For Patience's sake, this is what the game's readme file says about video cards:
VIDEO DISPLAYS AND VIDEO DRIVERS
Install latest drivers
In many cases you'll get better video performance if you install the latest drivers from your video card manufacturer. A list of these sites is available at the Microsoft Train Simulator Web site:
http://www.microsoft.com/games/trainsim/info/ Finding out what video card your computer has
You can find out the manufacturer of your video card by following these steps:
1. Click Start, point to Settings, and click Control Panel.
2. Double-click System.
3. In the System Properties window, click the Hardware tab and navigate to the section that describes your video card.
This section lists the type of video card that you have installed in your computer.
Setting color depth for maximum performance
For best performance, use the high color (16-bit) setting for your video resolution. Displaying more colors affects performance.
Optimizing your font settings
It is recommended that you set your system’s display settings to Small Fonts to maximize viewable space in Train Simulator dialog boxes. Also, users of the Windows® 95 Plus! Pack or Windows 98 who have selected Smooth edges of screen fonts in their Windows Display settings will display smoothed fonts. If you don't have the Plus! Pack, you can download the font smoother from:
http://www.microsoft.com/typography/grayscal/smoother.htmIf you have less than 64MB of RAM and an 8 or 16MB video card
If you have a computer with 64MB of RAM or less, and are using video cards with 16MB or less, do not turn up the World Objects Texture Quality setting (in the Options screen) past 2, or the game may freeze up.Supported video resolutions
The following resolutions are supported by most video cards and are available for selection (if supported):
640 x 480, 800 x 600, 1024 x 768, 1280 x 1024
All resolutions provided by the video card at 640 x 480 and above are supported, in 16- and 32-bit color depths.
Resolutions of 640 x 480 and below, or color depths other than 16- or 32-bit, are not supported.
VIDEO CARDS--SPECIFIC ISSUES
ATI
Radeon (Get technical support and information from
http://www.ati.com)
In the Introductory Train Ride, there are visible seams in the cockpit. Fixed with the latest drivers.
Simulation crashes to the desktop, after displaying black screen with hourglass. Fixed with the latest drivers.
Rage Fury Maxx (Get technical support and information from
http://www.ati.com)
User Interface flickers. Selecting the "Disable Dual Chip Mode" option on the card's settings fixes the problem. This setting can be found under the "Advanced" settings in the Displays tab of the Windows Control Panel.
Restoring the simulation from ALT+TAB causes Train Simulator to crash to the desktop. Fixed with latest drivers.
Some computers won't boot in hardware unless desktop is set to 24-bit. Fixed with latest drivers.
Some users may experience problems running in dual chip mode. Selecting the "Disable Dual Chip Mode" option on the card's settings fixes the problem. This setting can be found under the "Advanced" settings in the Displays tab of the Windows Control Panel.
Rage Xpert 128 (Get technical support and information from
http://www.ati.com)
Performance runs at 2-4 frames per second. Fixed with latest drivers.
Creative Labs (Get technical support and information from
http://www.americas.creative.com)
CT6960 (Annihilator Pro)
User Interface quality is poor, does not “redraw” properly. Fixed with latest drivers.
Diamond Fire GL1
Not supported for Train Simulator.
Intel i740 video card
Not supported for Train Simulator
KYRO (32MB AGP) (Get technical support and information from
http://www.powervr.com)
Simulation hangs on load screen in 1600 x 1200 x32 resolution. Fixed with latest drivers.
Matrox Millennium G200
An error occurs and the simulation does not launch. Latest drivers from
http://www.matrox.com fix this problem.
Nvidia (Get technical support and information from
http://www.nvidia.com.)
GeForce 256 (Micron) OEM system
Train Simulator launches to a black screen. Fixed with latest driver.
Savage 4
Texture rendering fails. This is fixed with the latest driver completely or by turning OFF shadows when using the retail driver.
Changing from one task to another causes a black screen.
TNT2 M64 4xAGP. OEM Dell Dimension 4100
Some of the loading screen text is missing. Fixed with latest driver from Nvidia at
http://www.nvidia.com)
Rendition V1000 (3D Blaster PCI)& PCI (Rendition V1000) (
http://www.rendition.com)
Simulation is unable to run on this card. Drivers for this card do not support DirectX 7, which is required to run Train Simulator.
Voodoo
Voodoo3 (Get technical support and information from 3dfx at
http://www.3dfx.com)
Train Simulator hangs on loading screen after selecting Drive a Train. Fixed with latest drivers.
Problem with textures rendering on buildings/objects with 3Dfx. Fixed with latest drivers.
Voodoo5
The mouse is difficult to see when used with online Help.
SOUND CARDS—SPECIFIC ISSUES
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live!
May experience random lockups and crashes. Latest drivers fixes this issue.
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I have used the program with a Voodoo5, but I have never seen the lockups described here.