Do I need more power

[captainherc]

I have recently installed FS9 into my new comp. just the standard 256 with 80gb ram. It ( I think ) has this SiS 661FX/Gx Mirage Graphics card. I have with other programs and addons now used 40gb. While running FS it does not run smooth, is a bit jerky. Some times take a few seconds for the images to catch up. When flying my Dreamworld Archer it performs very slow. Am off to see my computer guru this week scan get it upgraded if need be. Please what do I need to get put in. Looking at adding on so photoreal scenery soon. Will I loose what I have installed if I get it upgraded. Cheers.

[Mattnz]

Have you tried doing a defrag of your system since installing all that?

Oh, and I assume you mean an 80GB Hard drive. 80GB RAM is a LOT!
Perhaps you are meaning that the RAM is 256MB, which isn't very much at all - you'll struggle with quite a few addons if that's all, but I may be wrong...

[FunkymonkeyNZ]

Heya Herc

Ok so i've had a we read at your specs mate and i must say they are very minimal, i dont know if your simming on a laptop or desktop but we forum members are here to help

Ok so as Matt said you were saying that you had 256mb of Ram and 80gig hard drive, well to be brutaley honest with ya herc thats bugger all power to be simming with but congrats on trying to put up with that for so long!!! Ok so when you go see your PC Guru (tech) tell him that your pc is so sluggish that you want to kill it! hahaha usually this can be corrected to a point by adding some Ram, right now your running 256mb of ram, that was the ducks nuts maybe about 5-10 years ago but with todays programs your poor old pc will be scrapeing along by its finger nails. you would see a HUGE difference if you upgraded to 1gigabyte of ram but to live up to your forum name i would advice for upgrading upto 2gig of ram,this is usually the norm these days. With your hard drive, thats not alot of room to play with but your pc-guy will advice you on what is the best for ya. my advice is to buy a good decent video card to mate, any brand will do, a good geforce 8600GT will do you just fine for FS9 (i know this seems all a bit overwelming with tech talk but show this to ya Tech-guy and he will understand) i hope this gives you a little ground to stand on Herc and you can have a bit of base knowledge to what you need, nothing to flash or expensive, just the bear essentials to make your flight simming experience that much more BETTER!!! and trust me it will mate

All the best bud and goodluck with the upgrades

Chris

[HardCorePawn]

Hate to say this but:

256meg RAM == Not enough to play FS 'nicely'...
80Gig HDD == Adequate, but once you start putting on Photoreal sceneries etc. this will disappear quite quickly
SiS 661FX == Onboard Video, which is generally useless... you will need to see if your motherboard has some sort of video card slot... if it does, you will need to buy a dedicated video card... if it doesnt, then you will probably need to buy a new machine as that video will never be able to provide decent performance for FS.

Also, you do not mention what sort of CPU you have, but given the rest of your specs I am going to assume it is not that flash...

If you can afford it, I would recommend purchasing a completely new system. Piecemeal upgrading of a system that poorly spec'd is really a waste of money as it ends up costing you more for less power.

[captainherc]

To Funkymonkey and Mattnz thanks.
I am ringing him now and get the ball rolling. I presume if I go LARGE then apart from running smooter I will have HEAPS of room for all my addons.Thanks again.

[FunkymonkeyNZ]

QUOTE (captainherc @ Oct 23 2007, 09:58 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

To Funkymonkey and Mattnz thanks.
I am ringing him now and get the ball rolling. I presume if I go LARGE then apart from running smooter I will have HEAPS of room for all my addons.Thanks again.

Hows it again Herc

When you say "go LARGE" i'm taking it your meaning more room on your hard drive right? the bigger the specs of your pc mate the smoother it will run, for eg: upgrading 80hdd-320hdd, your ram form 256mb-2GB ram, and also if you buy your self a graphics card it will make the task of your processor faster because the graphic's card takes on the load of all the images it has to produce instead of making your CPU (central prosseing unit) do all the work.

Chris

[ardypilot]

Ditto what Funkymonkey and HCP said above.

Also try experimenting with your display sliders (turn scenery density down for example, and decrease you visability range in the weather tab).

Have a read through the 'Maximise Your Settings Guide' pinned at the top of this Tech Issues forum too- and you may be able to get FS running a bit smoother.

[ZK-LGD]

Upgrading RAM and a new Video Card just ain't gonna cut the mustard unless you have the power pack to run them. I'll assume you have a proprietory (brand named) PC; well, take it from me, you probably only have a 200-250W power pack on board. If you start adding more RAM, it's gonna blow (been there, done that, got the tee-shirt). So, a new power pack (350 Watts is the minimum one needs to run just 1Gb RAM, 450-550W for 2GB) is also on the shopping list.

There is an equation somewhere out there (sorry cannot find it at the moment) which helps one to estimate the amount of power needed to run what amount of RAM.

[HardCorePawn]

Errr no... RAM has a very minimal impact on the power required most of it is rated at like 3.3 volts or something equally small... and steps in increments of like 0.01volts when you're overclocking etc...

It is the other bits and bobs like GPU's (most of the newer ones require external power), HDD's & Optical Drives that cause the drain on the PSU.... cause they're the ones hanging directly off it... if your RAM is underpowered, that would indicate that either:

a. Your RAM is not compatible with your Mobo
b. You mobo is fubar