What upgrade would U do..if you had my computer?

[Manny 1,293]

I have a Dell Desktop.. 2.0 Ghz Intel processor with a nVidea 64MB GeoForce2 MX, 512 MB Ram and 80 Gig HD.I am using the Fsim9 with Megascenary .. Its a little slow.. but with the Captiansims 727.. it is very very slow..I would like to buy some hardware.. What is the weakest link that I can improve?I am thinking of getting a 256 MB Top of the line Video card ..whatever card that maybe.. Any suggestions?..would upping my RAM from 512Mb to 1Gig help? Can I upgrade my Processor without buying a new computer? ..what other option do I have?I am hooked on Fsim.. I need it to work properly..:)

[Guest]

I'd get a new video card. I happen to like the ATI Radeon 9700/9800 Pro cards. Just my two cents. It would make a world of difference from what you have now.

[Guest]

In your case, change video to Ti4200+/FX5600+/ATI9600+ can make a big different, however, you will lost your warranty if you upgrade by yourself.Unless you upgrade processor to P4 3.x+, or it wont make big different. Also, the mb may not support the faster CPU.So never buy the brand computer if you want to upgrade parts.

[Bray 1]

My sytem is a gateway, similar specs and I upgraded RAM to 1GB and could not see any improvement. At least my eyes couldnt tell.So you do the video upgrade and let me know how it works :-)I Dont feel like spending more money right now.As far as I can tell the only thing FS9 understands is CPU power and after a ton of research, if your motherboard cant upgrade to P4/3.x then dont waste your time or money.Good luckBill

[Guest Bigshot]

Get a 9700 Pro. Good buy for the buck now. It'll make a huge difference in performance on your rig. You're biggest bottleneck is that terrible video card. If you feel you need more performance in the future, you can always add a bigger processor later. You do not void a Dell warranty buy changing components inside the computer. Dell just won't warranty the new parts. Before you do anything, confirm what power supply you have in that rig. A Dell 250 PS is plenty sufficient to run any of the radeon cards. If you have a Dell 220 watt PS, I'd do some research over at Dell Talk before you do anything. At the same time, check to see how big you can go on the processor with your current motherboard.

[Guest Shocky]

yup The videocard is the bottle neck. I got a Radeon 9700 Pro aswell and I have to say Im very very happy with it, great perfromance.You CPU is still good enough to run FS2004 smooth. :-waveshocky :-hah"You talk so much , but you say so little" :-boom

[Guest SteveJ]

If you want to make a minor upgrade before upgrading in a year or so to the next generation system I would suggest a new video card. I have an XP1800+ (less processing power than yours) which runs fs9 & Megascenery well with an older 64MB Ti4200 card. (If you look around for a Ti4200 note that the newer 8xAGP Ti4200s cannot use the older 30.82 drivers, which some have found to work well with the Ti-xxxx series cards). And altho fs9 is always processor hungry, I'm sure the other cards mentioned would also show an improvement over your current video card.

[peppy197 165]

I did find that although going from Win98se to Win-XP did not increase the fps that much if at all, there is a noticeable smoothness difference because XP handles cache files better, so there are less if any bottlenecks causing FS9 to jerk at times in Win98se but less so if ever in XP, all at the same apparent fps. Especially at critical times like "landing", unless of course you dont land, but then why fly?Allen

[Manny 1,293]

Thanks a lot Bigshot (No Irony here.. :)Yes.. I just checked.. I have a 250 Watt Power Supply.Manny

[Manny 1,293]

OK..which one would you get from this list?http://mirror.ati.com/buy/pricespcusa.htmlI have a 250 Watt PS.Would the 9800 Pro work?

[Manny 1,293]

I just bought myself a Radeon 9800 Pro and I was reading the installation manual.. They have Power Supply requirements on the inside (not outside) for the Radeon 9700/9500 series and the 9800 series,Consult your OEM to ensure your system has adequate power supply. Otherwise ATI recommends a 300 Watts or greater supply to ensure normal system operations...What do I do?How do I evaluate my 250 Watts is sufficent? I can't increase my PS can I?I have a Dell 4400 Pentium 2.0Ghz MAchineWhat would happen..if I go ahead and install it anyway?:(

[Guest emergency_pants]

You can install a new power supply easily, it unscrews from the case very simply, in most cases. No more difficult than installing a video card :) Just unplug your power connectors, unscrew the PSU and it pulls out easily. The new PSU will have all the leads and connectors you need.It's not expensive either.You can go ahead and plug your new Video card in and see if it works ok. If you have insufficient power, wou will find that your system becomes unstable or won't boot properly. Too little power won't damage anything.250w may well be enough, providing you are not running too many peripherals on your system such as multiple hard drives, multiple CD drives, lots of USB devices such as scanners, joysticks, printers, mouse, etc.At least it will do until you have the time to buy a new PSU and install it.Hope that helps,Simon.

[Guest Bigshot]

Don't worry about it. A Dell 250watt PS is plenty. They rate them differently. It's as good as most 400 watt PS'. Just make sure you get all the nvidia drivers off that rig. There's some good driver cleaner programs available. I recommend the latest Omega drivers: http://www.omegacorner.com/index_ati.html

[Bray 1]

>Don't worry about it. A Dell 250watt PS is plenty. They>rate them differently. It's as good as most 400 watt PS'. >Just make sure you get all the nvidia drivers off that rig. >There's some good driver cleaner programs available. I>recommend the latest Omega drivers:>> http://www.omegacorner.com/index_ati.html Same thing 250W with my Gateway. I hope it will be OK as I plan to go ATI route and soon as I see all the driver bugs resolved.Bill

[Manny 1,293]

Thanks guys for all the advice... I really appreciate it.My initial purchase and installation of the Radeon 9800 Pro did not go well.. It simply sucked.. I had flickers.. I saw lines (barbershop), too much shimmering....just awefull.Paying $400-$500 bucks for a video card...and no proper Driver is simply not acceptable.. The Sorry #### company should get out of this business IMO.Well.. I exchanged it for a nVedia FX-5900 Ultra 256K and all those problems dissapeared... It works well with the latest Driver.. and I am OK.Thanks again.:)