Processer vs RAM

[gavinc]

A technical question for you
Which is more important for performance, the processor or the RAM?

I have a choice between a couple of new video cards
One is the NVidia 9600GT with 1 Gb of DDR3 ram
The other is the NVidia 9800GT with 512 Mb of DDR3 ram.

They both cost exactly the same.

I will be flying in CFS2 and FSX if that matters

Thanks
Gavin

[rhumbaflappy]

Hi Gavin.

FSX doesn't use the full 512mb, so faster processor speed would be better.

Don't be surprised if it the new card doesn't help FSX much. FSX is primarily CPU-bound. If your system has an older CPU, or less than 2gb system ram, a new graphics card won't do much.

Dual-core CPUs are better than single core.

Quad-core CPUs are not better than dual-core. CPU and bus speed are more important.

Dick

[Maxstuka]

Hi Gavin.

FSX doesn't use the full 512mb, so faster processor speed would be better.

Don't be surprised if it the new card doesn't help FSX much. FSX is primarily CPU-bound. If your system has an older CPU, or less than 2gb system ram, a new graphics card won't do much.

Dual-core CPUs are better than single core.

Quad-core CPUs are not better than dual-core. CPU and bus speed are more important.

Dick

I sink that the Quad-core are better than the dual-core, It have more capacity to process entities in one 3d scenary!
If you need make a perl harbour scenary, with 30 ships + 50 aircraft + scenary objets! I believe that quadcore have less beam.

About the 3d videos card, I prefer the NVidia 9600GT because,the tegnology of process is not as well-known as to feel a great change, but the double memory loads heavy scenes and the two videos have DDR3 ram and the speed of microprocess are limitated with the ram bus!.

[rhumbaflappy]

Quad-core vs dual-core has been discussed with Phil Taylor when he was the head of FSX development. FSX was altered in the updates to take better advantage of dual-core. Quad-core has no advantage. This being equal, CPU speed rules.

This isn't to say that quad-core won't be an advantage in FS11 ( or Windows7 )... it may be. But for now, dual-core is fine.

Dick

[gavinc]

Hi Dick
Thanks for the insight
I currently have an Acer E500 with a 2.9 Ghz Intel processor and 1.5 Gb of RAM. I have noticed that when I run FSX the CPU is pegged but I am only using about half the RAM.

However my current video card is an NVidia 6200 SE TurboCache so I hope that FSX (and CFS2) will be at least a bit faster with a more current card.

Gavin

[Wulf190]

When it comes to CFS2, FS9, and FSX if you want higher performance CPU power is key here. If you want better eye candy your Video card is most important here, and if you want a smoother running experience more system RAM is needed.

FSX is the only M$ simulator currently that takes advantage of a dual core CPU, but it will not fully utilize a quad core CPU. (though some people say they do see a difference when running FSX on a quad)

FS9 and CFS2 were both designed for the single core CPU. So if you have a 2.0GHZ single core and a 2.0GHZ dual core, and they have similar socket design (like an AMD 3200 and an Operton 170) and your running FS9 or CFS2, there will be no performance increase, because both programs are only useing one core and the core's clock speed is the same.

When it comes to eye candy, and this does effect performance as well, a better videocard, or GPU (graphics processing unit) is desired. A better GPU allows you to turn up the eye candy more and add more AA and AF to improve the appearance. The GPU also take a great portion of the image rendering process off of the CPU, which could also improve performance. (but no as much as upgrading to a faster CPU)

Out of the two you selected I would probably go with a 9600GT. It has a lower power consumption then the 9800GT, and isn't that far off from it in performance, plus it has double the video card ram so you will be able to play these simulators at higher monitor resolutions with out take as much of a performance hit as you would if you were to go with a 9800GT. Both cards blow you current GPU out of the water.

Now if your experiencing a lot of stutters or your performance goes up and down a lot, more ram always helps. Having more system memory will not increase your top frame rate much, but it will increase your over all performance because it will allow your system to 'spread out' the calculations more. For example, lets say you have 1GB of system memory. Hypatheticaly speaking lets say your highest FPS is 60 and your lowest is 24 and your average is say 35. Now lets double your system memory to 2GB. Your highest FPS will probably still be 60 (could go a little higher to 62-63, maybe) but your lowest FPS could be up to 28 and your average could now be 38-40FPS. More system memory adds more performance stability.

Hope this helps!:wave:

[wolfi]

the advantage of a single or quad core CPU is, that you can assign a program to one core of the CPU like for cfs2. the other programs , like the operating system use the rest of the CPU power, in my case, I had a dual 3GH CPU, a 512MB direct X 10 graphic card (CFS2 has no direct X 10 features) and 8GB ram (8GB ram are only used by 64 bit operating systems), CFS2 runs like hell with all settings to max, I use windows vista 64 for playing the game. For FSx it´s still a bit too slow.

wolfi

[TARPSBird]

There's some good info in this thread but it's getting beyond my tech level. My son has volunteered to build me an updated system so I can run CFS2 and FS9 without the low frame rates and freeze-ups I experience on my present ancient system. I'll have him read this and see what he recommends. Y'all keep talking, the more comments the better and I'll learn some stuff along the way. :)

[gavinc]

Thanks for the info guys.

Since I am not going to be upgrading my system to dual or quad core I think I might save a few pennies on the GPU and replace my 512 MB memory stick with a 2 GB stick which will double my RAM to 3 GB.

It doesn't sound like there is a huge difference between the 2 cards (the 9800GT runs at 600 Mhz and the 9600GT is clocked at 700 MhZ for 10 euros more) CFS2 will run like stink with either card and FSX will probably thank me for the extra memory.

The deciding factor might be the power consumption - I still need to determine how much spare capacity is in my current power supply.

Gavin