15 FPS

I apologize if this is repetitive, but I've been out of gaming for awhile so I need some advice on my computer. I purchased Trainz 12 and for the most part it runs OK, but not great. Foe example, if I run in windowed mode on the DPU push (Mojave Sub) on camera 2 while the train goes by, I'm getting like 15 FPS. My computer specs are:

Core 2 Duo 2.13Ghz
3.25 Gb RAM
Nvidia GeForce 210

According to the recommended specs I'm good. Where is my problem? What do you guys advise upgrading, the processor? Thanks for your help!

The raw speed of the processor is low and also that's a really bad video card. I have a 3.2GHz E6700 and Trainz ran pretty well prior to upgrading the card. Upgrading that card made a big difference, but due to power supply limitations I couldn't go with the card I wanted.

Also, try some tweaks like not running in a window, setting your desktop resolution to match that Trainz will run at, disable networking, anti-virus, DirectX versus OGL, etc. My opinion is that if you can get to and maintain a fairly smooth ~30fps, your system is a good candidate for a CPU and/or GPU upgrade and get much better performance.

Oh, go for it

By "really bad video card" he means the 210 is rated at about 205 G3D Marks. By comparison, the GTX465 ($129.99 at Newegg) is rated at 2,489 G3D Marks... over ten times faster. You could get a GT240 (still 4 times faster than your card) for $39.99 (Newegg).

Yeah, that's about right. I have an XFX GT240, and that's about what I paid at Tigerdirect with the rebate. I did get the rebate, FWIW.

PSU can be an issue though; another PC I speced here won't do much better than a 210 due the the power supply.

Thanks! I screwed up and bought this card at Best Buy a week ago. I paid over $60 for it. Lesson learned.

I too have a 300 watt (Lite On) power supply (HP Desktop) and the screen went whacky after 4 years of use, (Circuit City installed a 450 watt Nividia video card that worked excellently for years).

It was limited in PS when purchasing a new video card, or I was to replace the PS with a higher wattage (@ $80, plus $50 instalation) ... or get the 300 watt Galaxy GT 630 for $120 (on shelf at BestBuy).

My framerates are like glass in TRS2006 (@ 45 fps) on my carpy PC.