New system needed to run FS 2000

[Stan Sted]

Having abandoned plans to upgrade my ancient 200Mhz system with its 4MB video card and 96MB Ram, 4.3 Gig HD etc, I now need to choose a new computer which will run FS 2000 as sweetly as possible.

Budget is about £1,300 ( I don't need a monitor) and this is spec suggested.

600MHz PIII, 256MB 100Mhz RAM, 20Gg HD, 32MB graphics card, DVD and all the trimmings.

NEC have quoted £1,300, Quantex slightly more and Dan and Evesham Vale will be around £1,350 ish.

I am also getting quotes from some other makers, but would welcome any recommendations.

I desperately need to run FS2000 for my lad (and errrummm me to fiddle with) and also need a system that will be able to handle big graphic and photo projects.

Usual reward applies....Buckets of beer at the PPRuNe conference, Stansted, Essex, UK on May 20 for the winning suggestion and of course runners-up prizes of a pint of Greene King bitter.

Cheers SS

[WX Man]

Mesh. Mesh, Mesh, Mesh.

The new models are coming equipped with AMD Athlon processors, which the magazine I was reading a couple of weeks ago rated this as the best- for £1300, excl. monitor, you could certainly get all that and more as the AMD processor will knock a few quid off the total price. Spend what you save on some more memory.

A guy I know (retired 75 driver) has recently bought one- for his daughter who is into all this video editing business. Word got round to another friend of mine who is a professional cameraman/ editor/ producer, and we put the two together. The result? Iain, the cameraman, went out and bought one the week after!

[kopbhoy2]

Stan,

I bought a Dell P3 500 a few months back for £1600 (Irish). Now I bought a load of extra stuff with it (CD re-wrtier, scanner, etc), but you'll get a basic system off them for considerably less in the UK (not sure exactly how much).
http://www.dell.com is the place to go. :)

I have used a lot of different makes over the years and I wouldn't touch anything else...FS2000 runs like a dream, but you can't make copies of the Cd - not that I'm suggesting anyone would do that!! ;)

They also do Intel celeron processors as well, which are a bit cheaper. As WX points out the AMD chips ahve a very good reputation now and are condsiderably cheaper...

The sim itself is a big improvement over 98, both in terms of graphics and flight dynamics, and already there are tons of downlaods available... :)

[pilot-lite]

Have you thought about DIY? You obviously don't get tech support, and you won't save a great deal of money ( Dan et al have tiny profit margins ), but you will get the very best components, upgrading is usually easier, and you can get EXACTLY what you want.

I've built a number of systems for myself and friends, and while it is sometimes takes a bit of tweaking to get everything working together perfectly, it is very rewarding.

For £1300 you can certainly build an absolute screamer of a PC, right on the bleeding edge!

If you want any tips, feel free to drop me a line

pilot-lite

[spannersatcx]

Try PC Advisor magazine or http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk they do very good reviews and have top 10 from budget to super pc. Personally wouldn't touch Dell but then again it is personal preference as they say YOU pays your money etc......
I've read somewhere that ideal would be 700mhz + 32mb video card + 256mb mem. There have been issues with the AMD and NVIDEA Geforce card (guillemot prophet uses) but i think there are patches for it
If not done already try contacting people like SMC direct http://www.smcdirect.co.uk or Novatech http://www.novatech.com (I think)http://dabs.co.uk they build to your spec. Have fun

[Wee Weasley Welshman]

I'd definitely go for the Athlon over a Pertium for what you are doing.

WWW

[Bovingdon]

Sheesh!!
Spend the dosh on real lessons!!
I bought FS2K Pro. It worked fine, now nothing at all!! (See prev. post)
Besides, a couple of hrs in a cessna/warrior wont get u " THIS PROGRAM CAUSED AN ILLEGAL OPERATION AND WILL BE SHUT DOWN!!" How annyoying!
(BTW I bought a Gateway PC, quite good value otherwise!)

[Cosmo]

I'm in the same upgrade situation myself. I'm probably going to go for an AMD Athlon. From what I've heard, it's faster than a Pentium III of equivalent MHZ and some even say it's more stable (I have no idea if this is true).
Another key point is what kind of video card you'll be getting. I've got my sight set on a GeeForce 3D card. It has a processor of it's own so it'll take some of the load off the main processor. Mind you, it's a new card and someone said that it might have some probs. Nonetheless, that's what I'm getting.

Maybe you could put a post here when you get your package and let us know how it handles?

Cosmo

[Stan Sted]

Cosmo

The plot thickens. I phoned Dell today to check out a price for a PII****Mhz, 256MB Ram, 20G hardrive and a TNT 32MB graf card and even had a credit card ready to pay a deposit.

But the salesman said I really ought to go for newer technology and that I should have a 667 processor (he was talking too fast for me to discover what make, then I forgot to check with him), 128MB of Rambus ("What on earth is that?", I asked) and he then gave me a mind boggling lecture on things called Level 4 cache, B system and trebled bandwidth.

He then said I should have a 20g hard drive, a G-Force graphics card with 64MB and 256 bits (bits of what?).

Well anyhow it was about £300 more than I wanted to spend, but the bloke said it was the bee's knees.

I put my credit card away and said I would let him know.

Also tried Carrera and got a quote for £1,300 for an Athlon 600, 258 MB of ordinary RAM, 20Gg hard drive, Matrox G400 graf card, DVD, sound card, five speakers, Win 98 and two-year on-site warranty.

Back to the drawing board for a while I reckon

cheers SS

[Cosmo]

Getting a system that's fast enough to run FS2000 smoothly is a headache. I'm about £700 over budget! :)

Anyway back to the point. I'm not an expert (not even close)but the people I've talked to have stressed the difference between a TNT2 32MB 3D card and a GeeForce. Apparently there's no comparing the two. GeeForce is superior without doubt (so they say).

With regard to RAM: there are at least two types out there. PC100 mhz and PC133 mhz. The 133 mhz is newer I'm told, and faster. No point taking the 100mhz type if you plan to upgrade your RAM since the two are not compatible.

I don't know how much RAM you really NEED to have. I thought that 128MB would do it. If you cut from 256MB to 128MB PC133 you'll save a few bob.

Cosmo

[InFinRetirement]

Wow Stan this is getting way out of hand.

If you are anxious to run FS2k you can get a Gateway setup for £990. But it ain't necessary.

However, 1 x ATX Tower with a Supermicro SBA6 motherboard will set you back a total of £145ish. A Celeron 400mhz CPU will cost you £75-80. A 16mb Matrox Millenium G400 graphics card will cost you about £90 depending on where you get it. 128mb of Ram about £150 tops, again depending on where you get it. I assume you have a sound card and modem so the cost will be around £500 but it is DIY job. THIS is what it cost ME so no B/S. If you want and 8gb hard drive they are cheaper now at about £80. In fact the bytes are going up and the price is coming down - can't be bad. DABS Direct is good and so is Software Warehouse.

Of course, if you don't have a monitor you can be thinking £180 for a 17" these days.

Don't be driven by outlandish packages, they usually do not have the BEST in them to run FS2K. You certainly DO NOT need all the OTHER aforementioned.

What I have said above is the same that I run right now. It's great, it works well and is reliable. I have been running FS2K since October and my frame rates are high etc., etc.,

E-mail me if you wish and I will be happy to discuss it further.

[This message has been edited by InFinRetirement (edited 04 February 2000).]

[spannersatcx]

To achieve 667mhz CPU speed the motherboard uses a FSB (front side bus) speed of 133mhz with a clock multiplyer of 5x (5x133 is 665 I know) as the FSB is running at 133mhz you have to have memory running at the same speed i.e. RAMBUS as they called it, so things are going to be running a lot faster. 16mb graphics card is really the absolute minimum these days would personally go for 32mb (I have a NVIDIA GeForce based card) however the card is only as good as it's drivers! If you are going to upgrade your pc then go for the best you can afford in your buidget range. Trouble is if you go for the fastest CPU then it is likely that the manufacturer WILL put in lower speck components. A 450mhz intel P3 with a 32mb geforce or G400 would give better frame rates than an AMD 700 with a 8mb crap graphics card, so you have to balance things out. 128mb RAM minimum these days and HDD not less than 10 to 12GB

[Stan Sted]

Thanks for all the above folks

IFR: yours is the voice of reason, but I am not a computer DIYer. However, I do know a computer wizard and he has offered to plan a custom built machine for a minimum outlay.

On the other hand I do like the sound of this RUMBUS lark and have had some e-mails from guys and gals who reckon it is the way forward.

I should point out that my new system is not exclusively for running FS2K. I am into photography and photoprocessing and my daughter is into graphics and DTP. A lightning fast machine with plenty of RAM and storage is certainly needed in this household. And youngest son is also into other computer sims and games that need good 3D graphics.

Will sleep on it for a while.

Meanwhile, who is coming to The Ash Bash, the PPRuNe conference at The Ash public house, Stansted, Essex, UK on May 20? All PPRuNers invited. Pints from me to all those who contributed to this debate. Thanks.

cheers SS