FS2004 won't run smoothly, but nor does FSX

[matt1988]

Hi all,

I'm hoping someone out there has the answer as I'm at a complete loss. Firstly, my machine, it's just under 2 years old and is running this:

XP Pro SP3
Intel Core 2 Quad 2.83GHz
4GB RAM (but as it's XP, XP only sees 3.25GB)
nVidia Quadro NVS 290 256MB graphics card
2x 500GB hard drives
A Creative soundblaster sound card

As you can see, it should run FSX. So purcahsed FSX and although it ran, was choppy with a rubbish frame rate. Tried various different settings, even right down to the basic graphics. The game ran at the same speed/choppyiness in low graphics as it did high. I updated my graphics card, played around with that, no joy. Gave up, looked at the minimum specs for FS2004 and thought I'd buy FS2004 as that is bound to run. Wrong! Exactly the same, choppy (inc the sound). Although when I ran FSX, the processor was running flat out, but in FS2004, it is running at about 50%.

I am clueless as to what is wrong. Somewhere along the line (prob with my computer), it is not letting flight sim run smoothly. I've never had any problems with the speed of my machine and I do things like video editing. I purchased a powerful machine in 09 so that I could run monster programs like this in the future.

Any ideas? As you can see, both versions should run but the fact 2004 is running exactly the same as FSX make me worry.

Any help would be much appriciated! :)

Thanks,

Matt

[Avechelice]

Hello,

As a first step to solve your problem ...
Be sure you don't have many other applications running in background and certainly be sure that no realtime files scanning engines or autoupdates checks are running (like antivirus or anti malwares)
You have choice to disable them when playing or better .. you can (usually offered in antivirus options) exclude from realtime scan all files and folders related to FSX//FS2004

Regards.http://smilies.sofrayt.com/%5E/a/bye.gif

[clydewhiting]

Have you tried Game Booster (Google it) ?

Might be worth running a test with it to see if the performance improves, if it doesn't then it probably isn't an application problem.

I'm not really into this technical stuff but every now and then my machine stutters with everything, even moving the mouse, then it freezes and wont do anything unless I switch it off at the plug and call it lots of nasty names. I was told it was a "memory leak" but I am yet to find anything dripping out of the side and as it only happens occasionally, I live with it.

I'm pretty sure that the people on here will eventually get to the bottom of your issue though.

[pschlute]

Have you tried different settings on your graphics card. Even with a good computer you cannot run with all settings maxed.

[matt1988]

Yeah I've spent a few hours mucking around with settings, turning this and that off, turning virus scan off etc. No luck :(

[airfrance]

I'd be willing to bet its your graphics card. I run on PC specs less than yours (see below in sig.) with an ATI Radeon HD 5570 and 1GB memory and I run FS9 at 30-60FPS. I could run FSX but I prefer FS9 because I can run it maxed out and I do.

You may want to look into a graphics card upgrade. With only 256MB, its prolly not enough to run smoothly. Your PC is more than fit to run both sims. I recommend ATI Radeon.

[Avechelice]

Hi,


With only 256MB, its prolly not enough to run smoothly

I hope you agree I want disagree (for FS2004) this statement .... http://smilies.sofrayt.com/%5E/r/sgrin.gif

Regards.http://smilies.sofrayt.com/%5E/a/bye.gif

[joe23]

With only 256MB, its prolly not enough to run smoothly. Your PC is more than fit to run both sims. I recommend ATI Radeon.

I disagree too. I run FS2004 with nearly maxed settings on my specs below and I still get decent frame rates if I use planes with low textures.
However, if you're running an add-on (?) like REX, maybe you have set textures to their max 3d settings (especially the DXT3 optimized clouds), the 265MB will be very much insufficient to run FS2004.

[alastairmonk]

Hi Matt,

I tend to agree with the others - a graphics card with 512Mb RAM would be better. However, can you define what you mean be "rubbish frame rates" ? If you're used to other games needing 60-80fps be aware that more than 25-30fps in FS2004 will be wasted for the vast majority of users who won't see any difference, and the PC will try to achieve this level at the expense of the scenery. One suggestion is to set the FRs at Unlimited, see what sort of FRs you're getting and then fix the rate a little below this value. Thus, if you are averaging 26-28fps try fixing it at 25fps.

A badly fragmented drive will also contribute to choppy frame rates.

Alastair

[airfrance]

Ok, so I was wrong. Just an observation. Can't hurt to upgrade...

[mexy]

G'day

When I first upgraded my rig I had a machine more than capable of running FSX and definately FS9, except.....I had a similar problem to you.

Turns out in my case upgrading the BIOS of my motherboard somehow helped my 'parts' all pull together properly. If you think this might be the case with yours, check your BIOS version against the latest on your motherboards support website.

I seriously went from 10-15fps up to over 40 with no changes to hardware, just BIOS, then drivers.

AWAS AWAS!!! Flashing your BIOS is risky, so research it carefully, you may need from someone with experience if you go down that road. I did mine fine, but might not be the same for you.

Best of luck, keep us posted!

Mexy