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Guest Dann

Windows XP Pro, 98SE, and ATI 9600XT

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Guest Dann

I run a dual boot, XP/98SE system, and will be upgrading from my venerable Voodoo 5 to an ATI 9600XT, so I have just two questions:First, any issues running FU3 and the ATI card I might want to know about?Second, is anyone running FU3 under Windows XP successfully? I am currently using 98SE for it and several other games.Thanks in advance for the answers, sorry if they sound a little "rookie." It's just that I've been running 98SE for games for so long and with success, but it's time to think about moving away from 98SE as video drivers will soon no longer support it.And I don't want to give up FU3...Dan

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Dan,I cannot comment regarding the ATI graphics card, but I can confirm that FU3 runs perfectly under Windows XP on my PC.Chris Low.


Christopher Low

UK2000 Beta Tester

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Dan.As Chris says, Fu3 runs very well under Win.XP.I am also using the ATI 9600XT videocard and this is for me a perfect choice. both for old programs and the new DX.9 software.For your upgrade make sure to install the FU3 patch.Microsoft do no longer include the INTEL AVI video-codec on new mashines, so you have to find a version of it on the internet or buy it from Intel. You can also use the line "nomovie" in the flt.3cfg.file to avoid video trouble.One thing I have noticed is the "fled program" is very slow to work with.This is mutch faster to handle under Win.98SE.Good luck with your upgrade.Lars Peter. :-wave

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Guest Dann

Thanks for the fast answers! Good to know it will run fine under XP...I may leave it on the 98SE partition for now. As I migrate away from 98SE, that will change.I already use the nomovie line in the configuration file, so that's not an issue...however my installation of XP is my own, so it may not be an issue anyway. (I have one of the "first" releases of XP Pro...)Thanks again, any further comments will be greatly appreciated!Dan

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I'm thinking of upgrading hardware too. My computer is way old and I was wondering if Athlon 2800/ati 9600 Pro type combination makes easy work of FU3 or should I aim a little higher?I get 1.56fps at the new Ranger Creek. Is this a new record! Graeme

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Guest jonpoint

Graeme,As someone who has (for a lot of BAD reasons) tried FU3 in XP, Win2K and 98SE, I can say this:FU3 can be made to operate effectively under any of these systems however, 98SE is the fastest, for ANY given PC. I have actually done this test on two different PCs, and even swapped video cards around, tried different drivers, overclocking - the works!On my old home PC (Athlon1700+, GE4MX440, 256Mram,DX9), I set up FU3 with a particular weather file and measured framerates. I turned haze completely off as it is a bit random and can impact things a bit. I nominated a particular aircraft (B400) and a particular start point (3kft above SEA). The results was ~21fps.Using the same settings on the same PC, Win2K gave ~15fps, XP gave ~13fps.Switching to a P4 2.6GHz (with 256MDDR), I expected serious increases in speed. It boosted framerates in 98SE to ~30fps however, on Win2K and XP it was still ~25fps! Ok, it WAS a 100% improvement on 13fps but 98SE still shines.Swapping up to 512Mram made no difference to 98SE but suddenly, XP and Win2K were almost as good as 98SE (2-3fps slower).So, if your PC is FAST and has lots of ram, it will work well with any of these systems but regardless, it will go faster with 98SE! As far as video cards go, I notice almost no difference between an old GE2 and an FX5200! It's because of the age of the s/w - FU3 simply cannot take advantage of the new 'hooks' in hardware. If, like me FU3, is the main app on the PC (I have another, slower Win2K PC at home which is fine for my design work), save money on peripherals and put it into processor speed - that's what makes the difference. If you really need to do everything on the same PC, including newer games (that CAN take advantage of the new stuff), you'll have to get something pretty flash - or you'll be disappointed. A work colleague has just installed FU3 on his new P4 3GHz 'wonder box'. Without any optimisation, using my test setup (above), it gives 35fps in XP!PS Be aware that some newer setups and video cards give bogus framerates in FU3! I have seen a system that displayed 114fps but it looked more like about 25 ;):-wave******************* Jonathan Point *******************

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Jon,Ahh, so that's what's happening. I remember Tom Wunder stating some scarcely credible framerates in FU3 with his (then new) P4 2.8Ghz PC with an ATI Radeon 9700 Pro. Are you saying that the 50-100 fps that was being indicated by the counter was nothing more than FU3 doing a bit of "fibbing" ? ;-)As for the GeForce 2/FX 5200 comparison, it is probably worth noting that the FX5200 is not a very good graphics card (a bit like that GeForce 4 MX440 that you had in your "old" PC). You certainly can pick 'em, eh ? :-lolChris Low.


Christopher Low

UK2000 Beta Tester

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Graeme,1.56fps at Ranger Creek ?!!! :-eekTell me something. Do you find that the aircraft is controllable under these conditions ? :-lolChris Low.


Christopher Low

UK2000 Beta Tester

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I got curious and just had to check my frame rates at Ranger Creek :-)The lowest count I saw during roll-out was 11.2I generally saw 14 - 18 fps in the air, turning, stalling, yawing and diving while trying to avoid mountain crashes in the valley. (Yes, I shook it all up on purpose, to tax the system resources).Processor: 1.2 Ghz768 mb ramVoodoo 5 5500 64 mb ramWin 2000Edited to add a second point: I've heard that Win98 won't utilize any system ram above 512. Win 2000 and XP, on the other hand, will take advantage of any ram sticks you're able to fit into the slots. This means that you may speed up the later operating systems, provided you feed them enough memory. Since they have larger "overhead" they will not perform quite as well as Win98 running with the same (lower) amount of ram but once you go beyond 512 mb ram any further increase is wasted on Win98. From there on the later OSes, that can use the extra ram will get an edge. Hans Petter

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Hans,Is that when using my Ranger Creek package ? That's a high framerate when compared to my PC (which also has a 1.2Ghz CPU). At what resolution do you run the simulator ? Do you use FSAA and anisotropic filtering ? Are your terrain and object detail levels set to MAXIMUM ? Do you use Laurie Doering's weather upgrades ? Are you flying in clear skies ?Chris Low.


Christopher Low

UK2000 Beta Tester

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Re:>1.56fps at Ranger Creek ?!!! >Tell me something. Do you find that the aircraft is controllable >under these conditions ? It's a bit like being at the school disco back in the 80's with the strobe lights going.Glass of non alchoholic punch anybody? By the way, if you need loads of RAM for your XP then a stick of 512mb from a cheap manufacturer is not that much now. A UK magazine (Custom PC) tested loads of expensive RAM this month and found the cheap stuff from www.crucial.com to be just as good.Also the dollar is CRASHING on the markets at the moment so UK and European's will find prices decreasing further soon.Must Fly.Graeme

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Resolution 800 x 600, 4x FSAA, probably no anisotropic filtering (does this apply to a Voodoo card?), full terrain and objects detail (even Jon's tweak to get beyond the scale of the slider), Laura's weather and clear skies. OK, I had set no haze so I tried again with medium haze. It didn't seem to make any difference. However, I know that dreary weather would have lowered the fps considerably. The problem with testing in dreary weather is that it's inconsistent. The weather is dynamic (thanks Looking Glass!) and different combinations of clouds and precipitation will tax the system to various degrees.I've more or less settled for 800 x 600 since I didn't seem to gain much by going higher. Hans Petter

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Hmmm....so the difference would appear to be your lack of AF, and a lower screen resolution. That could account for the majority of the difference.....Chris Low.


Christopher Low

UK2000 Beta Tester

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Guest qvdg

Hi, I am currently looking into getting a new machine (it is actually older than that of Rob D's believe it or not !) Aside from having to give up my trusty Voodoo 5500 (what a joy it was to fly FU3 with this card when it came out) I am concerned in particular about my Joystick + Pedal configuration. Currently I have the Flightstick + Ch pedals going throught the sound card port. In these new fangled machines you all seem to have (apparently they don't have valves anymore is this true ?) can I conserve my joystick + pedals ?ThanksQvdG

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I've got a Logitech stick and the CH rudder pedals, both USB. You may have a problem getting a joystick port through the sound card on a new PC. Are both of your controllers using the sound card port or is one of them USB? I would think that the sound card would accept one only.If you build a PC (or, order to your own specs) you'll still be able to get whatever you want. You'll be able to keep your Voodoo 5500 card if you want to.Basically, what we all need are:1) A large cabinet with lots of room2) A recent motherboard with a faster CPU3) More ram sticks (a new motherboard will accept them).4) Higher capacity drive(s) to store more data. You may copy the entire contents of your old drive(s) over and some of the old applications won't even have to be re-installed. FU3 is among those since it doesn't have to be in the registry to work.If you upgrade from Win98 to Win2000/WinXP you'll have to find new drivers for your hardware peripherals. You may want to verify that XP drivers are available for your joystick / pedals. The Voodoo 5500 video card will work fine under XP, with drivers made by unofficial support groups.Hans Petter

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