System recommendations for FS9

[Guest JNS]

Hi. I've been away from the flightsim hobby for awhile, but just bought FS9 and need some advice. First, I installed it on my existing computer (AMD 700MHz,98SE, 384 RAM, Nvidia TNT2 Ultra) and it actually performed fairly decently. I'm now looking to upgrade and was wondering if there are any recommended ready-to-go sytems (Dell, HP, Sony, etc.) (prefer AMD)that will successfully run FS9 with sliders maxed or almost so. If not, could someone recommend an AMD processor, motherboard, and video card that is considered pretty foolproof? Also, if possible, I would like to be able to use my present non-USB CH Flight Yoke and Thrustmaster pedals so I guess I would need some kind of gameport adapter card if available. Any suggestions on this?Any information to get me going on this would be greatly appreciated.Thanks very much.

[Maxis 1,886]

Since your so Adamandtly AMD hehe ill try to see if i can suggest an AMD platform with the following Specs to look for. I wont get into suggested Mainboardsand other details because I presume you WONT be building this rig yourself but rather buying it from the more popular retailersCPUAMD Athlon 64 3200 (around 280 dollars)If you need Cheaper Get the Athlon 64 3000Memory512 to 1Gig of Ram (not sure of the type needed for AMD setupsGraphics Cards (NEVER BUY INTEGRATED GRPAHICS!!! This is where Dell/sony/gateway and others get cheap)Look for:ATI Radeon 9600 or 9800 pro or XT Second Option Geforce FX 5700ultra or 5900SE/XT or 5950 Ultra

[Guest JNS]

Thanks for the advice. Actually, I'm not totally locked into AMD, but have had great luck on the last 3 computers I built, so I'm not quite sure on AMD vs. Pentium. I guess I asked about ready-built systems because I was feeling a little lazy at the time ;) . Your suggestions turned out to be what I had pretty much decided to go with. The motherboard, I guess, is the big question, but I think I might go with the Gigabyte GA-K8NNXP unless someone suggests something better, that is if I stay on the AMD route. BTW,what sound card is the popular one now?Thanks,

[Ray Proudfoot 9,038]

Jeff,I've found by experience that you have to keep an open mind when deciding on a new computer especially which processor to go for. Last time (2 years ago) I chose AMD as the Athlon has a clear advantage over the Pentium. However, this time around the Intel P4 has the advantage and should form the basis of your new system especially with a FSB of 800MHz.You don't say how much you want to spend and without knowing which country you live in recommendations are difficult.I've just ordered the components for my new system rather than buy a pre-build package from Dell etc. In descending order of importance this is where you should spend your money...1. Processor - P4 2.8 or faster.2. Graphics card - Radeon 9800 Pro.3. Memory - PC3200 DDR for a 800FSB mobo.4. Operating system - XP Home.5. Hard drive - Western Digital Raptor 37Gb.6. Motherboard - MSI, Gigabyte or Asus.The Intel P4 3.0Ghz 800FSB is reasonably priced. I've always had confidence in MSI mobos. The 875P chipset is the current leader. Asus also come recommended.The graphics card was a difficult choice for me as I've always chosen nVidia. However, this time around ATI Radeon is the best card with the 9800Pro 128Mb card representing the best performance in FS2004.FS2004 requires lots of memory and 1Gb should be considered the optimum. If money is tight go for 512Mb. Make sure you choose DDR matched pairs.The next recommedation is difficult. You want to use your existing gameport hardware but XP Home doesn't support the gameport. But, it is a much better OS than Windows 9x or Me. I'll leave that up to you.Hard drives improve loading time but don't improve frame rates. SATA drives are now appearing and the Western Digital 37Gb Raptor is one of the fastest around with a spin speed of 10,000rpm.Hope that helps.

[Guest Staggerwing]

>The next recommedation is difficult. You want to use your existing gameport hardware but XP Home doesn't support the gameport. But, it is a much better OS than Windows 9x or Me. I'll leave that up to you.Just to add a note.... I'm using the ASUS P4C800E Deluxe MB and also the supplied ASUS gameport with XP Home. Working well with my old CH Products FlightStick Pro / Pro Pedals.Needed to download a helper program from CH Products so that my controls were listed in the XP controller setup.Yes, when it's time to replace controllers, I'll be getting USB, but I have no complaints until then.BTW, I also use steering wheel with pedals and they work also :-)Best,

[Guest captandy]

I was going to build my own rig, but decided against it due to the warranty factor and the $$$ we only a few hundred off.I am extremely happy with ABS PC's they are totally optimized for gaming and their customer support is great.My specs below I run FS9 full maxed with simflyers/PMDG/UT without a hiccup.Andy

[Roger Jay 0]

Ray,I'm also planning a rebuild targeted at Flight Sims based on roughly your plans, I'd appreciate your opinion of the use of RAID array discs. I've found conflicting information on the Web as to whether there is any perfomance benefit from using RAID 0.Regards,Roger

[Maxis 1,886]

The general raid setups on the intel Canterwood and Sprindale boardsie 875 or 865 chipset would be sata controller based. Which promises faster data transfer... especially in a RAID striping setup. For this you would need two similar sata drives.However if you want ide raid, which i think would be slower than sata raid then you may have to get an ide raid controller as only some of the mainboards have them onboard as well as the standard sata raid example =(Asus p4p800 deluxe/ Asus p4c800 deluxe can handle sata or ide raid setups)If your not a raid fan.. theres always scsi (you will need a scsi controller and Scsi drive)

[Ray Proudfoot 9,038]

Roger,Whilst the benefits of RAID-0 are often lauded with faster load times, the drawbacks sometimes aren't mentioned. Being the cautious type I'm reluctant to go down the RAID-0 path. The problem is that if one drive becomes corrupted then no data can be retrieved from either unit. Double pain!If I were to consider any RAID system it's more likely to be RAID-1 but I need to keep the cost of my system down and this is one luxury I can do without.Let's face it. Once FS2004 is loaded the load time for relatively small amounts of data isn't that critical and if you keep your frame rate locked to sensible limits the system has the spare capacity to load data without incurring any negative efects on performance.Cheers,

[Guest dario_carbone]

well..im getting my system sometime this week...ive ordered it all but one peice is keeping the order behind. basically here is my system specs..AMD Athlon 2800+Corsair PC3200 512MB DDRamAsus A7V600-X MotherboardATI Sapphire Radeon 9800 ProWestern Digital Caviar 80GB HDD 8MB BufferCreative Audigy 2 Sound Card 5.1 ZSZalman CNPS7000A-CU CPU FanEnermax 350W PSModded Enermax CaseI paid 1144 Euros..most components ordered over the net (italian sites) and im quite happy bout the price. The mobo has just arrived to the shops so thats good. I would choose a good graphics card like the 9800 ( pro/not pro/se...then it all depends on frequencies...SE although coming with 4 rendring pielines can be opened to the 9800's 8. the normal 9800 can be overclocked to a pro and the pro can be overclocked to reach..even more excellent specs...consider also that the 9800 Pro 128mb ram performs overall a bit better than the 9800 Pro 256mb ram so you save bout 150 euros). Then go for pc3200 or more ram as its better than the 2700 ones. Processor 2800+ is great and 3200 is even better but costs more ;) although overclocking can be done to the 2800+ to reah bout 3000+. Get a good hard drive, 80/120gb is good..dont get anything smaller as youll find yourself out of space in little time...and get 8mb buffer ones ;). I chose the Zalman as its the best of the best :-shy and paid for it too (abut 72 euros with shipment) and i assure you its worth it, weighs almost 1kg and made of copper..looks way cooler than all the other normal CPU fans and performs many times better :D The power supply also is very important..i preferred to go for a 350enermax (paid 45euros) instead of a cologen (or whatever its called whihc was 400w and i would have only had to pay less than the 350w enermax) since enermax one is more reliable and "better". The case...well thats up to you if you want to show off your PC and whats inside or just keep to a normal no window case.ciao,Dario

[Guest JNS]

Well, gang, I did it today. I ended up going with an AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (approx. 3.2GHz.),380W/15A PS, Gigabyte K8NPro nForce 3 mobo, 1G Crucial Tech. PC3200 RAM, 40G Maxtor HD for system and misc., 80G Maxtor HD for sim programs, ATI Radeon 9800 Pro 128MB, Windows XP Pro OS. Thanks to all for your recommendations. Ray, I purchased this before I read your post, but I've always had good luck with AMD and decided to go with it again. Hopefully it won't let me down, but if I do decide to change for some reason I will definitely consider your setup. As for the gameport, the mobo has that built in so I'm planning on using that for my CH Yoke and Thrustmaster pedals. If it doesn't work I can always go to a sound card w/gameport or, worst case, replace the controllers with USB types. The HDs have 2 MB buffers, frankly didn't think about the buffer size so we'll see how that works out. I think it will be a good system and I pray that it's all working when I get it. I'm having it assembled for me. Again thanks,Jeff

[Ray Proudfoot 9,038]

Jeff,That looks a pretty decent system and I'm sure you'll be delighted with the results in FS2004. USB devices are much more accurate than gameport ones but i understand you have to stop somewhere.My case arrived today - just need the rest of the components now.Cheers,

[Roger Jay 0]

Ray,Thanks for your comments, perhaps I'll spend the budget in other directions at the moment. I'll try & keep the RAID option open for possible use in the future.Regards,Roger.

[Guest Wichita]

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,3973,1426439,00.aspDon't get taken in by the raw speed myth,AMD proves its a falicy daily. The Athlon64 3200 can be had for $282.00,the P4 3.2 gig is $385.00--this isn't the extreme edition,that CPU goes for almost a grand.These are retail boxes that carry the 3 year warranty. The Athlon64 3400 goes for about $429.00--about $60.00 cheaper than the P4 3400 which are still hard to find in stock.David

[Guest Wichita]

>Roger,>>Whilst the benefits of RAID-0 are often lauded with faster>load times, the drawbacks sometimes aren't mentioned. Being>the cautious type I'm reluctant to go down the RAID-0 path.>The problem is that if one drive becomes corrupted then no>data can be retrieved from either unit. Double pain!>>If I were to consider any RAID system it's more likely to be>RAID-1 but I need to keep the cost of my system down and this>is one luxury I can do without.>>Let's face it. Once FS2004 is loaded the load time for>relatively small amounts of data isn't that critical and if>you keep your frame rate locked to sensible limits the system>has the spare capacity to load data without incurring any>negative efects on performance.>>Cheers,Yeah,totally agree. The average simmer will rarely ever need a RAID setup on their computer,total waste of money IMO,just keep your important files burnt to CD. Spend the money that you save on a faster CPU,and the rest on a HD that has a rotation speed of 7200 or faster and the 8mb cache instead of 2mb.A RAID setup will give you some bragging rights,although your friends will think your talking about the bug spray.It won't make COF fly any smoother.David