I need some guidance

[Ronspc]

Hey guys, for christmas I'm getting a video card, and some extra RAM.
My mom just bought me a Western Digital 640GB hard drive that I'm screwing around with in the BIOS trying to get it to work. She also bought me a new Lite-On Lightscribe DVD burner. Those are completely irrelevant but I thought I'd say them just because, but any way. I want to get a video card that will run Microsoft Flight Simulator (Deluxe) <--- idk depends which one i buy. On pretty good settings I dont have the money to spend on a GTX video card. Not to mention I dont think my computer let alone my PSU could handle that seeing as its not a custom built computer it comes straight from Dell (Inspiron 531) But I'm sure there are some pretty good cards that can come close to damn good settings. Also for other games too. But for right now primarily Flight Simulator. So if anyone could help I'd be gracious. I really dont care if its from newegg but i'd rather it come from like Office Depot or a similar kind of place. But newegg is fine too.


Then I will deal with the Ram I was going to get 2 more gigs but then i forgot Vista doesnt utilize all of it in 32 bit.

PS~ I'm also getting a TV TUNER for my iPhone cuz im using orb if anyone knows a decent one that would help also. & i need to know if this video card requires me to get a new PSU also. THANKS


thanks guys and gals.
Oh and Merry Christmas or Happy Holidays

anything?

 

[rohan23]

Just how much is your budget for this card?

 

[Ronspc]

well now i just talk to my dad. i can get a higher end card so 250ish. I have a PCI express x16 slot NO 2.0

 

[rohan23]

x16: Powercolor

Fastest x16 on on Newegg. Honestly, if you're going to spending that much you might as well get this ATI, or this Nvidia and can use it when you upgrade down the line.

 

[worshipme]

No cards fully utilize a PCI-E 1.0 bus, lots of people did test over at XS etc.

If you don't play at more than 1680x1050, go with the HD 4870 512MB, if you play at a higher res, go with the 260-216 or the HD 4870 1GB, which ever one's cheaper

 

[JogaBonito1502]

Does the flight sim even need that much? I was thinking an HD4850 could be a good card for him. He can use another $50 for some RAM and keep $50. I would take worshipme's advice but step it down one. At high res. you buy the HD4870 512MB, at low res. you buy the HD4850.

edit: IF I'm not mistaken, the Flight Sims require more CPU power than graphical power.

 

[Ronspc]

alright well im going to get a GeForce 8600GT 256MB

 

[Moffman]

alright well im going to get a GeForce 8600GT 256MB

Don't Flight sim won't run very good whatsoever, I had a 8800GT and tried flight sim 1600x1200 i lagged like nuts, with 2gb ram and 3.0ghz on vista so idk

 

[rohan23]

Flight Simulator is locked in at 30FPS I think. Unless you crank your settings all the way up, it relies on the CPU more than the GPU.

 

[aowen416]

alright well im going to get a GeForce 8600GT 256MB

You have the budget for the HD 4870...why wouldn't you go with that? The 4870 HD murders the 8600GT in every aspect that is conceivable.

Also, about your utilization of "just because"- "Those are completely irrelevant but I thought I'd say them just because, but any way." This needs to stop. Don't be an illiterate fool and learn to properly express yourself. If you had no reason to say it, as you imply, you wouldn't have stated it. However, you did state it, so you had reason, so you should be able to express that with something a whole lot less ambivalent than "just because".