| Delta Virtual Airlines Water Cooler | PC Support |
Budget gaming system... is it possible? |
DVA1830
Captain, MD-88
Joined on August 11 2004
Double Century Club
50 State Club
"Put on the whole armour of God"
Wrightsville, GA USA
217 legs, 478.4 hours
64 legs,
114.5 hours ACARS
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Posted onPost created on
November 26 2014 10:31 ET by Shawn McCoy
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Hey guys I was wondering about something. My current PC is 10 years old. I built it back in 2004 and it was my first attempt. In the 10 years I've had it only had to replace the power supply and the graphics card. But alas I think she's on her last legs.
I don't have much to work with... Only about $500 to $600. I just want to upgrade to a newer system that is capable of running MSFS and do other simple stuff. I Don't need FS to run at super high frame rates either.
I'm just wondering if there is a way to do a budget gaming system in my price range. I've checked out Toms Hardware with their system builder marathon budget gaming PC. But I just haven't kept up with all the PC stuff like i used to.
Any recommendations or suggestions?
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DVA7357
Captain, B737-800
OLP
Joined on May 22 2009
DVA Five-Year Anniversary
"With your eyes turned skyward"
Northeastern United States
90 legs, 155.2 hours
38 legs,
51.3 hours online
86 legs,
150.9 hours ACARS
2 legs,
2.8 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
November 26 2014 13:51 ET by Matthew McAlpine
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Hey Shawn, if you haven't already, you should check out pcpartpicker.com. It's an excellent website allowing you to pick parts for the system and price match and check compatibility. Their forums are super active with people asking suggestions for part lists for $xyz and usually within the hour you'll have feedback. I can take a look tonight when I get home and piece some stuff together if you'd like.
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DVA1830
Captain, MD-88
Joined on August 11 2004
Double Century Club
50 State Club
"Put on the whole armour of God"
Wrightsville, GA USA
217 legs, 478.4 hours
64 legs,
114.5 hours ACARS
|
Posted onPost created on
November 26 2014 14:17 ET by Shawn McCoy
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I'll check it out. If you don't mind doing that i'd greatly appreciate it.
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DVA7357
Captain, B737-800
OLP
Joined on May 22 2009
DVA Five-Year Anniversary
"With your eyes turned skyward"
Northeastern United States
90 legs, 155.2 hours
38 legs,
51.3 hours online
86 legs,
150.9 hours ACARS
2 legs,
2.8 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
November 26 2014 14:19 ET by Matthew McAlpine
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Yeah I'll see what I can throw together when I get home.
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DVA2887
Senior Captain, A320
OLP, 737-ATP, VFRADV
E-MAIL
Joined on January 30 2006
50 State Club
Globetrotter
Tri-Jet Triumph
US Coastal Club
Millennium Club
DVA Fifteen-Year Anniversary
US Mountaineer Club
Toulouse 250 Club
Online Eight Century
Charlotte, NC
1,284 legs, 1,794.0 hours
838 legs,
1,045.6 hours online
1,266 legs,
1,772.0 hours ACARS
31 legs,
49.6 hours event
3 legs dispatched, 2.5
hours
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Posted onPost created on
November 26 2014 15:07 ET by Andrew Vane
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Shawn,
Here is my setup and very reasonable:
HP DC7700 refurb from Tigerdirect (core2 duo 2.66 Ghz) with Win7
4GB Ram
Radeon 6XXX series PCIe 2GB video card
1TB drive
Saitek yoke, pedals, throttle, trim wheel
For FS2004, i can run very smoothly and all this is within your price range.....if you're sticking with FS2004. If you plan to upgrade to FSX or P3D this won't do it for you.
You can probably find a better deal out there but this was my "build it as you have money" rig I've been working on for the last year.
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DVA7357
Captain, B737-800
OLP
Joined on May 22 2009
DVA Five-Year Anniversary
"With your eyes turned skyward"
Northeastern United States
90 legs, 155.2 hours
38 legs,
51.3 hours online
86 legs,
150.9 hours ACARS
2 legs,
2.8 hours event
|
Posted onPost created on
November 26 2014 15:08 ET by Matthew McAlpine
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Here you go Shawn - http://pcpartpicker.com/p/4psYwP Obviously isn't the end all be all list but it's a good start. The best part about the mobo/cpu combo is it leaves a lot of room for OC, SSD or better GPU down the road. Keep in mind the case and stock cpu cooler isn't meant for OC'ing but can be changed around to accommodate those needs. Also, be advised an OS is not included in the price.
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DVA7357
Captain, B737-800
OLP
Joined on May 22 2009
DVA Five-Year Anniversary
"With your eyes turned skyward"
Northeastern United States
90 legs, 155.2 hours
38 legs,
51.3 hours online
86 legs,
150.9 hours ACARS
2 legs,
2.8 hours event
|
Posted onPost created on
November 26 2014 15:33 ET by Matthew McAlpine
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Andrew Vane wrote:
You can probably find a better deal out there but this was my "build it as you have money" rig I've been working on for the last year.
Drew is absolutely correct here. If your current rig is still running and you want to build a rig that can sustain the future a bit better, buy it in pieces as the funds are available if that's an option for you. If you can, try not to build for 2015, build for years after that. But if that's not an option, that list I provided is sufficient enough for fsx/p3d on normal or a little less settings.
It is worth mention that this time of year is ripe for building a new system, black Friday and cyber Monday are literally on the door step and there will be plenty deals out there.
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DVA1830
Captain, MD-88
Joined on August 11 2004
Double Century Club
50 State Club
"Put on the whole armour of God"
Wrightsville, GA USA
217 legs, 478.4 hours
64 legs,
114.5 hours ACARS
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Posted onPost created on
November 26 2014 22:08 ET by Shawn McCoy
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Thanks Matt. I really appreciate that.
Right now I play FS2004 and I have it locked at 25 fps. I was thinking about going to FSX but I don't spend a lot of time flying like I used to. It really is more of a "hobby" type thing for me now. I am not interested in having the latest and greatest. I have pretty much everything I want as far as add-ons and such. What kind of FPS do you think this might run smoothly?
I use my computer basically to play FS once in a while along with some other games from time to time. The rest of the time I use it to surf the net and type up documents. Nothing heavy duty at all.
Andrew - thanks for the input as well. I can check out something like that as well.
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DVA7357
Captain, B737-800
OLP
Joined on May 22 2009
DVA Five-Year Anniversary
"With your eyes turned skyward"
Northeastern United States
90 legs, 155.2 hours
38 legs,
51.3 hours online
86 legs,
150.9 hours ACARS
2 legs,
2.8 hours event
|
Posted onPost created on
November 26 2014 22:17 ET by Matthew McAlpine
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Not a problem sir. As far as FPS expectations, that really depends on what addons and such you are using. I read that you mainly only fly as pass time mainly, so I am not too sure what that means as far as what addons you use (i.e. pmdg, rex, asn etc etc) I'm not too sure what the availability of those addons for FS9 are. Regardless, on a vanilla version of FS9 or FSX with the correct tweaking 25 FPS should not be an issue at all. Now, if you are using PMDG with addon scenery and stuff, that's a different case and might have to adjust your tweaks and sliders a bit. I'd say in the 30 FPS range +/- 5 is a fair assessment for this rig on FSX, so probably more on FS9. Bare in mind that FSX is super dependent on tweaking in my opinion. There's plenty of guides and videos on tweaking, but if you need help you can always ask me or really anyone here. I know you fly FS9, and my intent is not to ignore your words, but I cannot speak intelligently on the requisites for smooth flying on FS9. My suggestions are all based on FSX and P3D. Again, if you need anything else, feel free to ask here or contact me. Happy Thanksgiving.
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DVA12097
Chief Pilot, CRJ-200
OLP
Joined on April 07 2014
50 State Club
Globetrotter
Commuter Conquest
White Knuckles Club
Million Mile Club
US Capital Club
Everett 500 Club
Online Quintuple Century Club
DVA Ten-Year Anniversary
Nine Century Club
"Up, up and away!"
Sacramento, CA
903 legs, 3,072.0 hours
572 legs,
1,203.9 hours online
897 legs,
3,046.7 hours ACARS
44 legs,
156.9 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
November 26 2014 22:35 ET by Alex Rogawski
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I got my pc for less then $500. It isn't a gaming pc, but a office pc.
Specs:
Quad Core i5 @ 3.00 ghz
8 GB RAM
1 TB hard drive
Geforce GTX630
Windows 8.1
It's a pretty solid PC. I don't know the exact company, but I got it off of ebay. There are a lot of deals there.
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DVA1830
Captain, MD-88
Joined on August 11 2004
Double Century Club
50 State Club
"Put on the whole armour of God"
Wrightsville, GA USA
217 legs, 478.4 hours
64 legs,
114.5 hours ACARS
|
Posted onPost created on
November 29 2014 16:32 ET by Shawn McCoy
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My wife's friend suggested that perhaps I could try a laptop ... do you think the following might cut the muster?
4th generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-4210U Dual Core Processor + 2GB NVIDIA GeForce 840M Graphics
8GB DDR3L System Memory (1 Dimm)
SuperMulti DVD burner
802.11b/g/n WLAN [1x1]
Windows 8.1 64
4-cell 48WHr Lithium-ion Battery
Standard Keyboard with Fingerprint Reader
No Additional Office Software
Security Software Trial
HP TrueVision HD Webcam with Dual Digital Microphone
14.0-inch diagonal HD BrightView WLED-backlit Display (1366x768)
750GB 5400 rpm Hard Drive
HP ENVY - 14t Laptop
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DVA2887
Senior Captain, A320
OLP, 737-ATP, VFRADV
E-MAIL
Joined on January 30 2006
50 State Club
Globetrotter
Tri-Jet Triumph
US Coastal Club
Millennium Club
DVA Fifteen-Year Anniversary
US Mountaineer Club
Toulouse 250 Club
Online Eight Century
Charlotte, NC
1,284 legs, 1,794.0 hours
838 legs,
1,045.6 hours online
1,266 legs,
1,772.0 hours ACARS
31 legs,
49.6 hours event
3 legs dispatched, 2.5
hours
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Posted onPost created on
November 29 2014 16:35 ET by Andrew Vane
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Matthews, that mobo and cpu alone are quite reasonable and would boost my gaming experience wtih the other components I already have. Putting it on my list.
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DVA7357
Captain, B737-800
OLP
Joined on May 22 2009
DVA Five-Year Anniversary
"With your eyes turned skyward"
Northeastern United States
90 legs, 155.2 hours
38 legs,
51.3 hours online
86 legs,
150.9 hours ACARS
2 legs,
2.8 hours event
|
Posted onPost created on
November 29 2014 16:43 ET by Matthew McAlpine
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Andrew, glad I could help sir. I'm more of an Intel man myself, but those AMD combos are often quite a bargain. To each their own! Let me know how it performs for you when and if you put them together.
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DVA1830
Captain, MD-88
Joined on August 11 2004
Double Century Club
50 State Club
"Put on the whole armour of God"
Wrightsville, GA USA
217 legs, 478.4 hours
64 legs,
114.5 hours ACARS
|
Posted onPost created on
December 31 2014 09:35 ET by Shawn McCoy
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Thanks for all of the suggestions ... Unfortunately I just spent a week in the hospital at the beginning of the month so that put a hold on everything. But I guess by the time I'm able to go back to work and am fully recovered things might even be slightly cheaper.
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DVA9545
Senior Captain, B777-200
OLP, 737-ATP
Joined on March 03 2011
50 State Club
Globetrotter
Quad-Jet Quartermaster
US Coastal Club
US Mountaineer Club
Million Mile Club
Events Double Century Club
DVA Ten-Year Anniversary
Toulouse 500 Club
Bi-Millennium Club
Online Twenty Century
"YUPIIIII"
Goiás Brazil
2,495 legs, 5,044.8 hours
2,324 legs,
4,766.4 hours online
2,487 legs,
5,015.2 hours ACARS
271 legs,
683.8 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
January 02 2015 13:12 ET by Thiago Braga
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Shawn;
I`ve posted this thread and the components looks really good for FSX use:
http://www.deltava.org/thread.do?id=0x1deff
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