DCS Recommended System

[B2Blain]

Hi,

I am getting back into flight sims after a long hiatus. I'd like to start off with FC3. I need to upgrade my computer, but I am on a budget as I recently purchased a Thrustmaster Warthog stick and throttle. I'd like to run the game with the graphic turned up with decent frame rates. I don't know if that is possible with what I have...

 

System: Dell Optiplex 960

Processor: Core 2 Duo 3.0 E8400

RAM: 4 GB - does not meet minimum system requirements.

Video Card: ATI Radeon 4670

OS: Windows 7 64 bit.

 

I would not to have to upgrade the processor and motherboard. I thought I would do the following:

 

1. Upgrade RAM to 8 GB.

2. Upgrade video card to an ASUS GTX750i. My system has a PCI Express x16 connection. Is that compatible?

 

Would that be adequate, or would I need to upgrade the processor and motherboard?

 

Thanks,

Blain

[kingpinda]

I would suggest you download DCS world for free and try out both free planes and tweak the graphics. maybe borrow some ram from someone if the game lags to see if that helps.

 

My former CPU was a E8400 and I could easily overclock it from 3ghz to 4ghz on aircooling alone. I did have a decent aftermarket cooler though. A huge thermaltake one. I paid 30 bucks for the cooler years years back so I guess you can buy something cheap for it nowadays.

[B2Blain]

Thanks!

 

The RAM upgrade is a must. But what's the most bang for my buck? Isn't the video card usually the bottle neck more than the processor?

 

Thanks,

Blain

[agrasyuk]

For this application the processor is more of a bottleneck - DCS is quite CPU heavy. If the upgrade you mentioned is the only thing you can afford it's understandable. 750i is a vid card built specifically to be low enough power to not require PSU upgrades so don't expect much out of it , but it still will be a step up from your current one and the CPU still will be the weaker link..

 

Ideally you will want something more powerful though.

[Deezle]

CPU helps a lot with DCS, especially upgrading from an old Core 2. With the same GPU I upgraded from a QX9650@ 3.6GHz to my 4790k @4.6GHz and saw a huge increase in FPS.

[CASoldier2014]

I'd suggest buying a new PC. But that's just my opinion ;)

[Mowgli]

I had the Optiplex 970 SFF with I5 and 10GB memory - I managed to squeeze 25-30 FPS from this system and most of the graphic options were on mid/low.

the GPU was Sapphire HD7750 LP 1GB dedicated.

 

most of the time I got frustrated that I fly such a great sim and I don't use even 50% of it's graphic capability.

 

Download DCS World and try the free Frogfoot but at the end you can't avoid it - start saving from now for a new system cause EDGE is on it's way...

 

Enjoy

[Roadrunner]

Download DCS World and try the free Frogfoot but at the end you can't avoid it - start saving from now for a new system cause EDGE is on it's way...

 

 

just my opinion, just install and see how it works, but wait for DCS:2.0 before buying stuff, worst case you would end up with an upgrade that doesnt help for DCS:2.0.

 

regards,

RR