Will 1.4GHz, 256 DDR and GF2 run FS2004?

[davidsmit]

Hi Viperzz, what graphics card do you use? And could you please check what the FPS are with more water details, anti-alising on and a larger(longer) Cloud range? that's more the simulation I want. 30 FPS is good, the shot 's very nice. :P Would be great if you 'd post them.

D@vid

[viperzz]

I don't even need a screenshot to tell you that as soon as you turn on anti-aliasing on. the frame rate will drop to like 5 - 8 fps, and u want more clouds, better water.. probably looking at like 2-3 fps at most. I'm using the geforce 2 mx400 as well. Here's one with anti-aliasing on. Notice the difference in the first pic i posted?

[CCairns10]

My specs:

1.47GHz AMD Athlon 1700XP+
512MB SDRAM
64MB Hercules Prophet 4500
WinXP

With your current specs I'm not too sure how well FS2004 will run, it depends on what you are prepared to turn down in terms of sliders. You really should increase your RAM, it takes relatively little money and effort for the increase in performance you'll get. I think your graphics card is bit of a bottleneck, it may cost you a little more to get a better one (don't get another MX!) but its still a case of sliding the new card into an AGP slot (if you have one) and installing the new drivers for it, not that hard too hard to do. My Hercules Prophet 4500 card was only £100 ($150) but found it to be worth the money, especially with regards to how it improved other games.

That's all the advice I can give.

Chris

[cwr737]

Frankly, the best bang for your buck would be a CPU upgrade - with a socket adapter you can go as high as 2.8/533 depending on the motherboard (2.6/400 if you have a dell). Cost will be about $250.

Another 256 in RAM would be a good move - should be very inexpensive with the memory you are using.

If you have a bit of money extra, invest in a better video card. A Radeon 9700 is a very good card and can be had for between $200 and $300 on E-bay.

Do these things and you will have no probs with either FS 2002 or 2004. In fact, you will be reasonably close to the performance of some of the very high end machines people are running, for a lot less money.

Colin

[davidsmit]

Ok, I've checked some prices. What do you all think is the best bargain, just looking at these prices? In the end, I'll decide myself, but some advise would be appreciated.

GF FX5200 Non-Pro: 70 Euro/ 80 USD
GF FX5600 Non-Pro (256MB) : 180 Euro/ 205 USD
ATI RADEON 9600 Pro: 200 Euro/ 230 USD
ATI RADEON 9700 Pro: 310 Euro/ 360 USD

Don't ask me where they cost these prices.

D@vid