Should I even bother?

[MikeT707 1,181]

2 hours ago, Yosserhughes said:

With the system I have should I even bother buying P3D V4? Any advice welcome.Thank you

    Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1
        CPU
            Intel Core i7 2600K @ 3.40GHz    40 °C
            Sandy Bridge 32nm Technology
        RAM
            8.00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 665MHz (9-9-9-25)
        Motherboard
            Alienware 046MHW (CPU 1)    52 °C
        Graphics
            ASUS VE278 (1920x1080@60Hz)
            1023MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 (NVIDIA)   

You will have a significantly better experience in v4 than in FSX. You must upgrade your video card to one that has at least 4G of VRAM, but I would recommend a GTX1070 that has 8G of VRAM. Make sure you overclock your CPU (this is critical) and see how it runs with 8G of RAM, but you might want to increase it to 16 in time and that is always relatively easy to do. With that you will have an experience that will put a smile on your face for a long time.

All in all, the expense would be getting a good video card. I think that 460 came out in 2010, so it is due anyway. Also, when you overclock your cpu, make sure you have a sufficient cooling solution.  Good luck.

[vgbaron 3,613]

1 hour ago, BusheFlyer said:

My expectation for your PC would be that it will run P3D v4 at LEAST as well as you currently run FSX, but the odds are it will be better. Your graphics card will definitely let you down a bit though, so that would be a good candidate to replace first.

With a 1G video card - not a chance. 2g minimum might get by. The P3D4 specs are at LEAST 2G and preferably 4G or more. I doubt the sim would even run on a 1G card.

Vic

[W2DR 1,860]

4 hours ago, vgbaron said:

With a 1G video card - not a chance. 2g minimum might get by. The P3D4 specs are at LEAST 2G and preferably 4G or more. I doubt the sim would even run on a 1G card.

Vic

Vic's right on. The video card is a show-stopper. No way that's going to work. The other major problem is the RAM - 8GB is just not enough. You'll end up on the pagefile and all sorts of strange ( as in bad) things will happen. 16GB RAM is the minimum for v4 regardless of what LM says.....Doug.

[BusheFlyer 87]

5 hours ago, W2DR said:

Vic's right on. The video card is a show-stopper. No way that's going to work. The other major problem is the RAM - 8GB is just not enough. You'll end up on the pagefile and all sorts of strange ( as in bad) things will happen. 16GB RAM is the minimum for v4 regardless of what LM says.....Doug.

Yes the card is the main issue. In respect of the memory.. at the moment I have just 6GB and honestly not had any issues at all. Using UK2000 scenery, Orbx , Gen-X and so far have done multiple long trips UK->Jersey->San Sebastian->Lisbon in the realair Lancair. A2A C172 from UK->Iceland->Greenland->Newfoundland, and C172 Shoreham->Scotland->Faroes->Norway->Torp. Along with several trips in the PMDG 747, EGLL->KORD, OMDB->EGLL.

Most of these trips or flights are many real life hours and were flown in real time.

I am not saying 6GB is optimal, however so far it's worked out flawlessly and has not caused a single stutter or issue what-so-ever. 

[swiesma 625]

Just FYI:

You can have a refund for P3D or you can try the 1-month subscription :-)

So you will find it out first hand if it's ok for your machine.

[willy647 193]

The i7 2600K can be OC to 4.5 by just air cooling (not the stock cooler - spend $30 on a good cooler). Upgrade RAM to 16Mb and invest in a better video (nvidia 1060 or 1070 will do just fine if you do not want to max out settings)