Hi everyone...Ok.... bought FS2004 yesterday,.... And while my ol' 800mhz P3 could just about cope with FS2002 (3-20 fps depending on settings)... after trying FS2004 it clearly isn't up to the job.. even with everything set to minimum.My old system also has only a crummy intel 4mb integrated graphics chip on the motherboard... running at 800x600 /16 bit colour....So as you can see, what i've been used to in FS2002 has been pretty impoverished...Not any more though!!!.... I'd like very much if you good people here could offer me some advice on combinations of: processor speed & make (Intel, AMD etc...)memory amount (256, 512, 1GB etc...)AGP or PCI graphics boards (Gforce, ATI etc......)(One thing though.. i HAVE bought myself an ATI 9600 128mb - AGP --- Is this card up to the job???? If not I can get a refund on it.)So I'm after something that will give me RIP ROARING performance with EVERYTHING Maxed out in FS2004.I will then take pleasure in purchasing a NEW computer system based on the advice given here.....Looking forward to all the answers.... :-)Laz

I don't know if a Cray Supercomputer could give "rip roaring performance with everything maxed out" in FS9!:-) But...I'm pretty darn happy with my new rig....Athlon 64 3200+(ok, I'm just getting ready for FS2006)Asus K8V Deluxe MB120 gig Maxtor Serial ATA HD1.5 gig Corsair PC3200 MemoryGeForce 5900 FX Video (256MB)GeForce 5200 PCI for 2 secondary monitorsDet. 52.70 driversA bunch of FS9.cfg tweaksYou'll spend a few bucks on this system, but it beats paying the rent! I get frame rates pretty consitantly in the 20's, even with Ultimate Traffic, 8x AA and AF (yes, I'm talking a KILLER picture here), and a whole bunch of detail like Autogen and Scenery Density cranked up pretty high. Just think what this thing could do with a 64 Bit OS and a 64 bit ver. of FS!Mark

On the principle of getting the best for your money----------AMD XP CPU,fastest you can afford coupled with a good motherboard that will allow for/support future improvements.DDRAM 1GB(Good Quality)- more if the mobo etc will support it( assuming your are using Win XP- if you're still with -and intend to keep- Win9x then 512MB is all you can use. I would consider that Win XP is an upgrade in itself.)NOT definately NOT a PCI Graphics card - stick to AGP- get the best you can afford.I like Nvidia based cards - others will probably disagree.It all depends whether you are going for an off the shelf or build it yourself system.If you can put it together yourself then you'll get a much more up-to -the minute system for substantially less than you will by buying off the shelf.Any "off the shelf" system is probably going to be a compromise between what you really want,what you can afford and what is available.Building it yourself certainly widens your choices.Dave

I think you would very happy, using this video card, with a P4-2.8 and 512 Meg PC2700 memory under WindowsXP. This is not the fastest there is, maybe, but will run FS9 at a steady 25 fps at 1280x960x32 and would be darn good value for your dollar, and very stable.