What am I missing out on?

[terbert]

Hi there,
I have read many times on this forum about what setup you chaps have am I am amazed 2 ghz procs. 512 ram 128 cards etc, etc. I am using a celeron (early version) 700, 320 ram, ATI 7200 card 64mb, and my system seems to work very well Ok, there may be a very small amount of jerky now and then, but my scenery seems to work ok. I have lord knows how many aircraft, AI 100% whizzing about everwhere, UK 2000 1,2,3,5 (2002 updated) and loads of other addons. I fly mostly online with a friend, or with IVAO and am well on my way to 100hrs with them and my setup has never let me down.
What am I missing out on, as there seems to be many cries of 'at least 1.7 proc, min 512 ram etc. and I cannot afford to upgrade.

Tony C (BUCKS, UK)

[ozzy72]

Hi Tony, well I run a 1ghz PIII, 512mb RAM and my star prize a Ti4600 graphics card, I used to have an MX2 before that, and it was okay.
I have to say that frankly your setup is fine, if you want a slight increase for a few pennies get some more RAM and things will run a bit smoother.
On the whole I'd be happy with what you've got, not worry about the egos bragging mine is bigger and faster than yours, you know what they say about men who buy big cars.... well this is similar
Just fly and be happy.

Mark (ex-Bucks, UK)

[terbert]

Hi Mark, ex L/Chal

Yes, you are right, boys with cars, and I agree with your rec. about increase in ram. As I am not a comp. buff, what does the ram actually do
Tony C

[Travis]

Random Access Memory?  Provides memory space for whatever the game spits out?

Or am I spouting gibberish again?

[ozzy72]

Nope you are quite right Ender. The more RAM you have, the more stuff the computer can 'remember' at one time without refering to say the hard disk. So it can compute faster, therefore in FS it makes things smoother

Mark

[Iroquois]

I used to have a similar set up to Tony. Duron 950, 320MB SDRAM, Geforce2 MX400. It ran FS2002 and CFS3 fine. I upgraded to more ram and a better card for smoother operations while flying more complex aircraft. I bought most of my computer parts individualy for cheap, not like some who go to the store and demand the best thing the guy has. That's not the way to do things because it will just be obsolete in a few months anyway.

[terbert]

Hi chaps,
Totally agree with you, orenda635. I have just had over eight weeks off work with a disc and trapped nerve problem and have had no pennies coming in at all. As I said to Ozzy earlier, I can't afford to spend much, especially as it goes out of date so quick. Adding extra ram will be my route as Ozzy say's, cheapest way.
Thanks for all your replies.
Tony C.

[Scottler]

RAM (Random Access Memory) is basically your computer's short term memory.

It allows your computer to recall any information that it needs in order to run a program, without having to go "all the way" back into the hard drive.

RAM is cleared any time you turn your computer off.  The more RAM you've got, the faster your computer will run and the smoother your programs operate.

There are some people who just have gobs of ram...even up to a full gig.  I've got 640mb, and seem to be doing just fine.