Hello All,I was wondering perhaps if someone from the PMDG team could tell us what the computer specs are for the screenshots provided on the site? Because I want buy a new system and completely copy their system!Blake

great screen shots do not equal great performance. I just got a new rig core i7 920, 6 gig ddr3 gtx 260 winVista 64x, and I can tell u that still even the I can get bad frame rates sometimes.J T Collins

great screen shots do not equal great performance. I just got a new rig core i7 920, 6 gig ddr3 gtx 260 winVista 64x, and I can tell u that still even the I can get bad frame rates sometimes.J T Collins

I also have a Core i7 rig and as mentioned, smooth simming is a lot more complicated than just throwing hardware at it. But there a plenty of other threads on that topic. :(

Hello All,I was wondering perhaps if someone from the PMDG team could tell us what the computer specs are for the screenshots provided on the site? Because I want buy a new system and completely copy their system!Blake

Hi Blake,My rig is home built (saved a TON of money that way).The guts of the machine are:ASUS P6T DELUXE motherboardCore I7 920 (quad core HT 2.66Ghz)CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) EVGA GTX 285 with 1GB 512-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0Windows Vista Ultimate (64 bit)I am extremely happy with this machine. Yes, there are areas where frame rates still drop dramatically if I have massive amounts of traffic (I use MyTraffic) in a high density area (like JFK) in heavy rains with all sliders cranked to the right, but overall, I have not found a situation where the sim isn't completely flyable with minor sacrifices. With default planes, there is no issue (frame rates in the tripple digits). With PMDG addon airplanes, I'm getting very comfortable frames and totally smooth performance. If you want to spend some extra money you can go for the extreme Core i7 to boost performance even more.

Thanks Vin,Exactly what I was looking for - just wanted to have an idea of what you guys were running. Thanks for your input.Blake

Blake,I am running a custom built computer that I built myself 2.5 years ago with the following parts:Core 2 Duo E6600 o/c to 3.6GHz4GB Corsair Dominator 8500C5D2 x 250gb WD Caviar HDs 7200rpm768mb eVGA Nvidia Geforce 8800GTX video cardWindows XP Professional (and running Windows 7 RC on a third HD)All of that in an Antec 900 case with a Noctua NHU-9F CPU cooler and an aftermarket Thermaltake GPU cooler on the video card in place of stock cooler.The above mentioned system runs FSX with sliders 3/4 to the right averaging 55fps with default aircraft and 35fps with the MD-11, 30fps with the J41, however I don't have default traffic enabled however I plan to install Ultimate Traffic at a later date.For a 2.5 year old system, it is fairly fast as mostly I have the system overclocked 24/7 and runs very cool thanks to the Antec 900 case. Eventually I will upgrade to the latest stuff but I'll give my system another 2 years before I do. Might I add that Windows 7 runs very fast on the same system compared to XP Pro and FSX with the same setup that I have on XP, I get roughly 5-8 fps more with the MD-11.Cheers,

Thanks JasonI think I'm going to wait another year as well. I just want (like we all do) to run FSX with everything maxed out one day. I'm actually running FSX on a 24" iMac, in bootcamp. I get surprisingly good FPS, but I think I'll need to upgrade to a better video card.Thanks again to all you PMDG guys sharing your rigs. Its interesting to see what systems are being used to create these awesome birds.Cheers, Blake

Blake,I have a late 2008 macbook pro (unibody) and have FSX installed with the J41 and it runs remarkably well. I have most sliders ranging from half to 3/4 and I get average 18 fps which is pretty decent for a laptop considering its a core 2 duo at 2.4GHz and 2 gigs of DDR3 ram installed as well as a 256mb Nvidia 9600 Mobile. I think most of you guys can squeeze a little bit more out of your computers by overclocking, its not that difficult however its a bit time consuming as you have to do a stress test between tweaking parameters and find that sweet spot. Granted, it took me a couple weeks just to find that sweet spot, but for the cost I paid in acquiring those parts, its a relatively a bargain!I would say for those who want to squeeze more out of their buck, overclocking is the way to go if you have the time and patience. Of course it depends entirely what parts you acquire especially a motherboard that is an enthusiast board meaning its built for overclocking. The board I have is an eVGA 680i which I consider the best and stable board for overclocking. Of course by now its quite old lol!Cheers,

FSX is poorly coded, so even a super computer would choke.If FS is the reason you're building a new rig, look into the claims that low-end cards are better for performance.I have a 7950GX2 and get shockingly GREAT performance out of the MD-11 with all sliders maxed (except for AutoGen, Bloom and AI) *AFTER I HAVE TAKEN OFF AND CLIMBED ABOVE 4,000 FT*.I regularly see 100+ FPS, and over 200+ in the cruise with the MD-11.FSX is very slow, low to the ground in particular.Intel Core2 Duo E6700 (stock - 2.66 GHz)4Gb DDR2 800 MHz (stock)P5W DH Deluxe MoBo (i975X chipset)ASUS GeForce 7950GX2 (stock)Vista Ultimate 64-bit SP2FSX SP2Best regards,Robin.

My current specs are in my signature - I'm gonna upgrade soon to an i7 rig...RSR has a machine very similar to Vin's but with the Core i7 965 Extreme in it.

great screen shots do not equal great performance. I just got a new rig core i7 920, 6 gig ddr3 gtx 260 winVista 64x, and I can tell u that still even the I can get bad frame rates sometimes.J T Collins

I have actually heard that the i7 makes a huge difference in FSX give more frames and the game overall is smoother. Idk if you didn't overclock your I7 920? Maybe that could help you get some extra frames. I heard getting higher then 3.0ghz on your cpu helps alot.

I have actually heard that the i7 makes a huge difference in FSX give more frames and the game overall is smoother. Idk if you didn't overclock your I7 920? Maybe that could help you get some extra frames. I heard getting higher then 3.0ghz on your cpu helps alot.

shes at 3.4 and i'm telling you, when u add Aerosoft Scenery PMDG planes and some WX w/GEX and UTX with some WofAI Traffic and you fly around Boston or New York or San Fran you can bring her to her knees. Thats not even with all the sliders right (ie Autogen Traffic etc). FSX i don't think is properly 'threaded' or coded for that matter. I can run cyrsis like my g/f &@($* and same with call of duty, but w/e. J T COLLLINS