RobertO 3 Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 Mathjis: Before FSX was released, you posted a thread about the specs you used on a computer that made the program run smoothly. I can't seem to find it anymore. I am about to build a computer from scratch and would like some recommendations on what hardware I should get to make not only FSX run smoothly, but FS9 as well. I am tired of low frame rates. I run add-on aircraft, add-on airports, addon AI, Active Sky, FDC and an ATC program all at the same time! So, I need power! BTW, this will probably be a Windows XP machine. I will continue to use FS9 for the time being, but will probably upgrade FSX eventually. So, I need something to handle both. Do you have any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert S 75 Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 Here is a great link to a very in-depth article about computers and FSX performance: From my perspective and experience, the essence of a fast FSX system, in order of priority, is the following: CPU - two or more CPU cores and the fastest clock speed you can buy or otherwise achieve through overclocking. Intel reigns supreme in this arena at this time. CPU Cooler - if you are going to overclock, get at least one of the value aftermarket HSF combinations, like the Arctic Cooler Freezer5 Pro 7 that I use. After that, they can get very big and expensive for diminishing cooling returns. Motherboard - if you are going to overclock, get a brand name, known overclocking friendly motherboard. It doesn't need to be the Deluxe++ WiFi Limited Edition of a particular board series, as quite often the value versions of these allow just as good overclocking, just minus the bells and whistles that don't matter much to FSX performance (eg. RAID, Firewire). Newegg customer feedback comments are your friend here. Power Supply - you'll need at least 500W PSU and one of good quality. I'd much rather have only 500W of quality power than 1KW of ripply volts and amps from a dodgy brothers unit. 500W is sufficent for the base unit I describe here. FWIW, I use a 480W ANTEC with the rig I used in the tests above, with no issues at all. Case - Again, if overclocking, make sure that the case you get is well ventilated and can accommodate any huge aftermarket HSF you buy. RAM - 2GB for XP and 4GB for Vista (with a strong recommendation for Vista 64 to make full use of all 4GB). Memory speed and timings don't make a huge difference (I will be testing for this shortly), just as long as whatever you buy run at your potential overclock speed. DDR2-800 at 5-5-5-18 timings is plenty good enough for what most want to do here. Video Card - either a 7900GT or 1950XT for DX9 only, or an 8800 GT for DX9 & DX10. Although video card performance does play a greater factor in FSX than any previous FS version, particularly if you want to crank AA/AF levels up beyond what in-game setting provide, having a fast CPU and enough RAM to feed it will do much more to bring up your low-end FPS with this title. No SLI or Crossfire, unless your house needs the extra heating it is pretty much entirely useless with FSX! Edit: And get a 512MB or greater version if you run a resolution over 1280x1024 or really like to push those AA/AF levels up to max at the video card driver level. Hard Drive - I know that some swear by RAID and Raptors, but in my experience it doesn't make a cracker of difference while FSX is chugging along, as long as your FS scenery directories are regularly defragged and you are running a 7200RPM unit. When considering hard drives for an FSX system, I think much more about capacity than performance. Sound Card - Any modern, name brand, even value, overclockers motherboard comes with a more than adequate for onboard sound capability for FSX performance consideration. Don't bother with an external sound card for FSX unless you really have a fine ear for the sound quality difference it offers over onboard. That pretty well covers the major system components. Of course if you play other games, especially First Person Shooter, then I'd consider upping the video card spec to 2 x 8800GT in SLI and say a 800W PSU to handle the extra load. Finally, here are some recommendations for FS-optimised rigs (minus monitor, mouse and keyboard) I put together a couple of weeks ago: Overclockers Performance System ~$1300 for 3.2-3.6GHz quad core DX10 power - http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishli...tNumber=6548852 Performance System ~$1150 for 3.0GHz dual core DX10 power - http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishli...tNumber=6551312 Value Overclockers System ~$600 for 3.2-3.4GHz dual core DX9 power - http://secure.newegg.com/NewVersion/wishli...tNumber=6551492 Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aerosoft Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558 Posted January 3, 2008 Aerosoft Share Posted January 3, 2008 Mathjis: Before FSX was released, you posted a thread about the specs you used on a computer that made the program run smoothly. I can't seem to find it anymore. I am about to build a computer from scratch and would like some recommendations on what hardware I should get to make not only FSX run smoothly, but FS9 as well. I am tired of low frame rates. I run add-on aircraft, add-on airports, addon AI, Active Sky, FDC and an ATC program all at the same time! So, I need power! BTW, this will probably be a Windows XP machine. I will continue to use FS9 for the time being, but will probably upgrade FSX eventually. So, I need something to handle both. Do you have any suggestions? Well you got a problem, lol. For FS9 I would advise a strong but cheap AMD CPU because you will need a good single core CPU. But for FSX nothing beats a solid quad core. This allows you to let one core handle the addon products while the other cores handle FSX. But a quad core runs FS9 moderately at best because 75% of the CPU power is wasted. Right now there is no way to get high end performance for an acceptable price on both sims. I personally would always look forward and get a quad core. FS9 is a dead end no matter how you look at it. With some tweaking you should be able to run 4 copies of FS2004 at good speed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert S 75 Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 With some tweaking you should be able to run 4 copies of FS2004 at good speed! LOL! And at the same time!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aerosoft Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558 Posted January 3, 2008 Aerosoft Share Posted January 3, 2008 LOL! And at the same time!!! Right, we only got to find where FS2004 checks for multiple copies running at the same time and disable it. My main rig should be able to run at least 3 copies of FS2004 at 20 fps at the same time. The GPU will be tasked at that moment, so I probably could not use the last core for FS. Ahh well, I'll open the complete office set or compress a video with the last core. Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egoix 0 Posted January 3, 2008 Share Posted January 3, 2008 A modern Quad core runs FS9 only moderately at best :shock: :shock: ? And overclocking it and running FS9 in one core and the addons in other? I´m going to purchase a Q6600, and i was expecting to run it (and my gazillions of addons) at spectacular frame rates :cry: :cry: . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobertO 3 Posted January 4, 2008 Author Share Posted January 4, 2008 What about a dual core machine for FS9 and FSX? At this point, I am more sure that I'll be running FS9, rather than FSX. I may give FSX a skip all together. I have so many FS9 addons, including a lot of Aerosoft product. So, I'd rather build a system that easily handles FS9. What AMD processor do you suggest for FS9? Is there an Intel chip that's just as good? Are 2 gigs of RAM sufficient? And what graphics card should I look at? I like the GeForce line. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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