Memory/Video card question...

[golfbravo 0]

Hey everyone,Well here's my dilemma: I have a pentium 4 computer (1.2GHz I think) with 384MB of SDRAM (not DDR SD) and a geforce2 32MB video card. Needless to say, I'm having some issues with frame rates on certain aircraft, and I can only imagine what my perfomance would look like using FS2004, which I plan to buy soon. Before I indulge however, I'd like to upgrade both my RAM (to 512MB) and my video card. I looked around online, and saw the Radeon 128MB card available for a reasonable price, but it uses 128MB of DDR RAM - being that my computer doesn't use DDR in its hard drive, would be possible to use this video card on my computer? The website didn't specify the computer's RAM requirements in it's system requirements section. Sorry for making this post long-winded, but if someone can point me in the right direction I'd be most grateful. Thanks!George

[wsieffert 0]

Think of the video card as a self contained computer consisting of the GPU, RAM, Input/Output chips. As long as the computer MOBO contains the proper slot for the video card (probably AGP), then you need not worry about what type RAM is on the card. The AGP bus will interface with the respective input/output devices on the video card.Your computer hardrive doesn't know or care what type RAM is on your MOBO, video card, etc.W. Sieffert

[Guest Waltm]

Like W. Sieffert says, your PC won't care what kind of RAM your video card has.Also, if you're going through the trouble of adding more system RAM, I would recommend upgrading to a full GB rather than just 512MB.-- WaltRunning FS2004 at 1600x1200x32Intel Pentium 4, 2.0 GHzWindows XP Pro512MB PC800 RDRAM,8100128MB ATI Radeon 9600 ProCATALYST Windows XP 3.10 video driverDirectX 9.0bViewSonic P95f+ 19 inch CRT MonitorSound Blaster Audigy2 ZSCreative I-Trigue 2.1 3300 SpeakersMS ForceFeedback 2 joystick

[golfbravo 0]

Thank you both very much for the advice. I will definitely look into it then. As for the RAM upgrade, I'm not sure if my computer is capable of running more than 512MB of RAM. I bought it in 2001 from Dell, and it originally came with 128MB (I had since upgraded to 384). I'll double check on that though. George

[Guest allblack]

Hey Walt,Just curious about your comment upgrading to a full gig of RAM.I've read on more than one post in this forum that FS2004 will not use more than 512mb, so anything beyond that is wasted (as far as FS is concerned).Whilst I agree more is always better, if the PC is used primarily for simming, why increase past 512mb?CheersTim

[Guest Waltm]

Good question, Tim. I haven't heard anything definitive regarding whether or not FS2004 limits itself to 512MB of RAM. That may be the case, but my assumption is that 1 GB would only help (if anybody knows better, please let me know). As it is, FS2004 spends a lot of time spinning the hard drives.FS2004 aside, I would benefit from an additional 512MB because I work with RAM-hungry computer graphics and audio production apps.-- WaltFlying FS2004 at 1600x1200x32Intel Pentium 4, 2.0 GHzWindows XP Pro512MB PC800 RDRAM,8100128MB ATI Radeon 9600 ProCATALYST Windows XP 3.10 video driverDirectX 9.0bViewSonic P95f+ 19 inch Ultrabrite CRT MonitorSound Blaster Audigy2 ZSCreative I-Trigue 2.1 3300 SpeakersMS ForceFeedback 2 joystick

[Guest SlimDady]

ive got a gig of ram fs only uses 380mb of it

[Guest Waltm]

I have a lot of high-resolution mesh--38m, even 10m--as well as a lot of addon scenery and AI traffic. Do you know if that would make a difference in RAM usage?Thanks.-- Walt