computer problem!!!!

[GreaseMonkey]

hi guys, i am wanting to buy a new computer. but i get a bit paranoyed, i think yeh that seems ok and then i might think , am i wasting my time?

i saw a computer that i would like to buy as it is in my price range (birthday treat  aswell!) i thought i could have a second opinion here are the specs,

Windows vista Home basic
AMD sempron 3200 proccessor
Nvidia GEforce 6200 with Nforce 405 graphics power
160GB HDD
512mb RAM

...would this be able to run FSX properly?

thanks  ;)

[ctjoyce]

FSX? God no. That may run FS9 at medium settings, You need a much better video card, another gig of RAM at least, and the processor isn't doing well for itself.

Cheers
Cameron

[GreaseMonkey]

ive upgraded the ram to 1024mb and might be able to upgrade the graphics card to a 7 series

[Nick N]

ive upgraded the ram to 1024mb and might be able to upgrade the graphics card to a 7 series

your procssor and memory bus speed is the problem. Yes, a video card and 1+ gig of memory will help in FS9 but with FSX that system even with the 7xxx VC upgrade and Mem upgrades will be very restricted on slider settings. You will get FS9 to run with much more in visuals but FSX will be very restricted.


You also have to understand that if the CPU and memory speed are slow, you can have the fastest graphics card on the planet and it will not help. The CPU/Memory speed must be able to handle the video card communication rate. The video card should be selected based on the rest of the system and not thought of as a silver bullet to fix everything, it wont.


For your system, even a 7000 series Nvidia card would be choked by the supporting hardware. It will help but you will never see the full potential of the card in use.