Simviation Forums

Hello world, again.
I've recently managed to swap some components in my rig, and now the (odd) specs are the ones you can see in my signature.
Obviously the CPU is the problem.
I've tested the revised rig in FS2004 and there's a noticeable improvement over the previous one (1 GB RAM and a 6600GT card), but clearly I'm in need of a dual core CPU.
The question is: with this configuration will I be able to run FSX with about the same level of performance I am getting in FS2004? I mean: does FSX require "per se" a more powerful rig than FS2004?
Thanks and see you soon on the virtual skies (hopefully)

Yes, FSX requires a much more powerfull CPU than FS9.
Here is a description of FSX needs:

- the main game engine, the physics, the AI, the weather, sounds, gauges, etc.... are all running on only one core. So you want that core to be as fast as possible, typically above 3GHz. The more GHz, the more FPS.

- the terrain construction while you are flying is distributed over all of the available cores. Terrain construction consists in autogen placing, terrain textures refreshing (get them sharper the closer you get), mesh refreshing (same as textures), etc.... IF you don't have enough cores or if those cores are too slow (not enough GHz), the terrain will get blurry pretty soon, because it cannot be "updated" fast enough.

In the end, a Dual core is really the minimum choice, and it won't be enough if you try to use very detailled terrains, like photorealistic+Autogen for example.

The recommended choice is a quad core with at least 3GHz speed. A good i7 for example. But with "normal" sceneries, a Dual core running at more that 3GHz can also give some good results

- the main game engine, the physics, the AI, the weather, sounds, gauges, etc.... are all running on only one core. So you want that core to be as fast as possible, typically above 3GHz. The more GHz, the more FPS.

Depends on the architecture...

A Core 2 Duo @ 1.83ghz will be as fast as a Pentium D @ 3.6ghz.

A Core 2 Duo @ 3.33ghz will be well over twice as fast as a Pentium-D at 3.4ghz.

A 2.66ghz i7 will be faster than a 3.0ghz Core 2 Quad.

A 3.4ghz Phenom II will be as fast as a 2.66ghz Core i5 750.

A 3.33ghz Core i7 980X hexacore will obliterate everything.

OK, thanks, so no FSX for me for the time being.
Oh well, I'll dust off FS9.