Queston on new system purchase

[stubby2]

I am about to purchase a new computer. I want to be able to run fsx with active sky and possibly might try x plane. I have done research on the internet and looked at a number of forum postings here and elsewhere. From what I can gather fsx puts the heaviest demands on the cpu. The majority of processing occurs there and the video card is primarily for display. I am looking at 2 computers. One is an HP pavilion h8 1214 with an amd fx 6100 6 core chip with a clock speed of 3.3gh. Memory is 10 gb. The video card is Radeon 7450 which I believe is actually the 6450 rebranded for OEM's. The other system is an Asus Essentio cm6850-01 with an intel i7 2600 chip with 8 core processing and clock speed of 3.4 which can be overclocked to 3.8. Memory is 8 gb. The video card is Nvidia gt 520.

I am looking to run fsx at moderate settings and maintain a frame rate of 20 +. I think both computers would work. My main concern is whether the video cards are adequate. Both computers have a 300 watt power supply which is going to limit my choice of possible video card upgrades if I chose that route. If I upgrade the card are there cards that will do the job that can run on 300 watts ? To get a system with a larger power supply things get more expensive because those computers tend to be gaming oriented machines. However, I'll spend some more money if necessary.

I would appreciate comments from some of the more tech savy people here.

Henry

[fxsttcb]

Go with Intel. I'm an AMD fan, but, the i5-2500/K, i7-2600/K, and i7-2700K can not be touched by any AMD CPU for FSX.
The Intel "K" series CPUs can be easily overclocked into the stratosphere and offer a lot of performance compared to the low price premium over their locked brethren.

300 Watts, IMO, is a waste of money. You will need more power for any future upgrade whatsoever. 600 Watts is my absolute minimum for a PSU. Save time and money now.

GTS 250/450/550 or better video card with the Intel, and shouldn't need a future upgrade for FSX unless you OC 4.5GHz+, or, move to multiple monitors and extreme resolutions.

That may constitute more than what you have budgeted, but, the performance will be more than worth it...Don

[stubby2]

Thanks for the info. I figured the power supply was going to be a problem. I will plan to go with the intel chip.

[I2icho]

I recently upgraded to i5 2500k overclocked to 4.2ghz and I must say I'm very impressed with how fsx is running now it's finnaly at the stage where I'm happy with performance btw my video cars is nothing special radeon 5830 altho I have a 800w power supply. 300w is deff not enough.