Adding hardware

[TWA800]

I'm not sure whats wrong but i cant seem to get fs 2004 to work right. I bought it when it first came out  and I had fun using it at default settings. I had only 128 MBs DDR DIMM and AMD 1800 processor and onboard graphics, KM266.

Six months ago I added an AGP 4x Nvidia 440-se 64 MB graphics card and another 128 MBs RAM and saw (what appeared to be) dramatic improvement.

This last month I replaced the processor with the AMD 2400 and  the nVidia with an ATI radeon 9600 pro (256MB) and relaced the RAM with  512 and 256 MB sticks (768MB).

To say the least I didn't get the boost I expected. I can see the .5 gigahertz overall improvement from the processor  but I don't see the improvement I expected going from 64 MB video card to a 256 MB card. This ones even got a little fan on it.  There were bugs to work out ...updating and rolling back drivers to get rid of screen flicker and such but i've done about all I can do.

With all settings about medium to medium high i start getting the jerkiness back...so bad that its impossible to control an airplane on approach.

I have checked and rechecked for hardware conflicts, FSB jumper set to 133, directX 9.0b and direct 3D checks out fine and I'm "fairly" sure there are no graphics driver conflicts.

Questions:
Do I need to reinstall FS 2004 after making the hardware changes I made??

Is it my motherboard?? My PC is realatively new....HP 304w desktop. The monitor is an hp mx70, high resolution,
max 85hrtz refresh around 25 or 26 pixel thing.... the mobo is what i'm worried about. Its an FIC AM37 socket A, 133 fsb 4x agp. Is it that 133 fsb thats killing me?

[TWA800]

Saw this helpful hint posted by Gixer, think I'll give it a try before building a new PC

" I would do this first.  Uninstall all old vid drivers first using the 'Add Remove' in your control panel.  Boot into 'Safe Mode' and use a program called 'DriverCleaner3' to get rid of any reminisants of old vid drivers.  

Re-boot PC.  Install DX9c.  Re-boot PC.  Install Vid Card Drivers. Re-boot PC.    

Might also be worth deleting your fs9.cfg file and let it rebuild itself.  Do this after you have re-installed your vid drivers etc."

[JBaymore]

TWA800,

Take a moment and scan around the various forums and you'll find a SCAD of threads on fs2004 and how hard it is to get a machine to run it well with anything other than some form of decreased settings.

Yes, I think the 133 fsb is likley killing you.  I have a 533 fsb and it (and a slow processor and slow RAM) is killing me.  I think 800 MHz is the minimum.  And a 3+ gig processor.

Turning settings up a little tends to increase demands a lot.

This sim kills ALL parts of the system.... cpu, fsb, RAM, and video card.

best,

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

[Skittles]

So I take it you didn't Re-install Windows after all those hardware changes? I've always been told, if changing CPU or motherboard, it's advisable to re-install Windows. It could be an urban-ledgend though.

[Gixer]

JB 133 doubles up to make 266 i think, he should be using PC2100ram with an xp2400 cpu.

Thats not to bad remember it is an AMD and doesnt require the high FSB's a pentium does. My current rig is only a total of 400FSB and it rocks!!  ;D  Its lightning fast.

As said after all major hardware changes re-format.  Even if I just change grapchis card I do, but then I like a clean system to bench on and see how much better the new setup is.

Thats not a bad setup u have but FS2004 is a killer on any system.  With your setup and a clean system, i.e. re-format and re-install so everything is fresh you still wont be able to have high settings on a lot of things.

I would go get all the latest drivers,

Motherboard ones
Graphics ones
DirectX 9c

burn onto cd and use these when you do your re-format. Good luck  ;D

[TWA800]

Thanks for the all the suggestions.

I was under the impression that windows XP is "supposed to" use the PnP and adjust itself accordingly to new hardware other than a motherboard provided it has the support, and otherwise, compatibility.  

All hardware changes I made are recognized by my OS and listed in the BIOS.  I cleared the configuration in the BIOS and it rebuilt itself.. If all else fails i may consider reinstalling windows...

Yes the fsb speed is 266 but for jumper setting purposes they call it 100 or 133.

I'm off to try driver cleaner 3 and the other stuff in the order posted by Gixer... I'm not sure I will delete the fs9 cfg yet until i read more about doing so...I didn't know it could be done... completely deleting the file leaving no starting reference?

Thanks again...

[Skittles]

[quote]All hardware changes I made are recognized by my OS and listed in the BIOS.