Gaming Computer for Flight Simulator X

[tlabranche]

I am a Mac user for things such as my photo and video editing. I used to have a PC setup for Flight Simulator 2004 with every detail maxed out. That was about five years ago. I am looking to buy a gaming computer, and my head hurts looking at all the specs and how they double what I used to have. Anyways, would this computer run Flight Simulator X at high to highest settings?

Processor: Intel Core i5 4440 (3.10GHz)
RAM: 4GB (4GB x1) DDR3-1600
Hard Drive: 500GB HDD Serial-ATA-III
Graphics: AMD Radeon R7 250 2GB
Power Supply: 300W

 

[logainofhades]

Too much cpu for that GPU. Not much of a power supply either. What is your budget, and what components do you need?

 

[vmN]

I cant imagine a flight simulator been CPU depended, so you can downgrade that to an I3, and then bump the GPU up to a 260x(270 if you are lucky)

 

[tlabranche]

I really haven't set a budget. My real estate photography side job gives me my money for things like this. I never bought a dedicated gaming PC. This would only be used for Flight Sim.

 

[logainofhades]

I cant imagine a flight simulator been CPU depended, so you can downgrade that to an I3, and then bump the GPU up to a 260x(270 if you are lucky)

I believe it actually is more of a cpu bound game than GPU. From what I have been reading, even an overclocked 2600k system can struggle with this game if settings are cranked too far.

 

[Sooth1]

I cant imagine a flight simulator been CPU depended, so you can downgrade that to an I3, and then bump the GPU up to a 260x(270 if you are lucky)

I believe it actually is more of a cpu bound game than GPU.

You are correct in that FSX is very CPU dependant. If you want the most performance you will want at least an I5 and a K model so you can overclock it as high as you can.

 

[logainofhades]

Here is something to start with.
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($129.99 @ Micro Center)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($72.25 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital RE3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($51.50 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card ($503.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 300R ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX750B BRONZE 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($14.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($95.99 @ B&H)
Total: $1267.68
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-18 11:00 EDT-0400)

 

[tlabranche]

Thanks for the replies, everyone! I may end up just reinstalling FS 2004 on a game PC similar to this. FS 2004 at maximum settings would be really nice, especially after doing scenery add on's. Right now I run X-plane 9 at full resolution on my Mac, but the game is not nearly as good as FS in my opinion.

 

[papablista]

I used to run flight sim X on a amd 6000+ and a nvidia gt8800 at full max with all the scenery add-ons and planes, it is a old sim, it will run fine on anything made after 2008 with a discrete video card. FS 2004 will run even faster. P.S my son runs X on a Pentium 4, 3.0 and a amd radeon 3800 series 1GB AGP card and he has no complaints