotmedia.fi/statusindicato...tor=OD1&a=a.jpg-----------------------------My "Home Made" System Specs:Intel Pentium 4 2.2GHz ProcessorTurbo Gamer ATX Mid-Tower with 420W Power SupplyEPoX 4G4A Motherboard with Intel 845G ChipsetVisiontek XTASY GeForce4 128MB Ti4600 (Det 44.03 Drivers)1GB PC2100 DDR RAM40GB Matrox 7200RPM Hard DriveWindows XP Home Edition SP1*No CPU or GPU Overclocking*-----------------------------Click Here to Download my American Eagle POSKY CRJ-200!

I just went from 512 to 1024 of PC2700 RAM, and as others have said, you won't see much of an increase, but you will see less of the dips in frame rate. Just a whole lot more consistent with 1Gb.

But, note that he has RDRAM. Not cheap stuff at all. 512MB is somewhwere between US$200 and US$300 depending on manufacturer and quality. So, you really can go wrong as, for that amount of money, there are other choices that may make much more sense. I've had both 512 and a full gig in this machine and can say there is absolutely no difference in MSFS performance either way - even with the PMDG 737 and FS2004. Fortunately, I had a try-before-you-buy deal. I'm back to 512MB and spent most of the savings on a 9800 Pro :-) .DougNorthwood 2.2a at 2.72Ghz (Intel HSF)Abit TH7II-R512MB Samsung 40ns PC800ATI 9800 128MB ProCat. 3,6's DX9a WinXP ProWD's 20GB, 20GB, 60GB, 120GB, 120GBInwin case / Enermax 431W PSU