Im disgusted

[phil509]

>:(Whats wrong with this picture.No matter what I do,this program wont run smoothly.Ive tried every setting combo imagineable,both on my computer and program;uninstalled/reinstalled countless times-defraged-tried a "ram free up"prog.,extra fans-all to no avail. Winxp,900mhz cellaron ,128mb ram 20gb HD,stock grapics (Intell 82810) NO,shes not a wonder box,but not a Comodore 64 either! I refuse to belive it takes a $2000 machine to run a $40 program-or does it? Please advise,as im close to puting this crap on the treelawn for pickup

[Iroquois]

I think it's your graphics chip. Microsoft games, along with many others, don't fair well with integrated graphics chips. Get an AGP card and turn the integrated chip off in your bios. Other than that, your system is ok.

[FSTipster]

The advice on the chip is right I'm afraid. That chipset is far from the best even for on-board graphics but any kind of PCI/AGP graphics card is going to give you better results.

The other problem is you're running FS2002 on WinXP with only 128mb of RAM. That's a serious amount of swap file usage you'll have going on there. XP can chew up nearly 128mb all on it's own and FS2002 the same.

RAM is relatively cheap at the moment. I'd get as much as you can upto a total of 512mb. Anything more won't show much improvement if any.

[codered]

As you can see my specs below I have a pretty satisfactory computer, but even though I have 512mb ram, a 128mb video card, a modest hardrive, and the only thing I have loaded on my machine is XP, raven shield, and FS2002.  With all of this I am still not able to run with the sliders maxed out.  I have found happy mediums to where I get detail with acceptable frame rates.  My point is that FS coupled with XP is very memory intensive.  In my opinion it takes a huge combo of processing power, to ram, video, etc. to make this game run smooth.  And even with the best and most expensive equipment you may not be able to run with the sliders full.  The XP service pack seemed to help a bit in getting the games to run a bit smoother.  

It would be nice to know what the Microsoft FS developing team has used to create the game and test it full functionality.  If we could find out the computers they used, then it may make things easier for us to get close to the bestest performance....

[Paz]

 phil-depending on what type of RAM your machine uses, you should be able to upgrade your memory and get a good video card for not much more than $100 USD.
You can find excellant deals on both at Ebay.

Codered-You must have something running in the background that is using your resources, because your machine should be able to run FS2002 without a problem, before I got my new machine I was running FS2002 on a 1.4Ghz p-4 256mb RAM with 64mb graphics card, and it ran fine.
 I also ran it on my wifes 900mhz, 192mb RAM, with only 16mb graphics but I did have to lower most of the detail on that machine.
 It seems to me that with a little tweaking, your machine should be able to handle the graphics easily.

[Hagar]

I'll go along with the others. I think a decent video card would make all the difference. You might also consider at least doubling your RAM. My old PIII 800 is the least powerful of any in this thread. FS2002 runs fine with reasonable frame rates & no stuttering, even with most display settings maxed out.

All my M$ sims run even better since doubling the RAM from 256 to 512 Mb but the most noticeable improvement was after installing DX9. I'm also using WinMe. From what I read on WinXP it does seem to need plenty of RAM, the more the better. This is not limited to 512 Mb as with Win9x/Me.

[phil509]

As far as I can determine so far from my machines manufactuer(Emachines),this motherboard will not accept an add on grapics card,and the only ram upgrade is to 256mb,only available from them.Hey,Im a novice and ignorant to most of this.What I do know Ive learned from these forums,so thanks to all of you I wanted a computer to join the 21st century-It was cheap,and well,I guess I got what I paid for.Trouble is,Ive been an aviation head since birth,and found flight simulator to be the greatest thing since the wheel!Ill do more homework,but I think Its time to pass this rig down to my kids to do their homework on and get a real computer.Ive dinked with these simulators long enough now,I cant imagine life without them. (Emachines model T1090-dont get one,atleast not for flight simming) Dude,mabey Ill get a Dell

[FSTipster]

That machine will take a PCI graphics card - no AGP slot, but it doesn't make that much difference. You'll still see a massive improvement.

The bios is limited on your machine btw, so you'll have to disable the onboard driver from device manager.

[phil509]

( Is this a common off the shelf part that I can get at a local retailer,or is it something proprietary?I saw a 64mb unit recently for about $70,but wasnt sure if it would "fit" this machine Do you think that along with the ram upgrade to256mb would do the job? And also,are PCI cards pretty much universal as far as physicaly installing is concerned? (Sorry to sound stupid,but you guys know it all,thats why Im asking

[zcottovision]

There are two types of graphics cards - PCI and AGP. I think you need just the PCI one, as your computer might not have the AGP slot required.

Any PCI card will fit into any PCI slot. They're reasonably easy to install, too - just open up the PC, and push it into a free slot.

A 64mb graphics card along with some extra RAM would definitely help your system. It won't be fantastically quick, but it'll do the job!

[FSTipster]

Nothing to add to what Scott said there - all spot on.

I'd just say that I recently did exactly what we're talking about for a friend on his e-machine P.C. so he could run Project IGI 2.

Couple of things to note:

Anyone can fit RAM to an e-machine PC - it doesn't have to be done by them at all. That's a nonsense. All you have to watch is the terms of your warranty. If it's still current, they won't allow you to open the case without invalidating the warranty, so the same will apply when fitting the graphics card.

My friend's PC now runs Project IGI 2 perfectly. Not super fast, but the graphics are great and it all works. Apart from FS2002, this is possibly the most graphics intensive game I've seen. With all the options maxed in that, it brings MY machine to it's knees. So if his can run that, I'm sure both his and yours are well capable of running FS2002 at a decent level with good graphics.

E-machines aren't designed as game machines, but with 256mb of RAM and a half decent card, you'll get a MUCH better experience than you are now.

P.S. - nearly forgot - Don't fit Ram any faster than 100mhz - it won't work. That's as fast as a standard e-machine board can process, and if you fit anything faster, your P.C. won't boot up.

[_526th_Fireman]

STOP!! You hit on the right and best solution earlier phil. Give that E-machine to the kids for thier homework, surfing and fun.
Then, go buy a new machine. You DON'T need a big dollar machine. You can find sales on name brand comps. with processors in the 1 to 1.8 Ghz range for relatively little money. You should still have them, or you can do it yourself, get a graphics card of at least 64 MB.
Make sure the comp. has at least 512 MBs of RAM, you won't be sorry. AND, if you can, tell them to scrap XP and load up ME. :-) ME is so much easier to do things with in my opinion. Seems there are still issues with XP and games for some people. Resource hog is what it is!!
Heck, mine is only an 800 Mhz Duron, 640 MBs RAM, good 64 MB graphics card and a nice Sound Blaster sound card. She purrs for me!!

[phil509]

Im taking all this to heart.and thanks again all I dont need perfect,all I want is decent takeoffs/landings without freezing. It sucks being on final,gear down,flaps 30%,ATC cleared to land#1 on 23L,with a textbook aproach,just to have the machine frezze up ,and get all choppy.

[_526th_Fireman]

I know what you mean. Let me show you what can be accomplished on my machine. Remember, an 800 Mhz AMD Duron processor, 640 MBs RAM, 64 MB ATI Radeon 8500 card and Windows ME. Now these shots are taken in FS2k2 and at a resolution of 1280 X 1024 X 32bit. And with great frame rates. http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb/ ... 1052212927

[Charles Foster]

I don't say this to offend you but your not the first person who had problems with FS2002 pro under celeron.  Although Celeron processors are not to bad, they are in most not all but most cases n good for Fs2002. The Celeron doesn't have what it takes to run Fs2002 so I'm pretty confident that that is the biggest part of your problem. Again I only say this from past expeirence and through past conversations with other users who had the same problem your having.  I have to agree also with orenda635, you might want to try a good graphics card to see if you can make up for what the processor is not capable of doing just remember to disable your onboard graphics before you install a plug and play video card.
Happy Flying!!