Simviation Forums

Can someone please tell me what is the BEST system to fly with? Best graphics card, best pentium4, ram, sound card, etc?
I've seen some great screen shots and also some great movies from different sites. I know it's possible to run a smooth FS2004 with everything turned to high! I want beautiful clouds, great weather effects, etc!!
Someone please help me?!?!?!  
Thanks!!

Well all I can say is be prepared to spend all the cash you have! Get the best of everything.

Look at my spec in my sig.  AMD64's are usually better for gaming than Pentiums too, so bearing this in mind I still drop to 18-20fps at KSEA with a few settings lowered (mainly the cloud ones)

Thing is my sim still looks amazingly pretty and with the cloud settings I have you notice no real difference.  I realised just how well my system ran when I installed FS onto the other PC I have at home.  This only has a 1333Mhz AMD cpu and 512 PC2100DDR ram and a GF4 ti4600.  Now i can no where near max the settings on that setup! so yes I do love my rig I have  ;D and yes it does look very pretty flying at 1600x1200 with 4xAA and 8or16xAF  ;D

Chadw,

Hi and welcome to simV.

There are plenty of threads here (an on other flight sim boards) that discuss the incredible demands of fs2004.  It is a bear.  Most people have some or many settings turned down.

Gixer is absolutely correct...... get a mortgage.  ;)

Pretty much only THE most top end machines available right now will let you max everything and get "flyable" framerates on short final into a large international airport with AI maxed.

This sim is NOT only about the best video cards available..... it needs a fast CPU, fast (and at least 1 gig of) RAM, and a fast fsb.

When you get done packaging all that stuff...... you are in for a bundle.

It is truly amazing what the sim COULD do....... if you have the machine to handle it.

best,

..................john

welcome and you started with a loaded question! At airports that are made by simflyers with AI maxed I get 15-20fps. You will find that some poeple here are getting great results with "low" end machines and other not so great with the more pricey machines. Play around with your display settings, close down unused programs, etc...

Loomex is true.  In my case it is because I want all the eye candy possible at high res's with loadsa Anti-aliasing and loadsa Anistropic Filtering.

Now I know my prob is still my CPU (Even though i just upgraded)  Turning the res down or turning AA or AF off just doesnt have much effect so the graphics card I have is taking everything FS can throw at it.  The CPU has to do a hell of a lot in FS as JBaymore says and I would think you would still struggle to get really good FPS even with an FX53 or top end Pentium CPU.

I do have a low end machine right here at home. A KT266pro with a 1333MHz cpu (AMD) 512ddr PC2100 ram and a GF4-ti4600.  Yes it is running at 20-25fps coming into KSEA, but it looks, er how can i put this, poop compared to my system.  Any system can be made to fly FS9 smoothly its all a balance.  

I just wanted my FS9 to look amazing but flyable and there is no way a low end system would do this.

My new computer that I'll hopefully be getting within the next month is the following:

P4  3GHz w/HT
1Gig Ram
Geforce FX5700  256MB

Surely that's enough to play flightsim at the optimal settings and still get extra frames?  Can someone help me out?  And no one say get something better, cause it's all I could get, and it's paid for.

Greg

GreG,

You should be perfectly fine with that setup

Regards,
Stratobat

Thanks for all the repsonses! I am new to the forum section of Simviation but not the downloads! GREAT SITE!!!
I'll continue to play with the settings. Either way, this is THEE best flying sim out there!!
Thanks again to everyone and happy flying!

Welcome aboard, Chad

Regards,
Stratobat

Thanks mate, stratobat.

That's all I've wanted to know for the last 3 weeks!

Too bad I'll only be able to use it till the end of this year, imbetween very big "A level exams!" , cause I'll be taking a gap year after I finish school this year!!!!  So chuffed!  But I'll have a good laptop by then!  

Ah well,
Greg

[quote]My new computer that I'll hopefully be getting within the next month is the following:

P4

Thanks mate, stratobat.

That's all I've wanted to know for the last 3 weeks!

Hehe, No problem

Regards,
Stratobat

Chad, take a look at my screenshot below and check the framerate with most everything maxed at low altitude and good scenery detail.  My system was:
Intel Pent 4, 2.6mhz w/hyper threading
Intel integrated graphics
1 gig DDR Ram (4x256meg cards)
160g Primary Hard Drive
80g Slave Hard Drive (only thing on it is FS2004)
165w stock power supply

I just received 2004 last week from a very considerate wife.  I saw quickly this wasn't gonna cut it with this version.  All I added was a GeForce 6800 Overclocked AGP card ($299) and a new 400w power supply ($49 after rebate) and this is what I'm getting on average.  Now, at higher altitude, all settings the same I have a shot getting 84fps.  Not bad for fairly cheap changes.  The power supply is something that is sometimes overlooked, and can make all the difference in the world.  Also set your framerate to unlimited.  Good Luck, and Happy flying!

http://www.simviation.com/yabbuploads/n ... rd_001.jpg

McAirjockey,

Please define "most".  ;)  

There is a huge variation in people's definition of "most".  The best way to compare these things is to standardize the test situation.  That means EXACLTY the same settings on everythng and then the "test" used to compare systems being standardized also...... specific location, day, time, aircraft, view angle, and so on.

This is basic scientific methodology.  Eliminate all variables except the one you want to study...... so that you can make some cause and effect conclusions.

The place this all matters is in FLYING... and the really intricate parts of flying are take off and landing.  Short final looking down at all that scenery and AI is where framerate matters.  Way up in the air I get great framerates from my system too...... but there it is pointless.

The sea view with a few buildings is not a very difficult test of a system.  But I am glad that you are happy with your system meeting your needs...... in the end ... that is all that really matters.  

I just hate for people to have expectations about fs2004 and their system that likely are not going to really be fulfilled.  I love this sim.... but I find it terribly oversold as to what can be acomplished given typical hardware.

best,

......................john

JBaymore,
Geez guy, somebody step on your toes earlier today?  We're talking about good framerates, good looking graphics, and great absolute stutter free performance.  Below are the 8 pages of my settings to define most for you.  If you want a low, out the window short approach, I can give you one of those too.  For God sake, we're configuring a flight simulator here, not doing a control study for curing cancer!  I just hate it when all the"pros" tell these kids that they have to spend a thousand dollars to get a great looking and great performing sim.  It's really quite fanatical when you think about it.  When I fly real, I can also look out and down through the window without pushing a hatswitch.  Big differrence.  Happy flying and have a good day.  And maybe cut down on the caffeine.
Airjock

http://www.simviation.com/yabbuploads/settings_1.jpg
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