Flight Simulator Computer

[SpitFireV12RR]

Hello,

My name is Todd(Spit). I'm 14 and I'm saving up money for a new computer. The one I have is nice...but it just ain't cuttin' it. I believe it has a Pentium III, a Western Digital 160 GB Hard drive, a Plex Writer CD/RW, a crappy case and mother board, and I don't even think it has a darn graphics card...probally integrated.

With all that aside, I would like to ask my question.

Well...what would make a good FS9(Hopefully FS10 end of '06) computer? I did a search and all that fun Jazz but I didn't really find anything applying to an FS9 computer.

I'm trying to rebuild pretty-much my whole system. Motherboard, case, graphics card, sound card, Memory, and maybe the processer.

I was in Best Buy today and was blown away by the selection...amazing. I was drawn to a few items I found on the web but am quite too lazy to draw links up. Let see...here they are: Dynex ATX Mid-Tower Case - Black ABIT ATX Motherboard 1066/800/533MHz

Hopefully that worked...

I'm set on the case and motherboard...They look nice and affordable. The only way I would change the motherboard is if I were to get a Processer/MB combo.

I'm in the dark on everything else...I mean I'm pretty tech-savy and all that junk but some of these specs just blow my mind. I would like advice on pretty much everything for a fairly good, AFFORDABLE(14 YO Budget), and good for Flight Simulator.

If anyone comes forth with knowledge(Which I'm hoping some will), your help is greatly appreciated and I'd like to thank you before I recieve your help(That sounded weird...LOL).

Thanks,
Todd(Spit)

P.S. I believe it would help for me to tell you that I am the General Manager of the best buy down here's best friend and I get the GM discount on everything, including Computer components so I would like to get most everything at bestbuy. About 40% offish.

 

[Vybuni]

Could you be more specific on your budget?

 

[RockyZ]

Cool to see a fellow 14-year old.

For a flight simulator you will probably be thinking of getting multiple monitors and a pretty good graphics card. At this moment, I would suggesting a 7900GT.

For CPU I don't know which you prefer, but I would suggest getting either the Opteron 170 or Athlon 3800 x2.

You will also want a nice joystick, flight yoke system, not sure which one you prefer but as a racing sim entusiast, I like to get good equipment for my sims.

A sound system is a must, I don't have any expirience in this because I plug my hoem stereo system into my integrated sound card, so I have no idea how the crappy pc speakers work...

After reading that, forget what I just said because socket AM2 is coming out. There is no point in building a computer right now! Windows Vista and DX10 and HDDVD/Bluray Video cards are also coming out. You will be wasting all your money if you didn't wait just a little bit more.

If money was not an object, this would be my case: http://www.svc.com/pc-v2000bw.html

 

[Nubius]

You do realize he said 14 yo budget right, and you're recommending crap like a 7900GT and X2's?

Of course looking at your sig, it appears you have been spoiled quite a bit. Seems 14 year old budgets are more than some adults these days...

AMD Athlon 64 FX-53 @ 3.3GHZ

3.3GHz........you got some screenies of that? I would assume nothing less than water for a clockspeed like that, and even then it's not that common without going to more extreme cooling methods.

 

[uzi9mm]

that isnt much of an OC on the 6600GT..
My card came stock @ 500/1000


I think you would be able to OC it higher than what you have it at.

 

[SpitFireV12RR]

Could you be more specific on your budget?

Well...that could depend. If I work my butt off, I might be able to aquire $200ish by Summer. If I work my butt off in summer, I might be able to get a grand total of $500-600. If I wait a few years...like $1000.

My parents won't help me out...they buy me my nessessities and a few other things...if I WANT something, I have to scrounge up the money to buy it.

Also, would a Pentium III cut it or would I have to upgrade to a dual core or something of that status?

I also have 512 MB of RAM and I'm looking to get a 1 GB stick but I'm unsure of brands and such...I was looking at Kingston?

Thanks,
Todd(Spit)

 

[Ethereal_Dragon]

not trying to rain on your parade, but you should save up your money until you can afford a new system... I doubt that a new Flight Sim will run very well on a Pentium 3. I have a friend that is a pilot, and he is addicted to Flight sim (when he isn't actually flying), and he always tells me about how the minimum system requiremnets would quickly cause him to get a new PC.

I would say that rather than upgrade now, play what you already have, and SAVE SAVE SAVE.... then you will be able to get a system with the next gen processors, and they will be cheaper by the time you save money than they will be at launch.

Go mow ALOT of lawns.... I did that back in the day, and saved up my money... Do what it takes... lawns in the summer, shoveling snow in the winter, get a paper route.

 

[SpitFireV12RR]

So you're saying that I should just buy a whole new complete system? I have a pretty nice moniter...flat screen. So lets see...to upgrade everything that would include Processer, Case, RAM, Hard Drive(Western Digital 160 GB, already have), Graphics card, sound card, cooling system, lights, fans, right? Or are you saying that I should just buy a pre-made?

Thanks,
Spit

 

[Ethereal_Dragon]

I would suggest building...... Keep your monitor and hard drive, as they can be re-used.

*Case (typically comes WITH fans)
*CPU (OEM processor's come with heat sink & fan)
*RAM
*Motherboard (MANY mobo's come with onboard sound & ethernet)
*Graphics Card

Forget about lights... they are useless for your application... get your system first, then lights if there is room in the budget at the end of the project.

You CAN buy pre-made, but they usually end up being expensive, or you aren't able to configure it the way that you want it.

 

[SpitFireV12RR]

Okay. Thanks bro, you've been a big help. Heres what I was looking at:

Case - Dynex ATX Mid-Tower Case

MotherBoard - ABIT ATX Motherboard 1066/800/533MHz

Graphics Card - ATI RADEON 9250 256MB DDR PCI Graphics Card

Sound Card(Integrated Audio doesn't really cut it for me.) - Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy 4 Sound Card

CPU - I'm not really sure. I was looking at the AMD Athlon Dual Core but that was like $600, and the MB I want doesn't support it. I was looking at the Intel Pentium D Dual Core for about $300 and was wondering if that was good. I'm wondering if there is any gain with that over a Pentium 4.

RAM - Not sure either...I know I want a 1 GB card of some sort, but I don't get the diffrence in Specs and crap...
Thanks,
Spit