Simviation Forums

Hi all,

What does everyone think about MS putting out a sim that requires systems beyond what the "regular" person has in their house. It's marketed for the general public but it seems to need higher end systems that most of us don't have.

I'm not complaining really. I guess it might help to push the existing technology further along in the long run. Plus, it seems to stimulate the economy when guys like me go out and upgrade. Though I have to add that my upgrade still can't run the FSim at top settings

This just seems to be a case of programming possibilities outdoing computational possibilities.

Here's a "chicken/egg" sydrome.. kinda  ;)

You're mostly right, but one thing's gotta be ahead of the other. I think I'd rather have my software push the limits of my computer, than vice-versa. Especially when you can adjust the demands of the software down to the computer at  hand.

If there's room for either to grow.. prob best that it's your hardware into your software..

or maybe I'm getting senile...

The system I have is far from top notch.
My system specs are as follows:
pent III operating just under 1GHZ 640 megs ram.
Windows ME fx5200 video card with 128 meg DDR ram
60 Gig hard drive, 17" flat screen colour monitor
With the sliders maxed out and a major thunderstorm at Katl I still get descent frame rates. And I have not changed any system settings such as overclocking.

Keep in mind that the life of a sim's newness (new word, I know) is about 2 years.  That is, every 2 years, a new sim is released.

Think back to 2002.  The computers most of us have now were brand new then.  Now, they're antiquated.  This is how the industry works.  MS has to put out a sim that pushes the new computers so that in 2 years when the next one comes out, the hardware has caught up to the technology.

So that means every 2 years a new sim comes out, imagine FS 2006.

I get a new PC or upgrade my curent PC every 2 to 4 years, so I tend to keep up with some technology. I will get plenty of use out of the current flight sim (more than I like to admit)

FS9 still pushes my system quite hard, but I am hoping Ramsa at www.fs-gs.com will be able to help me get the most out of my system soon, once I contact him and purchase his services.

---Stephen

I'm still running my old PIII 1GHz with 512mb RAM and a Ti4600 and regularly see 25+ fps with all the sliders maxed and at 1280*1024 resolution (the limit of my wee monitor).
I find it odd my old jalopy is ahead of many newer machines performance wise... maybe its just that I spend more time tweaking to achieve the optimal performance...

Ozzy

Wow how do you get those framerates!
I have a
AMD Atholon XP 1800+
Gainward 5600
512mb pc 133
and I costantly get crappy framerates at 1024x768 16bit and nothing except AC close to maxxed out

do you have DDR memory?

Hey Mark, mind posting your tweaks somewhere?  I think a lot of people 'round here might benefit from that sort of knowledge!

I'm with Scott, Post your tweaks Mark!

I wouldn't say I've got any particular tweaks as such, I just kept fiddling around and some things worked, others were a disaster.
One useful tip though is to defrag your HD regularly and have a large virtual memory alloted on it, this makes a big difference on older machines. Also before firing up use EndItAll to terminate all unnecessary background programs (like nVidia nView etc), and don't remain connected to the internet whilst flying (it causes system lag). Oh and if you have XP do NOT install the SP1 pack, it wrecks system speed!
I'll have a think and try to remember some of the other things I've done....

"don't remain connected to the internet whilst flying (it causes system lag). Oh and if you have XP do NOT install the SP1 pack"

Two questions:

1. Since I have slightly lower FPS than I think I should with a Radeon 9800 Pro I'm trying anything I can to improve performance. I have cable internet. Is there a way to easily and safely disconnect while I fly? Something that won't mess with modem settings?

2. I have XP. What's the SP1 pack? I don't even know if I have it fer cryin' out loud!

Not installing XP SP1 is the same as leaving your home with the doors open.
Even though it is said to ruin your FPS, it gives a security improvement that i want more than 5 frames extra. Further, most current updates need SP1 to work anyway

Ivan I tried the SP1 pack and it made FS9 unplayable. So I just got a decent firewall and anti-virus software and try not to play online....

Ozzy