What's Up?

[Guest av84fun]

Hello everyone. I've been away from simming for at least 18 months. I never upgraded to FSX. Just a couple of QUICK questions.I recall there were quite a few issues regarding FSX running slowly, stutters etc. I run WinXP and have a reasonably powerful machine.Have most of the early issues been resolved so that most people have migrated to FSX?Is there a clear choice of video cards used with FSX?Is there a significant benefit to migrating to Vista?THANKS!Jim

[Highmike 68]

Have most of the early issues been resolved so that most people have migrated to FSX?

There are still a lot of die hard FS9ers, some of whom post on this forum occasionally. The rest of us are pretty fond of FSX. There were two service packs released by Aces Studio which corrected some early performance issues. That was a long time ago and any apprehension regarding them has since evaporated. You might consider getting the Acceleration expansion pack, it installs the two service packs (I believe), and adds three new birds and some missions which are a lot of fun.

Is there a clear choice of video cards used with FSX?

As always you'll want the best card you can get in your price range. If you want to use the DX10 functionality in FSX you'll want to get a DX10 capable card such as the Geforce 8800. Point your search engine at DX10 cards and you'll see what's available.

Is there a significant benefit to migrating to Vista?

Again if you want the DX10 functionality you'll want Vista which includes the API as part of the OS install. There's a choice between 32 bit and 64 bit which will depend on your specs to some extent. As far as I know 64 bit drivers are now available for most of the hardware you might have, but do a quick search just to be sure if you plan on going down this road.

THANKS!

You're welcome. :( Mike.

[beatle 0]

If you are looking to buy FSX now, your best deal is to look for the Flight Simulator X Gold pack - this includes both FSX Deluxe RTM and the Acceleration AddOn Pack in the same box. Installing both of those will get you upto the latest version available.Tim

[1mikel151 71]

Hi Jim, welcome back!Yeah, there are still lots of diehard FS9 users (lost souls, LOL), BUT there are also plenty of FSX only users.SP1 cured many of the issues that were in the initial release and SP2 fine tuned them. I agree with the suggestion to get the gold pack, acceleration is a must have here.As for the best vid card, I would say go with an ATI 4850 or better. Nvidia still has some driver issues from what I have read and I know a few that get great performance with the new ATI cards. If you are thinking of upgrading your system, then go with the best CPU you can get as FSX is CPU dependent.Only benefit to vista is the ability to use more than 4 gig of memory and to use DX10, which several simmers I know get better performance in DX10, but quite a few addons don't work/display properly in DX10, so it is a mixed bag.Hope that helps.

[Guest av84fun]

Thanks for all the great tips. I may just slog around with FS9 until Win7 is released. It will take me that long to remember how to fly the sim anyway!Best,Jim