I've been out of the FS Loop for a bit. I love FSX but it doesn't run worth a crap on my current system (AMD64 3200 / 2GB Ram / Geforce 6800 128mb base), and I've grown tired of FS2004.I spotted this system on sale for a reasonable price, and I was wondering what kind of performance I could expect with FSX SP1, and what settings I could get away with. I realize the Video Card is a bit weak, though I figure a 7350 is still better than my current 6800, and it is on a PCI-E 16x port so I can upgrade to something down the road. It seems the PC will have a #### of a lot of processing power with the Quad Core Duo2 6600. Anyhow here's the specs, could someone give me an honest evaluation of what I could expect? Oh and I know it's an HP, but it's an ASUS motherboard, only thing onboard is sound.====================================Released 25 Jun/07. This powerful HP M8120N is equipped with an Intel's Core 2 Quad Processor Q6600, 3GB DDR memory, 640GB (320G x 2) SATA Hard Drive, Dual Layer 16X DVD+/-RW drive, GeForce 7350 graphics card and TV tuner. With Windows Vista Premium and Quad core (4 processing cores), the HP M8120N is perfect for multi-tasking and multi-user environments. More Info WebID: 10089682 Mfr. Part Number: GC674AA#ABA Processor Type Intel Core 2 Quad 6600 Processor Processor Speed 2.4GHz RAM 3GB PC5300 DDR2 SDRAM (Exp. To 8GB) Hard Drive 640GB SATA 7200RPM Optical Drives Dual Layer 16X DVD+/-RW With LightScribe Graphics Card GeForce 7350LE, 128MB Up To 623MB Shared Available Expansion Bays 1 x 5.25", 1 x HP Personal Media Drive Available Expansion Slots No Cache 2 x 4MB L2 Disk Drive HP Personal Media Drive Fax/Modem 56K Modem I/O Ports See The Features Section Included Software See The Features Section Monitor Included? No Network Card Integrated 10/100/1000 Other Control Devices HP Keyboard, Optical Mouse, Remote Preloaded Operating System Windows Vista Premium Sound Card Yes Speakers No System Bus 1066MHz Front Side Bus Warranty 1 Year Limited Hardware

Apart from the video card, it all looks great. Take a look at this link http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_200...2=721&chart=293 to see just how pathetic a 7300 card is compared to your current "old" 6800 - not even half as fast in FSX!Either ditch the 7300 before you buy it (if you can), or put something descent and DX10 capable in there as soon as you get your system (eg. 8600, or an 8800 if you have the cash). The you can either throw the 7300 in the trash or sell it on eBay.Gary

Well I found a better setup for less money (minus tv tuner and crap I don't need).How about this one? Video card is an X1650 256mb, which gives double the fps of the 7350, and again I can always upgrade to a nice DX10 card once the DX10 patch is out (and the dx10 cards are cheaper).----Designed with Intel Viiv technology, the Aspire E700 is the ultimate digital home centerpiece. Its Intel Core 2 Quad Processor blows through processor-intensive tasks in the demanding multitasking environments and makes the most highly threaded applications. More Info WebID: 10089644 Mfr. Part Number: ASE700-EQ662A Processor Type Intel Core 2 Q6600 Quad Processor Speed 2.4GHz RAM 2048MB DDR2 RAM (Up to 4GB) Hard Drive 500GB 7200RPM Optical Drives DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Graphics Card See The Features Section Available Expansion Bays 1 x 5.25", 4 x 3.5" Available Expansion Slots See The Features Section Cache 8MB L2 Disk Drive No Fax/Modem No I/O Ports See The Features Section Included Software See The Features Section Monitor Included? No Network Card Gigabit LAN Other Control Devices USB Keyboard, Mouse Preloaded Operating System Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Sound Card High-Def Audio 7.1-Channel Audio Support Speakers No System Bus 1066MHz Warranty 1 Year Parts & Labour More InformationFEATURES:Acer Empowering Technology: Enhances system performance, reduce noise, protect data, and make recovery easy.Acer ePerformance Management offers you a simple-to-use tool to optimize your PCs performance.Acer eDataSecurity Management offer Acer PC users greater personal data security and encryption for files and data transmitted via instant messaging and email.Acer eRecovery Management provides you with an easy, reliable and safe means of restoring your computer to its factory default state.Integrated Graphics Card: ATI Radeon X1650 256MB (512MB Hypermemory) PCI-E 16X Video Card; delivers stunning 3D graphics, excellent performance, and all the extensive features of a high-end graphics processor.9-in-1 card reader, supporting CompactFlash (Type I and II), IBM Microdrive, MultiMediaCard (MMC), Secure Digital (SD), SmartMedia, xD-Picture card, Memory Stick PRO, Memory StickAvailable Expansion Slots: 1 x PCI Express X16, 3 x PCI V2.3 (5V), 1 x PCI Express X1I/O Ports: 8 x USB 2.0 (Front and Back), Headphone And Microphone Jacks, 2 x IEEE 1394 Port (4-Pin), PS/2 Keyboard And Mouse Ports, Ethernet (RJ-45) Jack, 6 x Audio Jacks, VGA Port, Parallel Port, Serial Port

That's much better, but I'd be concerned that a pre-packaged computer like this (or the previous one) has an adequate enough power supply to handle a good DX10 video card when you get one. Any idea of how may Watts the power supply can deliver?Gary

Well I picked it up, I'll have to look into the PS but if its inadequate I'll just have to pick up a new one. On to installing FSX.

Well, worst comes to worst you can run a DX10 like an 8600 with whatever power supply your system comes with. Hope it all goes well. Let us know how you go!Gary

Will do, thanks for the advice btw.So far after installing FSX and doing the default flight, I already notice a massive improvement in smoothness over my old system. Just doing a defrag and downloading SP1 right now.

Well I can definately say I'm happy with the upgrade. I have my settings to lock 20fps / 1280x1024x32 / driver 2x AA / In sim and driver AF 16x / advanced animations on / highest global texture settings / scenery textures 1m / dense scenery / normal autogen / water high 1.0x / default weather settings / medium low traffic. It is exceptionally rare to see the framerates drop below 20 fps, the only time I did see this was flying around Manhatten. Considering on my old system I would get like 10-15 fps in Manhatten with FS2004 I'm quite happy with this.I can definately see the video card is the weak link, which I knew from the start. However it does the job well enough, it just means I can't turn on the 2.0 water or max out everything. So for $1000 this is probably my cheapest, yet best computer upgrade yet. Oh and it's nice to be back to ATI, no longer do I get flickering screens and other crap my Geforce card gave me (no matter what the drivers).Now to read up on the tweaks etc., esp on the multi core stuff which I know next to nothing about...

That's great to hear David! I would have though you would have been OK with water 2.x low. Maxing everthing out has more to do with CPU than video card and even the Q6600, as splendiferous as it is with all four cores thumping along, is not quite enough to tame the FSX beast - perhaps the next gen CPUs at 4GHz+ oct core will do it :-).One suggestion I do have is to try setting your FPS lock to unlimited, as those with fast systems like yours report much better FPS with it unlimited and generally no side effects (ie. blurries, stuttering).Gary

Thanks DavidFor me this is a very interesting thread as I too looked at the first hp system and then more closely at the acer system because of cost factor. I haven't gone through with the purchase yet, probably will this weekend. Please let me know your findings good or bad.Thanks

Hello Fastdraw,I'm assuming you're looking at getting it at Futureshop too then.The Acer is definately your better bet, it has the same processor, and a better video card for $300 less. And it's not an HP :(So far I've had reasonably good performance, but not the greatest. The video card definately can't handle the 2.0 water, and I'm having troubles with massive stuttering with a lot of clouds. However I can get good framerates flying the "Jet City" mission around Seattle with Dense scenery and medium autogen, with highway traffic at 10% etc. I'm going to try some tweaking this weekend and see how it does. With Futureshop you can return a computer for a full refund within 14 days of purchase, so if I don't get much out of tweaking I will do that. I'll let you know.

Yep, good old Futureshop.It's kinda of nice to be able to return it if it's not up to your liking. At my FS they have the hp quad with a hd power supply and an nv8800 onto a 26 in hd monitor. FSX is smooooooooth as silk.Good luck with your tweaks!

I saw that HP coming out, but its $700 more than this one. You can get the Acer and the same card at futureshop for $1350. The Acer only has a 300w power supply though, so that card won't run in it unfortunately. I may pick up an 8600 or ATI x1950 to swap with the x1650.

Well I swapped the video card for a new one, I ended up picking up an EVGA Geforce 8600 GT from Futureshop. The results so far are quite impressive. I have framerates locked at 35 now, and even with a decent amount of scenery and AI they stay fairly steady.

Well David, I am a couple of steps behind you.Yesterday I went to buy the acer. Can try it for 14 days. Installed vista, quite nifty I guess, no dvds, nothing.Installed fsx and trainz two of my favs. Trainz has the 'jerks' like he.l. Fsx was fine until I added utusa, then studders, but utusa doesn't load, textures are still deserts.Could I load my xp onto this machine, do you know how, a bit scared of vista for compatability?Later