How does PMDG 747-400X perform on higher end systems?

[beachdog2001 21]

"Noel, at the end of the day your 744X will run just fine on your rig..."Basically, this was my point.Not to be argumentative by any means but since we are on this subject, I want to mention the following. I certainly agree that NickN's list looks intimidating, but IMHO, the suggestions in NickN's guide were pretty simple and easy to implement, and I am not a computer expert by any means. What do his suggestions amount to really anyway?...clean all the crap out of your system, make sure your HD is not full (should be 60-70+% empty), shut down all unnecessary processes, get your pagefile set up correctly, as someone recently here in this forum found out about, do a clean install of FSX all the way up to SP2, reboot between each step, use an AV program such as NOD32 that doesn't use much background resources, use nHancer if you have an nVidia card, and defrag your hard drive with a professional defrag program regularly. Pretty basic stuff really and all essential for good FSX performance no matter what aircraft you fly.. His suggestions as to what to edit with the FSX.cfg consist basically of no edits at all :-beerchug (well, ok shut off preload, turn off wide aspect if you don't have this and shut off the labels if you want.) Recall back to FS9 if you want to remember the joys of cfg edits. :-grr The only regedits consist of changing a 0 to 1, a Y to a N, and a 3 to a 2, so that O&O defrag will work better. Oh, ...and finally, don't fiddle around with anything else. Perfect for me, I hate endlessly fiddling with this kind of stuff. For me, with my low end system, the results were astonishing. For people with high end systems and/or with Vista, I don't know yet really, but I imagine these basic principles above still apply.But rest assured that with a system, P4 3.2GHz or better, that is set up properly however you choose to do it, the PMDG747 in FSX runs great and is a great joy to fly. I think that we can all agree on:DI too, await your report Noel. Good luck.Bill BarretteUnited-Virtual.com

[Sharrow 0]

>But rest assured that with a system, P4 3.2GHz or better, that>is set up properly however you choose to do it, the PMDG747 in>FSX runs great and is a great joy to fly. I think that we can>all agree on:DYes we can!:-cool Konrad

[Guest Mower]

I run my 8800GT at 700Mhz, for what it's worth.What sort of cooling do you use? And what is the voltage? The last time I tried to o/c my GTS 8800 it pooched and started giving BSOD, had to RMA it.

[Noel 4,483]

> I run my 8800GT at 700Mhz, for what it's worth.>>What sort of cooling do you use? And what is the voltage? >The last time I tried to o/c my GTS 8800 it pooched and>started giving BSOD, had to RMA it.I use a cooling system NickN took the time to emphatically disapprove of, but with which I have kept my entire system nicely cooled: CPU, GPU, RAM, Mainboard, even HDD's, and I have some hot SCSI's. I set up my system so that the case cover is off of my Lian Li aluminum case, and the case sits next to the output flow of a small thru-the-wall air conditioner that operates on 110v plug in. All my components stay cool: at 4.2Ghz, my QX processor rarely tops 60C, which is well under the legal limit as you know. GPU stays around 51C at full load. My ram is very cool to the touch. I've used this concept for many years with no noted negative effects on 3 systems now, two of mine and one of a brother's. I ran my old P4 3.06 Northwood to over 3.5Ghz with a retail HSF. Same same with this Penryn quad core. NickN railed on me bigtime, implying only a fool would do this. I have 3 machines, and about 15 machine-years of trouble-free service using this configuration. Plus, it gets warm in my PC room, so it helps for aht too. My utility bills are under $120 in the California summer for a 2,400 sf home.

[Noel 4,483]

>But rest assured that with a system, P4 3.2GHz or better, that>is set up properly however you choose to do it, the PMDG747 in>FSX runs great and is a great joy to fly. I think that we can>all agree on:D>>I too, await your report Noel. Good luck.>>Bill Barrette>United-Virtual.comWonderful! Thanks you all for the perspectives. I'll probably pick it up soon. I have just a pinch of reluctance as I'm more inclined to fly the 737, 757, and other smaller jets, but as you all well know one wants to have something to fly that has the depth these lovely models have. I am finding myself wanting to fly the bigger jets again, but when I go into FS9, I have some disappointment with the weaker parts of sim, and want to get back to FSX. I have my eye on the LDS 757 too. QX9650 w/ Retail HSF|ASUS P5E3 Premium WiFi|4GB Muskin Ascent 7-6-6-18 1T DDR3-1600|EVGA 8800GT|Seagate SATA 2 x 2|Seagate Cheetah 15K.x|XP Pro SP2|Vista 64--maybe never to be installed

[Sharrow 0]

Hi NoelJust curious why NickN had such issues with your cooling solution? Anything to do with condensation/humidity etc?I think you mean the LDS 767-300ER? Great aircraft all round though the quality of the external model and the VC (texture and useabilty wise) is, in my opinion, sub par when compared to the 744X. The LDS767 has better quality sound and VC night lighting and obviously top-notch systems fidelity. Framerate wise the LDS767 and the PMDG744X are pretty similar, at least on my system. The two are different enough to warrant purchasing both and they obviously share a lot of common operating procedures so you learn one and the other is pretty easy to master.Konrad

[Sharrow 0]

I just saw that LDS are in fact developing a 757 for FSX (though don't dare ask them about it!)Konrad

[Sharrow 0]

HiJust coming back to NickN's system optimising guide I came across the following article online: http://lifehacker.com/5033518/debunking-co...-tweaking-mythsNow, like with most things you read online, all this does is provide a broader perspective. I am most certainly not trying to start any arguments or offend anyone. There are lots of interesting comments attached to this articles as well.Konrad

[Noel 4,483]

>Hi Noel>>Just curious why NickN had such issues with your cooling>solution? Anything to do with condensation/humidity etc?>KonradKonrad, Nick stated his various *hardline* *rigid* *must do it this way or no way, in this order or all bets are off* positions on the matter, equating my gaming rig with huge mainframes and how critical it is to maintain optimal humidity, temp, etc. Sure, in a theoretical sense, true. We certainly don't want to be getting anything wet. A/C dehumidifies air, and I live in a climate that has exceedly low humidity. Even so, with my old P4 I ran this solution during the winter when it was raining outside, with no problems whatsoever. It doesn't get wet, nor so cold that water condenses on it. How do I know? Nothing breaks. Can't beat that for empirical evidence. If I lived in the jungle in equador, maybe I'd have to worry, but I doubt it even there. The air is just not that cold. All it is is very cool, dehumidifed air. Nick went off with a rail job without knowing enough of the facts of THIS particular application, and instead refered to various texts on maintaining perfect conditions for mission critical installations. Whatever. PC's DO operate in a HUGE variety of environments, and what do you know, they keep working. Everything from water cooled, liq nitrogen, overheated with careless ventilation, etc. The only part that failed me in 15y of heavy daily computing was one lousy video card, and a HD or two. That's it. Same same with my brothers last few PCs, both of which I assembled and picked parts for. I know NickN is hugely dedicated to this world, and for that I do respect his dedication. But red flags abound when I read the sort of comments NickN makes sometimes. Some of his railing, made to sound like the Holy Grail of Inner Circle knowledge, is IMHO part fact, and part, well, you fill in the blank. Now, that being said, it's just my opinion. And again, I am not contesting the gentleman's dedication to this environment. And I also know it's heresy in here to challenge NickN for his huge generousity in sharing information and opinion. But, as I say, my intuition shoots up red flags, and so I pick n choose from the fellow's in depth knowledge, to be distinquished from his opinions on certain things, which I see as just that, though they are often framed as gospel absolute my way or the highway stuff. I do thank Nick for his huge giving of his time to answer various questions and so forth. It works great, and I highly recommend it to anyone who needs effective cooling for not to much money (~$149 for the unit), and it works with ALL PCs, requiring no modification other than to take the side panel off. Plus, it cools my room. As an added bonus, it gets shut off when I do digital piano recording and so forth in Gigastudio, so it's then super quiet. QX9650 w/ Retail HSF|ASUS P5E3 Premium WiFi|4GB Muskin Ascent 7-6-6-18 1T DDR3-1600|EVGA 8800GT|Seagate SATA 2 x 2|Seagate Cheetah 15K.x|XP Pro SP2|Vista 64--maybe never to be installed

[Guest D17S]

Yea? So what kind of motorcycle do you ride? I'll be it's a trike with a sidecar. See? bad, bad bad. . .. those have stability problems, you know. Oh admit it, You're just a rebel.(But ya gotta admit, it was kinda fun to poke the tiger a bit. Made a heck of a noise!@)

[Sharrow 0]

Living in Africa I must say that I have considered some sort of air con cooling solution. Winter is fine but in summer I struggle with heat buildup, especially if anything is oc'd. Gonna have a better look towards the end of winter.Looking forward to the AoA's 747 training DVD - always so much to learn! If it were otherwise I would not be an FSX fan that's for sure!Konrad

[Noel 4,483]

Sam, I never bought the PMDG 747-400X yet. I am using the Super MD-80 Pro and it's the easy way to get complexity and performance wrapped up in a slightly buggy package! It's really quite a cool product, and performs wonderfully. It's a little harder to learn than the PMDG stuff IMHO. Then again, I only learn enough to fly with the FMS, and call it good. I recommend the Super MD-80 Pro from Coolsky. For true visual splendor, I prefer the PMDG stuff, but this guy works cuz performance is excellent and aircraft complexity will keep you on your toes.QX9650 w/ Retail HSF|ASUS P5E3 Premium WiFi|4GB Muskin Ascent 7-6-6-18 1T DDR3-1600|EVGA 8800GT|Seagate SATA 2 x 2|Seagate Cheetah 15K.x|XP Pro SP2|Vista 64--maybe never to be installed

[Guest D17S]

Then you should be a leg up on the crowd when the MD11 comes out. Reliable sources are saying it's coming along very nicely. But that MD's FMS page-ology is a bit different than Boeing's. Practice, practice, practice. Every once in a while I'll go ahead and crank up the AG and traffic for an approach with the 744X. Was just out playing with JFK's RW13 approaches. That's where the PMDG airplanes really shine. Dan Downs has all the major US airports dialed into real world FMS database updates. It's as real as it gets. 10FPS isn't fun, but flying real world STARS and VOR approaches with full traffic, AG and ground traffic gives a feel of things to come. Frame wise, that darn Aerosoft Kai Tek is giving me the Best Frames with amazing AG detail down low. Wish the rest of the world was like that.memory latency(Never mind, Just fishin'!)