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PC upgrade


Calum McGregor 1094665
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Calum McGregor 1094665
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Hi, I am looking to buy more advanced add-ons (PMDG etc) and need to upgrade my PC. I don't want to buy a new PC but maybe upgrade a few things. I only have 512mb of RAM and was going to upgrade that. My graphics card only has 128mb and was going to upgrade that as well. I was wondering, would these changes make much of a difference? And what would you reccomend? I don't have a very large budget.

 

Thanks, Calum

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Ian Beggs 1005752
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Hi, I am looking to buy more advanced add-ons (PMDG etc) and need to upgrade my PC. I don't want to buy a new PC but maybe upgrade a few things. I only have 512mb of RAM and was going to upgrade that. My graphics card only has 128mb and was going to upgrade that as well. I was wondering, would these changes make much of a difference? And what would you reccomend? I don't have a very large budget.

 

Thanks, Calum

 

I'm going to [Mod - Happy Thoughts]ume a few things, your using FS9? and your machine is pretty old? correct me if I'm wrong. If it is an older PC I really think instead of using your budget to upgrade an old pc you might aswell just get a new one to be honest. Whats your budget? Where are you from USA, Canada Europe etc etc. Maby someone can point out some good deals.

Ian Beggs

 

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Calum McGregor 1094665
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Using fs9 and yes my system is rather old. I am from the UK. My processor is dual core 2.8 GHz though so its pretty good. I get around 20 fps in the PMDG 747 but that's using default scenery. I would like to get the MD-11 and start using add-on scenery. Just looking for more RAM and a new graphics card tbh. My budget is severely low as I'm only 14 (nearly 15) and I have a lot of other expensive hobbies that's why I pnly want to upgrade those. Would it have any great effect?

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Gerry Hattendorf 935415
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Speaking about old computers, my "wooden" computer is a P4-2.8g with 3G and a VERY old ATI Rage Video card with 32M.

I'm running the PMDG 737NG (with the 800-900) add on, and although you wont see me entering anything in the screenshot forums, It's actually not bad on frames, but you for sure want to bump up that ram (I had a single 512 stick before, and it was a slide-show). But I agree with Ian, even as cheap memory is these days, the money spent would be better off in the long run with a new box.

 

My 2 cents!

Gerry Hattendorf

ZLA Webmaster

VATSIM Supervisor

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Ian Beggs 1005752
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Using fs9 and yes my system is rather old. I am from the UK. My processor is dual core 2.8 GHz though so its pretty good. I get around 20 fps in the PMDG 747 but that's using default scenery. I would like to get the MD-11 and start using add-on scenery. Just looking for more RAM and a new graphics card tbh. My budget is severely low as I'm only 14 (nearly 15) and I have a lot of other expensive hobbies that's why I pnly want to upgrade those. Would it have any great effect?

 

 

Ok a 2.8 ghz processor is good, ya defiantly need more Ram probably about 2 gigs and at least a 512mb card would improve your situation, Im not from the UK so I don't really know where the best place to buy computer hardware, Im sure someone will chime in, good luck.

Ian Beggs

 

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Calum McGregor 1094665
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Yeah it's a p4. That's what I was thinking. Will look into it.

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Ivan Kovacevic 920456
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Callum, one thing I would really recommend, if you are okay with getting an ATi graphics card is to find a Radeon 3850 or 3870... They are dirt cheap now and run FS very very well. They are, in fact, better at it than the much newer and more expensive GTX2xx series from nVidia, but only in FS.

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Daniel Eamon Brennan
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Also, if it's a Dell computer, do some research into what you can upgrade as Dell motherboards are non-ATX, this restricts me somewhat...

Daniel Eamon Brennan - C3

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Calum McGregor 1094665
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No it's a compaq computer. How much are the ATI cards?

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  • 2 weeks later...
Calum McGregor 1094665
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After the recent CTP and not even getting off the ground without my computer crashing, I have decided that I NEED a new computer badly. I don't have a large budget and was wondering if you could point me in the right way. I am from the UK btw. If building my own would be cheaper, could you tell me what I need and where to get it.

 

Thanks, Calum

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Darrol Larrok 1140797
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I would recommend checking out ibuypower.com, they're quite good and I got my computer from them. If your looking for laptop, Asus is nice but a bit on the pricey side. Building your own is the best option. You can get the parts from any computer store(I don't know what you've got in the UK). As for what you need, do you mean specific parts? If your asking what parts go into building a computer, then you probably shouldn't

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Ivan Kovacevic 920456
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[Mod - Happy Thoughts]embling your own PC would take more time, but it'll let you choose exactly what you want. That way, you're only paying for what you need, instead of paying for a pre-built system and upgrading it to accommodate your needs.

 

I'm not from the UK and I don't know many things about computer shops there, but I heard a few good things about Overclockers.co.uk - they seem to have a fairly good stock.

 

The 38xx series ATi cards are less than 50 pounds nowadays, I'd reckon.

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Ivan Kovacevic 920456
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It's an okay PC, but only if you intend on spending about 100-200GBP on upgrading it soon, since the CPU isn't much, and the graphics card isn't much.

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Calum McGregor 1094665
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Can you reccomend something Ivan?

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Ivan Kovacevic 920456
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I've always recommended building your own computer, since you get to choose exactly what you want, and it's really not that difficult to begin with.

 

Here's what I'm looking to get quite soon to replace my current PC:

 

Intel Core i5-750 (quad core i5 @ 2.66GHz which overclocks to 4GHz without breaking sweat)

Gigabyte P55A-UD4 motherboard (because of it's 12 phase power unit for the CPU)

4GB of Corsair 1600MHz DDR3 CL7 RAM (personal liking of Corsair, but Kingston, Geil or Mushkin are probably just as good)

 

and I've already got a:

Corsair HX650 (a 650Watt modular power supply).

Sapphire Radeon 5770 1GB

ProlimaTech Megahalems CPU Cooler (because you can run your PC at stock speeds without a fan on it )

 

 

All of these are quite popular components, so you'll be able to find them anywhere.

 

 

EDIT: Don't get me wrong - I'm not really recommending the Radeon 5770 if you're going exclusively for a Flight Sim computer - it's really not worth the money if that's all you're gonna run. It works wonders with new games, but it's no better on FS than some g-cards half it's price.

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Calum McGregor 1094665
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How much would your new one cost?

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Ivan Kovacevic 920456
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CPU + Motherboard + RAM would cost me around 460EUR.

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