How should this be at FSX?

[Ragtopjohnny]

Updating my computer to a brand new machine all together soon, needed some advice.

Thinking of this:

Windows 7 64 Bit
2 3.30ghz xeon processors
2 gb nVidia Quadro card
12 gigs of unbuffered ram.

Hope it should do all right.

I need it for the 3D Art stuff mainly, but might get me back interested in flying again.

[jomni]

Wow!!! Overkill? Sorry I don't know exactly how FSX will run on those but I just really want to comment on that rig.

[angels355]

John,

Good to hear from you. You will notice a big difference with a new computer system. Are these xeon processors i7? The best processor for FSX right now is the i7 2700, if these are two i7 2700 xeons that would be good.

Ni hao ma Jomni.

[loki]

Which exact Quadro card is it? Quadro cards are aimed at accuracy and support for CAD programs etc., and do not necessarily do well with games. You often need to look at the very top end Quadro cards to get the same gaming performance as a mid-range GeForce model.

The Xeon processors will do fine at mid to high settings, though FSX isn't going to make much use of the second CPU.

[angels355]

Are these Xeon processors in socket 2011's? That would be exciting in general. But for FSX, from what I've read and what loki says about the geforce cards, sounds as if the best system for FSX would be an i7 2700, and a high end geforce video card, personally I like ram, more ram the better just in my opinion.

Such a system above would make a big difference in your enjoyment of FSX. When I upgraded to the modest older Q9450, I previously basically had a socket 478 P4 and AGP card, my better P4 socket 775 with PCI-e card was a lot better, however both the hard drive, and motherboard, and PSU, all fried in a spectacular manner. I had a Pentium D which my bench mark tests said was 1.5 to 2 times more powerful than my single core P4's, unfortunately I only had linux on that one, no FS. With the Q9450 and 1 gb asus 550 ti video card, FS9 was stunningly better, like a whole new sim. And finally I could run FSX. What I'm saying is, a better system will make a big difference, however pay attention to the crucial details, FSX is really heavy and takes as much processing power as you can throw at it to run well. It can be disappointing if you don't have the processing power.

[Ragtopjohnny]

Hey Angels, I think the xeon is the i7 version. It has 8 cores each, so it's 16 cores.

LOL on the overkill! I think that means I've done well picking it out.

At Loki -- it's the Quadro 4000 card that I chose. Didn't realize they were more for accuracy and not 3D Gaming. Thought both of those worlds would pretty much use the same items.

I do have my MSI card I can always "SLI" to the Quadro if needed, and put in my old spare on my Dell that I am currently using now if I find that the Quadro isn't up to specs.

[loki]

Didn't realize they were more for accuracy and not 3D Gaming. Thought both of those worlds would pretty much use the same items.

That's my point, they don't do the same thing. Quadro cards are aimed at the professional design and CAD world where accuracy is paramount and renderings or CUDA processing need to be perfect the first time. There are also certified Quadro drivers that are "guaranteed" to work with many high end CAD programs, and if something does break, it's more likely to get fixed sooner than later. Gaming, on the other hand, is more concerned with real time rendering and pushing as many pixels to the screen as fast as possible, and it doesn't matter if something is a little off. And if there is a driver issue, as long as it isn't frying the video card, it may or may not be fixed the next GeForce driver update. Maybe you'll have to wait a couple of versions.

I do have my MSI card I can always "SLI" to the Quadro if needed, and put in my old spare on my Dell that I am currently using now if I find that the Quadro isn't up to specs.

You can typically only SLI two cards using the same GPU, ie. two GeForce GTS 250 cards. Mixing models, especially between Quadro and GeForce lines, doesn't work. Nvidia is also rather picky about what systems it will support Quadro SLI setups on to.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/quadro_...e_systems.html

[Ragtopjohnny]

Cool -- thanks for these tips Loki --- I might have to adjust my graphic card option a tad.....

[loki]

Definitely check with the developers of the 3D software you will be using to see what they recommend. Some do fully support GeForce cards, and some don't. Also look for forums for those programs and see what video cards other users are running. I've come across comments from people using GeForce cards for home 3D and CAD work with little or no trouble. Especially if the program is DirectX based, instead of OpenGL.

[Ragtopjohnny]

Key words right in your statement there --- my software that I use for art is all OpenGL based. But I have heard others using the gaming type of cards for this too. Now I'm kind of confused at what to do. Stick with the Quadro that works for my main needs, or switch it?

I just need blazing fast performance, that's my main concern, on both ends, FSX and my Art Work.