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

Hi yall!I am going to purchase an Alienware system for flight simulation, on which I will run FS2004 only, but will be using high end addons such as the PMDG 737NG and Captainsim products. I am also considering a Koolance Exos liquid cooling system.My first question is which of the below systems would work best for flight simulation performance, as my budget is

Hi all, Since Xmas is right around the corner, I'm looking to treat myself to a system upgrade in order to enjoy my simming hobby a bit more.Currently, my specs are as follows:Sony Vaio PCV-RX 5401.2 GHZ Intel Celeron512 Mb PC-133 SD-RAMIntel 82815 Graphics ControllerPFC King Air Turboprop Throttle QuandrantPFC Jet Column YokeFS2002 Pro With this set-up, it is virtually impossible to fly into complex areas without a substantial frame rate hit (even with most display settings reduced and AI set to zero). To make matters worse, I fly the PSS Dash 8 99% of the time, which really stretches my system to the limits. Presently, I am forced to fly in the caribbean region in ord…

Hi all,first of all, here's my specs:AMD Athlon 3000+ (333MHz FSB)Asus A7N8X Deluxe1024MB PC2700 RAM (Kingston)Enermax 460W PSRadeon 9700 ProAfter having gotten my graphics card to run stable at 9800 speeds, I have now turned my attention to the CPU. Here, I ran into some problems - while the CPU runs quite happily at the default voltage (1.65V) if I increase the FSB speed, it doesn't do so if I increase the multiplier. As I'd prefer to run the CPU and RAM in sync, and overclocking the RAM is likely to lead to disaster, I would have to overclock the CPU multiplier only. At the default VCore voltage, it would only go up one notch from 13 to 13.5, giving me an increase from…

Dear all,Sorry for a lengthy post, and please forgive my English.I have a new system that so that I can run FS2004 with all its glory. As boradband connection is not yet available in part of my country, I used a USB 56k modem. However, my computer often hang when I connet to internet. Sometimes I can surfe smoothly, but most of the time the PC freezed after several minutes when I surfed the web.Pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del seemed not working, and I have to press the power button or the reset button to restar my PC. Interestingly, the system never failed even if I used it for other applications.One of my friend had suggested to try to connect the modem into another USB port a…

Hello All,Does anyone know how to put 1 Gig ram into a system controlled by 98SE? I've tried all the usual solutions like:MaxFileCache=523288, andMaxPhysPage=40000, andConservativeSwapfileUsage=1 to no avail, the system, at best just locks up.Any more ideas? I think I've read all the available info on doing so, but I could have missed something . . .any help?Thanks in advance,Clayton T. Dopke (Clay)Major, USAF (retired)"Drac"

Hi,If anyone is actually using the new Athlon 64 3200+ with FS9, I would appreciate any feedback.Thanks,Pesi

Hi Everyone,I've now bought a Thermaltake 480W power supply to replace the old 300W supply. It runs fine (quite quiet actually - thought the fan wasn't working at first!). And the CPU temperature is down about four degrees so it's dual fan configuration seems to be providing extra airflow in my system.Now the PSU's upside is also it's downside - it has loads of connectors. Far more than I need right now - and it's a mess! It's like putting an octopus into a small box, it's tentacles get everywhere!So, how do I tame the octopus so to speak? What's the best way of keeping my cables nice and tidy where they won't inadvertently jam the cpu fan? In the future I'll probab…

On my PNY Ti4600, the fan has went ahead and died an early death. My question(after much g00gling) is this: Where can I find replacement fans for my card? And, where can I find directions for removing and installing a new fan?Thanks a bunch :-hah

Here's the picture. What shall I do?Just a bit of lough ;)Shayt

My WIN98SE installation is sick. It first decided the registry file was corrupt and loaded a very old version. The machine now crashes to blank screen with an error message box blaming the crash on Explorer.I can't use the setup.exe file on the WIN98SE CD as it requires Windows to be running.If I try using the original WIN98 CD setup.exe, it tells me that there appears to be compression on my HD - that's news to me.All I want to do is repair Windows so that I don't lose all the applications on other partitions on that drive, and if possible, the applications which share the C drive partition as well.Any advice please?Bryn

hi,I have a Likom Viewmate LP995 19 inch CRT monitor which is like 4-5 years old, a couple weeks ago a small dot maybe the size of 1 or 2 pixels (yes it's a tiny black dot) appeared. The dot is barely noticiable in fs2004 thankfully. What is this dot and why does this happen? Is it a sign of my monitor going south?Andrew

Hey Guys! Just thought I'd share the tale of my last build. I've built probably 10 systems from scratch in the last three years (3 for myself, 7 for friends), so I'm not completely new at this. Of those builds, only two have had problems; the last two that were for me! Two years ago I had a MSI 645 that had an intermittent problem that took several weeks to root out before I found it and switched to a P4B266. I like Asus. Just last Thurs, I ordered a P4 2.8/800, a P4P800 Deluxe, and 1024MB of Corsair Twinx 3200LLPT from newegg. Great online store, received everying the next day and for very good prices.The trouble I had was with the memory. The machine went togeth…

I have a 5- or 6-year-old Mustek scanner sitting on my desk that I haven't used in a long time, and with a big photo archive project looming I'm wondering how scanners have evolved over the years in terms of quality and speed, etc. To be honest I don't even know what the specs are on this old scanner: I know it cost about $100 at the time, and that it plugs into a parallel printer port, and that it works rather slowly, and has a "twain" interface. Based on a few brief checks it looks like a pretty good Cannon or Epson model can be bought nowadays for around $120. If scanners are like anything else they must have come a long way in that time. Are they much better and …

We used to be told that HDs and CDs should be installed using the Master and Slave settings on the plug boards on their connector strips, but ISTR reading somewher that modern devices work just as well if the Cable Select position is employed.Can anyone confirm this?--Bryn

In the process of changing drivers for my Ti4200 I seem to have screwed up some reg setting causing a code 19 error and I now cannot install my drivers properly. I have tried system restore and it didnt work, in fact i tried every point with no success. Is there anything I can do other than format my disk and start from scratch? I really dont want to go through all that crap and I would appreciate all help with this matter. I am such a dumbass,Yours,markyboy.P.S. This is the error message:Windows cannot start this hardware device because its configuration information (in the registry) is incomplete or damaged. (Code 19)

Greetings,Recently when flying any aircraft or from any airport, the sound quits on me and the framerates go down to 0 or 1 for a period of time. The sound never returns but I am able to fly around and switch aircraft and airports. It tends to happen when switching views and it happens within the first 5-10 minutes of being in the sim.Interesting to note that it effects my entire system's sound. I no longer have ANY sound in Windows. Restarting the Sim doesn't fix it. I actually have to reboot entirely to get sound back.I upgraded to DX 9.0b and ran tests. Prior to locking up the sound the tests work fine. When the sound is locked up and I run the test after exiting the…

I updated to the 52.16s from the 41.09s and now I'm getting this. It's clocked at 260/500 like with the 41.09s (Ti4200 128MB). Could it be the driver? Or just that the card can't handle it, or something else even?http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/45154.jpg

Here's a description of a gameport-USB adapter. If I use this baby, can I use the second throttle lever from my Suncom SFS throttle quadrant. As it is now, if I try to set up my suncom system, with rudder pedal attached (to use the second throttle lever) WinXP won't recognise it. Will WinXP recognise the second throttle lever and the other buttons if I attach it using an USB connector?Thanks,LobaeuxBACK

Just a heads up for all Nforce2/3 owners...NV's Windows overclocking utility has finally been released:http://www.Nvidia.com:)

I've got an old Suncom SFS joystick and throttle with old printer-style cable. Is there a way to make them USB compatible so I can use the dual throttle feature on the throttle? Would I gain anything if there were an adapter?

Hello...I see been by Nvidia.com, now Driver 52.16! Good..or bad for FS2004?I am Ge4Ti4600 Crad!Sebastian

hi all, a question, can i use a rear projection tv for flight sim 2002 ,when a graphics card says tv out can this be used via pc screen though a tv and would the picture be good say on a 40 inch tv.thanks dodger.

Hi everyone!:-waveI am about to replace my 17 inch crt with a 17 or 18 inch LCD. I wanted to know if anyone had any suggestions as to a good/ the best LCD monitor that will also run FS9 without any frustrating nuances (e.g. ghosting, flickering, etc.) I would Prefer one with a thin bezel, possibly black, or silver. Thanx for your suggestions!!

HiAs a follow to a recent thread i posted regarding a 5fps drop after updating my Geforce 3 ti200 with a radeon 9600pro, i decided to send the card back as i concluded that it was faulty. My supplier (fortunately) agreed and promptly sent me a replacement.This was installed last night following the standard procedure - remove old nvidia drivers, search for and delete driver remnents using driver cleaner 2, install new card and drivers.A 3dmark2001 test showed a dramatic improvement over my geforce 3 - 10800 compared to 6700. Very good i thought. Before firing up fs2002, i manually set all of the direct3d settings to their lowest (performance setting) and ensured that "App…

Would installing FS2004 on a separate hard drive than Windows XP improve loading speed noticably in FS2004 if these hard drives were pretty close in speed to each other? Would this be better than RAID 0. I right now have FS2004 installed on a Programs partition on my Atlas 10K III hard drive and have a separate partition for Windows XP on the same hard drive.