i bought 2004, as per my system specs, i thought it could handle it. aparantly not, as if i want to fly my 737 at a simflyers scenery in 2k2 i could do so no problem, but fs2004 i cant do it. sits around 8fps, and no matter what i do, whatever sliders i change, it barly hurts it. is the 8500le a peice of junk and should i upgrade to a ti 4200? cuz i think this is my problem...anyone, comments on this?http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-8/328522/siggyav1.JPG

HowdyOrlaam, we must have the same friends. :-)I've got FS9 tweeked to where I am satisfied with the smoothness and really enjoying the new look. I've even stopped increasing the sim rate. The Lear and surroundings are incredible. I'm still experimenting with sliders, tweeks, and tips. I could run 2002 with all sliders maxed but there is no way this is possible for me with FS9. I might add too that I just recently installed a bunch of things like MS's SP1 and other updates due to the recent MS Blast worm and performance dropped a notch or two. Again I had to lower a couple sliders a bit to get it running as it was before. I'm sure I'll find a reason eventually. It's amazing all the variables that can affect the way our Flightsim runs. I would recommend everyone use Enditall and buy lots of good RAM.SteveAthlon XP 2700+ASUS A7N8X Deluxe nForce21024 MB RAMQuantum Fireball 7200 DrivesRadeon 9700 Pro

You will need more than a Ti4200 if you want to enjoy any anti aliasing at all. I have now found that If I disable AA I can run this baby very smoothly, just have to accept a few jaggies. I run it at 1280x1024 res and it really looks darn good here and it is running fine now. The Ti4200 just cant cut the mustard for even 2Xfsaa here, it just cripples it. You will get it to run like this but any big texture loads cuase a stutter that is just about unnaceptable. I can learn to have it off until i get a card that can run the FSAA too.Hornit

"I can learn to have it off until i get a card that can run the FSAA too."This is why I went over to the 9700 Pro. Despite the screen flickering when changing menus in the sim, this new card (I installed it 5 weeks ago) is just great. Does AA and AF far, far better than my 4600. I run 4xAA and 16xAF effortlessly.

>You will need more than a Ti4200 if you want to enjoy any>anti aliasing at all. I have now found that If I disable AA I>can run this baby very smoothly, just have to accept a few>jaggies. I run it at 1280x1024 res and it really looks darn>good here and it is running fine now. The Ti4200 just cant cut>the mustard for even 2Xfsaa here, it just cripples it. You>will get it to run like this but any big texture loads cuase a>stutter that is just about unnaceptable. I can learn to have>it off until i get a card that can run the FSAA too.>>HornitI'm running 2 x AA on my Ti 4200 without any issues. It was either no AA with 3D detailed clouds, or 2 X AA with the simple 2D clouds. The jaggies drive me absolutely banannas, so I went with the simple 2D clouds. I'll probably get another card late next year or something. As it is, I'm thoroughly enjoying the sim without any compulsion to upgrade any hardware. I'm still amzed at how well it runs considering what it actually does.

The 8500le is definetely not junk. I bought a 9600 pro and saw no difference in fs9 between it and my 8500le. I took it back. Maybe I have a special one. Who knows. But, that little 8500le is a good card. I had so many people tell me it's too old and this and that. Well, the 9600 pro made no difference on my system. I believe all flight simulators are cpu hogs. This is where my money is going.Todd

>a myriad of junk software in the taskbar and HHD that really>makes game play a nightmare. They never seem to understand,>despite my telling them, that their computer is bogged down.>>>Howdy>>Orlaam, we must have the same friends. :-)>>I've got FS9 tweeked to where I am satisfied with the>smoothness and really enjoying the new look. I've even stopped>increasing the sim rate. The Lear and surroundings are>incredible. I'm still experimenting with sliders, tweeks, and>tips. I could run 2002 with all sliders maxed but there is no>way this is possible for me with FS9. I might add too that I>just recently installed a bunch of things like MS's SP1 and>other updates due to the recent MS Blast worm and performance>dropped a notch or two. Again I had to lower a couple sliders>a bit to get it running as it was before. I'm sure I'll find a>reason eventually. It's amazing all the variables that can>affect the way our Flightsim runs. >I would recommend everyone use Enditall and buy lots of good>RAM.>>Steve>>Athlon XP 2700+>ASUS A7N8X Deluxe nForce2>1024 MB RAM>Quantum Fireball 7200 Drives>Radeon 9700 Pro>The way I look at it is that I'll keep 2002 for the add-ons that take too much system to run with FS9 and use both until my system can be upgraded to handle FS9 with whatever I throw at it. It's going to be a while before the payware and other add-ons are fully bug free, as well as the market selling the CPU, video, and other essentials to take full advantage of it. I'm happy with FS9 the way it is. Should MS patch the product and fix some of the problems we all have (e.g., ground level clouds)? Yes, but it is so much better than 2002 now. I actually get tired of how 2002 ATC hands you off every five seconds, and how ATC cancels your IFR plan so much faster. Also, the GPS is really nice, and makes flying in new areas much easier to navigate, plus it doesn't do a thing to my FPS. Of course I'd like to have some real airliners and AI traffic to match, but I can wait. FS9 is something we can grow into and not a product that's out-of-date six months later, leading to boredom. Bottom line, sometimes I like to have fun and leave the frustrations I have in 2002 behind; FS9 allows me to enjoy the flight more, thus my preference between the two is obvious. ;)

Hi allWell I think I might shock everyone with what I am about to say; I bought FS2004 and installed it on my AMD 700mgz machine, with 256mb ram and a 4mb Nvidia GeForce 2 graphics card, and it runs......... FINE.Though I am not what you would call a dedicated simmer, I am a fussy git, and would not put up with something that was poop. My expectations from FS2004 may be lower than most, I don't know, but to me it runs fine on the default settings.HAND (Have A Nice Day).Brian