Using an Intel Pentium Dual Core 2.80 GHz CPU for FS9?

[Drcodyjones]

Howdy,
I just found a motherboard+CPU bundle over at tiger direct in my price range. The CPU is an Intel Pentium Dual Core 2.80 GHz. Would that run Flight Simulator 9 exceptionally?

My current System:
Intel Celuron Single Core at 2.93 GHz
Windows XP
GEFORCE 5200FX 512 MB

The bundle I want to buy:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=6932286&CatId=1599

Thank you in advance
Cody

[JSkorna]

Hi,

What video card would you use?

[Drcodyjones]

Jim,
I'm using a cheap NVIDIA GEForce 5200 FX with 128 MB video RAM, I'm looking on upgrading in the future.

[JSkorna]

Hi,

That's an AGP card and will not work with that new motherboard. So you would need to upgrade a lot faster than "in the future"!

[Drcodyjones]

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5639256&CatId=3670

[JSkorna]

So are you asking about that particular card in combination with that mb/cpu combo?

[Drcodyjones]

Yes, Sorry I didn't realize I had forgotten to put that information in. Guess I should have gotten more than 3 hours sleep last night!

To me it looks like that one should work with the new Motherboard, just asking for clarification. That motherboard has an onboard card but I hear its buggy and won't display FS well at all. I would love to get something a little better than the GEForce 210 but I'm on a strict budget, maybe sometime in the future I will upgrade to something better.

Thanks
Cody

[JSkorna]

Hi,

It will be OK for now.

[Drcodyjones]

Alright. Thank you Jim =D

Thanks
Cody

[codebreaker]

Cody,
Though a lot of people here will likely disagree with me, it is possible to find good quality gently used hardware on eBay and not spend a lot. I bought a socket 775 MB (accepts several members of the pentium clan including the Core 2 Duo I have) with a 1066Mb buss for under $50. My Core 2 Duo 2.93Ghz CPU ran under $40. I got a BFG GeForce 9800 GTX+ video card with 512K of DDR3 RAM also undere $50. I also picked up a used 160Gb hard disk (this machine is ONLY going to run FS9 and a couple of utilities like Panel Studio and FSRepaint) for $25 and 2GB of system ram for $35. I'm getting 48 frames/sec. at 1280x960x32 with virtually all the sliders maxed out so I have better than HiDef video quality.

It's possible to build a usable system on a budget. It just takes time. Between the PC hardware and Saitek sim hardware I spent from late April until mid August getting everything together and ready to go. But GO is what it does. Probly run slower than a sick 3-legged dog in FSX but does me JUST fine in FS9.

[Drcodyjones]

Thanks for the replies guys.

So, my dad(bless his heart) felt the urge to upgrade me. He ended up spending 300$ on an Asus motherboard and bought me an AMD Athlon Quad Core and 4 gigabytes of RAM that will be here in about 5-7 days, which I'm sure will run Flight Simulator flawlessly.

Thanks!
Cody