Hi guys,

 

I have just bought a new computer after being away from FS9 for about 4 years, I thought the system specs where reasonable to run flight simulator but my frame rates are appauling.

 

I'm getting around 3-4 frames when on the ground with payware scenery combined with PMDG 737. I know that previously I had a system with much less specification yet it ran at approximately 20 frames a second with exactly the same settings.

 

Just wondering if anybody knows the answer?

 

These are the system specs;

 

Pentium 4 2.8ghz

Windows 7 Home Premium x32

4GB ram

500GB HDD

1GB ATI Radeon HD 5450

 

Totally dissapointed as I just bought this computer purely for flight sim purposes after returning from overseas :(

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Adam

Hi Adam, Welcome to AVSIM.  :smile:

Wow!!  Not sure where to start.  Are you sure about the CPU in that system?  I'm surprised that you could purchase a P4 anywhere, these days.  You're right that it should run FS9 a little better than 3-4 FPS, but if it is just a P4, you're going to be hard pressed to get great performance when you start throwing things like the PMDG 737 on a payware airport at it.  One thing I want to be sure of...when you installed FS, did you install the 9.1 patch as well?  If not, that's the first thing you should do.  Also, post a copy of your FS9.cfg so we can get a look at your settings.  Tweaking your system is probably going to take a little time.  There's no single solution to performance issues, as every system is different.  There's a ton of experience here so, hopefully, we can help to get you set up and flying again soon.

Cheers,

Jeff

Hi

 

Thanks for replying and thanks for the welcome! I'll get the FS9.cfg uploaded here shortly, just on my laptop at the mo. Yeah it was a refurbished PC from eBay with the P4 in it, I do understand it's not a great CPU but I would have thought it would handle better than it is (PC is fine for everything else, including other games) - if I was to upgrade the CPU is it a simple case of taking the old one out and putting a new one in? I'm willing to do it as I admit myself the CPU obviously is far from a high end one.

 

9.1 patch is all installed :(

 

Adam

Sorry to say, but no, your upgrade path isn't that simple I'm afraid.  At the very least you're looking at a new MB and CPU, and I'm going to take a guess and say probably a new power supply too.  Unlike most other games you might use, Flight Simulator is far more dependent on the CPU than the graphics card. Honestly, given from what you're starting with, I think you'd be better served by buying a new system.  I know that's not what you wanted to hear, but you'd have a hard time upgrading the system you have as the components that you would need just aren't available any more.  And if you could find what you need, it would likely be just as costly as getting a more recent, mid level system that would serve your needs far better.   Post your config file here anyhow, it will still run FS, but you probably aren't going to be able to run it with the settings maxed.  Certainly not with high end payware like PMDG planes.  You may just have to accept some compromises in performance with that system, but we'll do what we can to help you.

Cheers,

Jeff

Interesting post.

I too have a senior citizen PC.Like yours Adam mine mine is also a P4 2.8 GHz /2gb ram /gforce 6600gt 512 ram GCard/.

I am completely happy with Fs9 performance......BUT!!!!! I have to say that I have come to accept its limitations and with acceptance has come pretty much contentment with the sim.

I think you should takes Jeff's advice concerning your game settings.

I always suspected PDMG would be a non runner on my setup (as it is proving to on yours),but you shouldn't despair there are great freeware aircraft out there , and some that come with pretty complex panel's (if that's your preference)these perform excellently on my P4. setup.

Remember Fs9 is ten years old and the old P4s would have been considered rolls Royce CPUs in there day.

In short don't try to push your settings to hard.Try to get hold of the Flusifix (free) tweaker (has more tweaks than you can shake a stick at )

Learn to accept 'some' limitations (not many by the way) and you have a good sim that starts ,flies,lands and leaves you feeling better for it(unlike some others.....oops controversial or what) after some initial tweaking and tinkering you fly not forever fiddle.

Anyways good luck with it.

 

Cheers Andy

Windows 7 Home Premium x32

That's also a limitation.

I might be being a little bit daft but where can I find FS9.cfg?

 

I also did a little bit of digging last night whilst enroute to GCLP, I had Firefox still open in the background from my route planning - this was using 25% of my CPU power, TWENTY FIVE PERCENT! So I killed it and disabled my aero theme and guess what, my frame rates improved immediately. Although not perfect, I consider them now to be within acceptable limits, 25fps in the cruise and rougly 10-20 on the decent and on the ground with payware add-ons.

 

I don't expect to get much better than that with said system, however, I am now looking at buying a new machine! If anyone has any suggestions for pre-built computers (UK) then I would be greatful!

 

Thanks for your help so far guys, much appreciated.

 

Adam

That's also a limitation.

 

Not for 30+ fps on a low-mid multi-core processor (i3) using multiple add-on sceneries, planes, etc.  Still using XP 32-bit and quite happy ..... of course I'm not one of "those" who can't fly if I don't achieve 60 fps under all conditions....

 and disabled my aero theme

 

This helps the most.