FlightSim PC

[Orienteer]

Hi,

 

My PC blew up (something burnt out on the Mother board).

 

So i'm in the market for a new PC. And since the whole flyin thing is becoming a big part of my life, i thought i'd try to pimp my potential new pc to be a superb Flight Sim box.

 

So does anyone have some suggestion on what would make a great FlightSim PC? I'm a little left in the dark with PC Specs. So any help would do

 

Cheers,

 

tyson

 

 

[Thx1137]

A little tricky if you want the absolute best performance because there are tradeoffs.

 

The most important part of the computer for FSX or X-Plane performance is the CPU speed. The number of 'cores' in the CPU affect smoothness so ideally you would want the fastest quad core you can lay your hands on but it seems the fastest quad core is still slower than the fastest dual core but I have read plenty about dual and quad core users being happy with performance. There are CPUs from Intel and AMD. I have an AMD and get about 10fps LESS than guys using Intels so Intel is the way to go at the moment. I would lean to the fastest Intel quad core I can buy.

 

The next thing is RAM. If you have hires scenery then 3GB is good. On my 4GB PC less than half of my memory is in use when running FSX.

 

The next thing is Graphics Card. A good mid range card will do if tight on funds though the faster the better for future proofing I guess. :-) I had an 7600GT then spent lots on an 8800 GT. Not one FPS difference, exactly the same performance. Make sure the card has at least 512MB of RAM on it though. 756MB is better if you are using hires aircraft with your hires scenery (EG ORBX scenery).

 

Lastly, a decent power supply. Todays graphics cards can suffer it seems if the power supply hasn't got the power to fully run everything. Be careful of the cheap ones that say high wattage numbers. At least in the past they often never delivered their advertised power output or if they did it was peak power, not continuous output.

 

If you want a prebuilt PC then for around $3,500 you can get the Predetor PC from Acer I think it was. I heard from a guy that got one recently and he is a very happy camper!

 

Steven.

 

 

[Guest Brett Campany]

Hey Tyson, I was in the same position a couple of months ago but I opt for a laptop. I did a fair bit of research and got the HP Pavilion DV5 1009 and it runs FSX very very smoothly on the top settings! I kid you not mate, this thing is a dream, I'll post up some screen shots after I do the dishes.

 

It cost me $1990 from Hardly Normal (Harvey Norman) and it's specs look like this

 

Intel Core 2 Duo CPU T9400 2.52GHz processor

 

4GB memory

 

320GB hard drive

 

512 MB nVidia Graphics card

 

I run FSX and Call Of Duty 4 as the only programs for a bit of fun plus it holds all of my weather and nav programs for flying.

 

Other things it has is BluRay player & TV tuner but that gets very minimal use.

 

You can take it anywhere with you.

 

If you want some more info mate, throw me a PM and I'll help you as much as I can.

 

The other bonus when I bought this was it came with an external 250GB hard drive.

 

 

[Yenn]

From memory I think Ian was going to do something about procuring PC playing computers, but that was back when he had a bit more time available I think. No doubt he will put me right or give us an update.

 

 

[Orienteer]

New PC!!!

 

I have finally got my new PC:

 

Intel 2 Quad Core. @2.8ghz

 

4gb RAM

 

GeForce 9800 GT

 

3 HDD - 1x500gb, 1x320gb, 1x150gb (two are from the old PC)

 

and two LCD Displays - 1 BenQ 21.5" full HD, 1 BenQ 22" (from the old PC)

 

Daitek Cyborg EVO Force, and Saitek Prof Flight Rudder Pedals.

 

The machine runs Flight Sim 10X better then the old PC and is 10X quieter too!

 

I am the coolest person in my house right now.

 

Pity it has left me a little out of pocket.

 

 

[Thx1137]

Well done. :-) It should run better than mine and mine is ok.

 

I am thinking of upgrading to the new Intel i7 processor. It would cost about $1,000 but not sure of the performance games in FSX.

 

Are you running the scenery from ORBX? If not you really should. Australia actually looks something like Australia!

 

Steven.

 

 

[LJS]

Steven, depending on what you buy (Motherboard and RAM) it will probably cost you in the region of $1100-00 to upgrade to the Corei7 proc. This is - as I am sure you are aware - due to the fact that the Corei7 uses the lga1366 slot and not the lga 775 slot that the Core2 duo and older intel procs use. The new x58 Mobos also use triple channel DDR3 so you will be wanting to buy the newer memory too!

 

A good place to get all the components for the upgrade would be HOME PAGE - Unleashed I.T. Great Value Computer Products, they have very very good prices and from what I can gather they are a whole lot more reliable than MSY international

 

Cheers!

 

 

[Simonflyer]

Go the Mac...Go on.You know you want to..

 

 

[Guest Pop-top]

Are you running the scenery from ORBX? If not you really should. Australia actually looks something like Australia!

Steven.

Hey Steven,

 

I looked into the ORBX and OZX online but still don't completely follow whether I'm supposed to be looking for a free download, somewhere to order /purchase a copy or if I should be checking out torrents?

 

Could you please provide some more detail on the 'how to's' of obtaining the software and system requirements?

 

Or is it more like an add on to flight sim x?

 

Cheers :)

 

 

[Thx1137]

G'day Jodie,

 

You need FSX and over 1GB of disk space free wherever you have FSX installed.

 

Head on over to FTX.

 

The first item is Called AU Blue. This is a free download that updates all the textures, roads, scenery for Tasmania. I imaging it includes their normal install guide i the package, it contains lots of info about FSX settings to get the best out of your machine.

 

the second item on the page is a set of freeware airports. They are all small airfields and bush strips. Aldinga is in there. You must download version 2.0, 2.1 and 2.2 and install them in that order.

 

The third item on the page gives you a better representation of hills and mountains.

 

None of these installs make the FSX performance worse and in many cases the installation of the ORBX scenery actually improves performance.

 

Steven.

 

 

[Guest Pop-top]

Awesome :big_grin:

 

Thanks!!! That's the exact kind of response I was hoping for.

 

I saw a thrust-master kit (usually $700) on sale yesterday for $350...If I wasn't so strapped for cash and keen to get my Rec license before my birthday I would have bought it there and then!

 

had to remind myself..."keep your eye on the prize" :thumb_up: