System upgrade advice

[corydennert]

I want to upgrade my system so that I don't have any more lock ups (OK, I know I'm dealing with Microsoft products so NO lock-ups may be impossible ), or poor frame rates. I plan on staying with FS 2002 until I get a new computer in a few years, so I will be skipping FS 2004 and likely FS 2006. I don't want to be disapointed with the FS version that I have because I cannot enjoy all of its features. My goal is to upgrade my system so that I can use most add-ons without while keeping the display sliders up pretty high, and never have lock-ups or frame rate problems. Basically I want to get pretty much all that FS 2002 has to offer, or as close as I can get to it with out spending more than $200-$300. My current system is:

1.4 gig P4
384mb rambus ram
Windows ME
Chaintech nVidia Gforce2 MX 400 64mb

I currently have some problems with the most detailed mesh and scenery files, especially when I have both combined in one area.

Will I get what I am looking for if I upgrade to 512mb ram, and a 128mb video card, and still be able to stay within my budget? If so, which card? I have heard that Windows XP will help frame rates, but will it help more than the ram and video card updgrades? I don't think I can get all three; ram, video card, and XP on my budget. Should I go with more than 512mb ram? I have heard that each operating system has a limit to how much discernible gain can be obtained by increasing ram . Is 512mb about the upper limit for ME? What about XP? I have read the post about the Omega driver, and plan on using it also.

I wish I could get one of the really expensive video cards that I've seen some of you guys talk about, or upgrade the whole computer, but probably won't get a new one for about 4 years, because of the budget.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[chrisoz]

I assume that is $US u have to spend? Its not a lot really to lash out on an upgrade, but any amount is better than nothing :-) Firstly, I would format your drive, and install Windows 98SE if u can. Secondly FS2002 is very processor intensive, so your $ would be better spent on the fastest processor u can afford. Your video card will suffice for the time being. I have just upgraded my system from a P3 600 to a P4 2800, using an MSI GF4 440 8x AGP and can run at near max sliders. In short...O/S then Processor, then RAM then video card. Hope this helps out a little

[Lawndart]

Cory,

I do no tknow much, but I do know one thing for sure...

Windows ME is DEVILWARE!! SAtan himself spawned that piece of OS #####! I had ME for a while when I first got into computers and playing online games. I had sooooooooooo many CTD's, blue screens, connection problems, internet problems, driver conflicts, etc. The list is endless! Everytime I posted a question about fixing some portion of my setup, the answer was always "GET RID OF ME!!!!". I do video editing as well on my computer. ME was total ##### for editing. It just sucks.

Why am I soo ticked off about ME? Well, I feel that Bill Gates owes me some $$ for ever wasting mine on that ##### of a product. I ended up getting XP and ALL, did I say ALL because I mean A L L, of my problems went away with video editing, online gaming, etc. I did not change a single piece of hardware. Sure some guys will tell you that ME worked for them, but I find you 1,000 that it did not work for....

Go XP or 2000.

Lawndart

[corydennert]

How does one format the hard drive for max FS performance?

[crookston]

Roy Chaffin, who appears to be a bit of an expert in such matters, says that the most important thing to have is Processor power.
I recently got a new computer, and it runs pretty smoothly, but I dont really see that the graphics with my Radeon 9800 pro graphics card are any better than I had with my old (2 years ago) card.
A friend told me that he noticed an improvement when he went from 512 to 1024 ram, so that might be worth considering too.

Gerry

[bigredinmass]

I would first increase your RAM to what your computer allows. Crucial.com had 256MB SDRAM cards for about $48. Upgrade to Windows XP - Home Edition - $86. Get a Radeon 128 MB card (cruical.com has these for $70). That should keep you under $300 and increase performance.

XP and RAM are before the graphics card.

Good luck.