Should I get FS X or FS 04 for this computer

[croc1073]

Im new here and have regained some interest in FS.  I dont know if I should try and get FS 04 or FS X or FS X Deluxe.  My computer is:
Dimension E510 ,Intel Pentium D Processor 820 with Dual Core Technology (2.8 GHz)
 1GB DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz
 128MB ATI Hyper Memory PCI-Express X16 (DVI/VGA/TV out) Radeon X300 SE
 160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)


Can you give me an idea how well X or X deluxe will run?   Also, how much differen in graphics is 04 to FS X?

Thanks for your help.  I appreciate your opinions.

[HugoCampos]

Well, you'll be able to max FS2004 but you'll probably want FSX since it will look better than FS2004 even at low settings... plus it comes with missions, new camera settings and much more. In my opinion you should go with the Deluxe version since it's not much more expensive, it gives you the ability to play as an ATC in multiplayer, it comes with more missions, more scenery and more planes.

[aussiewannabe]

[quote]Im new here and have regained some interest in FS.

[HugoCampos]

I did max FSX out once on a pc with a Pentium4 " 2.8, 512mb of RAM and a Geforce FX5200. The computer almost exploded lol. My Frames per second were, well, not frames per second but "seconds per frame"... 10 SECONDS PER FRAME!!!! I just had to try it.
Oh, btw, FS2004 ran smothly (or almost) on that system. So now you can see the beast FSX is!

[Xyn_Air]

I think a big question is, how soon do you plan on upgrading your computer?

At your computer's current specs, you are going to find it challenging to get good performance out of FSX.  That is not to say FSX isn't a great simulator or enjoyable.  Simply, it has high requirements for full usage.

On the other hand, FS2004 is more forgiving.  Heck, I can even run FS2004 quite decently on my old laptop.  But, FS2004 will not do as much as nicely as FSX can on a more powerful system.

If you are looking for the simulator that runs well now on the system you have, then perhaps you want to get a copy of FS2004 (which, as I have heard, is coming down quite nicely in price since the release of FSX).

If you are looking for the simulator with the most bells and whistles, or if you are planning to upgrade your system soon, then perhaps you want to get a copy of FSX (get the deluxe edition! get the deluxe addition!).

Or, you could go overboard like I did and get both.  I don't regret that investment.  If I want something that runs smoothly on my system 99% of the time, I use FS2004.  But, when I want to do certain things, such as easy multiplier, I use FSX (I've turned my dad into an addict).

As a final note, you can download the trial version of FSX and see how well it runs on your system.  If your computer chokes on the trial version and you are only going to invest in one or the either of the FS versions at this point, I think that would be a pretty clear indicator to get FS2004.  If the trial version runs great, then it might mean you will do fine with FSX.

Hope something helped. ~Darrin

[croc1073]

That helps a lot, thanks, I will try the demo, downloaded it last night.  Ill let yall know how it goes.  I dont plan on upgrading anytime soon, plus all Im really interested in is flying planes and seeing some of the scenery.  I will probably go with 2004 for the smoothness.