Hi All,

 

I've been out of the Flight Sim game for a few years.   I am looking for something under $1000 that will run P3D.

 

Would this suffice?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

https://www.digitalstorm.com/configurator.asp?id=1379615

 

 

Craig

You could probably do it if you build your own. Check Amazon and Newegg for cheap parts.

 

i7 6700k $350

Motherboard $150

970 graphics card $250

RAM $100

500gb SSD $150

Case, power supply, cooling etc $150

 

$1150 plus cost for monitors, Windows etc.

 

What ever route you go, make sure you get the best i7 cpu you can.

Think you would probably be totally underwhelmed with that machine to be honest

Charlatan,

 

With all due respect you are making assumptions and your statement doesn't help me much.

 

I currently run P3D v3 on An ASUS Q550LF laptop with an I74500U@ 1.8Ghz and a Geforce 745M since my gaming rig crashed and burned. 

 

With stock aircraft and medium settings I have no problem getting 20fps but would obviously get better results with a newer build.

 

With that being said why would I be underwhelmed with the machine I asked about ?

 

Respectfully,

 

Craig

Yeah it will run it - but don't look for eye candy plus payware at 30 fps

 

The DIY build Richie posted would be a lot better. The parts listed in your proposal are just ok low-mid range components.

 

What addons are you wanting to run? If you're happy with default planes then ya you'll be ok just don't expect 30 fps with payware

Craig, basically what Ryan said.  It will probably run default aircraft and scenery ok, but add in the likes of Orbx and PMDG etc, and you will be severely underwhelmed.

 

It seems to be the given that until you're hitting about 4ghz on a recent Intel chip, the sim isn't going to run well.  Richie's part list was good, but if that was a bit rich for you, try a 6600k instead and a HDD rather than an SSD drive with the other parts he's listed and you should be good to go

Replace this GTX-970 with a current graphics card (the GTX-1060) or a slightly better one (GTX-1070) and you will get a dream of a FSX/P3D system. Three things to consider besides the already mentioned i7

 

- don't try to save some bucks when selecting the RAM. Go for decent 2x8GB DDR4 RAM kits providing 2800-3200MHz clocks with decent latency (CL15 or lower).

- don't try to save some bucks with a cheap 08/15 air cooling solution. Go for a Noctua, be quiet! or other high quality cooling solutions, your CPU and the noise levels will thank you.

- don't follow the ridiculous high wattage trend regarding the PSU. Go instead for a high quality brand such as be quiet!, EVGA, Corsair, Cooler Master, Enermax or Seasonic. About 600W are fair enough for today's computer unless you want to connect a plentitude of USB stuff, more drives etc.

Hi All,

 

Thanks you for the tips.  Went to a local PC store to price components and since it's been about 10 years since I built a machine it seems that buying vs. build is pretty close.

 

Again since I've been out of the build business I'm behind the curve on components.

 

At one time I had an AMD machine that ran (at the time) games and FS great.

 

Does anyone recommend one over the other?

 

Pros and cons of Intel vs. AMD ?

 

Thanks again

Intel CPU and Nividia graphics card for flight sims is pretty much a given. No AMD.

 

Also a 1060 graphics card would be great as AnkH mentions, but I don't think you are able to get one for your $1,000 budget. If you manage to find an assembled desktop in your budget then great. But if you do build your own it is not that difficult. There are a bunch of tutorials on the web and videos on YouTube. I built my first a few years ago with no experience. Everything really just slots into each other pretty easily nowadays. Just make sure you read the tutorials and do your prep - i.e. remember to add thermal paste under CPU chip etc.

 

You could also go another hybrid route where you buy a machine with the CPU you want for a good price. Then upgrade the other components yourself, like the graphics card etc to get the spec you want.

 

 

P.S. although I am all for brick and mortar stores, you can probably find the parts significantly less on NewEgg or Amazon. Also you can lower your costs by buying refurbished/ used parts.

I would tend to avoid the buying the prebuilt and adding components route, as he'll be paying for junk he doesn't want to begin with, and would be highly unlikely to be able to overclock it.

 

Does the US have an equivalent of www.overclockers.co.uk kind of store?  These are one of the biggest component suppliers in the UK, who sell single components and bundles geared towards overclocking.  The currently have a skylake i5 and i3 bundle overclocked to 4.4 and 4.5ghz respectively which are ridiculous value.