i have a 2.4 gig processor, 512 megs of ram and a 128 meg video card. i'm considering getting some payware aircraft like GA aircraft or any big iron aircraft. i'm wondering if my machine will run any add ons like that. hopefully there are some framerate friendly ones out there. i bought a PSS 747 for fs2002 a year ago when i had a different machine and it bought it to its knees. it ran fs2002 just fine but just chugged along in a slide show with that add on so i returned it. i have fs9 now and it runs fine by itself. any advice or suggestions other than upgrading? i'll use the default a/c if i have to. william

You don't say what type of video card you have. You're system is ok probably in the mid-range of systems which run FS9 at an acceptable rate (depending on settings of course).You need planes which don't have a lot of polygons and complex textures in the VC for example. But it depends on what your're prepared to sacrifice to get decent framerates. Dreamfleet's Piper Archer II for FS9 would be a good candidate since the VC is pretty plain but the panel in both VC and 2D is very nice. Some of Carenado's GA offerings have been GMAXed and optimized over to FS9 and are decent enough on the framerates. All of FSD International planes are good but the newest ones (such as the Panther) are hard on the framerates.You'll be able to fly PMDG's planes but with some more serious degradation. Actually the PSS products (A330, 340) are better in that respect because of their more spartan VC's. Of course all of these planes can be run with the 2D panel only.I suggest one of the Dreamfleet's FS9 products such as the Archer II or Cessna 310. They are a pretty good gauge at what your system can take.For the heavies, I believe PSS still has a sale going on - try the A330 or 340 (single livery). They're cheap at the moment and their VC's are completely clickable. If you can't get acceptable framerates out of those heavies then you won't be satisfied with PMDG framerate demands (their 737 series is EXCELLENT though).P4, 2.8 ghz., ATI 9700TX 128 mb, 1 gig ram.

thanks len. i'm running a 128 meg nvidea card and ME for OS. william

I have a 2.5 ghz machine with 1052 DDR ram. It's still a balancing act between fs settings, system settings, weather, and the characteristics of the payware. It took me quit a while to finally understand my own system and how to tweak it for fs9. Lots of trial and error. Also there are some really great freeware additons to scenery and weather that helps my performance. Now that I'm satisfied with how I'm set up I usually wait until I see how folks are doing with something new before I buy. I have capt. sim 727 and the new aeroworx kingair 200. They both run great. So if you decide to buy something and at first it does not run well don't get discouraged you'll just need to experiement with your system and fs9 settings. I'm sorry there is no easy answere. My guess there are no two system and fs9 are set up exactly the same.Capt.Mac

glad to hear those two sims run on your machine. it's close to mine and that gives me hope! thanks, william