CPU or Vid Card Bottleneck in FS2004?

[Guest]

I've just installed FS2004 on my ageing PC (Athlon 1.4 GHz, 512MB RAM, GeForce 3 Ti500), and it looks like an upgrade is in order. In previous versions of FS, the main bottleneck was the CPU - is this still the case, or would I get a good speed boost by upgrading the vid card?Thanks,Dave.

[Guest Max Cowgill]

The CPU/system memory bandwidth are the main bottlenecks once you get to a certain point with video card power. A GF3 Ti 500 should be adequate except when running AA&AF. If you can get by without using these features, a faster CPU with a faster system speed/ram would up your fps more than a new video card would (except when utilizing AA&AF). If you can afford a nice HT P4 w/800MHz fsb, you'll find FS2k4 to be much more pleasurable in terms of smoothness. Depending on what your budget is, you may want to compromise on CPU speed and get a bit slower CPU and a new video card as well (perhaps a P4 HT 2.4GHz w/800MHz fsb & a Radeon 9600 Pro).hope this helps,Max Cowgill

[Guest]

Max,Thanks for the reply :-). I guess the system I have now is getting long in the tooth :-(. The problem is that I like to run with a decent resolution with AA turned on. I guess I'll be investing in a HT P4 and a new vid card then ;-). I've got a while before I'll be in a position to upgrade, so I can get some research done before then.Cheers,Dave.