HelloI've just got back into FS (and AVSIM) after a long lay-off. I really fancy trying the new MD-11, but my machine hasn't been upgraded for a few years, and I'm wondering if it could handle the new plane. These are the rough specs:AMD 3500+ 2.2 GhzRadeon X8001 GB RAM I can run FSX reasonably well at medium settings with the stock aircraft, but haven't got any advanced add-ons. I can't afford any new hardware at present, but I'm prepared to forsake some of the eye candy in the sim for the sake of a reasonably fluid simulation of the MD-11.What do you reckon? Any opinions or advice greatly appreciated.Thanks Ian Carter

Hi IanIn my opinion you will struggle to run the MD-11 and FSX with your current spec. FS9 would be a far better option. A lot will also depend on what screen resolution you are using. The MD-11, like the 747-400, requires a fair bit of raw horsepower to run smoothly in FSX.All the bestKonrad

It is also my lack of computing power that I too am waiting for the FS9 version. I have a 1.8 gig P4 with 2 Gigs of ram and have been running the entire PMDG fleet. I would add another gig of ram as that would help as well.It is because of the MD-11 that I have committed to saving for a gaming computer as this aircraft will be so worth it, yeah it's $3000, but so worth it!Michael Pare.

Search this and MS FSX forum. There were a couple of other simmers with system even older than yours that claimed very good results with MD-11 (2D panel) albeit with FSX sliders in low settings. If you are willing to compromise and focus on MD-11 alone you should be fine, if you insist on having all the eye candy of FSX then you may have a problem.Michael J.http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/9320/apollo17vf7.jpg

>a gaming computer as this aircraft will be so worth it, yeah>it's $3000, but so worth it!Whoa...You could afford a pretty decent pc AND a vacation with that many money...Q6600, 8800gt, throw in the ram you want (spending money on ram is a big idiocy in my opinion: percentual benefits over price increase are non existent), a socket775 mobo (from 80$ and up) and the rest you can recycle.Audio comes on board, disks are pretty much reusable, and btw gigabytes do sale by the thousands nowadays.3000$ is a big waste on a computer (imho but not that much imho).

>>a gaming computer as this aircraft will be so worth it,>yeah>>it's $3000, but so worth it!>>Whoa...>You could afford a pretty decent pc AND a vacation with that>many money...>Q6600, 8800gt, throw in the ram you want (spending money on>ram is a big idiocy in my opinion: percentual benefits over>price increase are non existent), a socket775 mobo (from 80$>and up) and the rest you can recycle.>Audio comes on board, disks are pretty much reusable, and btw>gigabytes do sale by the thousands nowadays.>3000$ is a big waste on a computer (imho but not that much>imho).My goal is to run FSX with all sliders wide open, so I figure it would cost at least $3000 to get a machine that will do that, I might be wrong though, but FSX is extremely demanding.

I doubt that there is any currently available machine which will run FSX with all sliders wide open, especially with complex add ons. $3000 is a waste of money for a FSX only rig as you will not see a big difference in FPS when compared to a $1500 rig.In 12 months time perhaps...Konrad

>I doubt that there is any currently available machine which>will run FSX with all sliders wide open, especially with>complex add ons. $3000 is a waste of money for a FSX only rig>as you will not see a big difference in FPS when compared to a>$1500 rig.>>In 12 months time perhaps...>>Konrad>>I was looking at custom computer builders not the run of the mill computer makers. I bet running SLI and the fastest processors and Windows XP you could run all sliders open. It has been said, you have to pay to play.Michael Pare.

SLI has VERY little, if any, benefit in FSX. If you are running 2560x1600 and wish to use 16AA then perhaps SLI will kick in. No better way to waste your cash for FSX!Yes, you would see higher average FPS with the latest extreme quad core CPU from Intel but is this worth the extra $1000? I think not! A Q9450 running at 3.2GHz will do the trick just as well.If you had to bet on it running FSX+ a complex addon with all sliders to the right you would most probably loose...Konrad

>SLI has VERY little, if any, benefit in FSX. If you are>running 2560x1600 and wish to use 16AA then perhaps SLI will>kick in. No better way to waste your cash for FSX!>>Yes, you would see higher average FPS with the latest extreme>quad core CPU from Intel but is this worth the extra $1000? I>think not! A Q9450 running at 3.2GHz will do the trick just as>well.>>If you had to bet on it running FSX+ a complex addon with all>sliders to the right you would most probably loose...>>Konrad i have heard that SLI isn't worth it unless you are running a large monitor, I'm happy with a 22". I just want to get as much performance as I can and not spend a fortune just to have it out dated a year later.Michael Pare.

Well, I've ordered another gig of RAM, because it's cheap and it'll be useful anyway. I also tried Tweak FS recently and found it gave a good boost in performance when just concentrating on IFR flight.Yes, I had a look through some posts on this subject. Maybe I'll hold out on the MD-11 till I can get a new machine. I noticed PC Pilot magazine here in the UK has reviewed some PCs dedicated to FS. I can't believe how far things have moved on in the space of a few years.One thing I wished I'd done though was keep my copy of FS9. I gave it to a charity shop.. But hopefully someone's enjoying it - maybe on a machine even worse than mine! Ian

i think you would need to upgrade your box to get decent fps with PMDG and FSX, but it will be worth it! your current system is quite old, so if you an afford it, you should upgrade.