Scott Greene 980697 Posted January 1, 2010 at 11:26 PM Posted January 1, 2010 at 11:26 PM I am looking at building a new PC. I will be ordering my parts on Newegg and building the machine myself. The build process is within my ability and I feel quite capable in completing the build successfully. My question lies in parts, and, their ability to run FS well. I am on a budget with this build so I am looking for some input from the hardware gurus out there. Here is the current spec's in my list (Newegg prices included to indicate the financial impact on build): CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 6000 ($56.00) MoBo: ASUS M3A78 Pro w/ PCI express 2.0 ($75.99) Power Supply: Broadway OKIA-Black-600 600W ($30.00) Video Card: PNY GeForce 9600GT 512 ($99.00) Memory: Crucial Ballistix Tracer 2Gb ($69.00) (MoBo has 4 slots for future expansion) HDD: Western Digital Caviar SE 320Gb HD ($48.00) Total parts cost: $378.00 Non-Essential parts: DVD ROM: Already own Sound Card: Not a high priority item, will use OB sound Case: May need a new one to accommodate for space. Have two cases on hand to try before buying a new one. Monitor, mouse, KB, Printer: Already own. Notes: I chose the lower end brand of power supply due to cost and reviews. It looked like the best low cost/good review combination for me. I have built and rebuilt my current PC several times over the last 7 years and have been partial to the ASUS/AMD/Nvidia combination. I would post the current specs but I would like to save myself from outlandish public "pointing and laughing". The Athlon chip has good reviews and a decent price. I am a little wary of the PNY VC due to not having heard of PNY before but it is priced in the range in which it's not too much to try it out. I own Windows XP and will be staying with XP. This PC will be dedicated to FS. Currently I own FS9 and I am okay with continuing to use this version. I, however, like the looks of FSX and would be interested in upgrading if this build will operate it sufficiently. During normal play, I will be utilizing vasFMC, FSInn, VATSIM and multiple monitors which will display charts. I want smooth framerates, ability to use TrackIR and smooth gameplay. Currently on very low FS9 settings, I get very low framerates (especially when other players are near), frequent FS9 crashes and complete, unprovoked, system restarts. I [Mod - Happy Thoughts]ume the latter two issues are happening due to low CPU/RAM capacity in the machine when several programs are running during flight. Your turn. Please add your comments, advise, suggestions or ridicule accordingly. I welcome all opinions. Thanks! "If you hear me, traffic no longer a factor." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Gerrish Posted January 1, 2010 at 11:48 PM Posted January 1, 2010 at 11:48 PM system should run FS9 fine. I would recommend increasing your ram to 4gb Richard Gerrish Developer, STM Applications Group Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott Greene 980697 Posted January 1, 2010 at 11:58 PM Author Posted January 1, 2010 at 11:58 PM Increasing to 4Gb of RAM is a very possible option in my build but I believe Windows XP is limited on the RAM it can use. I thought it was limited at 3Gb. I am also interested to see if this build would run FSX along with my online flying configuration. Thanks for the reply "If you hear me, traffic no longer a factor." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Gerrish Posted January 2, 2010 at 12:23 AM Posted January 2, 2010 at 12:23 AM the 32bit version of XP is limited to 4gb total that it can use. so the max usable ram would be 4gb minus your videocard ect. Richard Gerrish Developer, STM Applications Group Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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