i'm on a compaq presario 2.6 Ghz,cpu >256 RAM,80 GB hd,  Intel (R) 82845G graphics controller (w/ 64 MB memory)  i'm playing ACOF and i normally have to fly the small planes (like the cessna)with the auto-gen and traffic  turned OFF and most of the other settings at default,flying  in clear weather (or with just a few clouds) and only getting about 10-15 fps on average(if i'm lucky)  by doing this .(sometimes a little more, sometimes a >>LOT<<  less)

i'm wondering,  if i bought  just another 128 MB of RAM for my hd, how much difference would this make with the frame rates/performance ? i don't really know a lot about this kind of stuff, and i've never tried adding more RAM before but i've never been hooked on FS before either.(lol) i really want to get better performance out of this because i am discovering that i am REALLY  limited in what i can do,and it is getting  VERY frustrating.  i really enjoy the scenery addons and flying the big commercial jets but the frame rates i get are just HORRIBLE at times   (not to mention,  crashing my system)

is more RAM all i need or would i be better off getting FS2002 for better fps? or doing BOTH?
thanks in advance.

Sounds like you have motherboard-integtrated graphics.  If you have an open AGP slot for a graphics card upgrade, I'd look into getting a good Nvidia card with at least 128MB RAM on the card (don't go cheap on your video card).  Also adding some system RAM (minimum 512MB) would speed things up too.  When I built my machine, I had a low end Nvidia GeForce2 64MB card until I bought a GeForce FX 5700 128MB and the frame rates were awful with the low end card and are great with the FX.

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can you translate that for dummies like me?lol, i don't even know what an AGP slot is . sorry for the stupid questions,i don't know anything about this ,i just bought the computer last novemeber as it was and i've never tried to "modify" it or anything because it has always worked ok for me . (until i discovered FS2004 anyways)

btw, i just thought of something:  my  warranty on my comp is good for a year but if i started  opening up the hd though/adding RAM ,then the  warranty is no good anymore, right?


i'm about ready to just give up on 2004; if it's going to cost a lot of USD just to run ONE GAME, it might be best to just forget about about it, i dont have the cash.

will i get better framerates with 2002 on this computer i am using  ???

thanks for all of the replies, everyone.

DO NOT VOID YOUR WARRANTY! Check with the manufacturer for upgrades.

I was having frame rate troubles, i upgraded to 512MB of RAM and replaced my Radeon 7000 32MB with a new card.  Now ACOF really flies.

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Me too!

Do it guys. I got a prog that monitors ram usage.  XP alone uses just over 200!!    With flightsim running I seem to average 550ish but peak at 700meg sometimes.  I cant seem to get my PC to use all the ram yet though but Im gonna keep tryin I managed to hit 800meg once so far.  Also if you can afford it get Lower Latency stuff.  I cheated a little. I was gonna buy Corsait Low Latency PC2700 stuff, but I read all it is is PC3200chips with pre-set ram timings! so I brought PC3200 stuff and set the timings myself, saved myself £23 

Judging by your equipment, you will need to check with compaq to find out how much RAM your system can support. The max will probably be 512 so going out and buying a gigs worth may be a waste of money. It is also unlikely you have an AGP slot. Check to be sure, if not just get a good PCI card.