Finally upgraded my system, did not want to wait for my nine year old P3/800 to bite the dust. I didn't go after bleeding edge technology, but given the specs of my new system for the first time I've been able to reach my version of the FS9 holy grail: 30 fps, everything maxed, and no blurries or stutters.Surprisingly, with a low end graphics card even with 16x aniso turned on....The other fun bit is starting FS9 up, starts up in about 10 seconds. The new specs:Gateway DX4710-05Intel

Congrats on your new system!You will find any MSFS to be much more enjoyable. In fact, you could happily run FSX on your machine with reasonable settings.Your autogen complaint is always going to be there with FS9 or below. FSX slightly improved autogen by now lining it up with the scenery, so now it tessellates better with the ground textures.Have fun!

I'd say give FSX a go if you've got it already. Is it worth buying when FS9 runs so well and you, presumably, have many top quality addons for it? That's a tricky one. Personally I think FSX looks pretty good, but I can only go 'low & slow' in it with no 'hungry' addons. Mostly I prefer complex airliner addons which run fine on FS9 as my system is - 2 years old and not quite a good as yours. FSX always seems to be a bit hit and miss. I've read so many posts where people have top level systems and can't run FSX properly. Most FSXers seem to spend more time tweaking, buying newer hardware, etc than simming.

I'd say give FSX a go if you've got it already. Is it worth buying when FS9 runs so well and you, presumably, have many top quality addons for it? That's a tricky one. Personally I think FSX looks pretty good, but I can only go 'low & slow' in it with no 'hungry' addons. Mostly I prefer complex airliner addons which run fine on FS9 as my system is - 2 years old and not quite a good as yours. FSX always seems to be a bit hit and miss. I've read so many posts where people have top level systems and can't run FSX properly. Most FSXers seem to spend more time tweaking, buying newer hardware, etc than simming.

I actually went for FS-X, and didn't take long to settle on settings I was very pleased with..... Take a look at my Tileproxy pics in the screenshots forum--with that ground texture resolution I was just in a state of awe, and very pleased with the performance I had.But, the system I bought to run it on died in seven days and I had to return it to the retailer. One issue with store bought systems (which is why I built my last one) is you don't know what they do to cut corners. On the other hand, I've read quite a few posts from builders who've gone thru the same thing, so I don't know.... But I do know with a quad core or perhaps even a dual core, plus a run of the mill Nvidia card, FS-X runs pretty well. I imagine with a top flight card it can run really well now. I feel the technology is more caught up with the ambition behind the sim, so to speak.That said, during the short time I had the system, there was something about the "new" FS9 that was also very appealing and I enjoyed my time with FS9 just as much as FSX. I am contemplating my next system although I don't know if I have the initiative to build another one--from what I've read it's more challenging to build a system that can last the nine years my first homebuilt system has--the same system I'm typing this post on...Regards,John

FSX killed your system, you should've known better. :(

I bought a new system similar to yours, but have not bought FSX, I am just enjoying running all out FS2004 and all the add-ons I have purchased. I am still buying add-ons for it. I don't know what I am missing, but probably will not get FSX. The thought of having to take the time to tweak to get a decent frame rate does not appeal to me and also replacing my add-ons does not appeal to my wallet. Maybe FS11 will be the Flight Sim "I can't live without".

FSX slightly improved autogen by now lining it up with the scenery, so now it tessellates better with the ground textures.

Ground Environment Pro does that on FS9. Quite impressive. :( Iain Smith