I am running Windows XP, Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 @ 2.8 ghz and 3 GB RAM

2 NVIDIA Ge Force 8800 GTS 512

My question is do I have enough here to run the 737NGX well? I'm also thinking ahead to the 777.

I run FSX well. Just starting to use it. Most of my aircraft and add ons are on FS9.

Thanks,

Bruce Jacobs

Hello Bruce:

 

You have a machine that is close to mine ... Intel® Core2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 8GB with nVidia GTX560 ... the bad news is that I had to tweak the literal h#ll out of mine but over about a day of work I was able to get 20 fps (up from about 5). I think I got lucky.

 

The honest truth is that MSFX is a processor bound application ... your two video cards are not going to help a whole lot. Also, 2.8 GHz is a problem as well. I feel you might be able to get the 737NGX up and running but you won't be happy with the framerates and by no means will it function "well".

 

I'm sure others will chime in ... let's see what kind of flood gates this response opens.

 

CTBlankenship

Bruce, no one ever wants to discourage anyone myself included, but the truth is you will not get much performance with your current setup.

I highly recommend heading over to the Hardware Forum here and read the document on Hardware and FSX. You will get a lot of guidance from this.

You need to have 3.8GHz at least to enjoy the complexity of PMDG along with nice airports, scenery and any kind of interesting weather.

I am fairly certain also that if you remove one of those GeForce cards your frame rates will improve. Additionally, you will get better performance all around with Win7-64Bit and at least 6GB of Ram.

There are many more improvents you can make and I know that budgets have everything to with how much and how soon. Meantime read that document as it will head you in the right direction.

CT, Ron, thank you for your response. I am not surprised. I figured that I'd have to ante up. Of course I'm preaching to the choir here, but I've put a lot into FS9 and it's still great. Getting into FSX opens a whole new money pit.

Ron, I'll check it out and warm up the credit card.

Thanks,

Bruce Jacobs

Ha! Ron, I just read the hardware document that you suggested. Disregarding what it would cost in terms of hardware, I have to consider the labor that would be involved since there is very little in this guide that I would have the confidence to do on my own. I may be superstitious, but I have avoided even installing windows 7. I have FS9 running so well as it sits with XP that I fear that I would be put back to square one.

I've flown these modern aircraft most of my adult life, B757, B777 but I do not have the computer knowledge or the confidence or perhaps the financial resources to dig into this.

Thanks again for your guidance. Any suggestions on how to find somebody in my are (Denver/Boulder) who knows how to attack this? I guess that I would not quite have to start from scratch, but close.

Bruce Jacobs

Send me a private message and Ill give you a contact in Denver who would be very helpful .... if he's available.

With deference to Ron I wouldn't go a custom built route the builder is offering a 3 year warranty and lifetime technical support. The people at CyberPowerPC build PCs from components that are readily available on NewEgg. This is critical as if, in the future, you want to upgrade to a newer, heavier duty PC all you have to do is buy a new MoBo and Processor and drop it into your case. These are fully customizable as well. Here is a beauty ... Gamer XTreme SSD-X.

Wow! That's quite a machine, the Gamer XTreme.

Yep ... and ... somehow ... they can build it for cheaper than I can with the parts ordered directly from NewEgg ... go figure that one out.