JRT; congratulations on your decision to aquire a new system. With the advances in architechture a current machine will be considerably faster than an older one, even if the processor speed does not seem to indicate so.
My old P4 2.5 GHz is easily left gasping in the dust by this new 2.8 GHz AMD FX57. It has twice the amount of RAM and utilizes the new PCI-Express system architecture.
Almost all programmes show considerable improvements: I can bump up the detail and resoultion, and there is still enough grunt to ensure smooth and fluid gameplay in the bigger Quick Shots.
I'm experimenting a bit with the "Weather9" beta file in BoB2 and most say that atm I'm experiencing slight stutter, there's a reason it's called beta I guess, but with the official 2.03 patch BoB2 is smooth as slik and looks very nice indeed at 1280x1024x32. Filtering is set to All, Autogen and all options are enabled.
When you get your new machine, I'd suggest the Standard Operating Procedures we know from Rowan's BoB; Add the latest patch, gradually increase resolution and add options in steps where you test after each step. That way you will know if an option fails, as it did for me when optimistically I tried to fly with particle density and ground objects set to high.
Another small thing I noticed was that after some failed attempts to install another flight-sim (FCG), BoB2 gave me an unending sting of "english.txt" errors. Those were completely cured by rebooting.
Enough of the technical blabber, In several instances I've found myself marvelling at the sound-effects in BoB2. Ack-Ack is particularly impressive when it goes off near you, no doubt helped by the new subwoofer and speakers I have upgraded to. Nor should I forget to mention the sound of your own guns as you fire upon planes whether they be lone bombers or in large formations. With headphones, the spatial sounds add to the immersion as you can hear the differences in sounds made by planes approaching and planes moving furt�her away. Quite riveting!
You can certainly look forward to a new experience.
