Will My Pc Handle Fs9/fsx?

[CAPTAIN_CARESS 0]

Hi,I'm long due a new system, my old one has fried up and so I've been out of the FS game for a while now and am eager to get back in with a new PC. Can someone please advise me if the following specs will serve me well? I intend on using FS9 primarily, however I'm also wondering if I would be able to use FSX too? I'm looking for good frames in FS9 with all sliders maxed and a PC which will last me for some time with regards to flightsim. Here are the specs...-AMD ATHLON

[bobbyjack 61]

I think you went for an AMD because they are less expensive, but intel is really better.Any thing over 4GB might be wasted.GTX280 not needed for FSSound card not neede with modern MB.In any event you should have no trouble with FS9. FSX can be a problem for eveyone depending on what you want.Bob

[ryanbatc 12,833]

Yeah 8GB is overkill. I wonder who set up that system. The GTX280 paired with the AMD6000 is a waste lol. Unless you're running high resolution on your monitor, I'd go for a 9800GT, 4GB RAM with that cpuIf you can go for either a Core i7 940 with the GTX280, and 3x2 GB of RAMIf they don't have that option, try for another Core 2 duo or quad, like the E8600 or Q9550/Q6600 etcoooh, I never really answered your original question hehe...I think you could do pretty good on FS9, maybe not maxed out if you're running PMDG stuff/LevelD etc. I have that CPU and it's getting dated - quick :(FSX/9 is CPU limited as usual so you'll want the fastest possible CPU you can find. Getting a fast video card won't help, ESPECIALLY in FS9.

[Arklight1 140]

I used to run FS9 at 1600x1200 all settings maxed (4xFSAA and 16xAF) and had fantastic performance with the following rig:Intel Bad Axe 2 MoboC2D E6600Evga 8800GTXSB Live Fatality X-Fi150GB WD "Raptor" HDThe add-ons I used:GE ProFEUT AS 6.5Coolsky MD-80/LvL767/Much of what Flight1 Produced/PMDG 737 Series and 747 Series/Most of Carenado's product line/etc..No complaints whatsoever.FSX is a different animal though.

[CAPTAIN_CARESS 0]

Thanks for the tips guys, I'm shocked at some of them I must admit, as I've heard so many good comments about the cpu being so quick, even with FSX...So ideally what processor and specs should I be looking for if I wanted to run fs9 maxed out with level d and pmdg products with ai etc...? Thanks again for the support.

[Arklight1 140]

Thanks for the tips guys, I'm shocked at some of them I must admit, as I've heard so many good comments about the cpu being so quick, even with FSX...So ideally what processor and specs should I be looking for if I wanted to run fs9 maxed out with level d and pmdg products with ai etc...? Thanks again for the support.

The E6600 build I posted above did just what you are looking for. I am not sure what you could change and still get the same performance though. It was never broken, so I never fixed it. :(

[CAPTAIN_CARESS 0]

Thanks, I always thought that a 3ghz processor would be sufficient for fs9, how are some of these intel's with less ghz better for fs9? Apologies for sounding dim...

[CAPTAIN_CARESS 0]

Never mind the last post, what do you guys think about the following specs?Intel

[carrotroot 77]

p.s what's the AMD equivalent of the i7 940 processor (if any)?

There currently isn't any AMD equivalent to the Core i7 processor line.Otherwise the Core i7 specs you listed is more than sufficient to run FSX. My own specs are E6750 + 2 GB RAM + 9600GT on Vista (32Bit) I put together back in March 2008 for around $900 and I'm extremely pleased with FSX's performance. However, if you are looking for a boost in performance over your current system without having to spend too much money, then I would recommend going with an e8600 + 4GB + 9800GT ... it's probably your best bang for the buck at the moment.

[CAPTAIN_CARESS 0]

I'm looking to custom build the pc up the those specs, can someone please help me with a suitable case that comes with a power supply unit ready but that's relatively cheap, I'm in the UK and I'm stuck on case and cooling!

[Guest Nealoc187]

you're way overbuilding this computer to run FS9. will you be doing any other gaming with it?6GB ram is overkill, that video card is overkill. my personal opinion of course - but I feel like you're spending a ton of unnecessary money. I suggest you read up on some of the threads where it's described how FS9 and FSX utilize memory, both system memory, video memory, and virtual memory

[CAPTAIN_CARESS 0]

Thanks for the reply Nealoc187, but I do intend on using fsx as well as fs9, in other words I'm looking to have a pc that will be serve me well for a good few years in terms of flightsimming. So in that case I wouldn't say it's an overkill, especially when thinking about fsx with high settings and add ons. Also the way I see it is like owning a really fast supercar, the chances are you'll never really get the chance to see what it can really do on the roads, however it's still nice to know what the car's capable of just in case ;)Can anyone advise on case and cooling as posted above?

[Guest bekfreak]

Thanks for the reply Nealoc187, but I do intend on using fsx as well as fs9, in other words I'm looking to have a pc that will be serve me well for a good few years in terms of flightsimming. So in that case I wouldn't say it's an overkill, especially when thinking about fsx with high settings and add ons. Also the way I see it is like owning a really fast supercar, the chances are you'll never really get the chance to see what it can really do on the roads, however it's still nice to know what the car's capable of just in case ;)Can anyone advise on case and cooling as posted above?

I was given advice on to avoid the cases with the power supplys in them. They're normally the cheap stripped down versions of them. For a good PSU Corsair, PC Cooling, Seasonic. Cases. Coolmaster, Lian Li, Thermaltake, Silverstone, Antec, and I like some of the NZXT cases.

[Guest Scratch1964]

A lot of the advice on here seems to point you in the right direction I believe. You shouldn't be looking to spend vast amounts of money for your project.One bit of advice I will give you, personally, is "CACHE." Rather than looking to pay OTT for motherboards, GPU and RAM, you should look in particular at the amount and speed of cache memory on both CPU and hard drive. I think a 500GB drive with only 8GB cache won't help you at all. Why not opt for the Seagate 7200.11 Barracuda 500GB SATAII 32MB Cache, and certainly whether you opt for an AMD or intel set up you need more than 2x512kb L2 cache. I wouldn't recommend less than 2x2mb cache over 2x cores. The i7 offers good amounts of cache, whereas the AMD 6000 doesn't. In perspective the older single core AMD CPU's have around 512kb L2 cache. It's one thing that really makes the difference. It's such a fast memory and is directly accessible without the CPU having to be troubled. In other words, aside from its speed, cache can communicate directly with RAM thus leaving the CPU to get on with other important tasks. If a choice had to be made between an extra 200MHz CPU core clock speed and an additional 2mb cache I would opt for the cache every time. I believe it's one reason why Intel have the market at present. AMD have, for some time now offered typically less L2 cache than that of Intel. Very similar CPU architecture, same cores, clock speeds etc, but the cache differs.I bought an Intel Conroe E6700 (2x2mb L2 cache @2.67GHz) two years ago. Its paired with a Geforce 8800GTS 640MB and res 1920x1200. Fantastic CPU, but it's bottlenecked ever so slightly by the GPU. It has 8x the cache (I believe) of my old AMD 64 3700 (and twice the cores too!), but clock speed is almost the same. The difference it makes is vast. Everything I do on the machine, even internet browsing, with caching of pages is dozens of times faster. The whole machine makes such a difference. Other than for FSX I often underclock the CPU. Otherwise it just sits there ide. There is much less swapping between hard drive and RAM too, courtesy of 4GB RAM, but, overall the CPU cache makes the world of difference.The advice regarding staying away from cases with built in PSU is very good advice too BTW. If you really want to save money, then perhaps look at your electricity bill. All those components (esp GPU) consume power. Electricity in UK isn't cheap any longer!CACHE!Good luck.Scratch1964