Delta Virtual Airlines Water Cooler

Delta Virtual Airlines Water Cooler | PC Support | upgrade time (HELP)

DVA364
Captain, A330-300

Joined on October 23 2001
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"COWBOY UP!"
Carrollton, GA

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Posted onPost created on April 01 2010 11:52 ET by Ralph Templeman

time to upgrade computer. what is a good gaming proccessor and will be compatiable with my system?
Asus Q8300 Cg5270
750 gigs hrd drive
8 gogs ram @ 2.5 ghz
nvidia gt220
wondering what would be a good upgrade? i'm open to all suggestions.
just love flight sim..and must have a better system.

Ralph Templeman

Captain, A330-300

DVA7899
Captain, B737-800

Joined on October 29 2009
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Springfield, MO USA

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Posted onPost created on April 01 2010 11:59 ET by Skylar Macminn

Well firstly,

What's a GOG?

Secondly -- what's the CPU?

And lastly -- budget? are you looking for a totally new system, or only have a few hundred to spend, or what exactly are you expecting to do.

Skylar Macminn (DVA7899)

Posted onPost created on April 01 2010 12:16 ET by Ralph Templeman

intel core 2 quadQ8300 2.5 ghz
4mb L2 cache 1333mhz
either upgrade with a few hundred dollars! or go for broke and get a really good system.
and gog wasn't suppose to be.....It's gigs sorry

Ralph Templeman

Captain, A330-300

Posted onPost created on April 01 2010 12:34 ET by Skylar Macminn

Bill Templeman wrote:

.It's gigs sorry

I know

Do you know the exact model on your Motherboard? If you do I could look up specifically what would run well on it.

If you can afford it, getting a whole new computer is always the way to go smile

-- however when it comes to being on a budget, it may be best to look specifically at upgrading your GPU and CPU.

Also, what's the Power supply?

Skylar Macminn (DVA7899)

Posted onPost created on April 01 2010 12:50 ET by Ralph Templeman

intel g43 express and the power cord is 400

Ralph Templeman

Captain, A330-300

DVA5919
Captain, MD-11

Joined on May 13 2008
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Posted onPost created on April 01 2010 13:22 ET by Jack Vogel

If you want to make the upgrade worth doing you'll want to go to i7 or i5 and either
will require a new motherboard. Possible you could transfer the memory if its DDR3,
but usually it will be too slow and bog your spiffy new cpu down frown

I have a Q9300 myself, and should get a UPS delivery of an i7 975 today, I figure
I will need to add: motherboard, memory, and powersupply. I have a GTX275 now,
will probably hold me over til the 480's are out and then I'll see.

Ya, its gonna cost you a bit, but anything you put in that system you have now will
really just be a waste of your money.

Jack Vogel

Captain, MD-11

Posted onPost created on April 01 2010 13:41 ET by Skylar Macminn

mmmmm the 975... Wish I could afford one biggrin

Jack is right -- I'd imagine your RAM is DDR2, as DDR3 really just started becoming the front runner in the market, so your ram is pretty much useless if you get an i7 or i5.

If you have like $1500 to spend, a whole new computer from newegg is the way to go (this would also include a rather expensive GTX285 GPU, or the ATI 5870).

Realisticly speaking, there isn't much you could salvage from your current rig if you wanted the newest stuff -- as Jack said, a new mobo is required for the new Intel chips, a new GPU would go a long way, new ram etc.

I'd also recommend a 750W PSU.

You could keep your current rig as a second machine to run Active Sky, ACARS, etc or you could try to ebay it -- I'm sure people are out there that want the older hardware.

It won't be cheap to do it, but I still would highly recommend a whole new computer (BUILD IT YOURSELF)

EDIT: If budget is a real concern, and it just isn't practical to spend that much cash on a new computer -- consider upgrading your Graphics Card first.

You may be on older hardware, but the CPU really isn't too bad.

Skylar Macminn (DVA7899)

Posted onPost created on April 01 2010 14:47 ET by Jack Vogel

Employee purchase makes the hit a bit less painful smile

As for the last statement Skylar, I disagree, FSX is way more CPU intensive than GPU.
The 260 isn't cutting edge but its not bad either. I think you'd get more bang out
of a the cpu/memory.

If you REALLY REALLY can't afford that route this might work:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115130

It will probably drop into your existing, but the irony is THIS will cost you less:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115214

Just means you need to buy the new motherboard. I still say that is the
smart way to go.

Good luck in your decision!

Jack Vogel

Captain, MD-11

Posted onPost created on April 01 2010 14:52 ET by Skylar Macminn

Honestly the statement that FSX is more CPU over GPU is a very very thin thin line.

Yes it uses a lot of CPU, but FSX cannot use more than 2 cores anyways, so really going for anything massive isn't too big of a deal.

All of the graphics are still being rendered via the GPU, the CPU cannot do any of the graphics.

I am lucky to see my CPU spike over 50% while running fsx and multiple other apps on my second monitor.

The biggest thing GPU wise is the amount of memory the card itself has -- 1GB or more is preferred if you want to run high to max settings, as it then becomes purely an issue of if you get Out of Memory errors or not when flying through Manhattan at Full Autogen (Mind you a 64bit OS won't give the OOM error, but it will be visible in fragmented textures, your VC not being visible, etc.)

The CPU he has isn't the greatest, but if you want to update your CPU may as well get a new mobo and get the newer technology. A Core2Quad is simply two Core2Duos slapped together -- the only time you use the last 2 cores is if the first two communicate with it stating it needs to use it -- meaning essentially more read/write time, and it's not nearly as effective as the i5 or i7's technology (actually 4 cores instead of 2 Core2Duos slapped together).

Skylar Macminn (DVA7899)

Posted onPost created on April 05 2010 12:18 ET by Ralph Templeman

thanks guys. I will looking into anothercomputer this week.it's funny, by the time I buy a new one. then it will obsolete. drat!

Ralph Templeman

Captain, A330-300

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