The Wideview site says that multiple computers can be used to create virtual cockpits with multiple monitor support, using networked PCs. According to them, there is virtually no limit on how many PCs can be linked together with each of them being configured to show a particular view, including outside views, maps, instruments, and almost anything. My question is this, and it's a theoretical one. If I have 1 PC running at 1Ghz and get X number of frames per second using FS2002 for a given view, and I decide to use 2 PCs (each an idential 1Ghz system), one for the panel and one for an outide view, will my frames per second increase significantly since I have taken two tasks that are normally run on one PC and divided the workload among two PCs?I think you know where I am going with this. Please say YES, please, please!!!!If there is an increase in frames per second, how much (or what kinds of) difference(s) should I notice?Robbie

I've never run WideView, but I can tell you that you don't need another PC just for a panel view. I use three monitors on my Athlon 1800. The main monitor is a 21", run by a Ge4 4600. The secondary monitors are 17", run by El-Cheapo PCI cards. I use the main monitor for outside view, one 17" for the main panel, and the other for FSNAv and the radio stack. Frame rates double (I've got them locked at 20, and they stay maxed) on the main monitor as soon as I move the panel off of it to one of the 17's.The panel and FSNav displays just fine, even on a cheap video card. Mark

I think the benefits of Wideview are to give you the Cockpit wrap around views and not to provide different computers for panels. As the other poster indicated, you can use one computer with multiheaded or multiple graphics cards to provide for moving the panels.

Robbie,With Wideview, your frame rates won't significantly increase since each networked system has to run Windows and FS too. Also, panels don't take much CPU power to render compared to the 3D view so moving them to other machines won't make much of a difference. The best job for Wideview is to get multiple 3D views using multiple moderately-powered systems.Peter http://bfu.avsim.net/sigpics/PeterR.gifBFU Forums Moderator[table border=2 cellpadding=0 cellspacing=1][tr][td][table border=0 cellpadding=8 cellspacing=0][tr][td bgcolor=#540000]http://bfu.avsim.net/sigpics/logo75t.gif[/td][td align="center" bgcolor=#FFFFF6]Bush Flying Unlimited"At home in the wild"Looking for adventure? Come join us! * [link:bfu.avsim.net|Web Site] * [link:www.cafepress.com/bfu,bfu2,bfu3,bfu4|BFU Store] * [link:bfu.avsim.net/join.htm]Join!][/td][/tr][/table][/td][/tr][/table

Robbie,Peter is correct. Because each cpu must run FS02 when under WidevieW, there is no increase in the FR. I run three machines with WidevieW, feeding four monitors. It works great, but I still have to deal with well known problems such as "blurries". Of course, with three computers, the problems are magnified 3X :-lol

Thanks Guys!Peter,Do all of the computers have to be the same? You you have to have all of them being the same CPU and clock speed/memory/video card? Do I have to have one PC per monitor?Thanks,Robbie

Robbie,The computers can all be different. It primarily depends on what you want them to be doing. You'll need powerful machines for 3D views. But for panels, you can use old machines (300-500 MHz).You don't have to have one machine per screen but it depends on how much horsepower it has. Only use one machine per 3D display because that's pretty power hungry. For panels, if you have extra video cards and a system that can handle it, you can hook up several displays and drive all of them. So, with two computers, you could have the 3D view on one of them and 2-4 monitors with panels on the other (provided you have enough PCI video cards).Peter http://bfu.avsim.net/sigpics/PeterR.gifBFU Forums Moderator

Robbie,Lots of answers on the special WideView-forum moderated by Luciano Napolitano (the WideView programmer) himself:http://www.escapeairlines.com/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=WVHessel Oosten

Thanks Hessel!