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

I am going to use Acronis to clone my current bootable drive. Here's the issue I'm not sure about. After I clone the drive and make the new copy the bootable drive, what happens if I boot up with the original drive connected? I need to be able to format it and wish to use it as a data drive, but was concerned that if they are both connected at the same time . . . bad things might happen! What do you know?QX9650 @ 4.0GHz/1.285 vCore / 8GB PC-800 Mushkin (cheap!) / evga 8800GT @ 660Mhz / 2xSATA 2 drives /

Hi everyone,Hope you're all well. While I'm about today I thought I'd pose this question to anyone out there who has actually done this. Having been so used to the Flight Sim family requiring CPU only upgrade to make noticeable difference in performance, does going up the ranks in GPU make the numbers better for FSX?To be honest I am happy with my trusty 6800XT, it runs FSX fine but when the weather gets complex or I am at Haneda it does get a bit slow.I'd be especially keen to hear from people running AMD 3700 - type setup.

Hi everyone, ive just been looking at some info on overclocking etc. and i just found a thread on xtremesystems about how to find a great proccesor. Here is the thread: http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=167336as you will notice the little code on the back of the processor ended with "00" None of the other numbers matter. Just check the last 2 numbers. If they are below 15 you have got a fantastic processor. The guy with the "00" processor hit 4.93GHz on air does that prove it or what? Another guy then posted saying his had a 73 at the end. He could only hit 4-4.2GHz on Air/Water cooling. Another example was explained about two X6800s that were i…

Will the 2nd GPU on the X2 will help in FSX?The memory bus is just 256 per chip, which Phil suggests is not the best for FSX?

I just got my pedals. I've never had rudder pedals before. I wanted to know if this is normal....

Following the advice of someone in the forums, I'm putting FSB at 400, and the multiplier at 8, giving me a precise 3200 MHz with a 1600 MHz FSB.Temps are:My current setup (3.12 GHz): Prime95, Tj in the mid 70s, flickering back and forth between 79-80C and 75C Tj (which has got me worried); FSX ALL scenery settings maxed, Tj in the mid to low 60s. Idling at 45-49-50C Tj.At precisely 3.2 GHz with a 1600 MHz FSB: Prime95 at 75-78-81C Tj, no more. FSX at 55-60C Tj. Idling at 45-48C Tj.How is this setup and how are these temps?Regards,BoeingGuy

What is the highest setting anyone has tried on their LCD monitor. I have tried the default 60, 72, 75, 85...I havnt gone past 85Thanks,Bill

My previous set up was a CH Yoke with my throttle from the X52 flight system. Everything worked fine. Went out and bought a set of Saitek Rudder pedals, and now I lost the input to my CH yoke.For a split second when I start FS2004 I can assign an axis to the aileron from the yoke. But after that split second, I'm not able to assign anything else. Not even that same aileron assignment if I delete it. It's like FS2004 is not seeing my CH yoke after starting FS.All other indications show that the Yoke, pedals and throttle are working fine. And everything works in the sim, minus the yoke.Tried removing the rudder pedals to see if it would come back to normal, but no go. HELP!

Greetings...Looking to build a plenty fast system. Fastest AMD chipFastest m-board...MSI..ASUS preferedFastest or reliable memory -- about 3gigFastest graphics card..prefer Gforce seriesBest and fasted flat screen monitor...21inch or largerLooking to spend about 2 grandSuggestions???IGOThe rest I have..net card...Drives

Hi all,Originally posted this on the Saitek forums, but I am guessing I may have more luck here as someone (hopefully) is more likely to have this configuration on here...I am having a problem that whenever I have the pedals plugged in, and switch to either WAF view, the camera seems to turn 360 degrees horizontally - if I unplug the pedals, then I can pan the camera normally. I cannot obviously see what's causing the problem - WAF has hardcoded the pan up/down to the HOME and END keys - but I don't see anywhere, either within SST or FS commands (which I cleared anyway), what may be causing this. I also have FSUIPC registered, and did not see in there anything which may b…

If I have a motherboard that only support SATAI 150 Gb/s which of these two harddrives would be best ?1) Seagate Barracuda ST3500320AS 7200.11 500GB 7200rpm 32MB cache SATA2 2) Western Digital Raptor WD1500ADFD 150GB 10000rpm 16MB Cache SATA The Seagate has listed performence as good or better than the Raptor could it be faster than 10000 rpm drive?

I found this link while doing research for a new system:http://blogs.intel.com/technology/2008/01/...ek_in_the_i.phpThe part of the article that really caught my attention was where they had FSX running. There was a flight pictured with the A380 and the paragraph about it was rather interesting. It said:"For those of you who are tempted to leave comments about how 8 cores are just not necessary for gaming - check out the Skulltrail CPU utilisation while flying an Aribus A380 in the latest version of Microsoft Flight Simulator."So does this mean that FSX will actually use all 8 cores and actually stress them all heavily as well? It did'nt really show or say anything about …

I installed Acceleration on my laptop and now fsx won't work. It says - your current graphics don't support shaders? I have a fairly new laptop, it has built in intel graphics and plays most other games. And it was running FSX just fine before i installed. Should i be able to run it - I just installed vista due to a hard drive failer so I lost some original drivers. Do you think its a driver problem or will i not be able to have acceleration on my laptop? Thanks,

Hi,Well, I installed FS9/FS2004 and a few add-ons to do some testing. But I have a problem. By KSEA I now have ships on land and a few buildings in the water.The following FS9/FS2004 components are installed:1. FS9/FS20042. FS9/FS2004 Update From Microsoft3. FSGenesis Mesh Terrain (6 DVD Set)4. Ultimate Terrain (USA, Alaska & Canada, Europe)5. Ground Environment Pro7. Flight Environment8. ActiveSkyhttp://www.rmfc.us/photo/FS2004.jpgMy Operating System Is Windows XP Pro With SP2.Any Ideas?

My current FS system is now four years old and despite changing the graphics card (to support a 24" display) and increasing the RAM to 3Gb I feel it's taken me as far as it can.I do have FSX but because of my hardware I cannot enjoy the experience. FS9 has been transformed with Ultimate Terrain, GE, Ultimate Traffic and FS Global and many 3rd party airports. But I have to avoid the larger airports (EGLL, KLAX, KORD) because the frame rate drops to single figures. I fly the PMDG737 (80%) and Concorde (20%). The PSS Concorde is not available for FSX but even if it were I would be reluctant to dump FS9 as it still looks good and I have invested so much in it.So, I'm looking …

well...its that time again...time to throw away the $25-$60 headset you buy every year because they havent figured out how to make a swiveling boom mic that wont snap its own internal wiring. Im really getting tired of this...ive tried many different brands..mostly cheap stuff like Plantronics and Logitech, and lower end as well but it makes no difference, as the mic wires ALWAYS break before too long once you start swiveling the boom mic...i dunno why they even bother making a swivel boom.Anyway...for years ive been wanting a wireless solution to this for my pc but havent seen anything really. Does it exist yet for PC?...if so can anyone recommend one? Im just as tired h…

I purchased a Radeon HD 2600 Pro yesterday and intalled it using the latest Omega drivers. I installed a fresh copy of FSX and flew the sim and had zero problems. The sim ran very smooth with no blurries or stutters. I then installed SP1 for FSX and still the sim ran smooth with no problems. Today when I started the sim I am getting stutters like crazy. Its so bad that the sim is unflyable. I have my frames locked and 20fps, but they drop to around 3fps about every 5 seconds. I checked the task manager to see if anything could be causing this problem, but I have found nothing. I just don't know what could make it run so bad today after it ran so well yesterday. I have don…

Alot of people are looking at upgrades or purchasing whole new systems. This is an excellent article that will answer alot of questions and gives some very sound, practical advice. I ordered a new system the other day. I wish I'd seen this earlier but, was happy to see that I did a pretty good job after all.Enjoy!!Regards to all,JeffThe 2008 Guide to Gaming PC Specs:http://www.yougamers.com/articles/16583_th...aming_pc_specs/

so im in the process of building a new rig, and here are the core specs:Gigabyte GA-X48-DQ6 (when it comes out in a few weeks)Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 (on order)2x Sapphire HD3870 in Crossfire Mode2x1024 OCZ Reaper PC-8500 @ 1066 mhz2x Hitachi 500gb 7200 SATA in Raid 0 configwill this be enough to run fsx with all the bells and whistles? (meshes, PMDG-like panels, addon scenery etc etc)thanks!Adam

Hello:Everytime I use FSX I get the red message "differential brakes" in the lower left corner of my display. The only way I can cause the message to disappear is to place my feet on the pedals. I have tried recalibrating my pedals and played with sensitivity and null zones. I can get the message to disappear, but only when the message "brakes" appears. I think my pedals may need to be adjusted however in FS9 I don't have this problem. Anyone have any ideas on how to fix this problem?Thanks!Airbus

Hi,Well, ATI finally put out their RADEON HD 3870X2 PCIE 1GB video board. I can finally dump my two XFX Nvidia 8800GTX video boards.I will have my two used (3 months old) XFX Nvidia 8800GTX video boards up for sale on E-bay if anyone is interested.

I have a 325 Mb 8800 GTS card.. if I add another one for SLI would that equate to having 640 MB of video memory.. since each card is only drawing 1/2 the screen?Can I run 2 monitors in SLI mode ?

im setting up a dual drive system, and am curious if I should install xp 64bit with 4gb of ram, or vista 32bit with 2gb of ram? I don't want to go out and purchase the 64bit vista, but I guess using that would probably make the most sense, no?1 drive will be for fs2004, the other for fsx.My computer is:p5k moboe8400 o/c 4ghzram (deciding on whether to go for 2gb or 4gb)i want a system that can handle both fs9 and fsx, so the software is kind of important to me as well. I like the pmdg 737, and since it's not available for fsx, i use it in fs2004.thanks,Michael

Hi,I'm hoping there is someone here who can help setup the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX using nHancer (version 2.3.2) and nVidia's Control Panel. I believe nHancer and the Control Panel can co-exist without needing to uninstall the latter.I'm trying to help a fellow Simmer who lives in Alberta, Canada (I live in Scotland, UK) and, having been an ATI Radeon fan for years, my efforts are being hampered by my relative inexperience with nVidia related products.He has FS9 and FSX and we have been trying to create profiles for both, but the settings (especially antialiasing) just won't stick. I suspect they are being overidden by something else. I read somewhere that you should firs…

I am trying to decide on a low priced video-card for my brother's computer that is DX10 compatible for FSX/FS9 and other flight combat-sims to replace an Nvidia 6600GT which recently failed. The following cards are what I'm narrowing my search between:Nvidia..XFX GeForce 8600GT 256MB (PVT84JUSD4) Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814150258 Ati...HIS Hightech Radeon HD 2600XT 512MB (H260XTQT512DDN-R)Link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...-HIS-_-14161174Both cards have DDR3 memory and excellent cooling but the ATI has 512mb of memory while the Nvidia card has 256mb and there is a $10 difference in price. Is there any difference in texture …