...but will it run FSX? :)

[turner112 52]

Ok, so - I've sort of found myself with a faster computer than my Celeron 1.2.I've been loaned, for an indeterminate duration, a Dell Precision 380.From what I can tell, it has a sticker on it that says Pentium D, it's a dual 3.2, 4 gigs of ram (3.2 available) and a NVIDIA Quadro FX 540 card.I see that card is only 128MB.Maybe it's a stupid question, but as I've seen lots of concern about the idea that not even high-end systems can run FSX that well, relatively speaking. I suppose this is possibly "higher-end" if not high end.I'll say this: FS9 runs fine essentially maxed out. I don't know the most detailed airport/area, but flying through NY City with everything all the way up, I stayed around 24 fps.So... I'm wondering if I should go drop some cash on FSX, and possibly (at some point) a better graphics card?Any help appreciated.Andrew

[turner112 52]

Anyone?I'm not good at analyzing this stuff...thxAndrew

[Bob Scott 7,720]

Doubt that low-end FX540 video card is going to do you much good with FS. The nVidia Quadro cards are designed for business multimonitor support...they're great for spreadsheets spread out over multi monitors, but pack nowhere near the GPU power the GeForce based cards bring to bear on Direct3D apps like MSFS. 128MB of VRAM is going to be a problem, especially for FSX.For either FS9 or FSX I'd recommend an nVidia 78xx or 79xx based card. 256MB of VRAM minimum...512MB if you can.That said, FSX is going to require some compromises on a 3.2GHz Pentium D no matter what kind of video support you have.CheersBob ScottATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-V L-300Santiago de Chile

[turner112 52]

Thanks Bob.Well - so far, so good; the machine runs FS9 really nicely, and I may upgrade the card and stick with that.CheersAndrew