How much Computing power?

[techguy50]

Hey guys,

I am thinking of buying a mid-high range gaming system. At first I wanted a laptop, but then, seeing my choices, I realized that my only choice to fit my budget was a desktop.
I wanted Low-mid range discrete graphics. Enough to play Flight Simulator 10 on high graphics. I also wanted a Core i5 or Core i7 proccessor.
MEMORY HAD TO BE 4GB+. DDR3 was also a big factor.
I already know quite a lot about buying computers and what specs to look for, but I do want to hear from others (I am not that good) . ALSO: READ AT THE END- I HAVE A ?

After like tons of weeks of research, I came up with this:
$749.00

Dell Studio XPS 8100
OS:Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
CPU (a.k.a. processor): Intel® Core™ i5-650 processor(4MB Cache, 3.20GHz)
RAM (a.k.a. memory): 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz - 4 DIMMs
Hard Drive: 500GB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache
Graphics Card:1024MB nVidia GeForce GT220*
Cd Drive or whatever its called: 16X DVD+/-RW Drive

*IS THE GRAPHICS CARD GOOD ENOUGH FOR RUNNING FSX ON HIGH QUALITY MID RESOLUTION WITHOUT LAG??? I WOULD PREFER TO STICK WITH THE BUDGET.

 

[Relic]

I'm assuming you want to buy a gaming PC over building your own? If that's the case I would steer clear of Dells XPS line. The $750 dollar budget you gave is a decent mid-range amount but not something you can buy high-end with. Buying a PC will also cost more and usually results in getting a bad gaming GPU like the GT220 in your case. While the game you list was released in 2006, I've read people having issues with it with better low-end cards. If you are not completely dead set on an i5/i7 for $750 you could probably find some nicely priced AMD quad-cores that would save you a bit and afford a better GPU for gaming.

And there are several custom gaming PC builders such as iBuyPower, CyberpowerPC and a couple higher class ones like Puget Systems & AVADirect. Search around and see what fits your needs best (price/performance). I can't comment on the level of customer service from most of them but the few I know that purchased custom built gaming rigs were satisfied.

 

[techguy50]

still have questions

Ok- I see your point. I may agree with you- but I want to push the debate a bit .


Read this web page please.
techspot.com/review/244-ati-radeon-hd-5450/page4.htm
In the FPS rating, it seems that that junk card (GT220 or whatever) seems to be adequate. I don't need to play stuff like COD Modern Warfare 2 on maximum settings. I also would feel very comfortable with dell or hp. Also, I am stuck on i5/i7

in tests, it has been proven that intel is much much better than amd. Even people say it and test it.

I mean... I can upgrade 80.00 to a nVidia GeForce GTS240
BUT I REALLY WOULD NOT LIKE TO. Is it a good thing to do?
What do you say??

 

[techguy50]

continuation...

well- again- like I said

The power I need is for it to handle FSX with high settings and medium (decent) resolution....


will it do that????

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

Dell is such a huge rip off for gaming computers.
Now if your totally against building your own computer, and I can't do anything to change your mind, I will say its a better idea to go with cyberpowerpc or ibuypower or something.

in tests, it has been proven that intel is much much better than amd. Even people say it and test it.

Some people are *****s. Theres no reason to be stuck to corei5, even if its a very good processor.

I personally think the graphcis card is rather weak.

The power I need is for it to handle FSX with high settings and medium (decent) resolution....

That depends how well you want it to run at those settings.

Consider the AMD Athlon 240 with a 5770 or 5750.

 

[Relic]

We're here to try and give you as much feedback and options we can think of and if you are dead set on a certain PC it will be hard for us to say otherwise. Now to your specific card in question, the GT220 is a low end gaming card as is the GT240 both who's price/performance is not the best. However you said you are NOT playing any new games where it struggles and I assume you're ONLY playing FSX? If that's the case then it should be adequate but most likely not on ultra-high settings. The game also appears to be more CPU dependent then GPU if I read correctly. I have NEVER played this game and found no current benchmarks, the best I found was some from last generation showing lower end cards doing around 20-25 FPS. Maybe someone with specific knowledge of this game can help out.

I also found a nice community: http://www.flightsimworld.com/forums/
You might be able to find more adequate help there regarding specific FSX questions. Like if you have issues with Win7 and FSX, as I'm seeing some having those issues.

I also would feel very comfortable with dell or hp. Also, I am stuck on i5/i7 in tests, it has been proven that intel is much much better than amd. Even people say it and test it.

It depends what you are doing and I'd say in the mainstream market the difference isn't noticeable (tests don't tend to show what the average guy is doing) as AMD has some fine processors which serve there purpose well and game fantastically on.

But if you are set on Dell/HP having an i5/i7 your options will be limited. Hope this helps.

 

[techguy50]

Great!

thanks guys- that really helped

(you know sometimes when you ask someone if they think yes or no, and they say no, you just say- ok great- i'll just go with yes and you feel much easier about it. LOL

Thanks!

I solved my problem!

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

Oh Flight Simulator X, thats a very CPU dependent game isn't it?

 

[Relic]

Oh Flight Simulator X, thats a very CPU dependent game isn't it?

From what I read ya, never played the game though.

 

[techguy50]

GTS 240 not GT 240

geez- I am an *****.

When I was searching GeForce GTS 240 it always corrected me to GT 240. It turns out that the card was GTS240 and not GT240.


PLEASE RESPOND AGAIN!

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

Little difference...

 

[Relic]

From looking around it appears the GTS 240 is an OEM only card that is a rebranded 9800 GT. Nvidia does this type of marketing a lot and confuses many .

GT 240 ~ 9600 GT
GTS 240 ~ 9800 GT ~ 8800 GT

So it appears the card is more mainstream and should work well for your needs. I however did not find any benchmarks to help out as it's an OEM card.