O/T Hardware advice

[Datalink 26]

Hello CaptainsAfter purchasing the -400X FS has gotten interesting again, at least for me, and would like to increase my performance by getting a new machine.I've just been messing round on the dell.co.uk site and have customised a system that I think may be ok for FSX, and would just like some input/advice from you folks. I read through the -400x documentmenation and recommendation and the system would be using Windows XP rather than vista.The machine:Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 (2.33Ghz/1333Mhz/4MB Cache)Win XP pro2048MB 667Mhz Dual Channel DDR SDRAM500GB HDD256MB nVidia GeForce 8600GTDoes this sound like a reasonable system? should I increase the RAM more? Anyone running a similar system, if so, how's the performance?Thanks for any advice

[Tabs 2,790]

I would try to get a Quad Core (Q6600) CPU and get an 8800GT 512MB vid card. 256MB will choke if you set the texture resolution up high and the 8600 is a much slower chipset than the 8800s...

[Guest Erups]

Memory specs do not affect performance as much as they do affect price.I am thinking about 4gigs of low spec'd ram, instead of 2gigs of mid spec'd.I second the above opinion on the 8800, for budget purposes an Ati 2600 XT (512mb gddr3 if available) could also be a nice bargain for the money (they go much cheaper then corresponding Nvidia series).

[jhbchristopher 0]

AlaisterI just bought the exact machine, only difference being I added 4gb of memory, a new 500w power supply and the new 8800gt card. I just got it up and going this weekend and am still trying to figure out settings and tweaks. Right now the FPS with the queen are pretty low, almost not acceptable, I'm thinking it has to do with the set up though as fps with default aircraft are not much higher. My email is jhbchristopher@sbcglobal.net if you have any questions.