Simviation Forum - Tweeking help.

Sep 7^th, 2006 at 5:32pm

Triple_7 Ex Member

Well, I finally give up on trying to get this computer running to its full potential by myself. Time to see if anyone else has some ideas since I know a few of you have similar setups. I cant afford any more upgrades at this time so what you see is what I have to work with Wink

1.5 GHz Duron Processor (already overclocked from 1.2)
512mb ram (PC 133)
430W power supply
24 bit PCI sound card
40 gig hardrive
256mb GeForce FX 5500 OC PCI graphics card. (which calls for a PCI 2.0 slot but apparently I only have 2.2 or whatever)
Windows XP Home

And trying to tune this for best quality plus performance in FS 2002. I want to fly a Posky 747 from the outside view at min 20 FPS both in the air and on the ground (which ground seems to be the major isue right now)

So...Who knows the magic settings Tongue

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Reply #1 - Sep 11^th, 2006 at 10:46am

congo Offline
Colonel
Make BIOS your Friend
Australia

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Posts: 3663

Quote:

Well, I finally give up on trying to get this computer running to its full potential by myself. Time to see if anyone else has some ideas since I know a few of you have similar setups. I cant afford any more upgrades at this time so what you see is what I have to work with Wink

1.5 GHz Duron Processor (already overclocked from 1.2)
512mb ram (PC 133)
430W power supply
24 bit PCI sound card
40 gig hardrive
256mb GeForce FX 5500 OC PCI graphics card. So...Who knows the magic settings Tongue

You just learned a couple lessons.

1. A PCI slot is not a dedicated graphics expansion slot.

2. No amount of video ram will make a dubious graphics card shine, and that extra ram is most likely slow cheap stuff, but even if it isn't, A PCI slot doesn't have enough bandwidth for good graphics.

No amount of tweaking will save you, you should have bought a new mainboard and a cheaper/better graphics card with the money you blew on that PCI video card.

Sorry Cry

Mainboard: Asus P5K-Premium, CPU=Intel E6850 @ x8x450fsb 3.6ghz, RAM: 4gb PC8500 Team Dark, Video: NV8800GT, HDD: 2x1Tb Samsung F3 RAID-0 + 1Tb F3, PSU: Antec 550 Basiq, OS: Win7x64, Display: 24" WS LCD

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Reply #2 - Sep 12^th, 2006 at 6:24am

ctjoyce Offline
Colonel
Funny how my lappy runs
FSX better than your
Tower
USA

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Besides that, really the only other thing to do would be increase your RAM from 512MB to 1GB.

But really there isnt any software tweaks to be done, mostly its all replacing hardware for you.

Cheers
Cameorn

CTJoyce, Modding and voiding warranties since 2003&&Sheila's Specs:ASUS Striker Extreme 680i, Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 @ 3.2Ghz, Corsair XMS2 PC2-6400C4 2GB, 2x eVGA 7900GT KO, Western Digital 80GB SATA & 250GB SATAIII&&Vesper's Specs: Intel Core 2 Duo T7400, 2GB DDR2-667, GeForce Go 7950GTX 512MB, 160GB Hitachi SATA 5400RPM&&Hardware FAQ, Read it and be informed&&My little corner of the world&&Once You Know You NEWEGG&&Building a computer Part 2

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Reply #3 - Sep 13^th, 2006 at 12:07am

Triple_7 Ex Member

Quote:

1. A PCI slot is not a dedicated graphics expansion slot.

I've known that for a long time Roll Eyes

No AGP on this mobo Embarrassed

Quote:

No amount of tweaking will save you, you should have bought a new mainboard and a cheaper/better graphics card with the money you blew on that PCI video card.

128MB had a little meltdown, old 64MB just wasnt enough for even crap graphics. All I had was 60 bucks to spare. No mobo that would do me any good costs that low and would still be compatible with everything else I have. I could get the next step up on this mobo for about 30 bucks and it has an AGP...but whats the point when the rest is crap Tongue

Quote:

Besides that, really the only other thing to do would be increase your RAM from 512MB to 1GB.

I thought about that...but unless someone happens to have 2 512 sticks of PC133 laying around they want to give away for free....its not an option eather. Only have 2 DDR slots.

Basicaly I'm just looking for some setting I'm probably missing. Like AA and AF settings. I dont know a great deal about all that. I just want to fine tune this thing to run smoothly. I know ive seen FS9 run on systems worse then this and still get amazing graphics and good FPS...FS9 only runs like a slideshow on this thing. And I know some of you still have PCI graphics that are pulling off amazing things. There almost has to be something missing in my settings or programing. It just doesnt make any sence. FS 2002 should run beautifully on this system...yet I can only pull mid settings and ocasional smooth frames.

On my list is a new custom system. But as usual it keeps getting bumped down. In the next couple weeks I'm changing jobs, then sometime before the snow starts fallin I'm taking out a $10,000 loan for a new truck. Money just isnt here with bills and repairs to my current truck. Thats why unless someone has some parts they are willing to give away that could help me right now I have to tweek what little I have.

So...Any little thing I could try would be great right now. Even if I can just get back to halfway smooth flying with moderate settings.

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Reply #4 - Sep 20^th, 2006 at 2:30pm

congo Offline
Colonel
Make BIOS your Friend
Australia

Gender:
Posts: 3663

Quote:

I know some of you still have PCI graphics that are pulling off amazing things.

I doubt that very seriously, PCI graphics just don't work that well. There is only so much bandwidth that a PCI slot can handle, you can throw all the ram and cpu power you want at it, the fact remains that PCI is a solid bottleneck.

A long time ago I bought my first "gaming rig". I knew about the PCI bottleneck way back then, so I scored a you beaut AGP system...... or did I?

I bought an Asus CUSI-M mainboard thinking that because it had much better onboard AGP graphics I'd be spared the added cost of a graphics card.

When I told someone who knew better what I had done, he shook his head in disgust and told me I had no hope.

After that, I built a computer that had an AGP slot with a dedicated AGP video card............

......... and THAT is when this poor forum first came to see my bewildered newbie questions......... when I was finally able to run a simulation once I had obtained the correct hardware.........

One day, you will realise, as I did, that you need hardware to sim and game. Just move toward that goal and achieve it.

If you are borrowing for a truck, well, that's a good time to borrow that little bit more for "incidental expenses" right? Grin

or.... How to drive your truck and eat an airplane too Wink

Mainboard: Asus P5K-Premium, CPU=Intel E6850 @ x8x450fsb 3.6ghz, RAM: 4gb PC8500 Team Dark, Video: NV8800GT, HDD: 2x1Tb Samsung F3 RAID-0 + 1Tb F3, PSU: Antec 550 Basiq, OS: Win7x64, Display: 24" WS LCD

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Reply #5 - Sep 24^th, 2006 at 10:59am

Gunny04 Offline
Colonel
Who's Better than the
best when nobodys the
best?
Michigan

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Posts: 2101

well if moneys tight you can always get a store bought PC like I did, my comp was 480 dollars or so without the monitor, Circuit city mind you..... I dont like store computers but hey, if it works...... just thought you'd like the thought, Cheers, Gunny

EDIT: it was originally 600 or so, instant savings, so I got a deal... (I think I did I dunno though)

AMD athlon 3800 Venice Socket 939 64 bit at 2.4Ghz, 6100K8MA-RS Foxconn Motherboard, 1gb (2X512) OCZ Platinum PC3200 Ram, EVGA 8800GTS 640MB OC, 500 Watt NZXT psu, and Windows Vista Ultimate Total hard drive space 530gb

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