Simviation Forums

Some of you might remember me, I doubt it though. I stopped coming to this forum when I realized my PC was completely incapable of running FSX whatsoever. (And by that I mean less than 1 FPS on the lowest settings)
It's a HP Pavilion a1700n.
AMD Athlon 3800 64x2 Dual core processor
1024 MB RAM
250 GB hardrive
NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE
OS: Vista Home premium

2 years after I bought it, I can buy this computer for the same price: $800.

Processor: AMD Phenom 9550 quad core processor
Harddrive: 640 GB
RAM: 6 GB
Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce 9100
OS: Vista home premium.

Will the computer I'm thinking of buying run FSX at medium/low-medium graphics at at least 30 FPS?

Make sure you have the 64bit version of Vista, or that extra two gigs of ram will be wasted. Other than that it should be fine. Don't know much about the AMD processors though.

AMD & ATI don't do FSX any justice. (or any other games I've played.)

If you can find a nice Intel & Nvidea combo, you'll be MUCH better off.


Trust me, I went the wrong way.

For ANY OS, as Spectre said, go 64bit, you don't want to waste all that RAM.

Best advice, save a bit more, and get an i7 system. $800 is a huge first step towards one, and you'll be running FSX at close to the max that is possible, instead of compromising and pulling your hair out for a few more FPS and less stutters. 8-)

AMD & ATI don't do FSX any justice. (or any other games I've played.)

If you can find a nice Intel & Nvidea combo, you'll be MUCH better off.


Trust me, I went the wrong way.

For ANY OS, as Spectre said, go 64bit, you don't want to waste all that RAM.

Best advice, save a bit more, and get an i7 system. $800 is a huge first step towards one, and you'll be running FSX at close to the max that is possible, instead of compromising and pulling your hair out for a few more FPS and less stutters. 8-)

The problem is, $800 is the absolute limit of what I can spend.

If you lower your expectations of what you want it to do with FSX, then it isn't a bad system.

It just won't do what you expect in your first post. Which is what you asked for.


Is this a prebuilt system, a private sale, or a wish list from web site?

If you lower your expectations of what you want it to do with FSX, then it isn't a bad system.

It just won't do what you expect in your first post. Which is what you asked for.


Is this a prebuilt system, a private sale, or a wish list from web site?

Prebuilt, from HP.

Is that a laptop computer? Because I've never seen an "nVidia 9100" on a desktop.

If it is a desktop one, you may get a better deal for $800 buying it for parts at Newegg.com

Yes, it would be better to buy parts. At Nvidia.com the 9100 stands under "Value", which is the lowest it gets. For a low price, you'd be better off with a cheap 9800 like this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130339

or a little cheaper 9600 GT like this one, but it will also lower your performance.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130424

OR if you are willing to spend some more, you can get a GTX 260 with better performance.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2000380048%20106792634%201067940781&Tpk=gtx%20260

It has been mentioned already, but Intel is way better for FSX. You could maybe get a cheap quad core or a strong dual core.

I'm sticking to prebuilt, because I have no knowledge of how to put together a computer.

For the sake of you not going out and wasting $800, I've spent some time on Newegg.com looking for the best deal for less than $800... Don't sweat it, you're welcome!

This computer here has the potential to run FSX on medium-high settings smoothly and problem free. Better yet, it's only $740, so you're $60 under budget for a few drinks to celebrate

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6883227158

Specs (for everyone else to see and compare!):

Processor

Pear40, I don't think you should buy that. Its kind of marginal on the CPU. I had the 9500, a 2.2 ghz processor, and it had stutter problems with FSX. Mine had some math error and there was a patch that caused a 10% performance hit. the 9550 is a step up I believe, but is still the 2.2 ghz processor.

I'm now running the Phenom 9850 quad-core 64 bit, and it handles it nicely. My machine is the HP 9350f I believe, I bought it refurbished for $600 with the Nvidia 512 meg GPU. I don't overclock either. Stock computer, stock FSX install. Runs nice.

BUT, if you have the $800, that IBuyPower machine above would be even better.

I'm sticking to prebuilt, because I have no knowledge of how to put together a computer.

That's what we're here for!  :)

Trust me, with a little advise on which parts to buy, (which you just got) and the courage it take to make that first scary leap into a build (can be really scary, I know) putting a machine together isn't really that hard at all. Most things will only connect one way. And nothing beats that "I did it myself" feeling!

I think if you were to consider it, you'll find you'd have a much better computer for the money!

Best advice, save a bit more, and get an i7 system. $800 is a huge first step towards one, and you'll be running FSX at close to the max that is possible at this moment in time.

The problem is, $800 is the absolute limit of what I can spend.

$800 is the limit you can spend now.

Save it.  FSX isn't going anywhere for a long time, and ANY compromise you make now, is going to cost you again in the near future when FSX addons are beyond your new rigs capabilities.

You have $800 now, in less than a years time worth of saving, current i7 system prices are coming down all the time as newer and better stuff comes out.

With i7, you have the possibility of future upgrades, and your up and running on current gear.


It's not that far away... if you have the will power.

[quote]For the sake of you not going out and wasting $800, I've spent some time on Newegg.com looking for the best deal for less than $800... Don't sweat it, you're welcome!

This computer here has the potential to run FSX on medium-high settings smoothly and problem free. Better yet, it's only $740, so you're $60 under budget for a few drinks to celebrate

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6883227158

Specs (for everyone else to see and compare!):

Processor