Thinking about buying FS2004...

[Codemastar]

Hello, I'm new...

I was thinking about buying FS2004 because I have a friend who has a copy and I thought it was cool....  I'm wondering if it'll work with my settings...

I have:

Microsoft Windows 98
Pentium 2, 400 MHz
320 MB RAM
2.24 GB
32x CD-ROM (I had to look up the actual product name/number... I'm not so sure about this one)
4MB Video Card
Sound Card/Speakers
Mouse (Might buy a joystick if it works)
DSL.... above 56.6 kps.....

That's basically what I have... I'm worried about the video card and mhz but... tell me what you think.

I can't relly buy upgrades, unless they're really cheap.

[leworthy8]

I'm afraid that it won't run properly on that system even with the settings to the lowest. Maybe someone can prove me wrong tho.

[Iroquois]

According to the box, FS2004 requires at least 1.8gb HDD space, 450mhz, 128mb of RAM, and a 8mb video card. You cannot run it on your current system. It won't run smoothly even at the lowest settings. You could try out FS2000 or FS98. Of course compairing thoes to FS2004 is like compaing old flimstrips to DVDs.

[Codemastar]

If I bought a new sound card, do you think it would work or would the 400 MHz keep it from working...  :(

[microlight]

Hi Codemaster, welcome to SimV.

First, the bad news - your system won't handle FS9 - it's unlikely to be able to run FS2002 successfuly either, even at minimum sliders. I run FS2002 on my machine which is a PIV 2.0 gHz processor, 512mB RAM, Radeon 9200SE 128mB video card, and I don't think I'd do FS9 full justice even on that. Your biggest enemies here it seems to me (apart from a very small hard drive) are the inadequate video card and low memory.

Good news is that FS98 or FS2000 really aren't all that bad at all, and will look much better running at a decent frame rate than would FS9 running at maybe a single frame per second (or two).

Good luck!

[Codemastar]

Ohhh... well if that's the case, I dunno then. I'll have my friend bring his over and if it's a no go... then... do you think my system could handle Combat Flight Simulator 2? Oh well, I guess I'll just have to give up on it.  :(

[Iroquois]

FS9 should run on yours Microlight. Runs fine on my Duron 950 and looks great too.

On the topic of Codemastar's sound card, a new sound card would be a good upgrade it just won't help in FS2004 that much. FS2004 likes a strong machine. I have a good set up because everything is in balance. It has plenty of memory, GPU power, and CPU speed to draw on.

If you really want FS9, you might want to check out various barebones PCs that a lot of places sell. If you have the money, a basic PC will run you a couple hundred bucks. You'll want something over 900mhz (Pentium IV or Athlon XP class) with at least a Geforce 4 or Radeon 9000 class GPU.

[Capt. Farhan]

ha ha ha. the computer does not even accept the CD of fs2004.