FS9 and Computer Specs

[DavidPowell]

I'm trying to get some help on computer specs- after finally having persuaded the boss that I should get a new computer so that FS runs
better than on my current rusty laptop - but need to make sure that the new one hits the spot. I'm trying to get good performance, but
within a budget. How does the spec below look?

I'd be grateful for any help or comments.

Regards

David

Sapphire ATI Radeon X300SE 256MB Hypermemory, PCI-E, DVI, TV Out, Retail (64Mb Native, 256Mb Shared) £49.83
1024MB DDR400 PC3200 RAM (elixir brand) £64.62
Asus P5GDC Deluxe Skt775 i915P 'Grantsdale' chipset 800FSB, PCI Express slot, DDR & DDR2 Dual Ch 8ch. Audio, SATA RAID, Gigabit
LAN Firewire A ATX £89.83
Intel Pentium® 4 531 3.0GHz 800FSB LGA 775 CPU EM64T with 1MB cache Retail inc.Fan (3 year warranty) £124.16
17" Daewoo L1711MN 10ms Multimedia TFT Monitor, 500:1 with DVI and Height Adjustable stand (3yr Onsite) £146.94
Panasonic SW-9585 16x +/- Dual Layer DVD Writer OEM £26.58
Zorro-x Midi Tower Black 400W + clear side panel + 1 int. fan +USB2.0 +audio ports ATX +UK power lead £26.97
Microsoft Windows XP Pro 64 (oem) ( WINDOWS-KEY IS DISPLAYED ON OUTER PACKAGING, PLEASE KEEP SAFE) software may not
be returned or refunded £97.98

[NLRalph]

David,

The specs are good, maybe you can buy a other video card. Intern memory is also good but maybe you can 2048 mb of intern ram (for
later addons ect.) The TFT screen sound nice, but sony nec, yiliomana ect. has more expirience with games.

Serial ata good choise, its the future and can read your harddisk more fasten then the old IDE drive.

Windows 64 bit good choice but there are some problemens with windows 64 and FS2004 ( FS2004 is a 32 bit app)
but maybe they give not all information you can better try it.

Also required is enough USB ports, i have 8 ports allmost full (headphone, Pedals, Trothle, Sim Yoke, ect.) flying with a joystick is must
easyer than with the keyboard.

I advice 1 more of 2 more vans for keep your pc cool, how cooler the pc how faster your pc react.

[Sovek]

double post



Post Edited ( 09-06-05 15:30 )

[Sovek]

alright, Right off the bat I see two problems, one is the video card, get at least an NVIDIA 6600GT. The X300 is not a gamers card. Second, go AMD for
a flight sim computer. Dont forget that FS is a game, and AMD is well known to slap Intel up and down the board on gaming, that and its cheaper and
cooler. This is not a biased suggestion, its a fact, If you were doing heavy multi-tasking I would recommend the Intel with HT technology in a heart
beat. Third, Dont waste money on more RAM, 1gig is plenty, and will be for a while, if anything more RAM will just slow down your computer.

Recommended specs

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ (would go with a San Deigo core 3700+) $219/$273
MSI K8N NEO4 (or DFI Lanparty board that supports Skt 939) $85/$123
1Gig of PC3200 DDR RAM (research RAM timings, best out there is 2-2-5) $100
Nvidia 6600GT or ATI X700 $150/$100 (please research each cards clocks and preformance before buying, if going 6600GT buy Giga-byte, they overclock nicly)
And on top of that, buy a PSU, one that is very trustworthy, PSU's that come with cases are notorious for for blowing up and taking very expensive
peices of hardware with them.

With the above specs your computer would scream, with all the sliders turned up to max.

[Ryanamur]

Sovek wrote:
alright, Right off the bat I see two problems, one is the video card, get at least an NVIDIA 6600GT. The X300 is not a gamers card.
Second, go AMD for
a flight sim computer. Dont forget that FS is a game, and AMD is well known to slap Intel up and down the board on gaming, that and its
cheaper and
cooler. This is not a biased suggestion, its a fact, If you were doing heavy multi-tasking I would recommend the Intel with HT technology
in a heart
beat. Third, Dont waste money on more RAM, 1gig is plenty, and will be for a while, if anything more RAM will just slow down your
computer.

Recommended specs

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ (would go with a San Deigo core 3700+) $219/$273
MSI K8N NEO4 (or DFI Lanparty board that supports Skt 939) $85/$123
1Gig of PC3200 DDR RAM (research RAM timings, best out there is 2-2-5) $100
Nvidia 6600GT or ATI X700 $150/$100 (please research each cards clocks and preformance before buying, if going 6600GT buy Giga-
byte, they overclock nicly)
And on top of that, buy a PSU, one that is very trustworthy, PSU's that come with cases are notorious for for blowing up and taking very
expensive
peices of hardware with them.

With the above specs your computer would scream, with all the sliders turned up to max.

I just upgraded from a X300 to a Leadtek Geforce 6600 TD. Stay away from that one. It's much better quality of graphic (all maxed and still
getting above 20fps with Ultimate Terrain and Ultimate Traffic (both maxed). Now, bang for the buck it's good but it's not as good as an
original Nvidia sister (500 mhz for memory and 1Ghz for graphic; Leadtek is 300/400).

[Sovek]

Ive never heard good good things out of leadtek, cheap yeah, but youll pay for it later. Sapphire and Giga-Byte are good video card makers.

If you do go Giga-byte, be sure your replace that lousy fan it has, can kill your video card, get an Artic Cooler, keeps my card nice and cool.

[fruitfly]

Sovek wrote:

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ (would go with a San Deigo core 3700+) $219/$273

I have 3700+ with OC'd 2500+ Mobile!



Post Edited ( 09-06-05 23:38 )

[hughie503]

6800 for sure it has 12 pipelines as a 6600gt has 8 and its more or less the saem price, xfx 6800 is a good choice and get a zalman cooler thats like
170 for the card and then 30 for the cooler. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814150068 thats a great deal of a 6800 and the
zalman cooler right here http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6835118117

[DavidPowell]

Thanks for your help everyone.

David