Easy to understand PC requirements

[G.K.]

I've not been around for a year or more but now the winter weather has set in I've been flying FSX again. Very enjoyable. The old PC still manages a steady 23 fps if I stay away from very populated areas. Ground environment europe works OK too. I put the PC together myself about 8 maybe 10 years ago so it doesn't owe me anything.

I now want more, perhaps moving on to prepar3d.

I have from the old PC:

2x sata hard drives(1x76mb 1x460mb)
1x 750 watt psu
1x case
1x cd drive
1xdvd drive

So I think I need (corrections welcome)

1x quad core processor........which make?
1x compatible mobo.....no integrated stuff (well, maybe soundcard)
4 gig ram .....is this enough to start with?
1x 1 gig graphics card.........not an integrated one?
1x 64bit operating system........win 7 or 8?


These questions are common as muck I know. I've searched back through the old threads and followed the links and it's all too technical for me, they go into too much detail I'm too old to want a degree in PC's.

I'm just happy to get the foundations right, mobo needs to be good. I can upgrade later so I don't want the most expensive cards etc.... I'm on a budget of £400 (edited) plus or minus £50

Any recommendations, thoughts? Just basic general suggestions without too much techy stuff please.

[OldAirmail]

There's a lot to say, but unfortunately I'm going to work.

All I have time for is to repost this;

[Bass]

Toms Hardware might be a good helper

http://www.tomshardware.com/

[G.K.]

Thanks folks.

another question: Anyone have suggestions for a good online source for hardware in the UK?

[OldAirmail]

The only one I know of is OverClockers UK

Amazon UK may be another source for low prices. One of the reasons that I like them, and Newegg, is that it's no problem returning stuff within 30 days.

[Fozzer]

The only one I know of is OverClockers UK

Amazon UK may be another source for low prices. One of the reasons that I like them, and Newegg, is that it's no problem returning stuff within 30 days.

Amazon is excellent, providing that you have researched your requirements beforehand, and know exactly what you require to order.

I use Amazon, but you need to be aware of exactly what you are ordering to make sure that it fully meets your requirements!

...easy to buy the wrong thing... ...!

http://www.amazon.co.uk/

Note: Amazon don't supply Amazon Women...(Tried it...didn't work!)... ...!

Paul... ...!

[OldAirmail]

Sorry, Paul, they do supply women.

But they do have their standards.

[Bass]

Dont tell all the secrets

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/previou ... se_amazon/

[OldAirmail]

This will be my third year with the motherboard that I have, and I've been thinking about its replacement.

Unfortunately, I'll be laid off in December. If I can find a job soon enough I might get the one below.

It's not a high end ($,$$$) gaming board but it would give me a significant boost for a very reasonable price. Needless to say, it'll run FSX so well that you'll have to cut the grass around the tie-down for your plane.

For what it's worth, it far exceeds the requirements for Prepar3d V2.


It has integrated graphics, but that's unimportant to me. Most low/mid boards will have integrated graphics. I like to install my own cards and replace them as time goes on.


Asus Z87 PRO LGA 1150 Motherboard $189.99





For a pretty good review read Asus Z87-Pro, where an overclock is just a click away!

[c130lover]

4 gig ram .....is this enough to start with?
...
1x 64bit operating system........win 7 or 8?

I recommend more than 4 gigs of ram. Although FSX is a 32 bit application, it's always a good idea to have extra ram for running external programs. Plus ram is cheap.
I also recommend you stay away from 8.

[G.K.]

Thanks for the links and stuff......I'm slowly getting up to speed.

I have to confess to being slightly lazy on the research side of things, I only bother looking into it when I do significant upgrades and as I said the last time was 8+ years ago..............as I get older the techy stuff in life becomes less important.

Right, thanks to your links I've narrowed it down slightly.

Intel processor i5 (or maybe stretch to an i7) quad core
Asus mobo 1150skt
2x4gb mem
Nvidia Graphics 2 gb
Win 7

I've found this link to building your own PC info:
http://www.simforums.com/forums/the-fsx ... 46211.html
I'm currently trying to separate the wheat from the chaff in that lot. Seems like he knows his onions although there's a lot of wasted typing imo......horses for courses though.

Thanks for the heads up re amazon, there's some interesting bundles available. Getting the lot already assembled seems like it'll reduce some hassle.

I shall be sad to dismantle the old PC, it's been so good for so long. the only thing that's broken in 8-10 yrs is the PSU. It still does what I want apart from better performance on FSX and even that isn't that bad.

[G.K.]

Typo in OP

drive sizes: read gb instead of mb

[OldAirmail]

Just a thought on the video card - give some consideration to the AMD Radeon series cards.

They've recently renamed their line, so it may be somewhat confusing looking for reviews.


Check out my reply in Re: PC Specs

[G.K.]

Thanks for that OldAirmail. I will be refining my list as I get more info.

With Christmas comming up and my birthday in Jan this should all be sorted by feb

[OldAirmail]

Every birthday & Christmas I tell EVERYONE who is likely to get me something, to give me Amazon gift cards. That's how I bought most of my Saitek panels.

Unfortunately, they feel like they have to give me "something". More often that not, I toss whatever that "something" was into the trash.


Good luck to you.