System Hardware: PC | MOBO | RAM | CPU | HDD | SSD | PSU etc

After a very long video card ordeal, an 8800gts will be here on Friday. I just checked nVidia's site and the recommended driver is 169.21. I'm upgrading from a 7900gs, which also is suggested to run with 169.21. I'm currently using an older driver which has never given me any problems. My question, and I think this should be fine but just want to confirm, can I update the driver with the 7900 in the box to 169.21, and then just swap the cards when the 8800 arrives...and not have to install the driver after I put the 8800 in? I would think that when I boot up, the GTS should be up and running with the 169.21 driver already installed.Appreciate your comments.Todd

NOTE: DUE TO FORUM RESTRICTIONS I MUST USE MULTIPLE THREADS TO CONTINUE THIS WITH IMAGES... PLEASE SEE PART 2 after reading this thread.MEMORY SPEED

Images from first test flight:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/187047.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/187048.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/187049.jpgTEST 1 FRAPS Disabled: tRD=12 DDR3 900 5-5-5-12 @ 3.6GHzTime .. Min .. Max.. Avg ..300 ... 11 .. 23 .. 15.9Time .. Min .. Max .. Avg ..300 ... 10 .. 30 .. 17.7Time .. Min .. Max .. Avg ..300 ... 10 .. 30 .. 17.7VC Cockpit FlightExterior Locked Spot FlightTime .. Min .. Max .. Avg ..300 ... 12 .. 30 .. 19.3Environment Images:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/18705…

http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/187062.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/187063.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/187064.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/187065.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/187066.jpgFRAPS Disabled: DDR3 900 5-5-5-12 @ 3.6GHz tRD 8Time ... Min . Max . Avg 300 ..... 11 .. 28 .. 18.5Time ... Min . Max . Avg 300 ..... 10 .. 30 .. 20.0Time ... Min . Max . Avg 300 ..... 12 .. 30 .. 19.2Exterior View FlightTime .. Min . Max . Avg 300 ..... 14 .. 33 .. 25.5Continued in Part 4 h…

Environment Imageshttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/187067.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/187068.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/187069.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/187070.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/187071.jpg=============================================TEST 3With FRAPS in use: DDR3 1440 6-7-6-15 @ 3.6GHz tRD=7http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/187072.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/187073.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/187074.jpgFrames Time (ms) Min . Max . Avg 5626 ... 300000 ... 10.. 25 .. 18.75Frames Time (ms) Min . Max . Avg 6037 ... 300000... 13 .. 26.. 20.12Fram…

Environment Images Continuedhttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/187077.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/187078.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/187079.jpgFRAPS Disabled: DDR3 1440 6-7-6-15 @ 3.6GHz tRD=7Time . Min . Max . Avg 300 ... 10 .. 34 .. 19.7Time . Min . Max . Avg 300 ... 10 .. 35 .. 18.9Time . Min . Max . Avg 300 ... 13 .. 26 .. 20.7Exterior View FlightTime . Min . Max . Avg 300 ... 12 .. 35 .. 26.5Environment Images:http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/187080.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_fil…

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/se...CMP=OTC-HARDOCP4gb for $70, sounds like a great deal for anyone needing a memory upgrade.

A long, sad story. In December I purchased an Asus M2N-E motherboard, an AMD 64 Dual Core Athlon Black CPU running at 3.3Ghz and 4Gb DDR2 RAM. The object was to try and run FSX with the sliders not fully, but close to the right hand settings. I spent most of January setting the whole thing up; various other problems, notably USB bandwidth with modem and webcam.Finally in a position to run FSX. Did so, ran for 5min perfectly. Frame rates locked at 32 and no stuttering or blurries et al. A slight problem with ATC chat (carrier wave only, just like I used to experience occasionally in real life as an Air Traffic Controller), but I could live with that. Then CTD, or even wors…

I'm about to start purchasing components for a new system. I was told that the 780i is a great versatile mb that will let the system take advantage of later technology. Does anyone have any experience with it? Planning to use a QX9650 and the same person suggested a 9800GTX. Is this a good combination?Michael

like the topic says, anybody have a good high performance folder order for ultimate defrag?

On FSX, I consistently get 5-10 FPS at even moderately detailed airports, such as Charles De Gaulle in France. I've lowered almost every slider in Custom, changed the res to 1024x768x16, detail radius is small, mesh complexity is 4 and res is 305m, autogen is sparse, water's high 1.x, texture is 5m, 25% WoAI traffic and no boat or car. Nvidia GeForce 7500 LE 512MB graphics, 4GB (3.5 registered thanks to XP x32), Core 2 Duo @1.87GHz. Any and all fancy and graphics settings in the background such as even the blue win XP start bar have been disabled. I run FSX in windowed mode. Is there anything else I can do to improve my framerate?

Assume a system has decent video and sound cards, 1 gig ram and an Intel Dual Core E2140 processor @ 1.6 Ghz, with Vista Premium. Will that be enough firepower to run FSX? And FS9? Been searching this and other hardware forums, and not finding much help. Want to upgrade, but a quad core system more powerful than Mission Control is out of my price range. Any advice for the budget minded???

I have a Dell Dimension 8400 system with 3.2 GHz Pentium 4, 2 Gbytes RAM, IDE 160 Gbyte hard drive, and a X800XL video card. Well, I used to have a X800XL video card. After a solid 2+ years with the card, it has given up the ghost and now I'm back to the default X300 video card. Since the X300 is really not designed for games, what video card can I get that will work in my system to tie me over until Fall 2008/Winter 2009? At that time I plan to build a system based on the Nehalem processor; so, buying a pretty good video card now that I can use in that system is an attractive option except for the fact that my current PSU is only rated for 350W. Finally, you should …

I am getting this weird artifact stuff in KBFI, Seattle.I got it last time followed by a BSODI tried it again, and no BSOD, but after the weird phenomena appeared, I lost all AA and AF, like it just went away, normally I run 8x AA and 16xAF using nHancer.Anyone ever experienced this?

It seems the 9800 GTX from nVidia isn't such a big deal after all:http://www.gpureview.com/the-geforce-9800-...rticle-654.htmlInteresting!

They have a 640mb 8800GTS for $229.99 ($199.99 after MIR)http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...EVGA-_-14130317A 512mb 9600GT for $164.99 ($144.99 after MIR)http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...-MSI-_-14127333And if you want some real horsepower it's hard to go wrong with an 8800GTX for $339.99 ($289.99 after MIR) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...EVGA-_-14130072Seemed like some good deals so I thought some of you might be interested. The prices are way, way, better than retail stores.

I'm looking for opinions- the hardware sites don't bench FS generally since it is so cpu bound.What's been found to work well with FSX? All are about the $200 price point now- the 9600's conspicuously less.I'll be running with AA/AF probably at 1600x1200 or 1280x960 (LDS native res)It'll be mated to a Q8450 when they arrive hopefully in a few weeks. Initially running XP, eventually running Vista 64.ThanksTim

I can buy a XFX 8800GTX Extreme for the same price now as a regular 8800GT/512I have a XFX 8800GTS/320 but my resolution at 1920x1200 give me problems within FSX due the lack of memory.I also use FS2004 with all the add-ons for eye candy and it seems to me that even this configuration with only 320Mb is bringing the system to his knees at 1920x1200 and my favorite Level-D 767Who can tell me what will be the best offer...Happy landings...C2D6750/P35/4Gb/2x Raptor/24" monitor/Vista 64

Would you all mind taking a look at my system specs and let me know what you think about an upgrade to a E6850, or even an E8500; would such an investment greatly improve my system performance? I guess another way of asking that question is "Do you think a $300 - $400 investment in a better CPU is worth it, given my current hardware?" My current Dell is a dedicated FS9 system less than a year old and has some stutters and blurries, mainly in turn situations or high detail areas, but overall I'm very happy with it. I love FS9 and want to stick with it for now but I'm afraid I see the writing on the wall and know it won't last forever. I'm locked at 32 FPS, which drops …

Guys I was just searching around for stuff and i saw a PC from MainGear. I checked it out and saw how i could configure it so i configured 2x9800GX2 (for crysis not FSX) and a QX9770 factory clocked to 4.2GHz a good hard drive 2GB DDR3 RAM (cause 4 makes 600 bucks more) 790i ultra SLI motherboard and it was less than i thought it would be. $6200. Pretty good for us desperate ones but if ur looking for something very cheap their second system gives the same configs but DDR2 and if ur only a FSXer u can just buy 1 ultra final price would be about $2-3000. Check out their site at www.maingear.com (they ship internationally)

Hi, I have FSX Acceleration installed on a Vista 32 bit machine which is patched with Vista SP1. I am running an ATI 3870 with a 22 inch wide screen montior set to monitor number 1 and a 19 inch set to monitor 2. Every time I start FSX it uses monitor 2 as the primary. Is there some way to force it to start up in monitor 1 so I do not have to immediately start moving windows around?Thanks,Barry

As above, I've had this Joystick for years, but it's always suffered from slow panning on both fs2004 & FSX.It acts the same on XP & on Vista 64 sp1.(different machines & vastly different hardware)When I use mouse-look (FSX) using spacebar & mouse the VC panning view flies around, but using the HAT POV it's slow & stuttery.I've tried different saitek drivers over the years but none have helped.Is there a setting in fs2004 or FSX, where I can change the speed of the HAT POV scanning.I don't really want to buy another stick just for that problem. Any ideas greatfully acceptedPS, can you get mouse-look for FS2004?John

Can someone help me?I have this weird situation where if I clean out my cookies/cache from Firefox, I can use google, or access www.google.combut after a few minutes....I cannot access it anymore. It won't work on IE or FirefoxIt's only on my PC, because my wife's PC accesses google no problems, and we're on the same networkI thought it might be spyware related, but ran a scan and no objects, just a few tracking cookies...If I try to access google the page just times out. Anyone have any clues as to what might be going on???????

I was reading quite a few articles regarding my HyperThreading capability of my Prescott D0 3.4 GHz P4.Being that I can turn on and off this dual-core emulation routine via the BIOS, and that I have had this feature enabled since having purchased this system about 4 years ago---I decided to try FSX with no HyperThreading enabled.It was quite interesting. In an apples-to-apples scenario, without HyperThreading on, I could only get about 32 FPS at max. I then rebooted, and enabled HyperThreading once more via my BIOS.Same KMYR scenario (saved) and same canned weather.I now got into the 40's and 50's in FPS and about the same smoothness on my system.Conclusion: If you have …

I am looking at switching to the iMac now that Boot Camp allows booting into Windows XP.The question for those knowledgeable folks among us is whether the iMac USB bus will recognize my Saitek X36 HOTAS under Windows XP and allow it to run ? As the iMac itself will drain my financial resources I really would preffer not to have to buy a new set of controllers :-)Thanks