Help...Framerates slow with a p4 3ghz 2gb ram

[flyingbartdude.]

Hi Guys
I have had fs9 now right from the word go just recently I have formatted my drive and installed all my vfr textures ,aircraft ect back onto the drive. I currently use a P4 3ghz processor with 2gb of ddr ram (x2 1024) RADEON 9600XT Graphics card 70gb Raptor hard drive, gigabyte titanium series GA 81848P-G motherboard. My question is this after re-installing everything I am still finding frame rates a problem everything is jerky from 20fps to unlimited my settings are all set to normal .Can anyone give me some advice as two what graphics card I can upgrade to. My motherboard only accepts AGP X8 so I cannot go down the PCI-Express route unless I change my motherboard . Can anyone give me some sound advice as to what to do I have about 150 pounds to spend on a graphics card ect.
cheers FLYINGBARTDUDE.

[cheesegrater]

150 pounds could get you the fastest AGP card out there, the 7800GS.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showprodu ... =GX-016-BG

However, you should be aware, that's as far as your upgrades on AGP will go.

[microlight]

Hey, flying Bart! Welcome.

Umm, I don't understand why jerky frame rates OVER 20 per second is any kind of issue! If you can see individual frames over 20 per second, you must be Clark Kent, right? My sim runs between 14 and 20 depending on scenery complexity, but even that's no great issue. My advice; save your money, turn off the FPS display and enjoy the flying!

[Mees]

Well the 9600 is a pretty slow card, so I'd get a nVidia Gainward Bliss 7800GS 512MB, the fastest AGP card on the market.

[mistercoffee1]

Hey, flying Bart! Welcome.

Umm, I don't understand why jerky frame rates OVER 20 per second is any kind of issue! If you can see individual frames over 20 per second, you must be Clark Kent, right? My sim runs between 14 and 20 depending on scenery complexity, but even that's no great issue. My advice; save your money, turn off the FPS display and enjoy the flying!

I'll have to chime in here.
This is more for non-FS games where you are shooting a bunch of guys on the screen.
When the FPS are in the 20s, you can't so much see the individual frames, but the games react slower.

[ashaman]

I will have to agree finally, that once you get comfortable frame rates, turn the counter off and just enjoy.

The frame rate counter itself too, when on, saps some fps away for it to work, by the way. Not a good idea to keep it up always.

[flyingbartdude.]

Hi Guys thanks for the info that card looks great but would another option be to go down the pci express route and spend 65 pounds on a motherboard and 100 pound on a pci express card would this be a better option so in a few months I could add another card .What do you guys think to this option
cheers FLYINGBARTDUDE.

[microlight]

Hi Mr Coffee - welcome also!

I had the Sublogic sim as well - I remember the the wire-frame B767 particularly!

Ah, memories memories.

And yes, I land with framerates around 14-15 all the time, crash sensitivity and realism settings at max, haven't missed a runway in a long time...

[JBaymore]

flyingbartdude,

Welcome to simV.

I had a 9600 and had tro get rid of it for a 9800XT.  Even the 9800 XT with the machine specs on the sig below does not really cut it.  FS2004 is a very demanding program.  FSX makes THAT look like tic-tac-toe.  

See Nick's machine setup thread for FSX to get your machine all tricked out.... and see if that helps the jerkiness.  Also... set the buss latency to 64 (I use the latency.cfg utility) ....down from the 255 that ATI's default setup takes.

best,

........john

[Gypsy_Baron]

Hi Guys thanks for the info that card looks great but would another option be to go down the pci express route and spend 65 pounds on a motherboard and 100 pound on a pci express card would this be a better option so in a few months I could add another card .What do you guys think to this option
cheers FLYINGBARTDUDE.

Until recently, I had an ATI 9600 AIW Pro and had no problems in FS9. I would almost always
be watching TV with the AIW while flying ( in windowed mode ) as well.

My FPS were generally above 20-25 and I have TONS of AI flying about. My CPU is an AMD 3200+
with 1 GB DDR memory on an ASUS A7NX8 2.0 MB.

I suspect your problem lies somewhere other than the basic video card, especially since you note
that you recently did a re-install. Wish I could be more specific but there are just too many variables.

I'd watch you HD access while flying when experiencing the jerkiness and your internet/LAN activity.
Look into any other programs running in the background. I just do not think it's your 9600XT.
( if thise wre FSX, then that'd be another story! I just changed to an ATI X1600 Pro and 2GB DDR  and
 am plagued with CTD's and BSOD's in FSX while FS9 is running just fine! )

   Paul

[kilotango]

I must second Mr. Baron.
Your problem must be anywhere else. I run fs9 with atlon xp3000+, his 9800 iceq, 1gb 2700 ddr (use the same board as baron), setting very dense and traffic at 90%. In very heavy airports in runtime, like O'Hara, i get fps around 30. Normal i get 60-100.
My FSX is running at normal, heavy airports= 15-20, normal runways it is 30-50 fps.
kt

[Khayman]

I would get a better video card. It could also be HD space shortage.

[JBaymore]

The proof is in the pudding.  Go to Tom's Hardware and look at the performance graqphs of the various video cards to see how the 9600 stacks up to other cards ....even to the 9800.  It is a pretty low performance card for fs2004.  Some of the tests ther are RUN onf fs2004.

best,

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

[Gypsy_Baron]

The proof is in the pudding.  Go to Tom's Hardware and look at the performance graqphs of the various video cards to see how the 9600 stacks up to other cards ....even to the 9800.  It is a pretty low performance card for fs2004.  Some of the tests ther are RUN onf fs2004.

best,

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

Relative to other cards, that may be so,  BUT, the "proof of the pudding" is that it WILL
run FS9 just fine with more than acceptable framerates.  His problem, I would bet, lies
elsewhere. Possibly some mis-configuration of MB, bios settings, etc.

   Paul

[kilotango]

Second once again.
Remember to set ati cards to a high level in the sim to get it work right. Dont touch antialiasing, set it on the card.
It could be an idea to look at the fs9.cfg:
http://www.flightsimguides.com/view.php?id=17.