To Jump to FSX or not ?

[veryshort]

Hi Guys ,
Im after some advice please , I have tried FSX twice before with not a lot of success ... With all the great add-ons coming out for X I'm now thinking maybe to give it another go , I use FS9 maxed out with great results but am thinking its time to move on .

my pc specs are as follows ....

AMD 1090T Black Edition 3.2mhz solid state water cooler { antec 920 }
Asrock 970 extreme MB
8gig ddr3 pc1600 ram
sapphire 6870 graphics card
Dual AOC LED 24" Monitors 1920x1080 { Im planning on adding another 32 Monitor to this to run in eye-infinity }
550watt PSU
Win 7 64

Im temped to upgrade the chip to the AMD piledriver 8350FX { 4mhz } and over clock it to 4.8-5mhz on water and throw in a 128gig SSD , I know that intel chips seem to drive things better trouble with them is you almost all of the time have to upgrade your MB to upgrade your chip .I know that prepare3D is around as well but doing a lot of reading it seems to be FSX repackaged with support ,I know they are going to release V2 in the near future so I would like to know the following please ...

1/ with the above current PC specs { 1090T } what sort of performance should I expect for either sim?
2/ is there anyone running either prepare 3D or FSX on a AMD system ? if so specs on your machine would be great
3/ is it worth upgrading my Chip ?
4/ Should I wait for V2 of prepare 3D ?

My reason for dumping FSX in the past has been the very poor performance and the need to spend serious amounts of money to get a PC that might give you small increases in performance .

Thanks all for your time ,its great to get ideas from fellow Kiwi Simmers .
Cheers
Andrew W
5/

[Ian Warren]

Andrew , very certain you have every you need and with that PC you should be fine , many run FSX off a laptop .. the system would be hoki doki

[dbcunnz]

Hi Andrew I am running Win 7 x64and had an AMD 1090T Black Edition 3.2mhz set on auto 0verlock and it seldom went up to 3.6 when running FSX was getting good FPS with everything maxed out I upgraded to an AMD piledriver 8350FX 4mhz and there is very little difference to the 1090T the only difference was that the FX8350 was cheaper than the 1090T.
PC
MB: Asus M5A99X EVO R2.0 Socket AM3+
CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0 GHz Eight-Core Socket AM3+
RAM: Kingston 16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 1600
GRAPHICS: Asus GeForce GTX 680 2048MB
PSU: Cool Power Gamer 975W

[Splitpin]

Yep ....come on in, looking forward to some screens

[markll]

Loo, with a rig like that, you're worried about running a game released in 2006?

You will have no problems at all, I'd say mate 😊

[veryshort]

Thanks heaps guys for the response, ok some more questions
1/ What are the main tweeks required to get fsx running right?
2/ when you guys say good fps how good are we talking? eg what add ons are you running?

my Idea of good fps is nothing dropping below 25fps with add ons, I have to ask has anyone found a good airbus in x? or should i just bring my ifdg over with vasfmc?

again im very grateful for all the advice

cheers
Andrew w

[Fozzer]

Having (and still have!) all the MS Flight Sims since FS '98 which have all run fantastically on my modest hardware, it was not until the introduction on FSX that everything went pear-shaped in all sorts of ways.

An upgrade to meet the specifications of FSX, and still run as smoothly as my existing FS 2004 with modest upgrades, would have meant throwing all my existing hardware away and building a VERY expensive computer from scratch, all over again.

Comparing the appearance of my FSX (with some modifications) with my existing FS 2004 and all its lovely add-ons, reveals that I have no need to get involved in such unnecessary expense....
.....I just continue to run my trouble-free, trusty, FS 2004 as usual....with a big grin!!

..with...of course...its simple and easy connection to FS Host Multiplayer, together with FS Navigator, Plan-G v2.0.5, etc!

I often do a comparison between my FSX and my FS 2004, and FS 2004 always beats my FSX hands-down, with smoothness, appearance, and overall satisfaction!

Quite honestly, with my existing set-up, in common with many other satisfied FS 2004 users, I can see no reason to abandon my FS 2004 for the various problems and frustrations of FSX!

.....Note to self: "If it 'aint broke...don't try and fix it"!... ...!

(FSX is for fancy screen-shots....FS 2004 is for daily flying!).

Paul.... ...!

P.S. My one disappointment is that there isn't a spot on the NZ Forum for previous MS Sim enthusiasts: FS '98, 2000, 2002, 2004, and CFS versions.

[veryshort]

QUOTE (dbcunnz @ Jun 6 2013,2:55 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi Andrew I am running Win 7 x64and had an AMD 1090T Black Edition 3.2mhz set on auto 0verlock and it seldom went up to 3.6 when running FSX was getting good FPS with everything maxed out I upgraded to an AMD piledriver 8350FX 4mhz and there is very little difference to the 1090T the only difference was that the FX8350 was cheaper than the 1090T.
PC
MB: Asus M5A99X EVO R2.0 Socket AM3+
CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0 GHz Eight-Core Socket AM3+
RAM: Kingston 16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3 1600
GRAPHICS: Asus GeForce GTX 680 2048MB
PSU: Cool Power Gamer 975W

Oh yay another AMD FS Person ...very interesting there isnt much difference between both chips , I jumped from an intel Q6600 to the 1090T as I was waiting for bulldozer to come out only when it did it was a bit of a flop but think piledriver has sort of made up for it .

[deeknow]

QUOTE (Fozzer @ Jun 6 2013,11:32 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

An upgrade to meet the specifications of FSX, and still run as smoothly as my existing FS 2004 with modest upgrades, would have meant throwing all my existing hardware away and building a VERY expensive computer from scratch, all over again.

Paul mate, come on you really need to dump FS9 and get with the new millennium

Regarding hardware, we only have a window of about 2-3years max after buying or building a PC to be able to upgrade it without throwing good money after bad. The better strategy by far is to buy or build a completely new machine every 2-3 years or so, no matter what games or versions your running.

And I'm sorry but there really is no need to build a "VERY expensive computer", I know, I've built my own machines many times now using current technology and specs without blowing the budget. My most recent build about 12months ago cost me $1800nz which certainly isn't expensive when you look at the price of reasonably spec'd off the shelf machines.

[Fozzer]

QUOTE (deeknow @ Jun 6 2013,1:07 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Paul mate, come on you really need to dump FS9 and get with the new millennium

Regarding hardware, we only have a window of about 2-3years max after buying or building a PC to be able to upgrade it without throwing good money after bad. The better strategy by far is to buy or build a completely new machine every 2-3 years or so, no matter what games or versions your running.

And I'm sorry but there really is no need to build a "VERY expensive computer", I know, I've built my own machines many times now using current technology and specs without blowing the budget. My most recent build about 12months ago cost me $1800nz which certainly isn't expensive when you look at the price of reasonably spec'd off the shelf machines.

When it comes to money, it all come down to priorities, my old Chum...and $1,800 is a very large amount of money to suck out of my Old Age Pension in one go...trust me!... ...!
(All my previous have been low-cost hardware upgrades over time),

For me, its my house full of Musical Instruments, my Electronic equipment, my Motorcycles, and my various Toys, collected over many years, to play with every day... ...!

"Flight Simming" is a gentle occupation to pass the time in between doing other things...like Shopping and Cooking...Mowing the Lawn, etc, etc...

..and the less money it costs, the happier I am...

Horses for Courses...Whatever takes your fancy!... ...!

As a Computer Programmer, I am very aware of the fact that the "Flight Simulator" is merely a game to be played on an electronic computer, involving the manipulation coloured pixels around a monitor screen....combined with a vivid imagination...

...and nothing to be taken too seriously...

Paul.... ...!

Flight Simming since 1980, on 8-bits... ..!

[Mynameisnemo]

Andrew,

With the spec's of your system it should run FSX and get excellent results straight out of the box, one tool I will recommend using for the ATI graphics card that you have is the most current build of "Radeon Pro" (better than ati tray tool and can set all the settings for it before running the game)...

Just as a comparison though I'm running fsx on an AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200 @2.7GHz with 4GB of Ram and a 2GB MSI Radeon 6450 and with everything maxed out I can average around 15/20fps although it does drop at times to around 10fps...

Paul,

You could build a system ready for fsx for less than £350 complete with motherboard/processor/ram/graphics etc all in!

[Fozzer]

QUOTE (Mynameisnemo @ Jun 6 2013,7:17 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Andrew,

With the spec's of your system it should run FSX and get excellent results straight out of the box, one tool I will recommend using for the ATI graphics card that you have is the most current build of "Radeon Pro" (better than ati tray tool and can set all the settings for it before running the game)...

Just as a comparison though I'm running fsx on an AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200 @2.7GHz with 4GB of Ram and a 2GB MSI Radeon 6450 and with everything maxed out I can average around 15/20fps although it does drop at times to around 10fps...

Paul,

You could build a system ready for fsx for less than £350 complete with motherboard/processor/ram/graphics etc all in!

Hello John... ...!

It looks as though my hardware.... ..... is very similar to yours, and my copy of FSX probably performs very similarly to yours with careful use of the sliders...

The trouble? is, there is so much "stuff" out there for FS 2004, including compatible bits and bobs from FS 2000 and FS 2002, that over the years, with my various collection of bits and bobs, I have become extremely addicted to FS 2004, and what can be done to it to make the whole experience very enjoyable every day, running smoothly with everything maxed!... ...!

As I say, I purchased my copy of FSX the day it was released, as I did with all my other MS Flight Sims, but there is something magic about FS 2004, and the enjoyment that it has given me for the past 9+ years, that I find it very difficult to click on the .exe of FSX on my Hard Drive... ...!
As soon as I approach the FSX Icon on my Desktop, my left mouse-button refuses to work!.... ....!

So, there you go...I do have BOTH FSX and FS 2004 on my HDD, so the choice is always mine... ...!

...I like; "Choices"... ...!

Paul.... ...!

[deeknow]

QUOTE (Fozzer @ Jun 7 2013,12:59 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

When it comes to money, it all come down to priorities, my old Chum...and $1,800 is a very large amount of money to suck out of my Old Age Pension in one go...trust me!... ...!

Yeah fair enuff Paul, I too have my fair share of other $$$ sucking interests. Just making sure peeps understand you don't have to spend a fortune to get FSX running well, tuning the system properly also helps immensely re FPS etc.

I was a FS9 luddite ;-) as well until I rebuilt this new machine, had a big investment in time and money in FS9 add-ons. But the visual difference is substantial moving to FSX, a lot of that of course is the number of new or improved addons which are only released now for that platform, I'm glad I moved.

[towerguy]

about the only thing I would add is to look carefully at your power supply.
550W? is that really enough grunt for the machine when at full steam ahead?
just $0.02 worth.
cheers.

[cowpatz]

Just think of the fun you can have with all those OOM errors and CTD's

[deeknow]

QUOTE (veryshort @ Jun 6 2013,11:20 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks heaps guys for the response, ok some more questions
1/ What are the main tweeks required to get fsx running right?
2/ when you guys say good fps how good are we talking? eg what add ons are you running?

Hey VS. The canonical tweaking tool is Jesus 'Bojote' Altuve's FSX config tweaking tool, if you only do one thing, do this, will make a serious difference...
http://www.venetubo.com/fsx.html

From then on the main thing you need to do is tweak sliders until you're happy with FPS. There is no single arrangement of sliders that works for all, it depends on what's important to you.

Search for FSX slider tweaks, there are hundreds of guides out there. This is a good one, especially the tuning section re sliders etc
http://www.simforums.com/forums/setting-up...topic29041.html

[veryshort]

Thanks again Guys ,some awesome info ! as a side im not sure if many of you guys know about this website for buying stuff ...www.nzgameshop.com I have bought a few games from here much cheaper ! FSX Gold Edition is only $35.99NZD very quick delivery from the UK normally around 7-10 days and im pretty sure its free delivery too .so with that price in mind this is what has raised the question of buying it or not . as I said given more more developers seem to be releasing stuff for X it is also what is driving the market to switch .I do have to ask what are the multiplayer issues with X ... I understand that the gamespy server is no longer ?

cheers
Andrew W

[Ian Warren]

QUOTE (veryshort @ Jun 7 2013,3:24 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I do have to ask what are the multiplayer issues with X ... I understand that the gamespy server is no longer ?

Andrew , no MP issues at all .. tap on the shoulder and away we go ..

[veryshort]

QUOTE (Ian Warren @ Jun 7 2013,2:28 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Andrew , no MP issues at all .. tap on the shoulder and away we go ..

Thanks Ian Good To know ... now has anyone got a good Airbus with a working FMC they can suggest ?

PS I have just wound my CPU up { overclocked} from 3.2 to 3.8 { water cooled } Im hoping to hit 4mhz

[Ian Warren]

QUOTE (veryshort @ Jun 7 2013,4:50 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

... now has anyone got a good Airbus with a working FMC they can suggest ?

Currently the only OK jobbie out there is the Aerosoft Extended , not a ARBUST fan and also doing a few tests and playing around and taken it off the PC .
http://www.aerosoft.com/cgi-local/us/ibosh...gi?showd,,12065