CPU dilemma for running FS9

Archived from groups: alt.games.microsoft.flight-sim (More info?)

Hi there,

My question is quite hardware oriented but here it is... I have been running
FS9 on a low-end PC during my week-ends, when I am not at home. Mobo is
Intel 845GERG2, processor P4 1.8 GHz (FSB100). Now I got a few spare parts
from another computer, namely an ASUS P4C800 and a Celeron 2.53 (FSB133).
Gfx card is rad9600, 128 MB AGP, RAM went from 768 to 1024 MB.

I already swapped the mobos/CPU and RAM sticks keeping all the rest intact,
and noticed quite an increase in performance. ))

Is the performance hop due to the better chipset/FSB/RAM or is it due to the
faster CPU ? I seem to remember that Celerons were mainly created for the
low-end office desktops, and that P4 were probably better for gaming. Should
I try to put the 1.8GHz P4 on the P4C800 board, and lower the FSB to 100 ?

What would be a good benchmark to evaluate the effect of the CPU change,
other than subjective appreciation ? The PC is hardly used for anything else
CPU-hungry, it's really only a MS office and internet/email machine during
the week...

Thank you for your suggestions

Lorenzo Sandini
www.brokenbones,d2g,com