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Want to upgrade my H-P for best flight sim performance

Forum Homebuilt Systems : General Homebuilt - Want to upgrade my H-P for best flight sim performance

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Hi,
I just bought a new H-P and would like to add whatever components I can to improve the performance, most particularly with FSX. I can spend up to $200 but would be happy to keep it under $100, too (In fact, if anyone thinks my system will run okay as is, I'll be happy to hear so).

My computer is a H-P p6130y. The processor is an AMD Phenom 9750 Quad core processor 2.40 GHz. 8 GB RAM. 64 bit Operating System. 750 GB Hard Drive. The video card is a Geforce 9100. The monitor is a 23" Acer.
System Manufacturer: HP-Pavilion
System Model: NY464AA-ABA p6130y
Motherboard Manufacturer: PEGATRON CORPORATION
Motherboard Model: VIOLET
Maximum Memory Capacity: 8388608 MB
Currently Installed Memory: 8192 MB
Available Memory Slots: N.A.
Total Memory Slots: 4
Dual Channel Support: N.A.
CPU Manufacturer: AuthenticAMD
CPU Family: AMD Phenom(tm) 9750 Quad-Core Processor Model 2, Stepping 3
CPU Speed: 2400 MHz

I want to be able to come into busy detailed airports with lots of (real) traffic and maintain reasonable frame rates. Is there any point in going with more than 8 GB of RAM? I expect most will recommend better video card.

Thanks for the advice!

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The power supply that comes with your system is only 300w which will prevent you from using a graphic card that will give you good framerates at high settings at your resolution of 1920x1280. Here's Toms list of benchmarks, it's not real recent and i can't tell you if newer drivers would make a huge difference, but Nvidia graphic cards seem to have the edge. Hopefully someone with more experience with FSX will chime in with other ideas.
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts [...] 2,785.html

So with your budget and benchmarks in mind, i'd replace your power supply and get the GTS250 1GB (basically the 9800GTX+)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341016
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814143191

Reply to dirtmountain

$200 should get you a decent psu

OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ500MXSP 500W $40
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817341016

XFX HD-487A-ZHFC Radeon HD 4870 1GB $145
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814150394

or , if the game is optimised for nVidia cards then
BFG Tech BFGEGTX260896OCE GeForce GTX 260 $145
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814143140

will give you substantially improved performance

I just had a look at dirtmountains chart link and since it has the much more powerful GTX 260 and GTX 280 being beated by the 9800GTX I suspect the benches were done at a time when the GTX 260 was new and the drivers were still being developed . Its a generation newer and substantially more powerful that the 9800 so it should be comfortably ahead .
Games looks like its nVidia optimised .

Message edited by Outlander_04 on 08-24-2009 at 01:10:03 PM

Reply to Outlander_04

Hi, :hello:

Your current system should work on low settings, Geforce 9100 is a integrated card...any VC recommended would be an improvement

Quote :

System Requirements:
http://www.microsoft.com/games/pc/ [...] px#sysreqs

Microsoft® Windows® XP SP2 / Vista
PC with 1 GHz equivalent or higher processor
256 MB of system RAM for Windows XP SP2 / 512 MB Vista
14 GB available hard disk space
DVD-ROM drive
32 MB DirectX 9 compatible video card required
Sound card, speakers or headphones required for audio
Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device
56.6 Kbps or better modem for online play

============
Flight Simulator X - Frequently Asked Questions:

http://www.pcaviatornetwork.com/FSXFAQ.htm

2. What are the recommended system requirements?
- Windows XP SP2 with 1024 Mb RAM
- Windows Vista with 1024 Mb RAM
- 2.0 GHz+ Processor
- DirectX 9.0c compliant Video Card with 256Mb RAM
- 15 Gb Hard Drive Space
- DVD Drive

==========
Game Update:

Flight Simulator X Service Pack 1
Aspiring aviators can now prepare to fly higher and faster, as Microsoft Game Studios is happy to announce that the first service pack for the AIAS award-winning Flight Simulator X is now available. Service Pack 1 will:

Provide a 20 to 50 percent performance increase
Optimize for multi-core CPUs and improve draw times for faster loading
Address multiplayer and backwards compatibility issues
Offer improved realism of key geographical locations, landmarks and airports

===========
Expansion Slots Total (Free) 3 ( 2 ) x PCI Express x1 , 1 ( 1 ) x PCI Express x16

Message edited by Jim937 on 08-24-2009 at 02:15:43 PM

Reply to Jim937

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Forum Homebuilt Systems : General Homebuilt - Want to upgrade my H-P for best flight sim performance