upgrade for fs2004 or fsx?

[ml57]

Greetings all!

My present machine (Abit NF7/Athlon 2600/ATI9600/XP) is dying from some hardware disease or the other, and it is time for an upgrade. I can run fs9 with lowish/mid settings quite well in my area of interest (stick and rudder mainly in a Realair SF260: no heavies and not really interested in simulating large airports).

I can't decide whether to upgrade to FSX and spec the hardware with that in mind, or to go for a (presumably) cheaper system that would make FS9 really sing.

[MOUSY]

If by UKP you mean Pounds... heck no! (correct me if i'm wrong)

This system can be built for just over $1000USD... if not just under.

I've priced a system off Newegg consisting of a Q6600, 4GB DDR2-1066, 9800GTX, 500GB HD, including a rock-solid 750W PSU on an X48 board, along with a a good case, cooler and DVD burner for just $965USD! And thats the minimum I'd go for to get pretty decent performance out off FSX!

[ml57]

If by UKP you mean Pounds... heck no! (correct me if i'm wrong)

This system can be built for just over $1000USD... if not just under.

I've priced a system off Newegg consisting of a Q6600, 4GB DDR2-1066, 9800GTX, 500GB HD, including a rock-solid 750W PSU on an X48 board, along with a a good case, cooler and DVD burner for just $965USD! And thats the minimum I'd go for to get pretty decent performance out off FSX!

Yes, we really get screwed on the prices here, despite the fact that we both get the stuff from China!

I decided to go for a low/mid system and focus of FS9, and perhaps have a little dabble with FSX along the way just to get used to it.  I'm recycling some stuff from my old system, which has a thermaltake 480W PSU, so I may be a bit short on power.  

The idea is that I keep some flexibilty on upgrading in a year or two when I can see what the lie of the land looks like with SOW:BOB and FSX11.

I have already sourced

E4500 CPU
8800GT 500  GPU
Asus P5QL-E (P43)
WD 500G SATA drive

Now I need some memory.  I find the whole memory specification and timing numbers thing very confusing.  Should I go with the OCZ 4G kit PC6400 5-4-4-15 that I was originally offered?  Is there any milage now or in the future in going for PC8500?

Mike

[MWISimmer]

I think you can do a lot better for

[MOUSY]

CD's list above looks much more pleasing for the price...

If you're not going to overclock the system I believe 800 should be fine when working with a 2.2 Ghz Dual Core, which in my opinion, is a bit on the slow side today.

[ml57]

[quote]I think you can do a lot better for

[Mazza]

Ummmm is you want a com that would run FS9 high and FSX desnt them get something like i'm getting... Very good for upgrades. 8-)

But with the downfall of USAs economy Prices here is Aussieland have gone up soooo much

[MWISimmer]

[quote][quote]I think you can do a lot better for

[Brett_Henderson]

Back to the original question...


FSX is better than FS9 in too many ways to list.. ESPECIALLY if you're a stick-n-rudder, small GA simmer.

If you're able to keep yourself from getting caught up in the psychological quagmire (stewing because you can't push the sliders all the way to max), a very modest upgrade will give you a FSX experience that is much better than a "maxed out" FS9.

For reference.. I run a Q6600 (o-clocked to 3.2ghz), 4GB of 1066RAM, and a 8800GTS-G2-512, and am having a blast with FSX. THat computer is a year old and can probably be built today for UNDER $1000US

[dido41]

CD's list above looks much more pleasing for the price...

If you're not going to overclock the system I believe 800 should be fine when working with a 2.2 Ghz Dual Core, which in my opinion, is a bit on the slow side today.

Can you give some specs and links to them components please?

[MOUSY]

Hey Dido... here's the link to My Public Wish List.

http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/Publi ... er=5220991

At present the price is $1011, plus or minus a couple bucks as Newegg increases and decreases on their savings. The 9800GTX is out of stock, so I replaced it with a GTX+ which brought the price up from $983.

Hopes this helps.