Hello guys, I am new to the forum. I just ordered a new PC (only had a laptop), I want to play FSX and I want to install it on a separate partition. So I wonder how big a partition I should make for FSX? How much space does FSX occupy on your drives inlcuding all add-ons such as UTX, GEX, REX, GSGenesis, Active Sky etc..? I also plan to go ahead and install Windows 7, instead of Vista 64, as I will sooner or later move to W7.

I have FEX, GEX, UTX, Traffic X and about 7 or 8 a/c addons and my FSX directory is 47 GB, so I would say 100-120 GB should be about right.Thaellar

I have FEX, GEX, UTX, Traffic X and about 7 or 8 a/c addons and my FSX directory is 47 GB, so I would say 100-120 GB should be about right.Thaellar

OK, thanks ! 100 GB was my guess too, although that's quite a lot of space :(

OK, thanks ! 100 GB was my guess too, although that's quite a lot of space :(

FSX is quite a lot of simulation :( You didn't mention how much hard drive space the laptop will have (certainly less than desktop), so you could probably get by with 80 GB if you don't go crazy with aircraft addons.Thaellar

FSX is quite a lot of simulation :( You didn't mention how much hard drive space the laptop will have (certainly less than desktop), so you could probably get by with 80 GB if you don't go crazy with aircraft addons.Thaellar

I meant that I ordered a desktop as I only have a 2.0GHz laptop at the moment, which can hardly handle FS9 :( The desktop will have a 500GB hard drive, so I will probably make 3 partitions - one for system (say 100GB), one for FSX (100GB) and 300GB for everything else.

I'm sitting at 39.1gig on an 80gig drive plus - on a separate 200 gig drive - another 55gig for add-on source applications - the SDK, FSBuild, AT&T Voice, FDC, that don't reside inside the sim folder, and then another 61.2gig for scenery add-ons - like Active Sky, FS Genesis, etc... and then there's the other components that get added to the C:\..... :( ... hmmmmm....

I'm sitting at 39.1gig on an 80gig drive plus - on a separate 200 gig drive - another 55gig for add-on source applications - the SDK, FSBuild, AT&T Voice, FDC, that don't reside inside the sim folder, and then another 61.2gig for scenery add-ons - like Active Sky, FS Genesis, etc... and then there's the other components that get added to the C:\..... :( ... hmmmmm....

It seems that you needed at least 150GB for FSX :(

:( Better make it 200...just to be sure.Thaellar

It seems that you needed at least 150GB for FSX :(

I,m at 408,000 items and 177 GB,s.....Lots of stuff..... :(

Some folks are missing an important point here. The amount of space "required" on the FSX drive should be calculated by the size of the addons FSX actually accesses in "real time" while running FSX.For instance, UTX needs to be installed IN the FSX directory, and FSX will use the files in UTX while running. The same applies to an addon like an aircraft, or any addon that makes a Scenery Library entry in FSX. The size of these programs should be considered when determining hard drive space requirements.Other programs are NOT accessed "real time" while FSX is running. Examples are GEX and FEX. They replace textures in FSX from an external interface you run PRIOR to running FSX. There is no reason whatsoever to have to install GEX or FEX on the same drive as FSX. They could be installed on an external hard drive, the interface run to replace the FSX textures, then FSX runs without accesssing anything in the GEX or FEX installations during your FSX session. Here is a "generic" list of things to consider:1. If the addon makes a Scenery Library entry, then it should go on the same drive as FSX.2. If the addon just REPLACES textures, etc, in FSX, without making a Scenery Library entry, it does NOT have to go on the same drive as FSX. CAVEAT: If running the addon ADDS MORE textures, etc, to FSX, then you need to add the increased size of those extra textures, etc, added to FSX to your "space requirements" calculation...but NOT the entire addon itself.3. Some utility addons like weather generators MAY or may NOT need to go on the same drive as FSX. It depends on how FSX "interacts" with them, and if your computer is fast enough to handle transfers of information, like weather updates, between your hard drives. IF your transfer speeds are OK, then you don't have to put the addon on the same drive as FSX.4. Always remember you need a certain percentage of "free space" remaining on your FSX drive for file transfers, etc. NEVER completely fill up that hard drive or partition! Some folks recommend 20% free space...some higher. I personally use no less than 40% free space. The amount of free space available not only ensures FSX will run smoothly, but can have a dramatic impact on how long it takes to do things like defragging the drive or partition.There are other variables, but the point is that not EVERYTHING you "add" to FSX needs to go on the FSX installation drive or partition.FalconAF

Edited June 2, 200917 yr by FalconAF

Hey Falcon, would you count photoscenery in that ( On the FSX drive) ? I had planned to put FSX and its residing in addons on one drive, then all my photoscenery ( some 300GB !!) on a twin raptor RAID array. PS, I generally only activate the area I want to fly in. Cheers, Mark

Another important issue seemingly missed here is that a second partition on the OS drive (or any drive for that matter) is really NOT a good solution in the first place. A second hard drive dedicated to FSX is a MUCH better investment! Not like they are that expensive either.Here's an excerpt from Nick's guide to setting up FSX related to storage setup:

RULES WHEN SETTING UP STORAGE:

DO NOT PARTITION A DRIVE AND PLACE A OS OR FSX ON A PARTITION OTHER THAN THE FIRST PHYSICAL PARITION OF THE DRIVE

ALWAYS MAKE SURE THERE IS A MINIMUM OF 40-50% FREESPACE ON ANY PERFORMANCE DRIVE OR PARTITION (OS or FSX)

NEVER PARTITION A RAID ARRAY - EVER!

BEST SETUP IS TO PLACE FSX ON ITS OWN DEDICATED DRIVE WITH NO 2ND PARTITION

Hey Falcon, would you count photoscenery in that ( On the FSX drive) ? I had planned to put FSX and its residing in addons on one drive, then all my photoscenery ( some 300GB !!) on a twin raptor RAID array. PS, I generally only activate the area I want to fly in. Cheers, Mark

Well, you'll get different opinions about it. If it was me, I'd put the photoscenery on the same drive as FSX. Those photoscenery files are huge, as you noted, and there will be a lot of file transferring going on. For the most part though, I'd follow Nick's advice Sharrow quoted in the post above. I have a Raid 0 array, and it's not V-raptor. And FSX runs fine on it. One of the reasons I haven't gone to V-rap yet is the limitation on the size of the drives. No doubt a V-rap is fast, but I like Raid, and two V-raps don't get me anywhere near my 1-terabyte Raid 0 I have now.One thing I think many people forget about during discussions like this is this:Just how "perfect" do you need your computer to run, speed-wise, in order to get FSX to run acceptably?You can spend thousands of dollars for the latest and greatest hardware, configure V-raps in an "ultimate speed" configuration, etc, etc. Then 6 months later, new technology makes your computer setup "slower" than what would then be available if you spent thousands of dollars more. This is great if you want "bragging rights" about your computer speed, but only results in draining your bank account if it doesn't result in an UNDISPUTABLE ADVANTAGE in your computer running FSX better than someone who is already getting FSX to run what they want it to run, without stutters, pauses, OOM's, etc. My computer is already almost 1-year old, and I run anything I want on it concerning FSX without pauses, stuttering, OOM's, or any of the other "problems" posted in these forums. And I have one video card, running FOUR monitors on a 3-wide TH2G setup with a 4th monitor "on the side". Many other FSX users do the same thing.What it comes down to is knowing how to get the most out of what hardware you have. If after THAT hardware is configured correctly, and after proper User Maintenance is performed (on a REGULAR basis) like defragging, cleanups, etc, if your computer doesn't run FSX the way you want it to, then it is probably time to consider upgrading hardware. But my experience has been that many people ALREADY have the computer horsepower to run FSX in a very acceptable manner. It's either their lack of understanding in HOW to make (or keep) their computer running correctly, or their EXPECTATIONS of what FSX "should do" that are out of whack. Like NickN has said over and over again...Frames Per Second in FSX are NOT the real issue. Smooth screen redraws without pauses and stutters are the key. FSX at 20 FPS without pauses or stutters is unquestionably better than FSX at 60 FPS with pauses and stutters.You can try putting FSX on your one drive, and the photoscenery on your V-Rap Raid array. The only real question you then have to answer is, "Does this work for ME?" If the performance you get in FSX is acceptable to YOU, then you are good to go. THAT is what should always matter. It will always be possible to throw more money at any FSX "performance problem", but in a lot of cases, that is not the sensible thing to do. Why spend another $1000 just to get 5 more Frames Per Second, but still have stutters, etc? Configure what you have already to get rid of those things, and lower FPS without them will solve problems like those. Rick

Hi Falcon, I hear you !! It can be a difficult path, But what I have learned in the last few months is that the setup is key to the experience. For myself, my number one priority is not frame rates, but smoothness and quick, crisp Textures. So, I am after whatever set up gives the best result for this.It is interesting that you have that view , as the advice I can mostly percieve is that FSX should be on its own drive, operating system on another. However, I dont think the specific question of locating photoscenery outside of the FSX install has ever arisen. It would be interesting to know the pros and cons. My problem is that my FSX install plus photoscenery would be about a 500GB installation.... there must be disadvantages in that surely? I had planned to use one 150GB raptor for FSX, and 2 300GB raptors in RAID0 for my photoscenery. What are your thoughts on that ? cheers,Mark

Mark,Here's my thoughts on it based on your projected hardware configuration. Note you definitely will get different opinions. Again, it boils down to how "extreme" you want to try to get FSX to run on your computer. If your computer is going to ONLY be used to run FSX...in other words, you bought or built the computer SOLELY to run FSX and use it for NOTHING else...then you would set it up solely for that. But most people run other things on their computers besides FSX, so some "trade-offs" are usually necessary.You say you are going to have a 150 GB V-Rap drive, and 2 300 GB V-Rap drives in Raid 0. You estimate your total FSX install with 300 GB of photoreal scenery will be about 500 GB. Your first problem is "ideally" you WOULD want the photoscenery on the SAME drive as FSX. So that would mean putting your OS on the 150 GB, and FSX with all the photoscenery on the 2 300 GB Raid 0 drives. You would then have a 600 GB V-Rap Raid 0 configuration for FSX, with 500 GB of the drive space used. That would leave you only about 17% free space on the drive. That is low, and can cause problems with file transferring during your FSX sessions. Those photoscenery files are huge, and depending on yor FSX settings, could cause problems. Note I said "COULD"...not "WILL". I suspect you would encounter some hiccups in texture loading that might cause stuttering or pauses, but can't for sure say it WOULD happen to you. Your thought of putting FSX on the 150 GB drive and all the photoscenery on the Raid 0 drives might be what you have to do. But then you have FSX on the same drive as your OS (I'm assuming here you ONLY have the 3 drives you mentioned, so your OS has to go somewhere). That contradicts advice about having FSX on the same drive as your OS. But in your case, that may be what you have to do. EDITED NOTE: See my added "EDIT" at the bottom of this post. You still have a problem!You asked my thoughts on all the above. Here they are...DO WHAT WORKS FOR YOU after you try it. Unless you have a computer with "unlimited" capabilities (which most people don't), you are always limited by your hardware availability and configuration. People always talk about setting up a computer in an "ideal" manner to run FSX. Problem is, most FSX users don't ever HAVE an ideal computer setup for FSX to begin with. You are in the same situation. With a projected FSX installation totaling around 500 GB, and the "largest" drive available being your 600 GB V-Rap Raid 0 drive, you immediately have a "storage problem" that prevents any sort of "ideal" setup. You either have to put ALL of FSX on the Raid 0, but that leaves you only 17% free space on the drive. Not "ideal" at all. If you put only the photoscenery on the Raid 0, that solves your "free space" problem, but now you have FSX on your OS drive. Not "ideal" again, either. So...the question becomes, "Which method works BEST for YOU?" To answer that, you need to see how FSX runs under each condition. For now, I would try it the way you are thinking of doing it. (SEE MY "EDIT" BELOW!) Primarily because the 17% free space remaining on your Raid 0 seems too restrictive to me. I suspect that if all your drives are V-Raps, your transfer rates between the FSX drive (150 GB) and the photoscenery drive (Raid 0 V-Raps) will be OK. Note your FSX settings can play a major role in this. With photoscenery, you can get some dramatic results with your "LOD =" setting in the fsx.cfg file set to higher numbers like 5.5, 6.5, or even 8.0 (default maximum is 4.5). But this will result in a LOT more file transfers happening. These file transfers "ideally" would occur faster with FSX and your photoscenery on the same drive. But if you CAN get them fast enough with the photoscenerry and FSX on different drives, then you don't have a problem. No pauses...no stutters...no problem. I wish I could give you the "Holy Grail" answer, but it doesn't exist. You have to do things within the limitations of your own computer's hardware availability. Short of having a 1-Terabyte V-Rap drive to put everything concerning FSX on (which to the best of my knowledge doesn't exist), you have to find what works for your computer. And you have to run FSX then with settings that allow it to work correctly. With realistic "expectations", also.My current "total" FSX installation is over 400 GB. 200+ GB of that is photoreal scenery. It is ALL on a 1-Terabyte Raid 0 drive, WITH my Vista 64 OS on it. I keep certain "addons" like GEX, FEX, etc...ones that just "replace" things like textures in FSX from a separate user interface...on external hard drives and "run" them from there if I want to change the things they do change in FSX. FSX runs fine. No stutters, no pauses, no FPS problems. That's with some hefty other addons like complex aircraft addons, AI traffic addons, weather generator addons, and all running on 4 monitors with one video card (TH2G and a 4th side monitor). It can be done. But "purists" would say my setup is certainly not "ideal" in any way, shape, or form. That's fine by me...because I know it WORKS the way I DO have it set up. Even without V-Raps. But I will admit...when the day comes I CAN get 2 V-Raps that would give me 1-Terabyte of storage space, I'll switch to it. :(Good luck with whatever you decide to do. But I suspect you should have no problems once you get things installed and set up correctly. Just do whatever works for YOU with your computer. RickEDIT: Something else just occured to me. If your total FSX installation size will be 500 GB, and you only place 300 GB of it on the Raid 0 V-Raps, that leaves 200 GB of the remaining FSX installation for the other drive...a 150 GB drive. That ain't gonna work...not even including the fact your OS would be on that 150 GB drive to begin with. So...you may actually have to put some "other" things from FSX on the V-Rap Raid 0. Keep in mind...you want enough "free space" available on the 150 GB drive where FSX is located, also. If not enough "free space" is on the drive FSX actually is, you will have problems there also. It seems you have a storage problem any way you do it. Your total drive availability is 750 GB (one 150 GB drive and one 600 GB Raid 0 drive). FSX will take up 500 GB all by itself. That leaves only 33% "free space" available for your entire storage capability...without taking into consideration your OS installation. Seems to me you are going to be in the neighborhood of only about 20% "free space" TOTAL after ONLY installing your OS and FSX. Hmmm....Never a dull moment with FSX, eh? Possible alternative installation strategy: Put FSX on the 600 GB V-Rap Raid 0 drive, with only SOME of the photoscenery on that same drive (the photoscenery you use most often). Place the remaining photoscenery you don't use that often in FSX on the 150 GB drive where your OS is, and "link" it to FSX using the Scenery Library entry for it. Bottom line: You only have a total of 750 GB storage space available, and FSX and your OS is gonna take up close to 600 GB of that (assuming you also have some other programs installed...hopefully...like antivirus software and other "User Maintenance" applications you should be using). You may need to get "creative" to get it all to work.Now you know why I haven't gone "V-Rap" yet. A large FSX installation doesn't "fit" on a V-Rap drive installation...even with multiple V-Raps in a Raid configuration.Rick