NZFF

Hi, been noticing with every new add on (I cant help myself ) the frame rates get lower and lower. Cant help think about what a new system would be like. Anyway I've been browsing the tech forum here but I want a updated opinion about what is needed to make a good system. Obviously I don't want to spend a lot of money, and want to use as many parts from me old comp too.
Here's my current specs (Don't laugh)

P4 2.8 GHz
1.25 GB Ram DDR
IDE 40 GB HD - Win XP
Sata 160 GB HD - flightsim/other
PCI 256mb FX5200

Not to sure about the other stuff without opening her up but probably not worth mentioning.
Need a new mobo, hasn't got PCIe or AGP so need that, but yeah, I don't have a job yet, want to get into flying for real, so I need all the money I can save, also need to be able to convince little bro to go half's even though his time on the computer is minimal, but with the upgrade maybe he will be able to buy his kind of games.

At the mo just FS9, but i guess FSX is the future, so keep that in mind, also not looking at Vista at all.

Thanks a lot

Nick

Sorry to be a pain but...anyone?

Well in my opinion I wouldn't even start learning to fly. With the massive increase in crude oil and petrol prices (only set to go up and up) it will become a very expensive hobby, very quickly. I wouldn't be surprised to see a lot of smaller airlines going out of business over the next few years. But that is another story completely.

Anyway, onto your computer. I have FS9 with heaps of addons and it almost always runs at 29fps locked. My computer is:

Q6600 Quad Core 2.4GHz
4GB RAM DDR2-800
8800GT 512MB nVidia
3 SATA drives

That's probably what you should aim for. FSX runs ok on my system. I'm a bit miffed at how slow it is, but I guess it was to be expected. I average around 15-25fps with most settings at the high end, but you need to do a cr@p load of tweaking before you can get it to something desirable. For example, if I didn't care about autgoen I'd be flying along, but I want it, so I have to make other sacrafices.

If thats a little over budget I would at least try and get a good Core 2 Duo. In my opinion CPU's are a bargain at the moment for the mid-range user. The "extreme" CPU's cost a bomb, but some of the mid-range like the Quad Q6600 are a bargain for the performance they pump out. You won't see any benefit from extra cores on FS9, but it will come in handy on FSX and most new games. It also speeds up video encoding and related stuffs. RAM is your friend so buy as much as you can (also the faster the better DDR2-800 over DDR2-667 for example). Remember that a 32-bit OS can only handle 4GB MAX. I would buy another SATA disk. Use your 160GB for Windows and get a 250GB or larger for FS and other stuff. They are dirt cheap. Try and get one with 16mb cache. Graphics card wise, you will want to get the 8800GT 512MB or the 8800GTS 640MB. But if you do get the 8800GTS make sure you get the NEW one with the "G92" core. The old version is not as fast by a long shot.

That's about it. My minimum reccomendation would be:

Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 3.00GHz
2GB DDR2-800 (RAM is so cheap now, its not even funny, I would try and get 4GB if possible)
GeForce 8800GT 512MB
Western Digital 7200RPM 16Mb Cache (size up to you)

Please please put as much money into the CPU as you can. MSFS has, and always will be very CPU dependant. MSFS also loves RAM. Its so cheap I might even upgrade to 8GB! Damn only $50 for 2GB!

Hope this helps some.

Forgot to add. The motherboard! Your best bang for buck is probably anything with a P35 chipset (motherboards are usually named after the chipset, for example: Asustek P5K-SE Intel P35 ATX). But please try and find some online reviews of any motherboard you consider purchasing. There a lot of cr@p ones. I would try and stick with Asus/Asustek or Gigabyte.

OK, thanks for this info, having a browse on Ascent, and even though I'm good with computers, its abit hard trying to find everything and matching the parts so it will work. How much did your omp cost BTW if you don't mind me asking?

Oh well I guess I could join the RNZAF.

Nick

Hmm, I think it was around $2000. A little bit more perhaps. But I bought the shebang. Everything for a computer bar the monitor and case, so I got Vista, DVD RW, hdd, fans, etc... Plus the 8800GT was brand new and got almost $200 more than now :/

Quick question, the 8800GTS's say 512mb DDR3. Does that mean I have to have DDR3 ports in my motherboard? Don't think it does but could be wrong?

NZ255 wrote:

QUOTE (NZ255 @ Mar 16 2008, 03:54 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Quick question, the 8800GTS's say 512mb DDR3. Does that mean I have to have DDR3 ports in my motherboard? Don't think it does but could be wrong?

You can't get a 8800GTS 512mb? Do you mean the 8800GT? Anyway, that just means the graphics card uses its own DDR3 memory. Nothing to do with motherboard. By the way, you will also want to invest in a power supply. Something around 500w should do it, but make it a decent brand like Enermax, Zalman, Thermaltake, etc...

Check out the price on
www.pricespy.co.nz

For $1251, you will get the following
Core 2 Duo Q6600
4GB DDR2 800
700W Enermax Liberty PSU
Geforce 8800GT
Asus P5N-E SLI
500GB SATA2 HDD

You may need a case depending on your current one.

This is a very nice gaming pc

Depending on whether or not you feel comfortable putting it together or not, another 100-150$ will be needed for a computer shop to do it. Nothing major though