What Should I do?

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TheEternalLife

Junior Member
Aug 16, 2006
23
0
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Ok, so I am a pilot, and I love the Microsoft Flight Simulator Series. I heard about Flight Sim X, which is due this October, and it sounded amazing. It is the only reason I plan on upgrading my computer. The game just looks great.

But here is the thing, right now I only have 1gb of ram, and an ATI x1800 512mb, PCI Express card, and an AMD Athlon 3200 single core cpu. I obviously need to upgrade the video card for this game, get a dual core cpu, and maybe another gb of ram.

So I want to purchase a really good card, a good but cheap dual core cpu, and another gb of ram.

The problem is, the video card. I hear I should wait to get the new Direct X 10 Cards, when Vista comes out and stuff. That sounds like a good idea, but Flight Sim X comes out in October...I dont want to wait all the way till the beginning of the year for the Direct X 10 cards to come out, and vista and direct x 10 is released.

I want to be able to play Flight Sim X when it is release, on full graphic settings, and get a smooth fps. Do I need a Direct X 10 card to get this game at it's best with a good fps? Or can I purchase a high end card right now, such as the Nvidia 7950GX2 1gb GDDR3 PCI Express Dual GPU video card, and get max settings with a good fps? If I can get that card right now, use it with vista and direct x 10, and run Flight Sim X with full settings with a good fps, I will buy that card right now.

But I here it wont run as well as a Direct X 10 card would run...Is this true for my case? If you need me to explain the question again, please do tell me, because I am trying to figure this one out so I know wether or not to save or not to save up for a card right now.


Also, can I get a good Dual Core CPU for like 200 bucks? I would need a 939 Socket CPU.
 
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Bobthelost

Diamond Member
Dec 1, 2005
4,360
0
0
Don't buy now.

By the time it's out G80 may have turned up, so you'll have upgraded for no reason and as such lost out in the long term (ie top of the range today is second from the top tomorrow). You don't know how much CPU power you'll need.

It will not need DX-10, you'll be able to play it with full or damned close to full eyecandy with a 7950GX2 or X1950, however they are not DX-10 cards (not really worth worrying about to be honest). The question i think you should ask is since the game isn't out yet do you need to upgrade now?
 
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TheEternalLife

Junior Member
Aug 16, 2006
23
0
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Ok I'm lost kinda. The GeForce 8 series card, is that going to be a direct x 10 card? If it is, then wouldnt it be released when vista is release, due to the fact that vista will be running direct x 10? But if the GeForce 8 series is not a direct x 10 card, should I still buy it, and it should work with Direct x 10 when it comes out right? Im just worred that if I dont get a direct x 10 card, my stuff will not run as well as if I did get a direct x 10 card. I would love to get a direct x 10 card, but it probably is gonna come out till like 4 after Flight Sim X....that's the thing. Should I even worry about it, or should I just get the 7950GX2 if it runs the game on high anyway?
 
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JAG87

Diamond Member
Jan 3, 2006
3,921
3
76
if the game is made for dx9, it does not matter if u get a dx10 card. obviously the game will run better on the geforce 8 series then on any 7 series card, not because its dx10, but because its just a new gen card, and its even more tweaked and refined to perform even better in dx9 games. But when we switch directx, very often manufacturers abandon the quest for more performance in the older dx. So when we have dx10 cards, dont expect the jump in dx9 performance to be huge. and when we have the second wave of dx10 cards, dont expect the jump in dx9 performance to be of any significance again. the focus will be on dx10 performance.

as of now, I think the we have almost reached dx9 culminating perfrormance, so dont expect much more juice out of the next gen dx10 cards. maybe an extra 10-15% at most.
 
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Bobthelost

Diamond Member
Dec 1, 2005
4,360
0
0
The short answer is that i don't know and i don't think anyone who does know is allowed to talk about it (NDAs :| )

Why do you need the card now, why not wait and buy a new one when the game is released? That way it'll give you better performance for the same money than using a G71 based graphics card. The flight Sim X will NOT need or utilise anything in DX-10, it'll be a DX9 game.

DX-10 is not going to be a real issue for around two years or so imo, but if you're worried then there's going to be at least ten threads on the G80 and DX10 in the video forum with people who pay more attention to it than i do.
 
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TheEternalLife

Junior Member
Aug 16, 2006
23
0
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That really did not help...lol, because Like I said, I do not want to wait months after Flight Sim X is released. I want to purchase the best card available when Flight Sim X is released. My goal is to play Flight Sim X at max settings, with a smooth fps.
 
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lamere

Senior member
Jul 22, 2006
479
0
0
What is your board make? You have to make sure your mobo will support a X2 chip first of all.
I will side with the majority also, directX10 is nothing to worry about right now.
Vista has to be released first, and at the rate of all the delays, it could be 2008 for all we know..
Plus a directX 10 card that will play the game at max settings and smooth to boot is going to be quite expensive, keep that in mind. Moreover, directX 10 games will most likely not be available when vista ships anyway, it took 3+ years for directX9 games to start showing after XP became live. Gun metal was the first true DX9 game to really utilize it, and it hasn't been out that long, maybe a year or so...
The AMD X2 chips just had big price drops, look around on newegg and other places to see what they run....
 
happy medium

happy medium

Lifer
Jun 8, 2003
14,387
480
126
I think what these guys are saying is--


1.don't worry about dx10
2. there will be new cards out around oct. Ati and nvidia
3. If you can overclock your cpu to around 2.4 or so you'll be fine (you don't need dual core for games yet).
4. 2 gigs of ram will be needed soon,so grab another gig
5. check your psu to see you'll have the juice to run the newest cards.

You'll be flying the Concord by Halloween:thumbsup:
 
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TheEternalLife

Junior Member
Aug 16, 2006
23
0
0
Ok, will a DFI LanParty Ultra D support X2? Right now, it works with my AMD Athlon 3200 Venice chip. But I want to be able to be assured that I can play this game fast, and be able to multi task with the computer. So I figured get a Dual Core, I can find them for like 200 - 300. But I dont see why that Mobo wouldnt support an X2. If you know it doesnt, please tell me.


So the GeForce 8 Series should be released soon? I thought they were Direct X 10 cards, and would be released when Direct X 10 is released. But I guess they're not. All I know, is I want something with lots of Pixel Pipelines, lots, and with lots of memory on it.
 
KeithP

KeithP

Diamond Member
Jun 15, 2000
5,664
202
106
There is a demo for Flight Sim X available now. It seems a bit buggy but you should try it on your current system and see how it performs.

-KeithP
 
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TheEternalLife

Junior Member
Aug 16, 2006
23
0
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Originally posted by: 2Xtreme21
Your computer will be MORE than capable of playing the game.
Click to expand...

I want to play the game at the best settings possible. And Im sure that what I have now, will only be able to play the game at medium or lower.
 
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TheEternalLife

Junior Member
Aug 16, 2006
23
0
0
Originally posted by: KeithP
There is a demo for Flight Sim X available now. It seems a bit buggy but you should try it on your current system and see how it performs.

-KeithP
Click to expand...

I tried the demo, but I am getting an error that says "The MSXML4 SP2 Component is not installed. Please reinstall Flight Simulator to restore or repair the missing component"....I have NO idea how to fix that.
 
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lamere

Senior member
Jul 22, 2006
479
0
0
Your board just about does support everythin BUT dual core :(

Features and Specifications:

? CPU - AMD Athlon 64 FX / Athlon 64 / Sempron Socket 939

? Chipset - NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra

? Front Side Bus - 2000MT/s HyperTransport interface

? Memory
? Four 184-pin DDR SDRAM DIMM sockets
? Supports dual channel (128-bit wide) memory interface
? Supports up to 4GB system memory
? Supports DDR266, DDR333 and DDR400 DDR SDRAM DIMM

Plus, I just did a look up on that error and alot of people are having the same problem as you, and one guy had quite a hefty system and was only getting 12FPS on that game.....
Hope this helps some.
 
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lamere

Senior member
Jul 22, 2006
479
0
0
SYS req. for the game....

Minimum System Requirements

* Windows XP SP2 / Windows Vista
* Processor: 1.0 Ghz
* RAM: Windows XP SP2 - 256MB, Windows Vista ? 512MB
* Hard Drive: 14GB
* Video Card: 32MB DirectX 9 compatible
* Other: DX9 hardware compatibility and audio board with speakers and/or headphones
* Online/Multiplayer Requirements: 56.6 kbps or better for online play

Looks like you're good to go bro
 
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TheEternalLife

Junior Member
Aug 16, 2006
23
0
0
Originally posted by: lamere
SYS req. for the game....

Minimum System Requirements

* Windows XP SP2 / Windows Vista
* Processor: 1.0 Ghz
* RAM: Windows XP SP2 - 256MB, Windows Vista ? 512MB
* Hard Drive: 14GB
* Video Card: 32MB DirectX 9 compatible
* Other: DX9 hardware compatibility and audio board with speakers and/or headphones
* Online/Multiplayer Requirements: 56.6 kbps or better for online play

Looks like you're good to go bro
Click to expand...

Well yah, I am, but what I'm looking for is specs on playing the game with maxed settings with a good FPS ya know? So yah, that CPU I just posted - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103529, with a GeForce 8 Series card(Lots of Pipelines), and 2 gb's of ram, is what I'm hoping will run the game on High Settings....
 
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lamere

Senior member
Jul 22, 2006
479
0
0
You should be fine, I would add more RAM though to make sure - I really dont think you'll have a problem - it's only requireing a 1Ghz processor but I would def. go 64 bit if you can...
 
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lamere

Senior member
Jul 22, 2006
479
0
0
Geez, vista is already showing its rediculous memory requirements. No wonder, it wants 512 just for the OS itself. Seems like every OS that M$ puts out the RAM needed for games doubles - I remember when winXP neede twice the memory for games as win2000 :(
 
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TheEternalLife

Junior Member
Aug 16, 2006
23
0
0
Ok, so lets sum this up.

We are agreeing that Microsoft Flight Simulator X will run on High Settings, with a good FPS, on this system - AMD Athlon 64 4000, 2gb's of ram, and a GeForce 8 Card(If Not, then the GeForce 7950GX2).

Maybe it's hard to say right now, but could you guys give me your opinion on that conclusion above?
 
Maximilian

Maximilian

Lifer
Feb 8, 2004
12,604
15
81
I think you just want to buy stuff.... :p

I also think, based on the minimum specs that you can take a good guess as to what the reccommended specs will be. All you need is 1GB more ram and that system is fine. A 3200 A64 can still cut it in games, hell an old athlon XP can still cut it. At max settings..... Well what are the max settings? Some games have low/medium/high/stupid-high that you need a supercomputer to run.

So in conclusion:

Your current system is fine, adding 1GB more ram just for futureproofing, but if max settings are somthing like 2048x2048x32 16xAA 16xAF with all the bells & whistles enabled, then you, you might need a brand new system for that. The one you put together above should do it. Although i would simply stick with the system you have and run the game on high instead of stupid-high, thats just me :p
 
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