Burkhard From Germany, joined Nov 2006, 911 posts, RR: 0 Reply 1, posted (2 months 3 weeks 5 days 3 hours ago) and read 1236 times:
Yes and no.
FS9 only can use one core. So while a second core may help from time to time for auxiliary processes, the two last cores will be sleeping. So basically is is a 2.4 GHz CPU for FS9 with three idles spectators.
The 8500GT is not really intended for 3D games, it is intended for watching movies. FS9 uses the GPU less than FSX does, but the 8500 is really low end graphics. Prefer a 8600GT for FS9.
And while the quad is very fine for FSX, a 8500 and even a 8600 just cannot render the details of FSX - either take a 8800GTS or above or keep the fingers from FSX.
This said, FSX is the much better Flight Simulator, and I claim even the faster one - if you compare apples with apples. The level of detail you get in FSX is often 4 or 8 times the one in FS9 at same slider setting - as example autogen in FS9 at very dense is as much as in FSX with sparse. With the above CPU and a GF8800GT FSX should run very smooth.
But then it comes to how much you have invested into addons that are not FSX - compatible.
YooYoo From Canada, joined Nov 2003, 5305 posts, RR: 51 Reply 2, posted (2 months 3 weeks 4 days 20 hours ago) and read 1220 times:
AA388,
I don't want to highjack your thread but at the same time i was hoping to get some feedback on my new computer without starting another thread. I hope this is ok?
Running FSX
Intel® Core™2 Q6600 Quad-Core (8MB L2 cache,2.4GHz,1066FSB),
Memory 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz- 4DIMMs
Video Card 256MB Radeon ATI HD 2600 XT
Hard Drive 250GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache
Csturdiv From United States, joined Aug 2005, 798 posts, RR: 2 Reply 3, posted (2 months 3 weeks 4 days 16 hours ago) and read 1212 times:
Quoting YooYoo (Reply 2): Video Card 256MB Radeon ATI HD 2600 XT
I would upgrade that video card, especially with FSX. You have a coupe of a computer with an economy video card. I've only used the FSX beta and even with my old Nvidia 6800 (I think that was it) 256MB it ran sluggish. Be careful when you upgrade, the newer video cards are double wide now, meaning they need two slots in the case. I bought a Nvidia 768MB 8600 GTX card about a year and a half ago, only to find that it would not fit in my case because it was double wide and was hitting the CPU heatsink when I tried to install it. So it is now sitting on my bookshelf waiting for a new computer (if I ever build one).
AA388 From Puerto Rico, joined Sep 2007, 265 posts, RR: 0 Reply 4, posted (2 months 3 weeks 4 days 16 hours ago) and read 1210 times:
Quoting Csturdiv (Reply 3): I bought a Nvidia 768MB 8600 GTX card about a year and a half ago, only to find that it would not fit in my case because it was double wide and was hitting the CPU heatsink when I tried to install it. So it is now sitting on my bookshelf waiting for a new computer (if I ever build one).
YooYoo From Canada, joined Nov 2003, 5305 posts, RR: 51 Reply 6, posted (2 months 3 weeks 4 days 2 hours ago) and read 1179 times:
Quoting AA388 (Reply 4): Is my graphics card ok or is that my weak point?
my other computer had an integrated card and i'm sure your card is far superior. 512 mb of memory is a definite plus. Try Googling your card along with Flight Sim 9 , you may get some people commenting on it.
I am so smart, i am so smart... S-M-R-T... i mean S-M-A-R-T
Csturdiv From United States, joined Aug 2005, 798 posts, RR: 2 Reply 10, posted (2 months 3 weeks 2 days 22 hours ago) and read 1143 times:
Quoting AA388 (Reply 9): i have no problem for people asking about their computers in this thread.. And do i really need more than 4gb of ram on windows xp?
The 32bit version of XP only supports 4GB of RAM, so adding more RAM would not do anything. You would need a 64bit OS to take advantage of more RAM.
I sometimes have blurries on the ground also, and most of them go away after a while. I do not have a newer PC, but it isn't that bad either....3Ghz PentiumD, 3GB RAM, 512MB GeForce 7600, XP SP3. You can try tweaking your FS9.CFG file. I have mine tweaked and it helps. Do a Google search of fs9.cfg tweaks and read some of the results and try the tweaks. To be safe, make a backup copy of your old FS9,CFG file in case you want to go back.
I need to buy a new video card, my current card's fan is starting to squeak . I am not sure if I will ever buy an EVGA card again, this card has already been RMA'ed once to them for fan issues.
Csturdiv From United States, joined Aug 2005, 798 posts, RR: 2 Reply 13, posted (2 months 3 weeks 23 hours ago) and read 1071 times:
It is hidden on your hard drive. Do a search for FS9.CFG and make sure that you turn on the option to search in hidden folders. The tweaks do help some, so it is worth looking into. But there is no magic fix for blurries, I see them still, but after a few seconds they turn crisp. Later this week I should be getting my new 8800GT card from Newegg and hopefully I'll see a difference.
and i still get about 20-35 FPS with PMDG's,Level-D's , Justflight's etc add-ons with Add-on scenery set at High
I'm building a new pc for FSX at the moment, and am going to put a quad core processor in, with a good graphics card ( cant remember name off top of my head) with 4GB ram, so hopefully get good results with that
Ps76 From United Kingdom, joined Jun 2004, 304 posts, RR: 0 Reply 15, posted (2 months 2 weeks 2 days 22 hours ago) and read 991 times:
Hi,
For the Blurries I found this a long time ago from a user JimmiG who always used to have really nice screenshots (from Megascenery). I think I've only made the first 6 values for mine but it worked a bit I think (at least on my system). Of course I'm assuming you tried the display settings (max texture size, terrain detail etc. I think) and of course I advise please back up the Fs9.cfg before making any changes in case it messes things up or you don't like the results.
The "tweak" was pretty much:
"Find and change these values in fs9.cfg (after making a backup of the original)
For loading shaper textures farther out etc.
TERRAIN_DEFAULT_RADIUS=9.900000
TERRAIN_EXTENDED_LEVELS=3.5
TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS=9.900000
TERRAIN_ERROR_FACTOR=100.000000
TERRAIN_MIN_DEM_AREA=30.000000
TERRAIN_MAX_DEM_AREA=100.000000
TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL=20 //<---19 = 80m mesh, 20 = 38m mesh, 21 = 19m mesh. So for Norcal, 20 is best.
TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=400 //<---Supposed to load up textures faster
Also, using 30 miles visiblility in FS. Extended Terrain Textures disabled. Using 8x Anisotropic Filtering and 4x AA. Running an Athlon64 3500+ with a Radeon X800XT but I got similar quality (but lower frames and slower texture loads) with my old Athlon 2400+ and 9700 Pro. "
Hope it might help a little (blurries are the pits but it sounds like your system should fly - I have a Sempron2300+ here I think!).
ReguPilot From Puerto Rico, joined Jan 2004, 441 posts, RR: 24 Reply 17, posted (2 months 1 week 2 days 12 hours ago) and read 865 times:
Hey all!
Got late to the thread, but some tips.
The FS9.CFG file is located inside your profile folder:
c:Documents and SettingsApplication DataMicrosoftFS9FS9.CFG
Where C: is the drive where Windows is installed, and is the name of your profile name.
For RAM: Windows XP 32bit version cannot address more than 4GB on paper, and even with 4GB installed, it won't see it, since there are other components "stealing" away the communication lanes for that extra bit of RAM, so your system will read 3.something GB of RAM or so.
As for the graphics, as I have mentioned before in older threads, RAM is not the single most important component, first pick a good Graphics processor, or GPU. Then pay for the highest amount of RAM you can afford with that good GPU. For Nvidia GPUs, try anything higher than a x600 and up, ie: 7600, 8600, 8600 or up, 7800, 8800, 9800. If you see a number below 6 on the product name, like a 8500, your game will not be as pleasant, graphics wise since those cards are not designed for graphic intense gaming.
With ATI, the story gets a bit more complicate. It used to be the same as with nVidia... nothing containing a number lower than 6: 9600, X600, X1600, 2600XT and 3600. But with the newer Radeon 4850, things get switched a bit... even the 2600XT and 3650 was lazy at gaming, but a good Radeon 4850 will do the trick pretty good.
If you have an Intel card, RUN (don't walk) and get a decent ATI or nVidia card! You don't know what you're missing.
I would replace that video card with a nice 8800GT (G92) or a 9800. The 9800GX2 is currently the best performer single card for FSX... only that it's somewhat expensive.
Quoting YooYoo (Reply 2): Memory 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz- 4DIMMs
Video Card 256MB Radeon ATI HD 2600 XT
Hard Drive 250GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache
The 2600XT is great for FS9, but for FSX... meh. Blame MS for that, but even the newest GeForce 280 can't bring up frame rates above 30 with max settings. I would move up to a Radeon 4850 or a GeForce 9600
Quoting Jetmatt777 (Reply 8): AMD 2.6 GHz dual core processor
4 GB RAM
nVIDIA GeForce 8200 motherboard GPU + GeForce 6200 256 MB PCI GPU (run 1 monitor on 1 graphics card, and another monitor on the other.
That machine looks more like a HTPC - Home Theater PC. I wouldn't recommend for gameplay. Also, as far as I know, Windows does not work with 2 video cards at the same time. Multi-monitor support is achieved with a single card that has 2 VGA or DVI display ports. For running FlightSim, for example and Squawk Box, ServInfo in one machine, you need more than a 8200 or 6200 card. You need no less than a GeForce 7600 for it to run decent.
Quoting AA388 (Reply 9): i have no problem for people asking about their computers in this thread.. And do i really need more than 4gb of ram on windows xp?
Windows is happy with even 512MB of RAM. The rest of the memory is for your aplications. The more stuff you run in your PC at the same time (AntiVirus, Winamp, Last.fm, Limewire, etc) the more memory you need. That said, you DON'T NEED 4GB for Windows, and if your Windows version is 32bit, FS9 or FSX will not take full advantage of those 4GB.
Now, for the textures... make sure the global terrain textures is set to max. If it still blurs, maybe is not your PC but the actual scenery.
Also, a great way to speed up FlightSim is by using RAID 0 and or RAID 1 in your machine. That gave me more than 25% increase in performance... really worth it.
Jetmatt777 From United States, joined Jun 2005, 1679 posts, RR: 16 Reply 18, posted (2 months 1 week 1 day 17 hours ago) and read 838 times:
Quoting ReguPilot (Reply 17): That machine looks more like a HTPC - Home Theater PC. I wouldn't recommend for gameplay. Also, as far as I know, Windows does not work with 2 video cards at the same time. Multi-monitor support is achieved with a single card that has 2 VGA or DVI display ports. For running FlightSim, for example and Squawk Box, ServInfo in one machine, you need more than a 8200 or 6200 card. You need no less than a GeForce 7600 for it to run decent.
Little Late :P Just got:
Gateway
AMD 2.1 GHz tri-core proc.
4GB RAM
ATI RADEON 3200 motherboard graphics. Gonna put my nVIDIA 6200 in sometime soon.
Southwest 2003, cleared visual approach runway 17L at Will Rogers, contact Rogers Tower 119.35, good day.
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