FS9 Performance: memory, CPU or graphics card?

gevers1 · Post by **gevers1** » 12 Feb 2007, 14:47

A techy question for ye:

for optimal FS9 performance what is better: more memory, fast CPU or better graphics card?

My PC is not exactly slow, but I've noticed that some add-ons make the frame rates stutter. I am limited to the CPU i can upgrade to (i have an AMD Athlone processor), but could add more mory (another gb to take it up to 2gb) or update the graphics card.

My quesrion then: which is best to do?

/*Seb

Myles · Post by **Myles** » 12 Feb 2007, 15:02

Seb,

If you post your machine specs it will be easier to advise you.

In general, FS is processor intensive, but if you already have a fast Athlon, you might find that a new graphics card or extra memory would be of more help. However, if you tell us what you have now, we should be able to advise on your weak spots!

Best,

Myles

gevers1 · Post by **gevers1** » 12 Feb 2007, 15:09

I was going to post, but pushed the submit button before i had a chance to paste the specs

so:

AMD Athlon 64 3700+ (2.19Ghz), 1gb memory
Graphics Card: ATI Radeon X1300 Series (256mb ram)

so, not exactly high-spec, but then it's a general use machine. Most of FS9 works grand (fps average is about 23-28) , though after buying Captain Sims 757 (and it's <10fps), I think it's time to do something to improve performance.

any tips appreciated!

AndyG · Post by **AndyG** » 12 Feb 2007, 15:19

My personal suggestion would be to add some more RAM. A recent change in my machine from 1gb to 2gb produced a marked frame rate improvement in MSFS and good results in other games and applications.

AndyG

4JSTU · Post by **4JSTU** » 12 Feb 2007, 15:53

gevers1 wrote:
AMD Athlon 64 3700+ (2.19Ghz), 1gb memory
Graphics Card: ATI Radeon X1300 Series (256mb ram)

I have
AMD Athlon 64 3800+, 2gb memory
Graphics Card: ATI Radeon X1300 Series (512 ram)

And mine ain't no speed machine were FS is concerned, I believe the X1300 card is to blame, it's a very low end card :think:

gevers1 · Post by **gevers1** » 12 Feb 2007, 15:55

aye, i was thinking of upping the graphics card to something with more onboard memory (512mb at the minimum), and adding some more RAM. I'm kind of snookered when it comes to upping the CPU so ...

There's a PC fair on not long from now where you can assemble your own machine. I might go along and see how much it would cost me to build a dedicated FS machine ...

Kevin Farnell · Post by **Kevin Farnell** » 12 Feb 2007, 16:12

I have the following

Athlon 64 X2 3800 AM2 CPU with 2 x 512KB cache, overclocked to 2.4GHz!
Asus M2N32-SLI Deluxe nForce 5 Motherboard
NVIDIA Geforce 7900GT 256MB PCI Express Graphics
2GB Gskill PC2-6400 DDR2 Memory
Enermax Liberty 500watt Power Supply
Seagate 320GB 7200.10 hard disk with 16MB Cache
SoundBlaster Audigy Live soundcard.

I'm able to run FS at 60FPS (locked at 60, most sliders set to max, 50% traffic with 2005 Traffic).
Heavy clouds may drop the rate to around 30.

I agree with Andy, add more RAM as a first step (though I'm not familiar with your graphics card).
Also, check that the power supply is up to running your system. An upgrade of this made a huge difference to my old PC.

Regards

Kevin

jonesey2k · Post by **jonesey2k** » 12 Feb 2007, 16:15

Your X1300 is holding you back I reckon.

gevers1 · Post by **gevers1** » 12 Feb 2007, 16:44

Thanks for the replies. I think in the first instance i'll add more RAM (always handy right!). My birthday is in June, so might sneak a nice graphics card out of that. A nice top-of-the-range ATI would do just nicely!

/*seb

Kevin Farnell · Post by **Kevin Farnell** » 12 Feb 2007, 17:08

If you can hold out, it may be worth waiting for the new DirectX10 compatible cards, which should be due around summer.

Kevin