computer for flight sim set up

[Guest]

hi guysi was thinking of getting a computer 'exclusively' for flight simulator,do any of you guys have a set up which you just use exclusively for flight simming, whats the concensus out there:-) :-wave

[Guest]

What exactly do mean by "exclusively for flight simming" Im guessing that you mean a gaming computer :)I build computers, gaming computers for me and my gaming friends and also the regular run-of-the-mill generic computers for the other kinds of users out there :-kewlActually you can get a real good flight simming system for under $1000.00 dollars but if you are like me you'll want to make sure that you get the good hardware. Good hardware equals good frame rates which equals great fun. I use AMD-CPUs and DDR ram for everything. Since AMD and Intel both make great CPUs, its just a personal choice then, to me if you get a new type of motherboard also know as mobo. Your best type of hardware will be a good video card, I use the GF4 but the new ATI 9700pro will out do anything on earth right at this moment. But the ATI 9700pro is real expensive if you are on a budgetbut if you are willing to spend some dough then get one, you'll be glad you did.If not then get a new GF4-TI 4600 this will play any game and any sim with out a hiccup. The ATI 9700pro will more then likely require a lot of maintenance on your part to get it to play everything correctly. With that I mean the card and your particular system might need a special driver to use, which can be DL from a web site called Rage3D.Anyway, good luck with your new computer. If you have any more questions just fire away :) SJ

[Guest]

hithanks for your comprehensive reply,actually i have a P3800 256 ram SD133 win 98SE GForce 2MX 64Meg setupi was thinkin of having a computer just for flight simming,yep nothing else on it expect flight simualtor and related party stuff,i would use my other computer for surfing the web, word processing, chatting etc etc, i already have two monitors sitting on my desk so i only need another computer, but perhaps a third monitor if i want to undock stuffbut i was going to wait 8 - 9 months and buy a computer then just in time for FS2004 :9what do you think??

[Guest]

Actually there are a couple of issues here that need taking into consideration.The questions is do you want to run only MSFS (2K or 2K2) on your systems or do you plan to run other sims too?The reason why I am saying this is because the latest two MSFS editions are CPU power and RAM hungry.The equasion is rather simple:* The more raw CPU power you have the more FPS you get. * The more RAM (preferrably a fast RAM type like DDR) the smoother the sim runs because it does not need to swap to the hard-dsic or reload so often.The graphics card is of secondary role in this scenario. You will not get better performance with a High-End graphics card on FS2K or FS2k2. Therefore if your intentions are to only run this sim, you might as well stick with a less performing card (GF3 TI series for example) or go for a GF4 4200 TI which is a lot cheaper than a 4400 or 4600 TI, but gives you in FS the same image quality.Next you need to consider the Operating system to use. I have recently migrated from 98SE running with 256 MB DDR ram on a PIV 1.7 to XP Pro SP1. I have noticed a drop in performance and smoothness of the sim since XP eats a lot more system resources (=RAM) than WIN98 SE and have subsequently decided to extend my RAM to 1GIG, 512 MB should be ok too IMHO.If you plan to run other sims (or other games) on your machine too then I would go for a high end graphics card (GF4 4600 TI or Radeon 9700), if not stick with a sensible solution and invest the money saved there into a fast mobo/CPU/RAM configuration. The choice of Intel or AMD concerning CPU is a personal one, but given the fact that similar performance is achieved up to the 2.5 GHZ segment currently for almost identical cost between the two I would currently pick an INTEL based system since you will have less troubles with the Mobo chipsets to set up your system right (AMD Mobos use predominatly VIA chipsets which can be a bit tricky).Hope that helps...

[Cruachan 705]

>512 MB should be ok too IMHOIt sure is......My System Spec:Gigabyte GA-8IRXP MoBoIntel Pentium 4 2.2A512MB Crucial PC2100 DDR Ram3D Blaster4 Ti4400 (Creative's 30.82 driver variants tweaked with RivaTuner LOD -0.1 and Anisotropy forced level 8)SB Audigy Player (Drivers version 5.12.01.0253 Signed)Deskstar 120GXP UDMA100 HDs x 2 (60 and 40 Gig)CH Products USB Yoke, Pedals and FighterstickPlantronics Headset and Mike comboPlexWriter 40/12/40APioneer DVD-106SWindows XP Home Edition (SP1)DirectX 8.1Mike :-wave

[Guest ccgr]

check out the higher end systems (Cheetah, Cougar)on my site and let me know if I can help you out any. I really don't play many fligh sims but these systems can mroe than handle the latest FPS games like UT2003 and the upcoming DOOM 3.

[Guest]

""""The graphics card is of secondary role in this scenario. You will not get better performance with a High-End graphics card on FS2K or FS2k2. Therefore if your intentions are to only run this sim, you might as well stick with a less performing card (GF3 TI series for example) or go for a GF4 4200 TI which is a lot cheaper than a 4400 or 4600 TI, but gives you in FS the same image quality.""""I totally disagree. You need both a high end processor and and high end graphics card together with high end ram to make this sim run well with all the eye candy it has to offer.If you go with a less capable graphics card and want good IQ, you won't get it. If you try to push a less capable graphics card to hard, you'll lose framerates. A high end graphics card will take the burden off the CPU so it can do what it needs to do. Run the sim. All you need to do is read the posts around here about turning on AA and AF. Why do you think the framerates goes all to heck when these features are turned on. Simple, the graphics card is not capable of doing all the work, hence the processor gets the extra burden and everything slows down.I can turn on all those features with the 9700 and the framerate in the sim stays put, the terrain is drawn all the way to the horizon and there's no blurs anywhere. Not even at Mach1 on the deck. Everything displays correctly. Why, cause the 9700 is the only video card available right now that can handle the work without dumping it on the processor. Here's hoping the NV30 will do the same.BTW; I have my PIV 2.53 9700 dedicated to flight sims only. Right now, FS2002, CFS2 & IL2. Everything screams and everything is completely stable. Nothing but XP Home Edition, a photoshop program and flight sims on it. Also have a NIC card and she's hooked up to the internet via cable modem through a router with its own built in firewall. Email is disabled. I download nothing but airplanes and other flightsim stuff from trusted sites only and I will not put Norten virus scanner or any other like junk on it. I use my PIII800 GTS64 384mb sdram to scroll the net, to check questionable downloads, for email, word, etc. and it has an always uptodate Norten scanner working. It also has all the above sims on it; but they struggle somewhat; but for the most part work just fine with much lower quality graphics available.

[Guest]

mgdbottled thx for that information,i have a P3 800 as well currently hooked up to two monitorsgeez i love 2 monitors :9 anyone who can afford it and has the place, go get urself another monitoranyway yes i am thinkin of upgrading to a P4 2.5+ in the near future exclusively for FS 2002 and related stuff,as you said mgdbottled i intend to use my current P3 800 set up for downloading, surfing and doing other menial stuff