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

rIs any one familiar with the new Aviator joystick by Saitek?I need help on how to use the MODE switch, and the split throttles.Thanks.Stanner

I realize there is some sort of compatibility with CH products and OSX; however, I see no evidence that they are actually... supported!I can't find any other sticks/control hardware for which software exists - I tried a cheap-o USB joystick, which was recognized, but was not in any way either configurable or able to be calibrated...What gives? Is OSX -that- bad for joysticks?I'm a bit intrigued by the new Saitek stuff, but, alas... you know.Any help/leads/advice appreciated. And no, I'm not buying another PC ;)[edit] If anyone has experience with Gamepad Companion, let me know!cheersAndrew

I loaded FSX and was flying and using it just fine, the following day, I start the sim and it freezes, locks up on the load screen, the title screen, noting happens, the hour glass just keeps flipping but the sim never fires up, I need to use Task Manager to shut it down. I added nothing to the sim or made any changes. I have sent this off to Microsoft but have gotten no response yet. Any help on insight into this problem would be greatly appreciated...and yes I am a FNG. LOL

Hello, Ive been getting fps of around 17-25 and they drop on occasion to 12 or even 10 for a few secs, I spent alot of money and time building and oc'ing the pc for fs9 and I thought I would have higher fps.DFI LanpartyUT NF590 SLI MCP M2R/GAMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+ OC'd @2.6 (260x10)ZALMAN CNPS 9500 AM2 CPU Cooler2x G.Skill 1GB DDR2 800 at 433mhz (at DDR333 in bios)BFG nVIDIA 7950GT 5122x 160GB SATA300 Seagate HDD'sMaddog Lightscribe 16x DVD-RWOCZ 700 Watt OCZ GameXStream PSUIm running asv6.5, PIC 737-300 as a test plane in this situation, squawkbox, fs terrain, ge pro II, ultimate terrain usa, and the clouds are 128bit dxt3 in asg settings. Mesh complexity is at 60, water …

Hi Gang,can any of you give me some examples of HDD failures please, as I think that I may have one on the main PC, but I'm not sure.whats happened is this, as you know there are sometimes warnings, but then again, sometimes there are none.I came home from work, switched on the PC and nothing, the HDD activity light illuminates for a few seconds, but not as long as usual, and definitely not long enough to be loading anything such as windows etc.I have tried re-setting the CMOS etc, but no joy.I'm not getting any warning bleeps etc from the MOBO, I have no idea whats happened, but I cringe at all the data that will be lost if it has gone south.I do back, but haven't for a …

I am looking to upgrade my system. I am wanting to get a new processor. But I dont know what to get. I will list my specs and sould really like some thoughts on what processor to get that will help me the most.Processor P4 2.4MoBO PT880 neoRam 2.5 gig hyperthreadedIf any other information is needed let me know. I am currently looking at this one.http://www.compusa.com/products/product_in...50&Pn=Pentium_4

Here are my spex:DELL XPS Gen 43.80Ghz Intel 4, 570 processor2GB DDR2 RAMeVGA 7900 GTO, 512 MB, 91.47 nVidia drivers460W mean PSUDELL 2405, 1920x1200x32 DVI-D DELL 2001, 1600x1200x32 DVI-DFSAA 4xANISO 8xNo overclocking, no tweaking, no special video card features9 GoFlight units including MCP, LGT/flaps, radios3 CH units, Yoke, Rudder Pedals, Throttle Quadrant2 Belkin USB hubs2 APC unitsFleet includes PMDG NG, 747-400, LDS 767-300, CoolSKy MD-80 and about 100 other add-ons (Milton Shupe, POSKY, David Maltby, etc.)Most sliders set far right on the DISPLAY page of FS9. Clouds set to max density and 3D, 80nm vis. Almost all cockpit gauge options set for complex, commercial…

I am presently running a BFG 6800GT OC 256MB AGP card on my AMD64 4000+, with 2GB PC4400 DDR System RAM.Is it worth updating the Video card to a BFG 7800GS OC 256MB AGP card? My FSX runs fairly well most of the time, but I would like to improve the performance and eye candy! Best Buy has this card on sale this week for $249 which is about a $100 under retail price.I will be updating my whole system sometimes around the middle of next year, when Vista, DX10 and hopefully FSX patch will all be a reality.Anybody have any thoughts on this? Will the upgrade/performance be worth the money, or should I just wait? Pete S.

How can I tell what type of RAM I need to add some to my system? I had my lappy built for me, and never knew what type of ram it was... lol... It's built off of an MSI 1036

I have a Flightcom Denali headset I use for RL flying, are there any adapters that'd let me use it on a computer? Just curious... prolly wouldn't do it anyway...

Hi guysI want to get a headset so that I can join in multiplayer, particularly in Flight Sim X. As I understand things, I can go for either a USB type or conventional plug in. I have on board sound AC97 (currently disabled) and Creative X-Fi Extreme which is my default s/card. If I go for a conventional headset, I understand that I will have to enable the AC97 and use this just for voice.What is my best option and what headset would you recommend?

Hi,I have been thinking about this for a long time now,......How can I get the correct panel proportions in full screen? I have a 17" DELL flatscreen with 1280 X 1024 max resolution.However it doesn

Just installed MSX, no propble. MS9 worked great, almost all sliders maxed out. While MSX loads I get an error saying that it will not work with my video card. It suggests I install ubdated drivers and try that. I did and I still get error when loading.Computer HP pavilion AMD Athlon xp-3200+ 512mb ram 3.0 ghz.Video is on-board (yuk) display adapter VIA/S3G UNICHROME IGP.UPGRADING VIDEO DRIVERS DID NOT HELP. Guess I need a new video card.I have a HP-pavillion a620n computer and I think HP says I have 2 unused PCI and a AGP slot. I'm not sure, never had it apart, but I have not added anything to the inside at all.What is the minimum recommended video driver for FSX ? An…

I was looking around for a laptop on which I can play FS9. FSX is not on the cards for at least another 12-18 months.I am using FS9 with ASVv6 weather, complex payware planes like PMDG, PSS, Feelthere, etc., payware sceneries including the framekillers from Simflyers, Ultimate night environment, and LOTS LOTS LOTS LOTS of AI traffic (although I switch off GA in busy areas like LAX, NYC, LON, etc). Display settings not always to the extreme right though.Here's what I found on the market:Asus VX1 LamborghiniProcessor: Intel

Hi, I would like to buy a new PC and I'd like some advice on which type of system would best suit my simulator needs. Currently I'm running a P4 2.8GHZ, 1GB Ram, ATI Radeon 9600. I run FS2004 with a lot of addons and basically it is impossible to play. Please advise me on the best motherboard, CPU and Graphics card to enjoy my simulator hobby. I am not rich and would prefer to keep the whole thing up to $1000. Any advise will be greatly appreciated,ThanksRob.

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

I just heard there will be no Gameport support in Vista. So am I supposed to throw away my Sidewinder FF Pro?This really makes me angry...GreetingsEd

Count me among those who haven't had any luck with FSX yet. I can get it installed okay, but about five minutes into a flight the whole system crashes, and I have to cold boot by hitting the reset button.I've had a good look at the support site. I've tried every thing they suggest. I've had to reinstall Windows twice to correct what some measures did to my FSX installation. I've updated every driver listed by the device manager, and I've got the latest DirectX updates. Nothing helps.So, my latest theory questions the compatibilty between FSX and my video card. Does any one know if there's some issue with the Radeon 9550SE cards? Also, can you suggest an AGP card which is …

Hello folks,I have been reading this forum for a few months now and followed all the fps frustration after the release of fsx.I have been hunting for more fps myself and tried every tweak that I found on this great forum (including ram update), but without any luck. Only minor improvements in fps. The strange thing was that whatever I did the fps was around 5-15. The sliders did not have a big impact on fps.Then I was reminded by another post that updating the BIOS had positive impact for a number of people. So did I! I used MSI Live Update and flashed the BIOS in a few minutes. Fired up FSX again and did not expect much. But on the default flight at Friday Harbour(with t…

Hey everyone, this is a post out of pure frustration and a loud cry for help. This past May I built my new system (specs in sig). When I first got it, I was very unhappy with the performance and had crackle,popping noises when moving the throttles. I narrowed part of it down to the on-board AC-97 Realtek sound. I then got a Turtle Beach Santa Cruz. After disabling the on-board and removing its drivers, I installed the Santa Cruz.It did improve the perfomance, but the crackle,popping noises remained. I compare it to Chinese Water Torture. OK, then I got a Creative X-FI Platnum card for $200.00, now the crackling and such was alot worse no matter what I did. I returned that…

I recently updated from a RADEON PCIe 1600XT 256MB to a ATI PCIe 1900XT 512MB.Sorry: This is a longer Posting but I want to inform also on Details for urgend recommented FSX Tweaking (w/o Video Card this also can increase your Framerate for more than 25% w/o common recognizable Quality Reducement) and all Affects after Video card change.My System: Athlon64-3500, 1 GB DDR2-400 Memory, HD with 256GB, 7500 1/min. (defragmentated after FSX install) and different Partitions used for OS, Memory Cache and FSX Appl., Windows XP SP2, Tweaked Ground-, Clouds- and Building-Textures from 1024x1024 DXT5(?) to 512x512 DXT1, Traffic for AI-Planes set to 10..15% and Traffic for AI-Ships …

Hi,I have searched everywhere for a fix for this problem I have had since building my new PC. My USB pedals and throttle decide to drop off from FS2004 (patched) during a flight. I have checked in Device manager and stopped any time outs occurring, but still they disconnect after a short while.Windows still recognises them, so its not the OS but more FS2004.I do remember people having this problem before, but I cannot find the answer anywhere. Any help is appreciated.ThanksKeith

I am using a DELL 24" LCD as my primary monitor driven by an eVGA 7900 GTO card and DELL 20.1" LCD secondary monitor driven by the same card. The res on the former is 1920x1200 and on the latter is 1600x1200. Both LCDs are attached to the two DVI outlets from this card. I run only Flight Simulator 2004 on the PC and nothing else. The display of the sim on the 24" LCD is brilliantly light and bright but the image on the secondary monitor is noticeably less bright and is already at 100% "brightness" on the LCD control panel. Why is this and how can it be fixed, if it can be fixed? Thanks! JS

I have just installed nTune and when I try to run it, I get a message:"The PCI Clock is set to track the HT Bus. Adusting the HT Bus clock will change the PCI bus clock. Disable this behavior before proceeding." I went into bios and cannot find any setting that remotely sounds like this. I assume the HT clock refers to hyperthreading and the DRAM modes. Can't find any reference in the ASUS A8N SLI Deluxe MB user guide either. So, what does this mean?With a warning like that, I don't want to chance running it.A8N SLI Deluxe - AMD 64 4000+ - 2 gigs PC 3200 RAM - Geforce 7600GT

I just installed FSX, and it just won't work with my GEForce FX5600 with 256 MB DDR.I get the dreaded error message:"Invalid Hardware or Driver Detected:Flight Simulator is not working with your video card. Verify that you have the latest drivers installed for your video card." Well, duh.What is the minimum video card required for FSX?I have driver 93.71,the latest DirectX, and my 3DMark score is 2274. dxdiag can not "see" the memory (!), but the tests pass, anyway.What the heck? Anybody else seen this problem?- Jeff