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Don't expect miracles from the latest hardware

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Guest shanwick

I have just acquired a new system with an Intel D865GBF 800 Mhz FSB mobo, Pentium 4 3.2 Mhz processor, 1 Mb 400 Mhz DDR RAM,NVidia FX5600 256 Mb video card and 200 Gb 7,200 rpm hard disk.It is easy to believe from what you read in formums and reviews that this little lot will have FS2004 screaming along with absolutely everything maxed out - but it won't.I don't care for frame rates but they are not increased by very much. Overall, the simulator is much smoother but when you are on the ground at a dense airport or airfield you will still see the odd bit of stuttering as you taxi around. This is especially true if you fly something like the Porter which is extremely graphics-heavy in its own right. The Porter's textures still take a couple of moments to load although overall this is improved over my previous system.David

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Guest oyvindhansen

The weak spot in your system is the video card. There are some tests at Tom's Hardware of the FS2004 performance of different cards, and the FX5600 didn't get very good results. Don't get me wrong, it is a decent midprice card for most games, but for fs2004 there seems to be a performance problem with most Nvidia FX cards.- Oyvind

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Guest danowat

Hi David,I would have to disargee with you, I just upgraded from a P4 2.4ghz with a Geforce4, to a P4 3ghz and an ATI 9800 pro, and the difference is astounding, I was not expecting "miracles", but I sure got em.The only major differences in my system to yours are that I have the 875 chipset, I believe the 865 chipset is as good if not better in some cases, and the video card.I see no stuttering, however, the new planes that are coming out, i.e. Posky's and iDFG's planes, and the porters, textures are VERY slow to load.This HAS to be something to do with the way these textures are being made as it seems to be an increasing trend, you would think that in a system with an 800mhz FSB and 1GB of fast memory would show these textures quick, but that it just not the case.I would say that my framerates have almost doubled in most cases, before I was getting 20 odd at busy airports, now I get at least 35 sometimes 40.Dan.

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Guest allcott

Well, what you have there isn't the latest hardware. And I agree with the other poster, you're bottleneck is that video card.Expect MS to have designed FS9 for the hardware that will be the `latest` in twelve months, with the exception of 64-bit computing.Allcott

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Guest shanwick

Hm ....Someone posted a question about his ATI video card and was told that it wasn't a very good one etc., etc.Then some kindly soul gave him a couple of tweaks to do and he was a very happy bunny after that.And then there are those who will advise you that the xx.xx drivers are useless whilst others will sing their praises.Go figure ....David

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Guest shanwick

*This HAS to be something to do with the way these textures are being made *I wonder if converting them to DXT3 format will have an effect? This is something I am going to try on the Porter when I get a chance.David

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Guest shanwick

*what you have there isn't the latest hardware*Well, I'm not going to argue the small points over this as manufacturers seem to be releasing something newer each day, but it's as near to the latest as really makes no difference.*Expect MS to have designed FS9 for the hardware that will be the `latest` in twelve months*In which case however up to date your hardware is right now it is not going to perform as brilliantly as some would have you believe, which is the point I was trying to make. Otherwise, we have the twelve months from now hardware available today - right?David

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Guest oyvindhansen

For the Nvidia FX series you've got to have the newest (officially 52.16 right now). In fact the new drivers seem to solve a some of the problems that these cards are having. Older drivers make sense for GF4 which isn't DX9 compliant anyway, but the drivers for the newer cards are still maturing, and you may miss out on the action if you stick with old drivers.- Oyvind

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Guest danowat

Just don't chase the rainbow, get the best hardware you can buy, be it latest or not, and just reduce the settings untill you get a good framerate.Then just fly the thing ;).Dan.

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I have a 2.8 (clocked to 3.0GHz), 1GB PC4000 RAM, a Radeon 9800pro (128Mb) all on an 875 board (Asus P4C800-E) and get, when unlocked, frames averaging 65+ will sliders maxed at 1600x1200 with 4xAA, 16xAFPretty happy here...

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Guest Id Rather Be Flying

"1 Mb 400 Mhz DDR RAM" :-eekTHAT'S where you're problem is!!! :-lol I'm surprised you can even run Windows!The preceding was for a change of pace to lighten up the air.

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I have to agree, you invested alot of money in a fast system, but saved some on the videocard, not a good idea. Do your self a favor and get at least a ATI9800pro 128mb, you wont regret it.OHN

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