Upgrades for fs 2002
Hi,
Hardware upgrades may be a moot point based on the framework within which the software is designed to run.
I'm running FS2002 on a Pentium 4 2.53 GHz cpu system with a MEG of PC1066 Rambus and the latest nVidia card, the GeForce 4 Ti 4600 128 meg DDR memory grafix card.
I am unable to exceed 35 frames per second at any resolution or hardware setting.
Microsoft decided that to integrate other high workload functions of the software it was not necessary to exceed around 35 frames per second and waste processor power, good thinking, most of our limited brains are unable to process with any accuracy anything over that animation rate. ( Your home television animates at around 24 fps )
Conclusion:
You should be able to run FS 2002 with nothing more than about a 1.5 Ghz cpu on a moderate grafix card, something like the 64 Meg GeForce 2, for best results.
FS2002 runs smooth as silk on my laptop also( P3m 1.2 GHz cpu 512 ram, 32 meg geforce 2 grafix onboard ) and I run it at 800 by 600 with moderate grafix settings and get around 24 to 30 Frames per second.
So don't go buy the latest and greatest for FS2002, unless, of course, you wish to also obliterate aliens at a stupendous rate, using the latest belt-fed missile launcher at 200 frames per second in glorious 3d directx 8.1 rendered slaughter with surround sound.
Per ardua to my undershorts.