I'm showing signs of wear and tear!!
AMD Athlon 1.4
GE Force 2 Pro 64MB
512 DDR memory
ASUS A7A266 mbo
Windows 98E

Budget £160 ($290US)
I run 2k2 but struggle to keep up! Tried all the usual tweaks etc. No immediate plans to move to instal that other one but could do in the future! What do do first? CPU, graphics card, mbo but so many opinions of what is good and what is not. Confused and bewildered - budget dictates way to go. Mbo only supports 4x graphics card and all my plug ins are USB 1. Will a new mbo only accept USB 2 connections or is there a 'gizmo' that can be fitted? Maybe I should keep mbo and look for a better 4x card? Or maybe I should increase my budget and go for broke, not an option?   I've sat on the fence too long. My owner is desperate!! Any advice from you more experienced wizards out there will be very much appreciated.  Thanks                                    

Your RAM and mainboard are acceptable. The USB2 mainboards are also USB1 as well.

An 8x AGP Video card will work on a 4x mainboard.

Your CPU is getting outdated, but should still run FS2002.

Your video card is the weak link in the chain. The problem is that video cards are expensive in the UK, it seems retailers do a lot of profit taking with video upgrades. Look long and hard for a bargain video card, I'm sure you'll find one.

I usually warn against a GeForce FX 5200, as I consider them rather weak in comparison to what's available, but for FS2002, it would be a cheap upgrade and far better than the graphics you have now.

A GF FX5200 purchase will probably leave you with enough spare cash to search out a decent CPU upgrade, say an AMD XP 2400+ or if the price is close, a 2600+ that will run on a 266mhz front side bus. (I read about one, but i've never seen it). Make sure the CPU is factory boxed with a heatsink/fan included in the box.

That will definitely get you going.

I'm glad a computer has finally asked for help without it's owner's interference!   

Happy Flying!

Don't get confused by the Plethora of info you read or hear about. The following treatise applies to AGP bus based video upgrades of 4x AGP or greater speeds.

The importance of the graphics engine is ABSOLUTELY formost when it comes to sims like ACOF. The CPU and RAM provide support for the graphics.

For example, say in your case you had a GF2 MX400 64mb video card, you might score around 2400 points in 3D mark 2001se. Now go and whack a XP2400+ and a gig of ram in your PC and you'll score 2900 points. so you gain 500 points.

Now, go back, take your present system, and here is approx what you would score with the following low to midrange cards:

GF4 MX440  =  4500 pts

GF FX5200   =  6000 pts

GF TI4200    = 10000 pts

Now, those cards can be found reasonably cheap, and there are many others. With a CPU and RAM upgrade you will push the FX5200 up to possibly 7000 pts.

Another scenario: Your rich uncle gives you a new Rig no one has even heard about yet, it's got a 4 ghz CPU and a 1200mhz fsb speed and 3 gig of RAM.......
He doesn't know it needs a video card so you drop your trusty old gf2 in...... and you score a pathetic 3000pts;
Simply because the graphics card is the absolute bottleneck.
Now... drop a TI4200 in the slot of this super PC and it will bottleneck at around 14,000 pts I would imagine.
Drop a Radeon 9800xt in there and see it climb to around 40,000...... That's the difference!

So, you can see (if you believe me), that money spent on a video upgrade gives you far greater leverage, as far as performance goes, than a CPU and RAM upgrade.

A Video upgrade will NOT be as useful if the system is SEVERELY underpowered by inadequate CPU speed or a  severe RAM or bus speed bottleneck. This applies to the AGP bus speed as well.  But your system is not that slow.

The problems people are having with top end cards are not really the fault of the cards, there are many complex issues. Many, if not most owners of high end graphics equipment are more than satisfied, they are estatic! You don't read about them because they are busy enjoying their flying.

If you had the chance to see what good equipment is capable of, you would understand what I'm trying to say here. You do not need the best video card, but get the best one you can afford.  

As far as I know, all  the 8x AGP cards are backwards compatible. Current software, to my knowledge, doesn't really take much advantage of the 8x AGP bus speed, offering only a very slight  real speed increase over 4x.

Some of the older boards actually had a different AGP voltage than what the newer cards require, but your's isn't that old, but if your are worried about it, find out what agp voltage it supports to be sure, maybe in your bios options, or in the manual.

It's your decision ultimately how good a card you get, weighing up the potential to take the card to a new PC in the future, or just getting something to suit your current rig.

From personal experience, I can recommend a GF4 TI4200, either in 128mb 8x AGP version or a fast 4x version, even if it's only a 64mb card.

You see, all cards are not created equal, and this is where the trap lies.

Some video cards use expensive super fast RAM onboard, these are typically labeled "ultra" or similar. The apparently same video card, may have another suffix, such as "SE", which may be short for "Sucks Entirely"!!! , having slow ram chips or a slightly crippled graphics engine, even though it's the same number of the genre of card. A good example is the difference between a Radeon 9800xt and the Radeon 9800se sapphire. They are totally different both in price and performance!

To cut a long story a little short, A GF4 TI4200 64mb 4x AGP with fast ram onboard, is slightly faster than the 128mb 8x AGP equivalent, and offers overclocking potential.

Stretching your budget to this type of card will give you quality graphics at a reasonable cost. If you can't find it in the UK, consider a mail order to the US, or get a friend there to post one to you. If you mail order, seek a reputable dealer. Ebay is another option, but I personally will not buy a second hand graphics card sight unseen.

Good Luck