At least FS2000.
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Computer Good Enough For Flight Simulator?
- Thread starter CaptainRon
- Start date
At least FS2000.
Zilch
This...is...Caketown!
Damn, that's a dirty trick.
Welcome to the last 10 years.
I'm in the process of updating my pc. 2048 MB RAM, Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 Ghz, and a Radeon X1900 XTX 512 MB. I had 1GB of ram, Pentium 4 3.2 GHZ, and a Radeon X800 256 MB. I could barely play it smoothly on medium. Low was fine but that's like FS2004 with a better cockpit. New PC should handle it.
What's the general thought on the faster Pentium 4s vs. the Duo Core processors. Anyone have any real world experiences with both? I'll probably be upgrading in the next few months. When are Vista/FS X hitting the street? Does anyone have any skinny on whether Vista's file system will be different from XP (I.E. will I be able to plug some of my existing EIDE drives in and expect them to work)?
Brett
Brett
On a related note, I'd love to stick with a laptop for my next computer.
Since people agree laptops are usually useless for computer games, does that mean I'd have to break the bank to get one that would handle MS Flight Simulator?
Since people agree laptops are usually useless for computer games, does that mean I'd have to break the bank to get one that would handle MS Flight Simulator?
Buyer Beware: I've heard scuttlebutt that FSX isn't coded for multiple processors. I don't know if it is true or not.
There are gaming laptops. They will cost you more than a gaming desktop. Gaming desktops aren't cheap.
Try http://www.ibuypower.com/mall/notebook.asp
This is a SLI gaming laptop http://www.ibuypower.com/ibp/store/configurator.aspx?mid=172 starts at $3095
http://www.ibuypower.com/ibp/store/configurator.aspx?mid=188 starts at $1119
This is the one I was thinking of getting my wife, but I was going to go with some of the upgrades. It should be able to play most games if you up the RAM (at least 1040) and I would go with one of the faster processors, at least the 2.0, my preference is the 2.16, but we may go with the 2.33, either way I'll be checking into overclocking the processor. I also like the GPU, NVIDIA has been advertising that you will be able to upgrade your card with their setup, I don't think you can do that with ATI.
This is a SLI gaming laptop http://www.ibuypower.com/ibp/store/configurator.aspx?mid=172 starts at $3095
http://www.ibuypower.com/ibp/store/configurator.aspx?mid=188 starts at $1119
This is the one I was thinking of getting my wife, but I was going to go with some of the upgrades. It should be able to play most games if you up the RAM (at least 1040) and I would go with one of the faster processors, at least the 2.0, my preference is the 2.16, but we may go with the 2.33, either way I'll be checking into overclocking the processor. I also like the GPU, NVIDIA has been advertising that you will be able to upgrade your card with their setup, I don't think you can do that with ATI.
The difference is night and day. I went from an old school striaght P4 3.2 Ghz to a Core 2 Duo 2.66. It is noticably different w/ everything from the OS to games. I'm using the same older AGP vid card, as well, so it's not like I'm getting any extra help. The only thing that changed between the two systems was the RAM (same size, different type), MB, and processor. All the web stats happen to back my experience. If you go for a similar rated AMD chip, the C2D still blows it away. You could probably get a much faster AMD chip for the same price (C2D still have a premium), and they'd start to even out, but for now, the C2D runs cooler at a larger performance/watt rating.
@Fly:
You are correct, FSX currently doesn't support dual core (see http://www.simhq.com for a substantial review). This is the case w/ most of the apps I run...no multi-core support. However I still see a considerable speed increase from my old P4 (in general...I don't own FSX nor have I tried the demo).
Zilch
This...is...Caketown!
Eh...beware the gamine laptops. They tend to work with every game except the ones you actually play.
I know smiles were in effect, but....
That's why you don't buy a "gaming laptop." You buy a laptop that has hardware that will last a while and can support games. It takes some research and a little extra coin, but you don't, by default, have to buy an Alienware or Dell XPS just to play games on your laptop.
Alienware is marketing genius. They've convinced people that dropping a sh!tload of money for a name is the way to go, when you could either custom design the same system or go elsewhere for the same product. I'm not saying a high-end machine is cheap, but Alienware does some pricejacking.