MFSX barely runs on low settings.

[LT1 POWR]

I have a Dell optiplex 745 mini tower and I'm trying to play Microsoft Flight Simulator X, but it'll barely keeps up on low/medium settings.

3.4ghz
8gb ram
Nvidia GEForce GT430

I have the fps set to 10 which is the lowest and anytime I increase the scenery past medium, it slows way down. I can have everything else on minimal, but it will still barely maintain 10fps. It sounds staticy when it slows down. The rest of the computer is stock, I just added ram and a video card and I'm using the stock 3.5mm sound jack. Is there anything else I can do?

 

[lonecosmos]

Do you have the video cable plugging into the video card directly?

 

[LT1 POWR]

Yes, its one of those blue vga cables. The video card has a hdmi slot too, so I plugged that in and ran it to my tv so that the audio would be coming from the video card too and it was still slow.

I guess the Pentium D isn't the best for gaming. Is there a different processor I can put into this computer without changing out other things? I was reading that some people were putting in quad cores into this computer. Something like a Q6700 or something.

 

[lonecosmos]

Microsoft Flight Simulator X doesn't need a heavy processor. Your Pentium D should be just fine. I can only think to make sure all video drivers are up to date and you have no other programs trying to adjust the game's graphics setting.

 

[LT1 POWR]

I've heard its more demanding on the processor than the video card. I have the latest drivers for everything including the video driver. And I have everything else turned off and the power setting set to top performance. I would have thought my desktop would have ran it no problem, but I have a newer laptop with 2gb ram(1.85 usable) and 1.5ghz intel celeron processor and it runs it better than my desktop.

 

[lonecosmos]

Yeah, if it is running better on your laptop than on your desktop than a processor isn't the problem. How do any other games run on your desktop, same problem?

 

[LT1 POWR]

Its really the only game I play. I can run on high settings on the laptop, but medium-low settings on the desktop will make it lag.

 

[LT1 POWR]

I don't know what it would be. Could the stock audio driver be causing the problem?