Intel Core 2 Duo.....Worth it for FSX????

[philn]

Hey everyone,

I am thinking about getting a new computer and I was wondering if anyone else has a setup like this:

Processor Brand Intel® Core(TM)2 Duo
Processor Speed 2.4GHz
System Bus 1066MHz
Cache Memory 4MB on die Level 2
System Memory (RAM) 2GB
Type of Memory (RAM) PC5300 DDR2
Hard Drive Type SATA (7200 rpm)
Hard Drive Size 320GB
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT
Video Memory 256MB
operating system: windows vista

If you do.....How is the preformance with FSX???

I currently have a P4 3.06ghz, 512kb cache,533fsb, 2gb ram, windows xp

Thank You in advance for your input.

Phil

[Rcca]

Mine could come close,I have FSX Demo,I wrote on a paper some where on testing,but will haveto rely on my old memory of my brain.
I had a lot of sliders far to Med.got pretty good FPS,tried moving more to the right still was not bad.I think I was averaging 25-up.It's been awhile that I flew FSX Demo.Just been busy,working,flying FS9,and other games.
I may not get full FSX,got too much work in FS9 of the way I like it.
Over all I like the Performance on My new Gateway,better than I thought.My GPU is the only weak item,but I'm surprised even on it too.I may,or may not Upgrade on my GPU.Too much $$$$$ in my Gateway,and Notebook.Gateway with upgrading more Ram,and another drive Rig cost me about $1600.00
I add more Ram because I was preparing to put Vista in.
Now that my Notebook is Vista I'm keeping XP on my Desktop.I do have the upgrade Vista disk for the D/T,but it's not going in even if M/S paid me.If you are going with the Vista,get more Ram.Good luck.
Ron

[mith]

I had a 2.53 CPU... upgraded to a whole new system. Don't know all the specs... but my CPU now is a dualcore 2.4 with a 8800 video card, system has 2 gigs of ram..

I have a SIGNIFICANT difference... Brackett was about a 10 fps jump on the runway with same settings.

I know fly with all sliders maxed except the auto gen.. that's on sparce... and I'm flyable... VERY FLYABLE.

You won't regret the new technology they have now with the dualcore setups... I don't.

[rsnow]

I'd say it's a good PC choice if your willing to upgrade again in few momths to year and you don't have the expectation of maxing out FSX, you won't be able to run FSX at full settings. If your like me I got all excited when I got mine and although I can run FSX much better it was not what a expect from the new hardware. I'm ready to upgade again in fact, but no so sure I will right now.

I get good perfromance on most things but already my PC is starting to show it's age. That's the way of PC's though, buy em today upgrade them tomorrow.

[adam123]

the core 2 duo is very good, i have the E6600 and in fsx i get 30-50fps, apart from in the huge cities but i dont reli fly there much

E6600 2.4
2GB DDR2 Ram
80GB HDD + 200GB HDD
X1950pro CF

[philn]

Thank you all for your input. What would be your thoughts on the Core 2 Quad and the Core 2 Extreme???

Phil

[adam123]

the extreme quad is good but i think its a bit too expensive still, although if you have plenty of money just go for it

on the other hand the core 2 duo extreme x6800 is good aswell but is just dual core no quad

[angels355]

I've read that the quad core 2 is the same price as the dual core, if you can get the quad core without emptying the bank account then get that as the performance for FSX will be significantly better with 4 cores. FSX with SP1 is now fully parallel processing, and will fully address as many as 256 processors if you have them. So if each core is slightly slower, but you have four of them, the performance on the quad core will still beat the dual core. My golden rule however, is never empty the savings account.

I think that mth mentioned that he has an 8800 video card, that would be I'm guessing the nvidia 8800 GTX DX10 768 mb vram card which is really expensive, but I think the highest performance card out right now. One user has two of those in sli. The drivers for the 8800 GTX for Vista have been very slow in coming, and I'm not sure if nvidia has come out with top drivers yet.

I believe there is also the 8800 GTS which is still nice but I think is only a DX9 card.

Microsoft I believe will come out with the DX10 update in the Fall. An SP1 for Vista is also coming out but I don't know when.

There is the Penryn chip coming out around the end of the year. When it first comes out, I'm sure it's going to be rather expensive, but it's going to be a good improvement over the Core 2 series. Noell has mentioned that the Core 2 series of chips will reach 1333 mhz front side bus, so that will be probably a good deal.

Remember, for FSX, the more processor cores, the better, and also don't break the bank on my account. But have fun whatever your budget is.

[paulhigg]

This is my system and FSX screams. I mean it is awesome.

Compaq Presario SR5050NX
Vista Home Premium
Base board ASUSTek Computer Inc.
Chipset Intel i945P/G
2 GB RAM
Dual core 3.0 GHz Intel processors
250 GB Hard drive
Radeon X1650 with 512 MB RAM
0GE0 Pinewood, Douglasville, GA

[angels355]

Paul,

Nice processor, and nice video card.