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

I decided to update my BIOS yesterday on my Dell XPS Gen2. I had been using the A02 version for about the past 3 years with no problems. I updated to the A06 BIOS and now my computer is faster than ever. Before I could only get about 20fps with autogen off. Now I am able to set water at low 2 xs, and max out all my scenery sliders with 33% road traffic. I have not turned on any air traffic yet and I keep the light bloom effect turned off. I am now able to lock my fps at 25fps. I was told that updating my BIOS would not help very much in FSX. Even when I was only getting 20fps FSX was very smooth. Now the sim still runs very smooth, but with more detail. I also noticed aft…

Ciao,here's another question on the video card...;o)Sorry to bother...but if possible i'll apreciate any suggestion.I've a AMD 64bit 1.8 GHz with 2GB RAM 400DDR SDRAM and XP pro with FS9.Actually I have a video card ATI Radeon Sapphire 9800XT 256 MB.Fs9 runs quite fine, but lately I have the card fan doing noise and the pc crashes giving me a blue screen.Windows says that the crash is due to either 1)old drivers or 2)decrease video card accelleration.Considering that I've ATi catalyst 6.1 drivers and that I've not touched any card setting...I thought that this card is getting old...So, what would you suggest me?I read here that the Radeon 1950 Pro 256 is quite good and no…

I just purchased the AVIATOR joystick made by Saitek. It has dual throttles for operating twin engine aircraft. I have been unable to get the joystick throttles to work independently on twin engine aircraft, that is, the left throttle operates the left engine, and the right throttle operates the right engine.I have tried assigning the joystick throttles in the JOYSTICK tab of FS9. I can assign one throttle to "engine #1 throttle" and the "Z axis" appears. However, when I assign the other joystick throttle to "engine #2 throttle" the word "SLIDER" appears. In the sensitivity tab only "engine #1 throttle" appears.In the sim, only the one throttle is operative, for engi…

Need some help here guys as I am scratching my head on this. Though not FS related directly it is about hardware. I cannot get my new notebook to see my desktop PC on a simple 2 pc wired network. Actually, for example, on my notebook PC I can open the window "View Network Computers" and both are displayed as icons. But if I click on the desktop PC I get an error message to the likes of "Desktop PC is not accessible. You do not have permission. The network path is not found". Don't have permission? I just created the workgroup! Ha!I have set up networks in the past many times using the Windows XP wizard... basically a no brainer. Both PC's running XP Pro SP2, I hav…

I know this has been touched on in some of the discussion threads, but I thought I might pose the question more directly. Since FSX (and FS9 of course) is not optimized for taking advantage of a dual core CPU architecture would a high speed single core (e.g., a P4 3.8) actually produce better performance over a lower speed dual core (e.g. a Pentium D 2.6 and lower)? And at a cheaper price to boot! This might explain why some with older single core CPUs are reporting better results than more current dual core CPU users. Could related chipset architecture also be a factor in the same regard?Fred

Hi All,I have an MPC Millennium with the following specs:

If you own the new Saitek AVIATOR joystick, I would like to know if you were able to program the two throttle levers on the joystick, so that one lever operates one engine, and the other lever the second engine in a twin engine aircraft?I have tried with no luck. Thanks.Stanner

I have a Dell 8400 P4 3.6 GHz HT with 1 gig of dual in-line memory: 2x512 (533,1R, 512). This of course takes 2 of the four memory slots.My question is I want to increase my memory to 2 gigs for Vista and FS. Can I put a 1 gig module in a slot or do I need 2x512 mb modules?Thanks for any help.

Have to wait for some reviews to come out.http://usa.asus.com/products4.aspx?l1=3&l2...459&modelmenu=1scott s..

Has anyone else had problems with audio in FSX when switching views? If I switch views, or lower flaps or landing gear, the audio "crashes" and becomes nothing but loud static. If I pause the simulation and restart everything goes back to normal.This is with my onboard audio controller, SoundMAX Integrated Digital HD Audio, and the latest drivers from the mobo website.Neil

OK.. I am pretty much giving up on blurries.I have Megascenary So Cal in FSX (Its FS9 megascenery in FSX). This is a good test setting for checking out blurries I would think.The 8800GTX has 737MB Video Memory...and FSX has not consumed more than 306MB at its peak.Because of the 8800GTX, FSX consumes less of the main memory. I have 2Gigs and it has consumed 1.4Gigs at its peak.I have 2 X 150G Raptors in RAID 0. And its not the HARD disk thats the issue. This sucker is fast.I have the FIBER_FRAME_TIME_FRACTION=0.75.Because of photoscenery I have the Autogens turned to 0. and Blooms off, everything else pretty much to the right. And I get FPS 25 running on my 24" Widescree…

I'm fairly new to the whole Flight Sim scene so sorry if these questions seem a bit obvious. I've been reading all about the performance tweaks and thought I'd try some. Some worked and some didn't. No big deal. So I decided to start over with a fresh install of MSFS X and this time take notes. After a fresh install (and defrag afterward) I created a flight out of KSEA, put my C172 on auto pilot and flew at 3500 feet runway heading. I had task manager running in the background just to see what was happening. Below are two screens, one of task man and the other of flight sim, both taken within 10 seconds of each other. What I'm finding interesting is that my memory useage…

I have some Qs about memory. If someone could educate me, I'd appreciate i ver ymuch.I currently run 2 Gigs of Corsair DDR800 PC6400 2 X 1Gig RAM. I have OCed it slightly.If I want to add either 1Gig or 2Gigs...what is the minimum requirement? If I get slower memory for the additional Gig. Would it slow the entire memory speed across all or would it keep my original memory speed and then run the additional memory at the slower speed? and vice versa. If I get better memory would it benefit of not at all?I know.. the 2 slots of memory has to be the same an all because of the dual channel. But should all the 3 or 4 be the same as well?If you are going to add just 1 Gig addi…

I didn't get to see the price yet but I'm sure it'll be way out of my lead for now. :(www.intel.comSANTA CLARA, Calif., Nov. 14, 2006

Right now I have a pentium D 3.2 940 dual processor and was looking online and found the new core 2 processors. They are slower 2.66GHz but have much more memory and seem to be faster though. I am really confused if this will help Fs2004 or FSX in that matter? Is it really worth it or should I wait. http://www.flightfactory-simulations.com/h...B_testpilot.jpgAdam [email protected]

Well I went from 7 fps to 12 fps with this new video card in my system. So I guess the next gen DX10 video cards aren't enough either. I consider 30 fps minimum to be an acceptable frame rate. Odd since the fill rates and poly counts are well beyond what FSX tosses out at 1920 x 1200, so clearly FSX has got some other performance issues going on and I hope the dev team find the problem and resolve it ASAP.Some things that have helped get me to 12 fps1. AutoGen OFF 2. Blooming OFF3. Airport & vehicle traffic set to minimal 10% Again, these low frame rates happen at airports like SFO, Gatwick...

Sorry if this has been posted before. . . just saw this this morning from Tom's Hardware.http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/11/14/intel_an...own_processors/

Dear all,I was going to wait for Vista and FSX but that will take several months probably with service packs, tech issues etc, etc. so now I will be wishing to upgrade for FS9.I bought FSX and it seems good but..... Like everybody else I have spent a fortune on airports, aeroplanes, scenery and mesh. I recon it will take a year to get FSX up to the standard I am already using with FS9 with all my addons (which do not seem to be compatible now) so why change?In line with the advice given to me on a previous post I will order some extra RAM / 2x 1GB PC2100 DDR Memory RAM DDR266 1GB DIMM SDRAM manufactured by AUM. A cool

Hi,does it make any good, will it speed up FS9 (maybe FSX later next year) if I would upgrade to a AMD64 4000 939? I have currently the AMD64 3200 393 or should I wait till I have more money and even buy a AMD X2?Today I get only low fps with full real weather and dense scenery, around 6 to 12fps no matter what I do and fly. I would have to reduce the slider down verym much to get better fps._______________________Regards, Torben Hadlerhttp://www.step-by-media.com die neue Community! Auch f

Hi fellow flight addicts =)I need some help here plz. I have just upgraded my PC to get more enjoyment/higher settings and smoother frames out of FSX.[system]ASUS A8N32-Sli DeluxeAmd 64 X2 4400+Audigy 2ZS BFG Geforce 7950gtOC2GIGs of RamWD SATA II 250Gb 500 Watt NEO HE pwrsplyOk so i was expecting some pretty descent frames with that setup on medium to high settings, but it seems i cant get near citys without huge frame drops. I have tried multiple tweaks that are posted around the forums here at AVSIM <-thanks guys=)Autogen density and Water seem to be the biggest killer especially the A-G, even after trying all the Autogen tweaks i cant even have it on without a sign…

# Intel Pentium 4 Processor 524 (3.06GHz, 533FSB)# 19" E197FP Analog Flat Panel# 512MB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz# 80GB 7200RPM SATA II Hard Drive# 16X DVD-ROM Drive# Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio, will this computer run FSX, maybe with a few upgrades. $399.00 from Dell. Bob

I am concluding my shopping list for a computer to be able to run FSX and I have not yet decided on the video card. My shopping list is as follows:-MOBO: ASUS P5W DH Deluxe (would like to stay with Intel Chipset)CPU: E6600Memory: Corsair TWIN XMS2 - PC800PSU: 650WattsCooler: Standard CoolerVideo Card : 7900GT or GF 7950 GTAs regards the Video Card I cannot see the difference altough the 7900 GT is around $25 cheaper. Can somebody advise what will be the difference between these cards as regards performance and wheather is worth buying the most expensive for FSX.Tony

I currently have a Viewsonic 21.3" viewable LCD monitor. I am looking to get a very simple 15" monitor to use only for when I control online with VRC. My Viewsonic native resolution is 1200x1600. I have a X850XT 256mb card. I have my main monitor plugged into the DVI slot. I have an open VGA slot I want to use. Can I use this and keep my main monitor set at 1600x1200. I know the smaller one will be a lower resolution but that is ok. Will getting a smaller monitor to use with the VGA connection screw up the main monitor? Do both have to be the same resolution? Thanks in advance.

Hi all!I have a problem with my new Saitek Cyborg Evo Force. The problem is that the rudder always move to the left. In the control panel I see the joystick and in the menu for calibrating I see the rudder going to the left. When I use FSX the plane goes left. I have no idea how to make the joystick's rudder show in the centre. I have tried different drivers with no luck. Calibration does not help.Spec: Windows XP SP2.Thanks for any help!//Mike

Flying FSX using CH USB Yoke and Pedals I find very inexact. It gives a sort of wallowing effect. A little bit of rudder and the nose wallows backwards and forwards. I've tried all the control settings I can think of.Even although I flew for real, and have used all the flight simulators over the years without a problem, I find it almost impossible to make a decent circuit and landing in Cessna 172 with FSX and CH rudder.Does anyone else have this problem? Better still has anyone got any answers.Regards TedL