Will This Work?

[kranz38]

After playing this at my lhs i really want this game not only to learn how to fly better but just because it was really fun, however being that it is very pricey i want to make sure of my system requirements and be able to enjoy it without lag and crappy graphics, Thanks for the help. BTW i downloaded direct x 10, its a brand new computer, so i dont have any games on it yet.
My specs are
processor:
AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+ Dual-Core CPU w/ HyperTransport Technology 2.82 ghz
motherboard:
Asus M2A-VM AMD 690G Chipset w/6-channels, Gb LAN, S-ATA Raid, USB 2.0, Single PCI-E MB
Memory:
1024MB [512MB X2] DDR2-800 PC6400 Memory Module Mushkin
Video Card:
NVDIA GeForce 8500GT 256MB w/dvi and tv video out (high performance)
Hard Drive:
200 GB
Windows Vista Ultimate

[jeffpn]

You'll do fine. Just make sure you have at least 1 gig RAM, preferrably 2. That's easy enough to add to most systems.

[kranz38]

so do you think my graphics will be okay and i wont have lag? How do i find out my RAM?

[rccardude04]

Memory:
1024MB [512MB X2] DDR2-800 PC6400 Memory Module Mushkin

You have 1024 ram = 1GB.
You will have absolutely no problem whatsoever running the program

The computer that Great Planes sends out to hobby shops is:

P4 Dual Core ( 3.2GHz I think)
2.0GB/RAM
8600GT 512MB

-Eric

[kranz38]

so i guess the thing i should be worried about is the graphics card?

BTW im into rc trucks, i do have a plane, but this games so addicting. haha.

[rccardude04]

Your card is only slightly weaker than what they send in the demo to hobby shops, which has pretty much everything maxxed out entirely.
Like I said above, you will have absolutely no problem whatsoever running the program.
-Eric

[kranz38]

1 more thing eric, and i appreciate your help, how would i get rid of shadows to maximize my fps?

[rccardude04]

There's a menu under "settings" and "grahpics" under the "file" tab.
Seriously, you'll not have problems with shadows. You won't want soft shadows, but the sim usually doesn't default to too high of settings for you.
Just get it and see what you think. If it runs jerky at all, you can turn down some quality settings in order to get higher FPS, but I really doubt you'll have any trouble.
-Eric

[opjose]

Yeah like they are saying, your configuration should be fine.

At worst turn down the amount of trees being generated and maybe the "bloom" a bit.

High tree density scores a bit hit, but with your system you will be able to keep things up fairly high.

[kranz38]

sweet news then, if i were to spend another 200 on the computer, what should i buy for it? Or would it not be worth it?

[rccardude04]

Try it and see. If you really think you need more, I just upgraded to an ATi Radeon HD 3850 (256MB) and it runs absolutely awesome. I kind of wish I would have waited 2 weeks and got the 3870 (512mb) because of the better cooling that it has if nothing else, plus it's a little bit faster.
I had some issues with nVidia cards causing this "an unexpected error has occurred." thing to happen. I got the ATi card and have never seen it since.
-Eric

[kranz38]

where did u get the ATI Card? and how much did you pay?
I was thinking about going to best buy if i got that error.. seing what they have.

[rccardude04]

I shop for computer parts usually locally (small shop called "Ribbit Computers") But they're expensive, so I usually end up buying almost literally everyting from new egg dot com. I got mine for 179.99. The 3870 was 250 at the time.
However, ATi is more of an "enthusiast" card as I'd like to call it. I don't mean they're necessarily better, but they usually take more tinkering to get to work properly. With my nVidia cards, it's literally an issue of uninstall drivers, plug in, reinstall new drivers, and go party.
With the ATi card, it took me about 2 hours of updating this, changing that, messing with other crap to get it to work properly. Now that I've got it working, I'm at least temporarily an ATi guy. That is, until nVidia stops having issues with me and Realflight.
I should also mention that not everyone has this problem as severely as I did, nor for the same reasons. Our store computer with the nVidia card only crashes once or twice in 10 hours of CONSTANT hard use. Mine would crash 10 times in 30 minutes sometimes. If I was at the right fields, it'd crash every 10-20 seconds of flight if I did the right movements with the sticks it seemed like.
However, I have yet to be able to replicate any type of error with the ATi card. It just kind of works...
-Eric

[RCHeliAce]

www.tigerdirect.com or www.newegg.com. Your system should be good but if you upgrade anything it should be the graphics card. Run the sim first and see before you spend money you don't need to. You have to ask yourself do you want to spend another 200+ to run RF with everything maxed out or can you live with a few settings turned down a notch?

[kranz38]

yeah your exactly right i dont want to spend 400 dollars on a game, so i can turn down the settings under file on shading and trees and it will be smoother? also if it crashes does it just shut down?

[RCHeliAce]

Yes, the program just terminates back to desk top. You should be fine though.

[iwin2]

Hey Kranz,
If you do opt for a 3800 series card make sure your PC power supply can handle these cards, they use a LOT of power and usually it is recommended that you use 450w power suppy or more.
Here is a nice site to compare different cards and gives lots of info
http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php?card1=546&card2=514

[kranz38]

i believe i have a 420 or 450watt power supply.
Does a bigger processor take up more wattage?
and what happens if u have a card that takes up more power than ur supply can give out?

my computer crashes on me about, once a week... a blue screen comes up and then loads something, i cant read what it says it happens so fast, but im thinking its just vistas many flaws.
BTW does anyone have the link for the computer check, it tells you like what version of DX you have and watnot?

[opjose]

Blue screens are usually more indicative of hardware errors or errors with key device drivers.

Application crashes should not take the operating system down with them.

Your system seems to have some stability issues, and you may be exacerbating an existing problem by changing out hardware w/o first knowing what is to blame for the current instability.

I'd advise you to first chase down the current problem.

---

If your machine overdraws the supply the symptoms can be varied.

It may freeze, overheat, reboot, blue screen, fail to boot, fail to post, etc. etc.

[kranz38]

ok, and what abou tthe system check

[opjose]

What about the clock?

What's the question?

---

If you are overclocking your machine now, that alone can be the cause of the blue screens.

Set the clock down to it's defaults and run something like pcmark06, set to repeat over and over.

If the system can run this program with all of it's graphics, for say an hour, then you'll know it's stable at the default values.

Next increase the value to 1/2 of what you have increased and run it for another hour.

If that works take it up another 1/4 and run it again.

Once you get to the highest point of uninterrupted operation you'll have found the OC limit of your machine.

Then ( much like a glow engine ) BACK OFF about 2% for safety.

[rccardude04]

Seriously, you're worrying way too much.
This sim looks AWESOME with the graphics around 50%. You get about a 20% increase in prettiness for double the system resources. You probably won't be able to tell the difference. The only thing is shadows might only be able to cast on the water's surface, rather than on the surface, and then refract to the bottom of the lake.
Buy it and find out. You'll be fine.

As far as the crashing goes... it can be an instability issue with Vista, but every time I've ever gotten a BSOD unless it was just my own fault, there was something wrong with the hardware somewhere along the line. Last time, it was a motherboard. My friend is having a similar problem but it won't even load to windows now, so I'm thinking it's the motherboard on his also.
How old is it and is it still under a warranty where they will at least run diagnostics for free?
-Eric

[kranz38]

i bought it from i buy power, i really havent contacted them. I have a stock power supply with the 5600 processor but i doubt im maxing out the power supply with a little bigger processor. I dno what it could be really.
Rc dude its not that im worrying, i installed DX10 and i want to make sure it installed, i found a link on my gf's computer about this thing u click and it tells u ur computers status on everything, and i cant find it for the life of me, i was jw if anyone knew the link.

[phrank]

Just type dxdiag, it will show you which dx version you have.

[kranz38]

where do i type that in :p

[Zelatio]

Go to start, programs, Run.

[RCHeliAce]

Belarc Adviser (http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html) this will give you every detail of your PC. Hardware, software, peripherals, bios version, Windows updates installed, etc.

[kranz38]

http://i29.photobucket.com/albums/c258/kranz38/mycomputer.jpg
Sorry i dont know how to do thumbnails with photobucket...

Doesnt my bus clock seem low? shouldnt it be at 500 or so?
anyway i reinstalled all my drivers and cards and that, motherboard, hopefully i wont get the blue screen (i think i didnt install motherboard???) if thats possible, anyway theres a screenshot of everything, temps and voltage on top as well, hows it look?

[opjose]

BTW:

You need to move your memory stips around based upon the above.

Notice that you have strips in "Slot A2" and "Slot B2".

You should have them in "Slot A1" and "Slot A2".

Why?

Most system boards operate in page interleaved mode when the stips are properly configured.

This speeds up memory access and reliability.



The "Bus Clock" reported by such programs is the "Base" clock rate, which the devices/motherboard can use.

Usually this is multiplied by another factor, e.g. 2x, 4x, etc. dependant upon the speed of the device so it is not indicative of the actual data rates.

[kranz38]

are the slots labeled? Cuz i just put them in next to eachother..... first 2 i believe....

[kranz38]

i put them Both in B... wil lthat be okay? when they are in A... maybe they werent in all the way or something, but my computer wouldnt turn on.

[RCHeliAce]

One in the first yellow slot and one in the first black slot. Look at the red arrows. This is your board.