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For the past few days ive been looking online trying to build a system to run FSX. My goal is to get a computer to run FSX at its full capacity so I can begin more posts with excellent graphics. (also just a fast computer)

I was wondering if anyone had an idea of what some good parts for a computer would be to run FSX at full speed with no glitches ect. I made a list of parts that I was considering but i was wondering if anyone else had any ideas on the perfect system.

Heres my list so far: 500 GB Segate Barracuda 7200.10/(i dont know if ill use 500g so i may go smaller like 250 or 320)Intel Core2Quad Q6600 2.4 GHz 8mb Cache/ASUS P5N-E ATX Motherbaord/800 MHz Dual Channel 2048 MB NVIDIA SLI Ready/ and i dont know what graphics card to choose. I dont want to spend like 500 bucks on a graphics card but I just need a decent one.

Above is a list of my dream parts for a computer. If anyone has suggestions on a different processor or anything else for a computer I would be more than happy to read your comments. This whole computer building thing has been giving me a headache so I would gladly accept any pointers from previous builders!!!!!! Thank You For Your Time -DrBrown

Im no expert but here comes my humble opinion. First of all you cant build a computer to run fsx maxed out and smooth the parts dont exist yet. One thing i would do is get a couple of 10000 rpm sata raid drives and put your operating system and fsx on them and everything else on the others. And dont skimp on the video card you will regret it, 8800 is the way to go with as much ram as you can get. You don't mention ram, low latency is the key, i have heard mixed reports about 4 cores but if you can afford it get one even if it doesnt help fsx it will help in other areas and they are about to fall dramatically in price so keep an eye out on prices. Anyone feel free to correct me.Hope this helps a little.
P.S. DONT  SKIMP ON THE VIDEO CARD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There is no affordable, desktop hardware capable of running FSX to full potential... yet.

I don't think there will be, until 64-bit Vista, and 64-bit hardware/drivers, and quad-core CPUs are all on the same page. Even then, I don't think FSX can be "patched" to fully use that hardware. I think there has to be a seamless flow from application, to O/S, to drivers.. In other words; Software has to be specifically coded handle data in 64-bit chunks, the O/S does too, as well as the drivers.... AND it has to be specifically coded to share the processing load with 2 (or more) cores.

ANYway... for the time being, it's pretty much a cash thing. How close you can get to the FSX potential, depends on how much money you can spend.  The only advice from my very limited knowledge (and by today's prices) would be:  Don't build a fast, quad-core computer and then limit it by skimping on the V-card...

You won't be able to max FSX until a year from now! Even if you set all the sliders to the maximum, you won't be able to play FSX at it's max because it throttles itself. If the sim doesn't have the resources it needs to display the settings that were set it will just not display them. Also, when the DX10 patch comes out, FSX will get even slower (if it follows what happened to Company of Heroes, Call of Juarez and Lost Planet that have all been converted to DX10). Only when new processors and graphics cards come out you will be able to max FSX out.... I would say in 2 or 3 generations of Hardware.
Currently... no way to max FSX! Well, maybe if you work for NASA or the FBI or NSA or Intel or some company that has access to the super computers of the future haha

My goal is to get a computer to run FSX at its full capacity so I can begin more posts with excellent graphics

I was wondering if anyone had an idea of what some good parts for a computer would be to run FSX at full speed with no glitches ect.

I dont want to spend like 500 bucks on a graphics card but I just need a decent one.

That does not compute

you want the best but the parts you have chosen are far from it and if you are not willing to spen 500 on the video card, you wont be getting anywhere near close to smooth and no glitches


also

Quote from Nick N on 07/03/07 at 4:29pm:


FSX RUNS 10 TIMES THE CODE OF FS9 AT MAX

So if your system runs FS9 smooth, fast and MAXED, you need 10 times MORE CPU and video card to run FSX smooth, fast and MAXED

Many people say "I HAVE FSX RUNNING 100% SLIDERS SO ITS MAXED OUT"

tHATS HORSECHIT

They dont see everything the software is able to deliver even if all their sliders and check-boxes are at 100% (which is probably a lie too, especially flying out of LA or NYC)

FSX has the ability to throttle itself and therefore if it sees the system is not rendering it starts pulling back on elements. It wont be until the end of next year when the dual-quad 45nm processors and 1 teraflop video cards are released that FSX will have what it needs to max out and display all of what it is porting to the system.

You must understand the limits of your hardware and how to go about setting up MSFS or you will never see any benefit with what I posted.


Good Luck

FSX demands >10x system resources as compared to FS9, and the CPUs are certainly not 10X.

Senior PM, Graphics and Terrain
Aces Studio, MGS

Yup, you can even go to Alienware or somewhere else, pay 15 grand for the best computer available and it still won't be able to run FSX at its max!

alienware is a pure rip-off

they are also owned by Dell now if I remember correctly

their 5-8 grand towers can be built for 3, or less, and that would be using 2x better quality parts

Yup, it really is a rip-off and yea, they're owned by dell. I once went there and tried to set up the most expensive computer I could... it was like 15 grand. Then I went to newegg and chose the exact same components and I ended up with like 4-5 grand. They charge a lot for the brand, the cases, the overclocking. And then they ask for some more money to rip you off even more! lol

I would like to thank everyone who has giving me advice on this computer im trying to build. You all have definetly changed my view on my system. Once again thank you!!!!!!!

Several things that should be considered before buying right now


1. There is a shift about to take place in chipset technology. The first part of that is the P35 chipset which was released in late May, the follow up is the X38 chipset due out next month.

2. Taking that leaps further all of the players are going to be introducing their new chipset motherboards right around October/November. If AMD gets their new one out, there may be reason to switch from Nvidia to ATI because the new R6xx due out in September (and even the 2900XT) will then have the 'mate' AMD designed for that card, essentially opening up the communication path directly to the CPU cores from the GPU. AMD has already broken the 1.5tf real-time dataflow barrier with that chipset, the Barcelona and the next R6xxx card.

In one demonstration, ATI showed 1.5 teraflops of runtime computing ability for a live demo with a lot of demanding 3D effects. It was part of a game which will be coming out before too long and showed a stunning 3D flight through a forest, over some water, past a bird in flight, through the grass and much more. Another demo showed a single machine doing gaming and real-time MPEG encoding on the frame-by-frame generated images for the game. That information was transmitted across a network to be shown on two other computers. It worked so smoothly on the single machine that it almost could not be understood what was taking place. But, according to AMD, it was doing 100% real-time encoding of the images while generating them. The presenter made a point of indicating just how compute intensive this was.

How/if that gets to market this coming xmas season is an unknown but the R700 due out in Feb-Mar of next year will be their next leap and will also need that chipset platform to perform.

The reason the 2900XT did not fair as well as it should have was a combination of things, but the main reason is because the 2nd half of the equation that makes that card light up like a rocket is not on the market. It was originally expected to be out in June/July with Barcelona but got pushed to the end of the year. So the card got a bad rap unfortunately, but as no fault of its own. It had to be released, there was no choice.

3. DDR3 technology is growing fast. They already hit DDR3 2000 and its expected to hit DDR3 2500 by the end of the year, something DDR2 will never do. Also, the new Intel processors due out about November will need DDR3 and the newer chipset motherboards to have full support for them. They will run on the older motherboards but you must have a P35, X38 or next release chipset motherboard for full support.

Where am I going with all this?

Simple, if you are going to spend a chunk of change on a system you may want to pocket that change for a few more months, or at the very least wait for the x38 chipset due out later next month. That way your money will go toward a system that will be completely compatible with the next gen of hardware and if AMD manages to get their next chipset out, that would bust a video barrier long awaited by the game market.

Nvidia from what I understand also has some things up their sleeve too and at this point it is really unknow who will be doing what-when for sure. There is quite a bit of HUSH going on right now so the information about when to expect and what to expect is not clear.


If you want to buy a system TODAY, then a p35 DDR3 motherboard is the way to go. If you wait another month for its big brother, the x38 DDR3 motherboard is the way to go. It will also support full x16 crossfire too, (2 ATI cards in crossfire configuration) something no other motherboard to date supports. The only support 4x-8x crossfire right now.

AS for processors. Here is where you need to decide if you intend to overclock or not. I always do, but that

So I need to know how much you got, and how much you are willing to let go of and what would you like to do in the way of a motherboard. I can't spec a board that is not on the market, but I can give you a list of other supporting parts.

If you intend to wait till around the end of the year it would be best to just wait on listing anything till then


If you are interested in the x38 chipset due out next month or the P35 chipset which is on the market now, I can hook you up right away with everything else, but do be aware the 8800 is a year old as of October and both ATi and Nvidia will have their next monsters on the market in plenty of time for xmas, so what you buy in the way of video card today will definitely be old news by December, no doubt about it.