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

Got this bad boy for Christmas as my trusty Wingman Pro is starting to die on me....to my great dismay, it SUCKS. I remember reading a post on this forum about someone else getting it and it sucking too. So I decided to take it back, thinking it was that particular joystick itself, and traded in for the same model. Yup, sucked too. The forcefeeback wants to break my wrist, so I turned it off. Also, and mainly, I might add, the stick is WAY too loose. I set stiffness to maximum etc. and I can almost blow air on it to make it move...anyone found a cure so I can put my Wingman into retirement, or shall I stick with the Wingman til I can get that cool Saitek one? Thanks

Hi all, What would be the advantage of me reformating Win-Xp-Pro, and since I do not use Internet Explorer, not installing any security updates, or service packs? Would this increase performance,or comprimise securrity? Thank's for any info!

Hi allnever had this before so could do with a little help..just trying to update my bios and i unzipped the new bios to my c:drive ,before i transferred it to a floppy disk.now i can't get rid of it from my c: drive.when i try to delete it,it say's that it is being used.and it can't be moved. any help appreciated steve

I've been suffering from problems with the initial boot on my homebuilt computer and I'm beginning to suspect that my lack of funds at the time of construction and the purchase of a cheap case with a 300W power supply is the main problem. The board is a DFI UT 250GB NF3 with a 3200 64 Athlon chip with a gig of PC3200 memory. Reading a few forums it seems that the 300 watt supply needs to be at least 350 and preferably more. I also had to go cheap on the graphics card although for the price (around $40) it's been surprisingly efficient. It's an ATI 9200 Radeon with 128m of memory. I now have some funds to upgrade and will be going to get the new power supply today and…

Hi There,I need to upgrade my PC from Win 2000 Pro to Win XP. Are there any issues with this? I have my Fsim9 and everything on it. Can I upgrade without formating and stuff (from scratch)? This way...I don't have to install Flight sim and everything I have. Or am I dreaming? :)Manny.PS: Wasn't sure if this is a hardware forum topic or not....

Hi All, I have posted here as well, in sheer desperation about my problem.I don't think that this is hardware related, so I posted this in here.I have the Saitek X52, and a corded optical mouse, the mouse has no add-on drivers and is plugged into the PC via an adaptor as I have always done so that I do not take up a USB port for it.I have started to have problems with my mouse going down my screen from top to bottom at a rate of about 1 inch per second and can't stop it. this makes the pc more or less useless, and a re-boot does not stop it, however, when I un-plug my X52 this stops happening immediately ?any ideas guy's, I'm thinking that maybe theres an IRQ sharing iss…

Hi All.I don't think that this is hardware related, so I posted this in here.I have the Saitek X52, and a corded optical mouse, the mouse has no add-on drivers and is plugged into the PC via an adaptor as I have always done so that I do not take up a USB port for it.I have started to have problems with my mouse going down my screen from top to bottom at a rate of about 1 inch per second and can't stop it. this makes the pc more or less useless, and a re-boot does not stop it, however, when I un-plug my X52 this stops happening immediately ?any ideas guy's, I'm thinking that maybe theres an IRQ sharing issue, but I know nothing about that sort of thing.thanks for any idea…

Hello, I have a pentium 4 with an ATI X800XT and 760 GB hard drive PC. I have no problems with frame rates but i would like to know should I leave the Abti Aialising on in FS9 or leave it up to the Video card.ThanksPaul

I need some help with my CH Products USB Yoke. I am using the CH control manager. My problem is when I turn the yoke to the right I get a lot of jittering in the 3D yoke and also in the ailerons when I go into spot view. I have recalebrated many times but to no avail. I have upgraded from CH Manager 3.0 to 3.6 still no help. If I move the yoke to the left all is smooth. Does any one have any idea what the problem might be? Any suggestions would be appreciated. I have been in touch with CH Tech. support but they have not been abel to help.Thanks Chuck:-(

I just installed a 3.06Ghz, 512K, 533 Mhz, 478 pin processor in my DELL P4, 2.53Ghz which has an 850E chipset. I analyzed the chip carefully with a special utility first to ensure I bought the right processor.The instal went fine, if slow. Everything fitted and clicked home. Windows XP will not boot up now. I get to a blue screen that tells me that there is a problem and Windows XP has been shut down to prevent damage to my PC.I cannot see the whole screen (this is a separate monitor issue at present) but it has a partial string that readsVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUALIt asks me to check any new hardware or software for correct installation.Can anybody tell me what is goi…

Suddenly, I cannot get the autohide function to hold. When I check this option and apply it, then click ok it disappears just like it is supposed to.When I move my cursor to have it appear again, she shows up correctly.When I move my cursor to another location the autohide no longer has any effect. The only way it will hide is if I uncheck that option, apply it, click ok and then go through the whole procedure again of rechecking it, clicking ok and closing.In the past I have seen this happen intermittently but very seldom. It seems to be permanent at the moment.Any ideas?Thanks:RTH

Suddenly, I cannot get the autohide function to hold. When I check this option and apply it, then click ok it disappears just like it is supposed to.When I move my cursor to have it appear again, she shows up correctly.When I move my cursor to another location the autohide no longer has any effect. The only way it will hide is if I uncheck that option, apply it, click ok and then go through the whole procedure again of rechecking it, clicking ok and closing.In the past I have seen this happen intermittently but very seldom. It seems to be permanent at the moment.Any ideas?Thanks:RTH

I'd like to upgrade my speaker package. I've been getting a lot of feedback with my current speakers. I think it's beacause when I set them up a few years ago, I was clueless about how to setup speakers. Anyway, I was thinking about going with the Creative Inspire 5500 5.1 Digital speakers. Does anybody have these and like them, or is there something better I should go with. I'm looking to spend around $150.Thanks,Tim

I hope to get an ATI X800 video card. For the 2nd card I can't afford another one of those. What would be a good 2nd card? How are frame rates if the 2nd card can't keep up with the 1st? This would be with a left view on the new card and a right view on the 2nd card?JimCYWG

HiShould I worry about my CPU temperature reaching 72C (with my set up) while using the MSF2004? Normal idle temperatures are about 51CStelios

Hi all,having problems with pc, and after 3 days in attempt to resolve the conflicts, i have been unsucessfull. I have decided to reformat my Hd with a fresh windows. How do i go about doing this?

Just recently a new and strange problem has developed in my FS9. The throttle axis no longer works, although all the other axes function correctly when using the CH Virtual Pro yoke. When I start up FS9, the AC idles ok but the throttle axis on the yoke no longer functions. I'm having problems too when the CH TQ is plugged in. If I go to assignments, the correct assignments are there. When returning to FS, the engine begins to accelerate by itself. This even after calibrating the various componets, e.g. pedals, yoke and TQ. This occurs with default and add-on A/C. I deleted the FS9.CFG and let it rebuild itself and also restored an original devices.cfg file. These actions…

Reposted from General Forum by advise from "Slacktide":My friend has just installed a Dell Dimension 8400 3,2 G with Geforce 6800 256 MB graphic memory, and 1040 MB RAM.He's running FS 2004 on it. He get flashes in the textures like photo-flashes from an audience at a rock concert. Is the anything we can do to stop it?Could it be that we haven't adjusted the graphic card properly?Everything else works perfectly. The framerate is like heaven.

I am going to buy a new PC and am seeking advice regarding the best way to operate FS on 4 monitors. (I would like to use 1 monitor for center view, 2 for side views and 1 for panels)The basic configuration of the PC is going to be P4 3.2 or 3.4, 800Mhz, 1 Giga SDRAM.Regarding the video card(s), I am considering the following options:1) Matrox Parhelia 256 Mb [manages 3 monitors] + additional PCI card2) Matrox G450 MMS (4 chips, 32 Mb each) [manages 4 monitors]3) Matrox Quid Pro 256 Mb [manages 4 monitors]4) Mother board ASUS with 2 PCI-X slots, with an Nvidia dual card each [each card manages 2 monitors]Does anyone have experience with any of the above architectures? If …

I am installing a second (d:) Hard Drive on my computer, I was wondering if moving the swap file to a seperate drive, would I increase my performance? FPS?Thanks!Barry

I have been using multiple monitors for several years and have had few problems. I recently purchased a new computer with a Radeon 800XT PE video card and it has been awesome. I have two monitors on it, one through the VGA and the other through the DVI. It has worked fine until recently. Suddenly I find when I drag some 2D panels to the second monitor I lose text on the primary monitor. Specifically, the text on the ATC menu, the text on the "parking brake warning" sign, and the text on EZLandmark (if I turn it on) flashes on and off, but not all the names. It seems worse with really complex panels (Aeroworx B200) yet the default panels seem to work. The sudden onset has …

Can anybody tell me which are the best drivers for the Geforce 6800 Ultra, I am using the Gainward drivers ~ expert tool 66.97.Thanks and Best Wishes,ChrisEGBB, UK level D B767-336 ER

I have lots of add-on scenery, textures and aircraft.In the past, I fiddled with "hangars" where I "parked" the unused aircraft, and I switched scenery layers on and off as the situation I was flying in demanded.After having some problems with doing this (e.g. dependencies of sounds/gauges etc. between aircraft and missing scenery/navaids) I abandoned "hangaring" and playing with the scenery. I now have everything on, and all aircraft available.I don't have problems with this, but I'm unsure whether this would eat up too much of my computer memory and/or slow down FS?Andreas

Just finished upgrading from an AMD XP 3200+ / GF-FX 5900 Ultra to an AMD 64 3500+ (new Winchester core) and dual FX 6600 GT's in SLI. All I can say is WOW! It was worth the $600 to do the upgrade!!! In clear weather I'm getting 70+ FPS and 40+ in the clouds at 1280x960x32 with only 8x aniso running.If you are an AMD fan, and are looking for an excuse to upgrade, give this some serious thought...http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/108867.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/108868.jpg(P.S. - Chris's AEU v7 dosen't even make this thing flinch!)Scott

I've been suffering from problems with the initial boot on my homebuilt computer and I'm beginning to suspect that my lack of funds at the time of construction and the purchase of a cheap case with a 300W power supply is the main problem. The board is a DFI UT 250GB NF3 with a 3200 64 Athlon chip with a gig of PC3200 memory. Reading a few forums it seems that the 300 watt supply needs to be at least 350 and preferably more. I also had to go cheap on the graphics card although for the price (around $40) it's been surprisingly efficient. It's an ATI 9200 Radeon with 128m of memory. I now have some funds to upgrade and will be going to get the new power supply today and can …