Looking to increase frame rates   
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Looking to increase frame rates

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Skycap

Novice
Member Since: Feb 2005
34 posts

Posted on:
Nov 19, 2005, 1:54 AM

Post #1 of 7 (3445 views)
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Looking to increase frame rates Not logged in -   Reply 
Yeah and who isn't, right? Wink



Not sure if this is the right place for this but, anyway...

I'll give my system specs, then the question:

ECS N2U-400A board

AMD Athlon XP 2600+ CPU running at 2.09GHz

1.5 GB PC3200 (DDR400) RAM

ATI Radeon 9200 128 MB AGP Video card

Soundblaster 24 Sound Card

Maxtor 20GB 5400RPM (UGH!) HDD

OS - WinXP

Some fine-tuning:

I just found out recently that although my board supports the PC3200 RAM, it is only running at PC2700 speed because of the XP 2600 CPU. An upgrade to 3200 CPU will kick it up to 400 FSB. Also, I have tried utilizing the dual channel setup by installing two identical 512MB sticks in the appropriate slots and founf no imrpovement in performance either way, so I put them all back in.



Now the question.



Currently, I have my weather settings (view distance, cloud draw, etc) all dragged to minimums, autogen to normal and resolution set to 1280x1024x32. After that, everything else is maxed out, full PAI traffic loaded in and set to 50%, plus some 3rd party airports in the mix and I can consistently get around 25FPS with occasional dips to 15 in congested areas. What I want to do is increase the performance without going into hock to do it. A new system is not an option, so we can kill that idea right now. Cool

I seem to have a choice here between something like an ATI 9800 Pro video card, which will undoubtedly increase performance over the 9200, or a CPU upgrade to take full advantage of my systems bandwidth and memory capability.



Any thoughts on the better option? My dilemma is that I always seem to go for the wrong thing - like upgrading one thing when something else will block me from utilizing it's full potential - ie, the I just expanded the RAM from 512MB to 1.5GB but, the CPU is limiting it's bandwidth.



Any comments are appreciated - thanks!
http://www.fscommercialpilot.com


rogerwardsmith

New User
Member Since: Nov 2005
1 posts

Posted on:
Nov 21, 2005, 4:23 PM

Post #2 of 7 (3432 views)
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Re: Looking to increase frame rates [In reply to Skycap] Not logged in -   Reply 
Hiya Skycap

I've had similar spec systems as you sit with now and my personal experience

is as follows :

1. Increased CPU and FSB / RAMBUS speeds are going to give you a marginal improvement - say 5-10% ( This is not your bottleneck )

2. Bumping up your Graphics Card from the Radeon 9200 to a 9600 will show a 35 - 40% improvement - you may even get 50% improvement if you went for a Nvidia chipset based card ( GeForce or whatever - better for gaming )

The only question is $ BUCKS - In my neck of the woods a 256mb card costs around $ 150 and a 3.2Ghz HT CPU $ 200

So if you are happy with your general performace in other appz and its just gaming improvement that you want - the new card is the answer

By the way dual channel only works if supported by CPU & MOBO

Don't worry too much about your slow Maxtor HDD - just keep it well defragged and set your page file size to 256MB Min & Max - this will force XP to use your "ample" Ram and not the slow page file

There are a number of marginal tweaks that you can do to improve gaming performance under XP - Turn off all background processes before starting the game etc etc etc I'm sure you are familar with them - ensure latest VGA drivers and DirectX

3rd party appz like Gameboost and Gamegain are crap - they do not work!!!!

The only one I know of that has some effect is Innovative Solutions - Avanced uninstaller pro 2005 , one of the features is " Services Manager " which offers automated " Gaming config at boot up " and you can simply reload your original config afterwards

Overlocking in general may show a nominal improvement but has a tendency to lock-up the system after a while - not recommended

Here's an actual test to prove the point

Giga-byte 815 Chipset Mobo / 1.8Mhz Celeron / 256mb SDRAM / 40gig 5400 rpm HDD / Ati 64MB Graphics / Bus speeds @ 133mhz due to Celeron CPU

All Flight sim settings at MAX = Avg Frame rate 6-9 fps ( SUCKS)

Add P4 2.8 CPU 533Mhz FSB = Avg Frame rate 9-13 fps ( Still Sucks )

Add 512mb 266Mhz SDRAM = No improvement

Add 7200rpm 8mb cache HDD = No improvement

Add 256mb GeForce Nvidia 5500 GX = Avg Frame rate 30 -35 fps ( Rocks )

REMOVE ALL UPGRADES EXCEPT THE GeForce Nvidia Card = 28-32 fps

Guaranteed with you current hardware specs and a new VGA card you will hit a rock steady 35 fps frame rate

Good Luck

Roger


Skycap

Novice
Member Since: Feb 2005
34 posts

Posted on:
Dec 27, 2005, 9:24 AM

Post #3 of 7 (3305 views)
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Re: Looking to increase frame rates [In reply to Skycap] Not logged in -   Reply 
Hey, thanks for the info! Sorry I haven't been able to check up here frequently.



Anyway, my only real concern now is going overkill on the card. I don't plan on upgrading anything on the system anytime soon - spending freeze instituted by the wife! Wink So the video card has to give me the boost I want without going way overboard with features I'll likely not benefit from due to the system specs.



So, I guess the question is, would you suggest an ATI 9800 Pro (priced on Ebay around $100), nVidia 5500 (priced around $60) or nVidia 5700 (around $70)? Pricewise, the 5500 is a no brainer, and it's the 256MB one too. The others are 128MB but may be better overall.



Forgive the many questions but I'm sick of getting ripped because of ignorance! Mad For example, I just found out recently about my CPU running a 333FSB which limits me from realizing the 400FSB my board and memory are capable of. DOH!
http://www.fscommercialpilot.com


Skycap

Novice
Member Since: Feb 2005
34 posts

Posted on:
Dec 27, 2005, 12:49 PM

Post #4 of 7 (3302 views)
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Re: Looking to increase frame rates [In reply to Skycap] Not logged in -   Reply 
Further, here's a quick test I just ran. I'm using Grissom's great KBOS, high-detail scenery.

At about 450 feet, slewing, cockpit view with no cockpit panels and HDG 246, in line facing the tower and with downtown Boston to the right of the tower:

With Clear Skies and no traffic: 18 fps
With Gray and Rainy weather and no traffic: 8.8 fps
With Gray and Rainy + 100% PAI traffic (every airline and every aircraft): 6.5fps

(The AI planes totaled about 40-50 planes on the ground.

This is also with every slider maxed. Whatever I need to get that 6.5 to 20, that's what my aim is. Without breaking the bank! :)
http://www.fscommercialpilot.com


Skycap

Novice
Member Since: Feb 2005
34 posts

Posted on:
Dec 27, 2005, 11:34 PM

Post #5 of 7 (3297 views)
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Re: Looking to increase frame rates [In reply to Skycap] Not logged in -   Reply 
And finally - Wink - I just did some comparisons between a few different video cards and found VERY little difference between the FX5500 and my current ATI 9200. I think it would likely be the ATI 9800 Pro or even XT that would even begin to make a difference. And I found several XT's on Ebay for $135 so that's a deal.
http://www.fscommercialpilot.com


Skycap

Novice
Member Since: Feb 2005
34 posts

Posted on:
Feb 16, 2006, 6:09 AM

Post #6 of 7 (3232 views)
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Re: Looking to increase frame rates [In reply to Skycap] Not logged in -   Reply 
Just got an ATI 9800xt, 256 MB, 256-bit card for under $125! Hello!

Let's see how it performs. Gotta go check the mail! Smile
http://www.fscommercialpilot.com


Skycap

Novice
Member Since: Feb 2005
34 posts

Posted on:
Dec 15, 2006, 12:25 PM

Post #7 of 7 (2461 views)
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Re: Looking to increase frame rates [In reply to Skycap] Not logged in -   Reply 
Waaaaay late on this update.

Showed VERY little improvement with the 9800XT. Well, faster loading textures when changing views but, that's about it.

However, I recently switched to an AMD Ahtlon64 4000+ and it blew the old setup away!
http://www.fscommercialpilot.com


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