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

I run Vista home basic 32 bit, 2GB ram. I just got my first oom error! My paging file was custom set to the max of 3069MB at the time of the error. I just let windows adjust the size, and it's down to 2346MB. Is this better? What happened? Don't run any addons. Slidders are mostly high except for traffic (50%).Thanks.Bob

Lately my processor cooling fan has began to intermittenly make a lotof loud propeller type noise. Then just as suddenly will go quiet again.I thought perhaps the bearings were wearing out and went and bought a new Artic Cooling unit, but problem still remained same.I've since checked the bracket where the unit is clipped to but all screws are firmly in place and cannot see anything wrong there either.Have also tried enabling and disabling BIOS options that allegedlycontrol fan speed but this didn't make any difference either.Turning the case on its side seems to alleviate this somewhat butdoesn't get rid of it altogether. Any advice/solution greatlyappreciated.Regards

Hi guys,I access the internet via a Netgear router connected to a cable modem.If I disable the DHCP Client service on the computer have I in essence disconnected all access to the computer? In other words if I disable the DHCP Client service will it make it impossible for anyone or anything to access that computer.Thanks,George

Hi,For FS9/FSX which NVidia driver do you recommend for my new 8800GT 512mg OC card? Also, what firmware for the Asus P5K-E?Thanks!

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Can any problems be expected from attaching the USB for a Saitek Yoke or Rudder Pedals to my keyboard (two USB inputs available) or to a monitor (two also available)rather than making a direct connection to the USB input on the computer (HP Blackbird 002)?I have four USB inputs on the back of the comp currently being used and two inputs on the front (which I do not want to use for the yoke).I cannot experiment because I have not yet purchased the yoke...-George

Sorry to sound like a noob-boob, but I've been out of the loop for a bit. Does FSX handle SLI video cards (yet)? I'm thinking of doubling up on my 8800GTS 640MB card since the prices are coming down.Thanks.

I have started experiencing major sound distortions in FSX, I think FSX only, since I cannot reproduce it in FS9 nor in any other videos, sound clips etc. The distorted sound appears to be in addition to the engine noise

Hi folks, just looking for some opinions here on hard drive options. So far I have purchased the following:Intel E8400Asus Maximus Formula MoBoEVGA 8800 GTS 512 2GB Corsair Dominator 1066MHz RamAntec Nine Hundred CaseWin XPAll I need now is the hard drives and DVD/CD Drive. The DVD drive is the easy part, what I need opinions on is the hard drives. I am thinking about running two seperate WD Raptors. One for FS9 and one for FSX. Then using either another Raptor for the boot drive and other misc applications, or a WD 7200 rpm. I have never used a Raptor so I am not sure about their reliability. Thats why I was considering using a regular 7200 rpm drive for windows and such…

Hi Gents,I've been following various threads about the 8800 and 3870 and I'm beginning to lean towards the ATI 3870.However, herein lies the problem. I went to Newegg and other sites and am overwhelmed with all the different versions of the same card.I was hoping someone here could give me some suggestions as to which card I'm looking for.When most folks on here refer to having the ATI 3870 card, I am assuming most are paying between $200-$300 for the card right??? Reason I ask is I have seen various versions of this card ranging all the way up to $500.00. I believe Ray Proudfoot opted for this one. But again, my budget dictates a card in the $200-$300 range and I'm hopin…

You've got to be freaking kidding me!After installing the below componants today, AND having to re-install VISTA. I loaded up FSX, nHancer, made the changes I did earlier this week and BAMMO! Taking off from Seattle with everything set at about 75 percent and 50 - 90 FPS. I couldn't and still can't belive my eyes. My jaw is STILL on the floor. I also loaded Call Of Duty 4 and hit a spike of 600 FPS. Please belive me, I am NOT exagerating. I do have a couple of issues tho. Blurry airplave textures and a little "shimmer" looking at the ground. It's that autogen scenery as it moves from one pixel line to another. Is there a way to get rid of this or lessen the effect? I…

sorry title is not clear here is what is happeningI'm installing a new hd, i went to reformat it, but i only have win xp upgrade, it asks for win 98 cd and, I DON'T HAVE IT, i lost it, so.... is there any other way around this? can I copy windows xp over to my new hd or any other method?? can I create some sort of win 98 boot disk that would work?thanksciao!Brian S

I am buying a new computer Question I am getting 2 hard drives a 320gig and a 500g320g will leave as the C; driveThe 500 gig should I partion this drive into two smaller ones orleave it as is? Is there a benefit to partioning?I am using Window's XP PRO

I want to keep all the guts from my computer and upgrade just thecpu, mobo and memoryi want to get the E8400 - what mobo would you all recommend? and how easy would it be to do this myself? I built one computer several years ago and it had its frustrating moments, but it worked well, my thing that always confuses me is what bios settings to do and what pins, on the mobo to set, etc.ciao!Brian S

I have figured out that most of my performance problems come from 3d cumulous clouds. Does anyone else suffer from this issue? I can be flying along with at least 25 fps in the mountains and then when I fly around 3d cumulous clouds my fps drop to 12-15. I know it is from the clouds because if I check 2d clouds instead of 3d my fps immediately increase by at least 15 fps. There is talk about nvdia driver being a problem, but I have had this issue for as long as I have had fsx, and i ahve always had an nvidia gfx card. I always use the latest driver and right now im on the 174.20 betas. Is this jus the way it is, or could this be fixed by using an ati card or somethi…

Its Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. and I hope you are having a good day wherever you are. One of the blessings for which I am grateful is all of the good people who are willing to give a helping hand to people like me who may be real world pilots but who are not very computer or graphic "smart!"NOW my Problem: This is my last shot on AVSIM. I'm not positive this is a Hardware problem ... but my initial post was booted off of the main forum. I reposted there and also on the "PC/MAC forum with a few helpful comments but NO solution. This is my last shot. Here are the symptoms and conditions:1. I am using a Samsung 226BW display. In SP-2/DX-9 my image is rock solid (no dis…

I have an 80GB HD it is C:ok, my pooter boots up on C I have xp sp2 on that drive and FS9 and other stufI'm getting a WD 250GB HD and plan to make that B:now, here is what I want to do.reformat B right away and put a clean install of win xp sp2 on it, then make that my bootable drive.then can I uninstall win xp on my old C drive and still have FS9 work? or not?basically I want to get rid of everything on my old C drive - make that nothing but FS9 and then my new B drive I want that to be FSX and all my other stuff. (win xp, my boottable disk, etc)is there a catch to doing this? or not - it seems straight forward to me but just wanted to check.and yes, I know I'll have to …

Here what I have gathered in my research on these three classes of vid cards, and I need your help in making sure my conclusions are right:1) the ATI HD3870 and HD3870x2 would give about the same performance, unless you run super high resolutions in which case the HD3870x2 shines (true or false)2) the 3870 and 3870x2 are a little slower than an 8800 ultra (true or false)3) the 3870/3870x2's don't have any problems in FSX, whereas the 8800's often do (flashing textures, etc.) (true or false)4) the 3870/3870x2 has superior image quality in FSX when compared to any of the 8800's (true or false)Thanks for any input you might have! I do appreciate all of your advice!RhettA…

HelloI cant get FSX to use multiples monitors in full screen when FSX is in DirectX 10 preview mode. When I undock my windows, move them to the secondary monitor and swtich to full screen; the main view is there on the primary monitor but secondary monitor doesnt show anything and I permanently get the hours glass icon. I have to shutdown FSX.When I disable the directx 10 mode, I can use multi monitor perfectly in fullscreen mode.My system is running Vista x64 ultimate and a nVidia 8800gt.I have tried multiple version of the nvidia drivers, from 169.25 up to 174.12. No change. The Vista OS hotfix for multi monitor (mentionned in PTaylor's blog) is installed.Is it another …

I read the the 2 power cables coming off the MSI 8800GT, only one needed to be plugged in. Is this correct or do both need a power plug inserted? What would the purpose of that extra power plug be?TurnipSPECS:VISTA Home Basic 580 WATT Sunbeam PowerCrucial Ballistix 4GB(2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAMASUS P5N-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 Conroe 2.33GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80557E6550MSI nVidia NX8800GT 512 PCI-E 2.0SB LIVE 24250 GB WD SATA HD 120 GB WD IDE HD

I'm trying to spec a new machine for FSX. (I haven't done this for many years. Things were a lot simpler back then).I think I've got most things nailed down (although I'm still wavering between a dual or quad core Penryn). But I have a choice of motherboard at about the same price point; one has PCI-E 2.0 but only supports up to 800MHz memory, while the other has plain old PCI-E but supports up to 1333MHz memory.I'll be getting an 8800GT, which is PCI-E 2.0, but I assume it will work in an older PCI-E slot... won't it?I'm guessing the faster memory makes more of a difference than PCI-E 2.0?Thanks,Colin

Hi Nick,"I bet you may be seeing some real differences."I'm sorry to say I am seeing some real differences and that's why I'm having to type this on my wife's PC I decided to give O&O ver. 8.5 a go and, for a time, all seemed well after carefully running through your detailed instructions and having fully optimized C: (20GB primary partition).Booting did seem faster and operations in Windows seemed generally nippier, although they weren't at all bad prior to using O&O.I then turned my attention to D: the second and only other partition on my main SATAII 250GB drive. This contains all my applications, games and simulations and currently the remaining free space on …

Hi Nick,I too have been "bitten" by your guide to simming bliss. Many thanks as well for taking the time to share this with us.My questions are:I currently have Vista installed on a PC I purchased. I plan on purchasing another harddrive and installing XP SP2 on it for the sole reason of using both FS9 and FSX on it.Ques 1: I would rather purchase a external HD just for convienance. Would this operate as quickly as an internal HD would? If not, I will opt for the internal HD.Ques 2: Can a dual boot system be setup whereas drive C (my current HD) contains Vista, and the new HD would have XP? Is this the best way to setup a dual boot sys?Thank you kindly

I have a CPU X6800 at the moment, but I am considering buying a QX9650. How much would I expect to gain in FSX performance by doing this?I saw a test where QX9650 was shown to be approx. 10% better, but if this only correlates to a 10% increase in FPS, then I do not think its worth it. Then again, a quad should be able to handle even more processes, so...

I benched this system at 15,275 at default settings, but this is at the bottom of the heap of machines with very similar specs, and the discrepancy is huge. Top machine is over 30,000, and yet the processor component of the benchmark really is scaled accordingly, and seems about right since that person is running the QX at 5.7Ghz. It seems to be in the video area, with huge diffs in frames/sec. There are about 15 machines with virtually identical specs as mine, and scores go up in the 25K area. What possibly could explain this? The hardward specs can't explain it, for example the FSB on a 25K score is only about 60 more than what I'm set at. Any clues? Are these bo…