New computer, a little advice please?

A

Aztec

Charter Member
G'day all

I thought it's just about time for a new comp, so I was wondering how I should spec it. I'm trying to work to a budget (read - I have two young kids!) but want it to run FS9 well given all the add-ons I've accrued over the last 5 years, however I've got no plans for FSX in the near future. So, what are peoples thoughts on the following:

-Processor
-RAM
-Video Card (preferably nVidea)
-Anything else I should consider

Also, I've read about partitioning the drive to keep FS9 seperate when using Windows 7, but is this really necessary?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Az :australia:
 
As far as processor, ram, v-card...I am clueless as to what is out there and what should be used for best performance with Win7. But I do have one suggestion: Multiple drives. A couple nice big ones...500gig each, plus an external drive that can be completely unhooked from the system to back all your sim stuff up on. I will never again have my sim stuff on the same drive as my OS and I will never again simply have 1 HD in a system.

OBIO
 
Hi Aztec,

I was in the same situation 18 months ago in needing to replace my PC. Budget was the biggest problem.

Having looked at what was available and the cost, I decided to replace the motherboard, processor and video card instead. It was less than half the cost of what I would have paid for a new system and I have a better system than I could have afforded.

Since replacing the innards of my PC, I have subsequently replaced the monitor thereby spreading the cost over a year instead of all at once.

I am certainly not an electronics or PC engineer and was worried about doing the work myself, but it was easier than I though it would be. I know it's a cliche, but if I can do it, anyone can. Another adavantage was I didn't have to reload all of the software as it was already on the hard drive, although I am going to get an external hard drive to back up everything.

I won't bore you with my PC specs as they are now out of date, but run FS9 fine with everything maxed out.
 
Aztec said:
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers

Az :australia:
Click to expand...

FS9 runs OK on my system, but, as always, it could be better, so if I give my specs. make you new PC better than mine if that makes sense.


MY PC specs: to be used as an absolute minimum

-Processor= Athlon 62x2 dual core processor 5000+ (ie 2x 2500 MHz)

-RAM=DDR2 3 GB (cheapest way of gaining performance, put in as much as your motherboard can take)

-Video Card (preferably nVidea)= Nvidia GeForce 8500GT (much better available and cheaper now)

-Anything else I should consider= Take a good look at the monitor, I have just upgraded to a 22" flat (they are all flat now) from an old 17" CRT. I thought 17" perfectly acceptable, but the bigger monitor makes a huge difference, so I would recommend buying the biggest monitor you can afford and that will fit in the available space.


Also, I've read about partitioning the drive to keep FS9 separate when using Windows 7, but is this really necessary? I can't comment on this as i still use XP.
 
This should be a good topic cause soon enough everything's going to be W7. I don't know about W7 yet, I'm still on XP. My specs are below and I have a good time 95% of the time but high detail airports and the like are a tad too much and will cause some low FPS. Probably a better processor and PS are in the future.
Agree with an external HD for back-ups, most RAM you can get, and don't forget about cleanliness-virtual and actual. Keep whatever you get clean, well ventilated, no unnecessary programs running, and run anti spyware and registry cleaners regularly! My next rig will definitely be built, not off-the-shelf so I can ensure those things. AHHH..

Sorry, I was miles away. Good luck.
 
Thanks for the feedback guys, it has given me much food for thought.

After a bit more research, I've narrowed down a couple of options (depending on what it would cost to get someone to bang ot all together), but they themselves have presented a couple of questions :isadizzy::

Processor - Intel i5 3.2 GHz, or is this overkill: Quad Cores seem just about as expensive, but would a i3 or a Dual Core be good enough?

Video - GeForce 9800GT (seem to be available at a good price, but how do the 2** series and 9*** series compare?).

RAM - 4GB DDR3 (or would DDR2 suffice to save a buck?)

Obio, two 500GB drives sounds like a good idea; I'm currently running an external HD to back-up FS stuff and photos, but to internal HD's would provide good redundancy.

Sandar - I should have mentioned I got a new 22" LCD last year, don't know how ever lived without it!

As I mentioned earlier, FS9 (including AS6 and Vista Oz) is about the most taxing thing this machine will run, but I would like it to run well with things like the Capt Sim C130 and some of the other more resource-intensive add-ons. If the machines up to it, I'll probably put on a bare-bones version of FSX. But having said all that, I really need to save a buck wherever possible.

Anyway, the quest continues. Thanks all for your consideration,

Cheers :ernae:

Az
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top