Does BS2 need a better system (i.e. CPU; RAM etc...) to run as smooth as BS1?

Yes, it does.

For me it does.

I had good high FPS in BS but low 20s with BS2 under XP.

My CPU is E8400 at 3.0 mhz but I'm quite sure my GPU is the choke.


Having said that the sim is smooth enough once all textures have loaded and I rarely notice any stutter. Some of the weather effects hit FPS very hard, though.

BS2 runs smoother for me.

If your system has some trouble running smooth BS1, then you'll probably need a new system.
However, overclocks and minor upgrades can help.

for me BS2 is a lot more consistent. I don't get the start-of-mission texture load delays at all any more. The overall frame rate seems the same on my system. Phenom 965 / ATI 5770 / 8G RAM on win7 64 bit

It's a weird thing. I think that BS2 requires a bit more horsepower, but even if you dial back some settings the improvements to the visuals in BS2 mean that even dialed back it looks better than BS1 at higher settings.

So..LOL..sorry that doesn't really answer your question..

FWIW - I was flying BS2 with a system I built in 2008 and it is doing fine..

BeachAV8R