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Guest james_2k

Looking @ a new computer ??

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Guest captandy

I currently have a Gateway 1.9ghz P4 with Rambus512 40gig ATA100 and a ti4200 64meg nvidia evga card.I run say at most sliders 3/4 to full clouds at 60% with 3rd party reduced textures and traffic in the 80-85% range and using my UT, PMDG 737, and sim flyer sceneries I get from 6-9FPS forward and 11-13 out the side.In flight I get around 8-10FPS front near cumulous and 15-20 side.I am looking at a Dell 8300 3GigP4 800FSB with 512DDR,ATI Raedeon 9800PRO 128meg 80 gig ATA Ultra 100 .I know this is a stupid question but is it worth the extra cash vs performance.Will I see a noticable difference FPS and stutters near clouds.I added a sound card and other bells and whistles for about 1450 US.I did not order it yet because I need that extra push from you guys or a devil's advocate.ThanksAndy

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Guest captandy

Oops forgot to mention I am running FS9Andy

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Guest james_2k

there is no point, in my opinion, in you spending all that cash. all you need is a new cpu and video and maybe memory. im going to wait until the mainstream intel 64bit cpus come out. for example i have a 3.06gig cpu on the 533fsb and although i would like the 800fsb it wouldn't be worth it as the new cpu line is just around the corner. the very fact that you are asking for our advice indicates that your not willing to waste money so just look on ebay! there you will find a good video card, cpu and if you like, memory, i'd say for 450 GBP. the chances are that your mobo will be fine as it is.and just to give you an idea when im at heathrow @ 1280x1024 with everything to max and 4x antialiasing - 4x anisotropic i get as low as 5 count 'em FIVE fps at heathrow with all 88 PAI airlines installed. its generally fine elsewhere except high up on a cloudy day.anyway i hope that this helps and i bet you anything that in a couple of months we'll start to see the new generation of cpus come out, and not those cheapy AMD ones either ;)James

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Guest Dennis_F4i

I went from about the same machine as you to a P4 2.8HT/800 with an Asus P4P800, 9800Pro, 1G 3200 memory, etc and it about doubled my performance.If you have any talent and/or desire, I would definitely recommend that you build your own machine rather than buy a built machine from any one of the mass builders. Dell is a good brand, but you can do better for a lower cost by doing it yourself.

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Guest captandy

Thanks I was thinking about building one and I am also hesitant because I think the 64 bit machines might be worth the wait.I can fly my rig but I guess what I wwas hoping for is some smooooth sailing without the stutters and shakes, but I guess MS just out did themselves on this one where they are leaps ahead of the hardware folks.

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Guest Dennis_F4i

It's just impossible to stay ahead. On the last two machines I built I spent hours and days studying, planning, waiting and ended up wasting a lot of time that could have been spent enjoying the sim. This time I just bought what I wanted and was done with it (until the next cycle...). IMO, right now a 2.8HT/800 (or 3.0) is very hard to beat. At 2.8, the P4 has plenty of headroom to o/c. I'm stable at ~ 3.3 (235FSB) with zero voltage bump and OEM fan/heat sink. The diminishing return curve is very steep if you go beyond this class of machine - you'll spend more, but there won't be any tangible benefit to your experience. I don't think buying a 64-bit machine will make your sim nocticably smoother, nor do I think it will future-proof your box; there will be many changes to the 64-bit platform before it becomes mainstream.If you have the skills to build one, then by all means do it. There is tremendous web support and you'll have a product that is vastly superiour to what you get from one of the big brands.Good luck in your decision.

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Guest captandy

HOW ABOUT JUST BUYING A NEW VID CARD FOR MY CURRENT RIG AND IF SO WOULD U SUGGEST ONETHANKSANDY

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Guest captandy

>It's just impossible to stay ahead. On the last two machines>I built I spent hours and days studying, planning, waiting and>ended up wasting a lot of time that could have been spent>enjoying the sim. This time I just bought what I wanted and>was done with it (until the next cycle...). IMO, right now a>2.8HT/800 (or 3.0) is very hard to beat. At 2.8, the P4 has>plenty of headroom to o/c. I'm stable at ~ 3.3 (235FSB) with>zero voltage bump and OEM fan/heat sink. The diminishing>return curve is very steep if you go beyond this class of>machine - you'll spend more, but there won't be any tangible>benefit to your experience. I don't think buying a 64-bit>machine will make your sim nocticably smoother, nor do I think>it will future-proof your box; there will be many changes to>the 64-bit platform before it becomes mainstream.>>If you have the skills to build one, then by all means do it. >There is tremendous web support and you'll have a product that>is vastly superiour to what you get from one of the big>brands.>>Good luck in your decision.WHO WOULD U SUGGEST TO GET ALL THE PARTS FROM "NEW EGG" ???

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Guest Dennis_F4i

Most folks consider the 9800pro to be the card of choice right now. I went from a 7500 to a 9800 and was very happy. Your ti4200 is a better card than my 7500 was, so you probably won't see as big of an improvement in textures.You'll read the CPU vs. card topic debated on this forum ad nauseum, but I've always upgraded in parallel.

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Guest Dennis_F4i

I have been very happy with NewEgg. However, I ended up getting a bad pair of Corsair memory (which they refunded promptly, less a 15% restock) which ate up any savings that I gained over buying from my favorite local shop. If you have a good place local (something other than CompUSA, BestBuy, etc) then I prefer to do business over the counter rather than over the web. It's nice to have a real person to help with any problems.

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Guest captandy

>I have been very happy with NewEgg. However, I ended up>getting a bad pair of Corsair memory (which they refunded>promptly, less a 15% restock) which ate up any savings that I>gained over buying from my favorite local shop. If you have a>good place local (something other than CompUSA, BestBuy, etc)>then I prefer to do business over the counter rather than over>the web. It's nice to have a real person to help with any>problDO U HAVE AN E-MAIL ???IF YOU DON'T FEEL COMFORTABLE U CAN E-MAIL ME AT FELD6364@OPTONLINE.NET. I WANT TO ASK YOU SOME ??? IF YOU DON'T MINDTHANKS

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Guest SlimDady

yea i wouldent say that 64bits are gona help that much, atleast until you get your hands on a windows os that supports the 64bit and also until ms codes fs with 64 but support.. once that happens it should help alot, but as is getting a 64 bit for flightsim is not worth the extra cost.

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Guest Dennis_F4i

Actually, my rule is to keep myself anonymous on the web, but myself and others would be happy answer your hardware questions either here or in the hardware forum.

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Guest captandy

Well I decided to up the graphics card to a ATI-9800pro 128 add a 300 watt PS and a PCI exhaust fan all for about $320 US.I hope this card will give me a slight boost in performance over the Ti4200 64 meg.I priced putting a system together on New Egg and what I wanted was still going to run me about a grand,so I think I will ride the tech wave until the 64 bit machines come down and there is suitable software and hardware avaiable.Thanks

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Guest james_2k

good plan, dont bother with the exhaust fan though.James

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