Ultimate Hardware FS9

My first setup was an older DG43GT Motherboard Intel Cor 2 Duo E7500 CPU on an ATI Radeon HD 5770 FS9 Ran pretty decent 4gb RAM. You can pick one up on Ebay fairly cheap, and the Intel core 2 Duo or quad Pc's aren't very expensive now a days as it is an outdated Machine. Due note that I'm only listing this machine as I Believe its prob the cheapest you'd be able to find if your on a Budget.

The DG43GT Motherboard Also suports XP https://downloadcenter.intel.com/product/41036/Intel-Desktop-Board-DG43GT If you still wish to Use XP... But FS9 runs fantastic on Windows 7 if you wish to upgrade.

It wasn't till i Upgraded to my Previous setup---> Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 running on the same DG43GT Motherboard LGA775 Socket the E7500 runs on with the same card listed above with 8GB that I actually started to notice a slight Improvement on some payware Airports.

The i7 2600, now that made a huge difference....If you look around and old Dell Optiplex 990 with an i7 2600 can run you anywhere between 100-200 bucks.

all wrong!!

just install a SSD , kingston 1 TB what i use, and the performance is there!!

i run windows xp, no hd , and the performance is superb.

AI runs 60 airplanes without a glitch, all airplanes are the original one, not the special AI planes with low LOD, and ....

all wrong!!

just install a SSD , kingston 1 TB what i use, and the performance is there!!

 

i run windows xp, no hd , and the performance is superb.

 

AI runs 60 airplanes without a glitch, all airplanes are the original one, not the special AI planes with low LOD, and ....

SSD alone isn't going to give him performance..I was simply suggestion whats worked for me.:pilot:

The only thing an SSD is going to help with is faster loading time.... Not performance in general, For Example FPS ...Performance is based on CPU,GPU and RAM.:cool: and other factors I suppose.

Even a Pentium 4 (3.0 Ghz) would be plenty for FS2004. And, an i5 would also be plenty. Some say get a XXX card, some say get an YYY card. Not critical. Most GPUs now a days have DDR5 and 2 Gb of memory which is good. Look at my specs. I get 300 fps (but I lock at 30 fps). Never have had any problems with FS9 even when I had Win XP. But it's best to get Win 7 for security reasons. I don't have (or need SSD). Western Digital Black Edition in (any size) is best, but have to be 7200 rpm or better (THAT's the 'secret' when it comes to HDDrives- 5400 rpm won't do). You only need fast (gamer) rig if you plan on getting FSX Gold (box). FS2004 is easy. Save your money.

Chuck B

Napamule

Well, I think a bit differently.

Ok, so you have Windows XP & you want new hardware. You MUST be aware that new hardware is most certainly not optimised for an old operating system such as XP.

All you need is a new (do not buy 2nd hand) PC or laptop, an i5 CPU is perfect, 4GB RAM, Windows 10Home(!), a reasonable graphics card & a 1TB hard drive. (my Acer i5 laptop has all those).

You most certainly do not need an i7 processer. Remember that Windows XP, Windows 7 & 8 are pretty much redundant by now, & Windows 10 runs FS9 perfectly, in fact a bit faster & smoother than older operating systems.

I'm running 4 different versions of FS9, smoothly & perfectly. Always us a 64bit operating system.

That may seem strange, when FS9 is a 32bit program, but a 32bit operating system can only address 4GB memory, including the memory of a graphics card, whereas a 64bit operating system will address the 4GB plus whatever RAM the graphics card uses (a simple explanation).

So, at our Virtual club, we have built up 2 simulators, using actual seats, yoke, pedals, throttle quadrants, using FS9, 4GB RAM & an integrated graphics card (or 2) All works perfectly!.

So, as Chuck says, spending money is not going to improve things at all.

Regards,

Robin

Today's i3, i5,i7 cpu with a mid range graphic card 1 or 2 G memory will do the job.

Also buy a 65in 4k TV. The size of aircraft is awesome, for desktop, I just set it to 1366X768, because higher resolution results in tiny type that's hard to read and select.

In game resolution I set it to 1600x900X32, so the menu is still reasonably easy to read and select.

I've tried 4K resolution, the plane has beautiful sharper details (game play is always full screen), but the menu become so tiny, I have to walk up to the TV to select items.

Oh, ditch XP, win7 works fine.

Update your graphics card to whatever your Windows version can still handle and use the latest drivers for that version. With me, that significantly improved performance.

Ooh scary. I haven't udated mine for a long time. It always scares me. Up there with rogue sharks. :D