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Does this thing sound like a good system to run FSX/P3D?

airattackimages

airattackimages

Charter Member
My current computer I made the mistake of getting an i7 quad core that was only 2.66mHz. Was dazzled by the 12gb of RAM, that FSX can't even use. It's been a few years, and I'd like to upgrade sometime soon to something that can run better with sliders to the right a bit.

Do these basic specs sound like they're good?

Cyberpower PC Gamer Ultra Gaming Desktop


  • AMD FX-4300 Quad-Core Processor
  • 8GB DDR3 RAM
  • AMD Radeon RX-400 integrated graphics with 2GB GDDR5 memory
  • 2TB HDD 7200 rpm
    Windows 10 Home (64-bit)
 
I am really interested in responses from other members too airattackimages as I am in the same boat so to speak. In the market for a new i7 6700K desktop, SSD for FSX only but I don't want to waste money on wrong memory speed/timings, graphics etc.
 
I think you would be disappointed again.
The only way to make FSX run really well is to throw computer power at it.

Dependent on the available budget, the current consensus seems to be

Intel i7 6 series cpu, at least 4 ghz.
Nvidia Geforce 1070 graphics
Minimum 8 GB DDR 4 RAM
Good quality compatible motherboard.
As many or as large SSDs as the budget allows but definitely
one for the operating system.

I am lucky enough to have the earlier version of the same

Intel i7 4790 4.0 ghz, 4.4ghz turbo
Nvidia Geforce 970 graphics
16 GB DDR3 RAM
Gigabyte Gaming 7 motherboard.
Two small SSDs.

It barely gets warm running FSX.
 
airattackimages said:
My current computer I made the mistake of getting an i7 quad core that was only 2.66mHz. Was dazzled by the 12gb of RAM, that FSX can't even use. It's been a few years, and I'd like to upgrade sometime soon to something that can run better with sliders to the right a bit.

Do these basic specs sound like they're good?

Cyberpower PC Gamer Ultra Gaming Desktop


  • AMD FX-4300 Quad-Core Processor
  • 8GB DDR3 RAM
  • AMD Radeon RX-400 integrated graphics with 2GB GDDR5 memory
  • 2TB HDD 7200 rpm
    Windows 10 Home (64-bit)
Click to expand...

I have to agree with Nick about your proposed system. If you really want a decent FSX system, I wouldn't aim for anything less than an i5-6600K or an i5-7600K and preferably an i7-7700K. The new AMD Ryzen is also looking like a promising option. If you're not planning to run at 4k resolution, the 1060 is a great graphics card which is more reasonably priced.

However, your old system may still have some mileage left. My old system had an i7-920 CPU which was also clocked at 2.66MHz by default. With a decent CPU cooler I was able to easily overclock it to 4.0GHz which gave me a big, no-cost performance boost. Also, by doing this and removing the CPU bottleneck, I was able to install a much better graphics card which, although it only gave a small increase in performance, allowed me to have much higher graphics settings. Overclocking was a real shot in the arm for my old system.
 
airattackimages said:
My current computer I made the mistake of getting an i7 quad core that was only 2.66mHz. Was dazzled by the 12gb of RAM, that FSX can't even use. It's been a few years, and I'd like to upgrade sometime soon to something that can run better with sliders to the right a bit.

Do these basic specs sound like they're good?

Cyberpower PC Gamer Ultra Gaming Desktop


  • AMD FX-4300 Quad-Core Processor
  • 8GB DDR3 RAM
  • AMD Radeon RX-400 integrated graphics with 2GB GDDR5 memory
  • 2TB HDD 7200 rpm
    Windows 10 Home (64-bit)
Click to expand...
There's exactly nothing in that list of specs that's any good.
Maybe 10 years ago someone might have said 'wow'....
Pretty much anything on the planet that says 'integrated graphics'....run away from it screaming....;)

Edit.....not one to post my own specs in my sig in every post...but 2 years ago I built myself a 'state-of-the-art' [then] machine ... coming in at around 9 grand [AUD]...
Among the specs were...

Thermaltake Level 10 VL300A9N1N Titanium Limited Edition Case [No.221]


Corsair ASX 1200I Platinum Certified 1200w Modular PSU


ASUS X99 Deluxe LGA2011v3 MotherBoard


Intel i7 5960x 3.00Ghz @3.50Ghz LGA2011v3 CPU


Noctua NH-D14 SE2011 LGA2011 CPU Cooler


32G Corsair Dominator Platinum [4x8G] 2666MHz DDR4 Ram


ASUS Strix GTX980 4GB GPU


512G Samsung XP941 M.2 PCIe x4 SSD


2 X 240G Corsair Neutron GTX SSD


1 X 3TB Western Digital Caviar Green Sata2 HD


2 X 2TB Western Digital Caviar Green Sata2 HD


Thermaltake eSports Level 10 M Hybrid Wireless/Wired Gaming Mouse


ASUS BC-12D2HTBlu-Ray/DVD-RW


ASUS ROG Swift PG279Q IPS 27" LCD Monitor 2560x1440 32bit


Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit.
 
I hate to be the naysaying black sheep of the crowd, but it really depends on what you expect out of FSX and other flight simulators you want to fly. I built IBM computers (servers and mini mainframe) for a living, especially gamers the last 5 years of my 35 year career so I am not speaking as an amateur. I also did peripheral testing for TechCorp as a senior test engineer for an additional 7 years. There are several in here that have my gaming systems or least what I specs I gave them. It doesn't take a ton of money to run FSX effectively. It does take some research and the best bus width. I still have an old socket 775 QX9700 (water cooled) 4.4 Ghz on a Gigabyte X-48 DQ-6 motherboard running 8GB of 1600 mhz RAM, and Nvidia GTX 780 384 bit video card(all used), and two Samsung 840 EVO SSDs. I still average about 50 fps running full tilt FSX with Orbx FTX scenery. Bus width is very important..meaning no bottlenecks. You can use AMD FX 6800 series or Intel i5 or i7 4000--6000 series and still get decent frame rates and no studdering. I can also still recommend the the old Intel 950 and 970 overclocked with the right ram and video bus width. It does seem that FSX runs better on all systems overclocked or turbo capable at 4Ghz or faster.
Ted

By the way I recommend reading this: http://www.simforums.com/forums/the-fsx-computer-system-the-bible-by-nickn_topic46211.html

http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Hardware_Software/computer_bus.asp
 
Last edited:
Thanks guys, the term integrated graphics was concerning me as well. I don't recall that ever being good.

I have to run but I'll be back to explain myself later! ;)
 
My new system has been running for a month now, with no issues.

i7700k @ stock speed
ASUS ROG Maximus mobo
32gb gskill trident RAM, PC25400 (speeds matched to the mobo specs)
EVga 1070 vid card, 8gb
Running Win10 on a main 500gb SSD
FSXSE on a 128gb SSD (only for FSX)
DCS on its own 128gb SSD
Xplane11 will be on its own 128gb SSD when I get it.

All storage for add ons, misc files like pictures and music, all on an external 4tb HD. Just plug it in when I want to access something or add something to FSX.

I used a Corsair H75 to cool the 7700. I originally bought the H105, but, I was surprised to have fit issues in this huge Antec 1200 case. It's my third build in this case and the first time I've had an issue with something fitting.

FSX boots up very quickly (not as fast as that m.2 ssd though), windows starts in under 10 seconds, and I like Win10 a LOT more than 8.
I'm really happy that I built a new system. Can't recommend it enough if you can do it.
 
Ted and Jafo have made their alternative points well, and it really comes down to 'how fast do you want to go?' followed by 'how much money do you want to spend?'
Having only just built a new system from the ground up, I'm reasonably happy with it running P3D at 3620x2036 at 35FPS on average in murky weather with high scenery settings, FSX is almost equal but a little less stable.
Today I couldn't resist and purchased an Intel 750 Series PCI Express 3.0x4 800GB SSD which will be exclusively for FSX and P3D ................................ !
Throwing money at the system is my way but I tend to do that with cars and bikes, as Ted points out there are less traumatic methods of getting a reasonable result.
:encouragement:

[h=2][/h]
 
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