Hello all,Newbie to AVSIM Forums here (but not to AVSIM itself). I've searched the forum for "laptop" related posts and thus far the trend of recommendations is to get a decent enough graphics card. I am no techie and just want to run Vista 32 Home Premium + FS9 + ASv6 with real world weather + 100% AI. If it makes any difference, I do go online from time to time so I use Squawkbox on VATSIM. I am OK with 25-30 fps (if it's good enough to become an NTSC/PAL standard used for video, then it's good enough for me). I fly mostly airliners but I do want to be able to have a smooth system even in severe weather (no snow; rain only as I fly in Asia). I do simulate actual airline flights so no flying during typhoons :( Due to my location, I have very limited choices in terms of laptops and I have boiled these to 2 types/options:1. a Core 2 Duo P8600 (2.4GHz) or Core 2 Duo P8700 (2.53GHz) paired with a GeForce 9300M GS (DDR2 256Mb)2. a Core i5-430M (2.27GHz) or Core i5-520M (2.4GHz) paired with either a ATI HD 4330 (DDR2 512Mb) or ATI HD 5470 (512Mb)These systems all have a minimum of 2GB RAM for option 1 and 4GB for option 2. And oh, I do plan to use an external 19" LCD monitor running at 1280x1024.Which of the above options will give me what I am looking for?If it helps to name the laptop models for each option, they are:1. Dell Vostro AVN-1520n (this model has several CPU and GPU options)2. Acer Aspire AS5740G-434G64Mn and Dell Inspiron 1564The price range of those 2 options are about 15,000,000 to 18,000,000 in local currency (yes, the number of zeroes are correct) :( .

Sorry to bump this but ... anybody with experience on laptop GPUs can provide advice?

Well system #2 with the core i5 -520 and the ATI 5470 would be your top end system. 2 gigs of ram is okay, but if you can swing the cost of 4 gigs go for that. Of the three GPU choices the 9300 is the least powerful. I would make sure the system you ultimately choose has a good return policy so you can take it home and load up your sim and try it out. IF your not happy with it you can return it. One caveat with the ATI video is that it can be hit or miss on the driver side of things(concerning flight sim). The latest drivers seem to be a bit better on FSX but not sure how well they are on FS9. Hope I have helped.If you have more questions just ask.

Thanks otwer22.I take it then that the i5 system with the 5470 GPU would give me the smooth 25 FPS during overcast weather that I am looking for?I've been seeing contradicting posts about whether FS9 is more CPU or GPU dependent. Some say it is CPU and get faster processor. But then in other threads that discuss clouds, they recommend upping the GPU..

Thanks otwer22.I take it then that the i5 system with the 5470 GPU would give me the smooth 25 FPS during overcast weather that I am looking for?I've been seeing contradicting posts about whether FS9 is more CPU or GPU dependent. Some say it is CPU and get faster processor. But then in other threads that discuss clouds, they recommend upping the GPU..

The Core i5 520 is faster than the P8700. It can "turbo Boost up to 2.993MHz on a single core, has dual core with hyperthreading, which allow it to run 4 threads at once. It also has higher memory bandwidth. So Your FS9 performance will be better than the P8700. On the plus side everything else you run will feel faster as well. You should be able to tune your system to get smooth performance out of FS9, it may be in the range of 25FPS. It depends on where you set your sliders, how optimal your system is tweaked. FS9 is more CPU bound than FSX for sure. (FS9 has smaller texture sizes and less detailed mess data which means the demands on CPU and GPU is not nearly as much for example). When you hear people saying that its more GPU bound its kinda true, that is because they are running very high screen resolutions with all the eye candy turned on max. That tends to switch the max FPS from being CPU bound to what the GPU can deliver (GPU bound).At the resolutions your computer choices run at your going to be more dependent on the CPU.