PC for FS9

[Slowrider]

Hi all,

Been a long time since my last post (so long in fact I had to create a new account as I had lost my details), but I have been doing a bit of lurking from time to time.

Anyhow, I would like your advice if I could please. Basically, I have been given the green light for a PC upgrade but have a budget of around $1,000. Now, as I see it, by the time you allow for a monitor and operating system in that budget you dont have much left for actual PC. So I have ruled out FSX at this stage, and decided to go with FS9. At the moment I am running FS2002 on a pc that struggles with that, so I have got used to 4-15fps, so anything has to be an improvement over that (and besides for years I have looked jeallously at your screen shots submitted from FS9 whilst I have looked at my FS2002 screen and sighed).

I guess some may say to save up a bit more and spend it to get a good FSX machine. However, I feel a bit bad basically getting a machine to run one piece of software, especially when the money could be going onto the mortgage.

So, I can see lots of P4 3.0+ghz machines on trademe, some with PCI-E slots, some with AGP, that fit the budget. Would this sort of machine deliver a good performance under FS9?

If not, could you suggest a machine on a budget that would suit FS9?

Thanks in advance

[Alex]

Are you able to use the monitor from your current setup comfortably? That might be a way to save some money and put some more towards a higher-spec system.

Alex

[Adamski]

Welcome back!

I'd say - whilst saving money where you can - you really want to "future proof" your system wherever you can. So ... I'd say forget AGP, go for PCI-E. There'll be plenty of cards around now and prices should be dropping.

Amazing as FS9 still is, I'm biased, so would say go for FSX. I ran FS9 for many a year but have to say FSX *is* a significant improvement. If you're currently happy with 4-15fps, then you'll be OK with FSX (which needs a stonker of a machine). *However* ... I'm no real fan of the Vista that came pre-installed on my system. It really is a pile of doggy-poo. Go for XP and eek it out till the next (hopefully better) Win OS comes out. Vista reminds me very much of the dreaded WinMe debacle.

Controllers? If your system is that old, you may still have old gameport devices ... now long gone ... so you may have to set aside something for USB replacements

[creator2003]

Yes a 3.0ghz p4 with a 1 gig of ram and a likes of a 7600gt graphic card will run fs9 no probs ,,i still run on a p4 3.0 ghz with fsx with 3gig ram and a 8600gts card no probs ...

[Slowrider]

Thanks for the advice guys

The old monitor would stay with the old machine as my gf uses it for online RPG's, so I need to gether another monitor. Having said that, a cheap CRT off trademe would allow a bit more spent on the actual system. Thanks Alex

Thanks Adamski for the advice on Vista vs XP, especially on a lower end machine a high demand o/s like Vista would kill it! I have read a few articles now where Vista has been compared to ME, so like you said make XP last as long as you can. It would be nice to go FSX, but I think even though I have got used to low fps, its frustrating at times and think its time for a smoother flying experience. Nothing worse than trying to fly an approach and the fps is down around 4-6 lol.

Cheers Creator, its good to know that a P4 will do the job for me.

Again, thanks all - will let you know how I get on.

Cheers

[Goose]

Do not buy a system off trade me! you WILL be ripped off! Your better off building one from scratch or getting someone to do it for you, plus don't buy from retail stores like dicksmith, they will also over charge you. Check out ww.pricespy.co.nz for cheap computer prices, everything from gfx cards, to monitors. If you dont 't know much about building computers but want to get one from scratch, check out playtech, or maybe etc computers. Failing all of that, i know it is another forums, but if you head over to iconzarena.co.nz and post in the hardware/tech subforum. Some of the guys there will build you a system to your specs for a pretty small price.

[toprob]

QUOTE (Goose @ Nov 2 2008, 09:06 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Do not buy a system off trade me! you WILL be ripped off!

Based on average feedback ratings of long-term computer system builders on Trademe, you will NOT be ripped off 96% of the time. However, these vendors are doing this to make money, and this is normally reflected in the final product -- to compete (i.e. undercut) other vendors, they use cheap components. However if you are careful to choose one who uses reasonable components, then this is a good way to get a cheap system.

Check their feedback! However bear in mind that feedback is normally posted long before the cheap components give up the ghost.

Trademe has a bit of a bad rep for this sort of thing, but as long as you do some research this is as safe as anywhere else.

Another idea is to look for rich kids selling their reasonably new systems before heading off overseas -- you can easily get something which was state-of-the-art six months ago, but for a third of the cost.

[Slowrider]

I know there is a bit of negative feeling out there when it comes to getting PC's off trademe, which may or may not be deserved. I agree totally its very much a case of buyer beware and the quality of some components some vendors may be questionable.

I am not looking at a new machine off trademe, but a second hand one. In this area there are a lot of ex-office type PC's that fit or are close to the specs I am looking for. Some of these are HP's, Dells, etc, which have quite a good reputation when it comes to components.


Cheers for the viewpoint on getting one from Tricky Dicky, appliance stores etc. I had a look at some a few weeks ago, and agree they do seem to have one heck of a premium on them!

[Goose]

a good idea with the trade me systems to ensure you are not being taken for a ride in terms of the price, check out how much the parts are worth on pricespy. Then you can figure out what the system would be worth brand new. I've just seen to many people pay way to much for items on trademe, especially computer parts. Seems to be worse when people get into a bidding war. I once sold a graphics card on there, only wanted around $50 for it, as it was two years old. Bidding took it up to $110, it was only worth $105 brand new, the guy who won it didnt know this so i told him he could take it away for $70. Alot of people on there tho will take anything, especially if the prce gets over inflated. So yeah, i would check out the component prices on pricespy, just to be sure.

either that or put up a link to the systems your looking at and we can advise

[Timmo]

I think $1000 is enough to purchase a second hand computer that can run FSX happily? Mine does and I highly doubt it would sell for $1000

I think the main thing is to get the basics right so that you can upgrade bits and bobs as you get a bit more cash- I.e. A multicore processor but with a cheaper GFX card or less RAM- You can update the GFX card or RAM later. FSX is very much CPU bound so it is important to get a decent CPU- this is also the component that is hardest to upgrade in the future.

I would suggest that even if you do get a computer for FS9, that you try FSX.... you will likely be surprised if you have a multicore machine (my old single core runs it fine)

As mentioned it is also often the screen which takes a big chuck of your budget- There is nothing wrong with a large CRT (except for the bulk of course) so you should be able to find one very cheaply (try to find one locally of course!).....in fact the building next door to my work was getting refitted recently....there were 5 or 6 large CRT monitors that they had just chucked in the skip.

[toprob]

I've been looking at a different way to build a budget system, which relies on some serious upgrading later on.
First, I'd buy a very nice power supply, and a quality motherboard which supports today's high-end processors. Then I'd buy the cheapest CPU which the board supports, some budget RAM, and a cheap PCI-e graphics card.
Then I'd keep saving, and in six months I'd sell the old processor, and buy what is today's high end processor, which should be cheaper by then. Maybe selling the old processor would reduce the cost by only 10%, but that's better than nothing.
Then in another six months, I'd buy a nice grunty graphics card.
Somewhere down the track some nice fast RAM should be cheap enough as well.
This overcomes a couple of problems which a lot of people have. First, it stops you from buying a real budget motherboard, which will handicap you for the rest of the life of your system, and it also gives you a MATCHED system, based on what FSers are getting great performance from now, but you'll just have it later:)
The matched system is designed to prevent bottlenecks -- initially bottlenecks won't be the problem, you'll just get a workable but slow system. Later on, once you get a new processor the graphics card will slow you down, but once you upgrade that then you'll be flying. You won't want the best graphics card which you can buy in a year, as then your CPU will be the bottleneck -- you want to aim for something which is nicely matched today.

[pilotgallagher01]

Also I would suggest you spend the most money on a CPU compared to anything else in your New PC.CPU is the best investment and in reality will be the biggest thing to improve FPS.P4 will work fine with FS9 as people replyed before but anything in FSX I would recommend a Core 2 Duo at least if you want good FPS.You can get some good deals on them Like a 2.66GHZ Core 2 Duo will have way better performance than a 3.00GHZ P4 and these are not very expensive.Have a think and post some Specs up but like I said I would highly suggest you place a CPU a higher priority than any other compoenents.

[Slowrider]

Here is one of the systems I have been considering (its pretty much reflective of other systems I have looked at)

HP DC7100 Gaming + Graphics Workstation P4-3.4Ghz
-Pentium 4-3Ghz Processor with 2GB RAM, 160Gb Hard Drive, DVD Writer
-4 x SATA ports, 1 x 16xPCI-E Graphics Card Slot, 2 x PCI, 1 x Mini PCI-E slot, 4 x DDR Memory Slots
-ATI X1600D 256mb card (yeah not great, but not a bad start)
-Licence: XP Home Edition **Add $50 for XP Pro**
-Six month warranty

This is on a buy now for $495, which seems to be roughly right allowing for no shipping (as its a Christchurch company). Its the DDR400 ram, rather than DDR2. And the HP's tend to be pretty solid component wise.

I have a couple of 19 CRTs on the watchlist, its crazy that people are virtually giving them away - but I dont mind.

If I was going to build a FSX system, my inclination would be E8500 (or higher) core duo - or the Q9550, maybe overclock it a little, 2gb DDR2 ram, 500gb hard drive, a quick PCI-e graphics card and a good solid PSU and case. Oh, and XP pro. I feel the new I7's due out shortly hold a lot of promise for FSX, it will be interesting to see some benchmarks when they finally are released. So with them around the corner, the current processor prices may drop a little, but then when is it ever the right time to buy a PC? I did a bit of quick math on components for an E8500 sytem with a pricebook from CH company, and it came out around $1200inc, without an os.

Until then, $500 I feel is not too bad for a system that will do FS9 quite nicely? Sure its upgrade path is pretty much non-existant, but I think thats reflected in the price.

BTW, like the picture of Tauranga Tower pilotgallagher01 - brings back a few memories