10-27-2006, 04:55 PM

I searched the forums to make sure that this question has not already been posed, so please forgive me if it has and I missed it.

My parents are looking for a new computer. They have an older Dell now, but my mom has been pretty open to the idea of getting a Mac (mostly thanks to rave reviews from Walt Mossberg). The only potential problem is that my dad is a big fan of MS Flight Simulator, and the main reason he wants to get a new machine in the first place is to run the latest and greatest (Flight Simulator X). For their uses, an iMac seems like a good option, but I am just wondering if anyone has run FSX a new Core 2 Duo (using Boot Camp, of course) iMac. Even if you have run on a Core Duo, I would be curious to hear how it worked out. I would get them the upgraded video card (256 mb) to help out, but if it isn't going to run FSX well, then it really defeats the purpose of them even upgrading.

A Mac Pro is way more machine than they really need, so that is out of the question at this point. Besides FSX, they really just check email and browse the web.

Anyone care to chime in? Your help is appreciated.

10-28-2006, 06:00 AM

I haven't run FS X on the mac but I would be interested to find out how it works out for you.

Keep us informed.

10-28-2006, 09:05 AM

Yea let me know how that works out as well!

10-28-2006, 09:40 AM

me too, I am interested.

10-30-2006, 02:28 AM

My understanding is that FSX requires a fairly high-end graphics card. The X1600 in the iMac most likely won't give your Dad the experience he's looking for.

A friend of mine just installed FSX on a 2.8ghz AMD dual-core PC with a 512mb video card, and while the video looks impressive, he says it's not particularly smooth.

I'm afraid the x1600 is considered pretty light by gaming standards. I'm not sure, but I'm not sure that the 7600 in the 24" iMac will do well enough either. I'd have a look around Microsoft's site for FSX to see if there's a suggested hardware guide. I'm fairly sure the 2ghz CPU in the iMac would be okay, I'm just afraid you'd have to really scale down the graphics options to get any good performance.

10-30-2006, 09:17 AM

Originally Posted by djames42

My understanding is that FSX requires a fairly high-end graphics card. The X1600 in the iMac most likely won't give your Dad the experience he's looking for.

A friend of mine just installed FSX on a 2.8ghz AMD dual-core PC with a 512mb video card, and while the video looks impressive, he says it's not particularly smooth.

I'm afraid the x1600 is considered pretty light by gaming standards. I'm not sure, but I'm not sure that the 7600 in the 24" iMac will do well enough either. I'd have a look around Microsoft's site for FSX to see if there's a suggested hardware guide. I'm fairly sure the 2ghz CPU in the iMac would be okay, I'm just afraid you'd have to really scale down the graphics options to get any good performance.

That is what I am starting to think, too. I installed FSX on my PC at home, which is by no means great, but still normally handles games alright (2ghz P4, 1gb RAM, ATI RADEON 9550), and it was torture. the framerate was awful. i had to scale everything back so far just to get a decent framerate that it just ended up being crappy.

I think the problem here is that FSX really requires a state of the art machine.

i am still interested in real world experience, so if anyone has given it a try, please let me know. it's not looking good at this point.