pc ideas?

[derFlieger]

I've purchased ms century of flight. I've tried running it on my ibm
laptop - 256 memory - but not sure if it was the computer or the cheap
joystick - it just did not respond well to inputs - seemed slow.
I'm considering getting a tower pc - used, or build my own. Can
someone give me ideas as to what configuration I need to run the
software the best? The laptop meets the ms stated minimums - but runs
badly.
All suggestions will be very much appreciated - plus suggestions
regarding yokes and rudder pedal set ups?
Cheers,
Pete

[Quilljar]

derFlieger wrote:
> I've purchased ms century of flight. I've tried running it on my ibm
> laptop - 256 memory - but not sure if it was the computer or the cheap
> joystick - it just did not respond well to inputs - seemed slow.
> I'm considering getting a tower pc - used, or build my own. Can
> someone give me ideas as to what configuration I need to run the
> software the best? The laptop meets the ms stated minimums - but runs
> badly.
> All suggestions will be very much appreciated - plus suggestions
> regarding yokes and rudder pedal set ups?
> Cheers,
> Pete

My experience with a laptop is that you need at least a 2Ghz chip. Whatever
MS says, this sim works best with 1024 Mb RAM and at least 2.6 Ghz CPU plus
a 128Mb video card. It is a great sim prograam, but has always pushed the
boundaries of computer power to work properly.


--
Cheers,

Quilly











An individual reply goes into my spam filter

[jmiguez]

derFlieger wrote:
> I've purchased ms century of flight. I've tried running it on my ibm
> laptop - 256 memory - but not sure if it was the computer or the
cheap
> joystick - it just did not respond well to inputs - seemed slow.
> I'm considering getting a tower pc - used, or build my own. Can
> someone give me ideas as to what configuration I need to run the
> software the best? The laptop meets the ms stated minimums - but
runs
> badly.
> All suggestions will be very much appreciated - plus suggestions
> regarding yokes and rudder pedal set ups?
> Cheers,
> Pete


Pete, Most laptops don't have the graphic's card necessary to do a
decent job with MSFS. You need an 3D accellerated graphics card like
the ATI 9000 series with as much graphics memory as possible.

However, you can run MSFS on a laptop. Try turning down the graphic
setting as much as possible. Get rid of shadows and light reflections
and AI aircraft. These are power hungry features. Try to get 15+ FPS.

If you get a PC to run the game, any 1+ gig processor will do. Make
sure you have a 3D card such as the ATI Raedon or the Nvidia cards with
128-256 Mb of RAM. Of course, processor speed is like money in the
bank, the more the better.

John

[FatKat]

Stated minimums don't mean anything. The min req for CFS3 is 450mhz.
I've got a 2ghz P4, with 512 mb of RAM and a Geforce 3 card. Sure it's
no trailblazer in these days, but it's plenty satisfying. I just need
to know when to take stated system requirements with a grain of salt.
The box requirements only tell you the lowest-rated hardware that will
run the game as a program, and not necessarily as something you'd
enjoy. On my system, CFS3, whose sys-req is slightly higher than ACoF
(admittedly this doesn't include how much more intense the gameplay
is), was barely adequate. Unfortunately, performance would take a hit
at those intense moments you bought the game for (extremely close-range
dogfight with a ****ed off Me-109). Though I could tell it was a
better and more sophisticated sim than CFS2, performance, low
performance meant that CFS2 wasn't going to fade away so quickly. It
used to be that you could safely match your system to the game by
doubling those on the box, and comparing that to your system.
Apparently, even that rule seems dated - and MS at least seems to have
its own version of Moore's law in which the stated-to-actual
requirements gap doubles every 18 months.

So your system...

For one thing, if you must use a laptop, system requirements are likely
to be even higher, since laptops power is meant to be used
economically. The glamour of portable computing aside, a laptop is
sort of like a subcompact car. That said, if you are going to drop
some serious bread on a PC, you might as well go near the top in terms
of chip speed. I'd check reviews for ACoF - if the reviewer didn't
bitch about poor performance, then his system obviously worked well
(and they usually list what they used). The real bottlenck is bound to
be RAM - definately go for at least 512mb.

As for controllers...I used old gameport controllers for my last
computer. A few weeks back, I was fortunate to get a new machine, a
Dell 3Ghz, but lacking a gameport. I've ordered a dual connector
gameport-USB adapter, but obviously can't comment until I get it.
However, if your computer does have a gameport, you can easily run old
controllers. Most of my stuff is E*Bay surplus - Thrustmaster FCS/WCS,
but CH pedals - all gameport. Though I can't get WinXP to recognize
all the buttons, the axes themselves work fine on all the controllers
(even though CH claims WinXP won't accept gameport pedals at all). Of
course, if money's no object, get USB set-up, CH Pro Pedals and all.
of course money would have to be really no object, because it'll likely
cost over $100 for controllers alone.