Thanks for sharing your thoughts, gentlemen. I

Crewe,I just noticed in your very first post at the top, that you said you are currently using XP 32-bit, and you asked if a 64-bit OS would help. Absolutely. In fact, if you had to choose between a new hard drive and an OS upgrade from 32 to 64-bit, I'd do the OS upgrade first. The difference between TRYING to run FSX on a 32-bit OS vs actually having it run on a 64-bit OS is night and day. You are resticted to FSX only using 3 GB of your RAM on a 32-bit OS. With a 64-bit OS, FSX can use 4 GB. May not sound like much difference, but it can be the difference between FSX crashing, Out of Memory errors (OOM's), and a host of other FSX performance problems.

I could be wrong or maybe this is a typo but I believe he recommends NOT using RAID for your OS or FSX unless you have a dedicated RAID controller.The VelociRaptor has seemed to give me a major boost in load times.

Yep, that was a typo - thanks for catching that. NO raid, unless you have a dedicated (and really good) controller.

I have just got a new PC with a dedicated drive for FSX and a larger drive which the manufacturers recomend the add-ons go onto. However, I can't for the life of me work out how to get FSX to recognise where the aircraft and scenery add-ons are stored. Am I just being dumb ? Any advice gratefully received.Banananav

I have just got a new PC with a dedicated drive for FSX and a larger drive which the manufacturers recomend the add-ons go onto. However, I can't for the life of me work out how to get FSX to recognise where the aircraft and scenery add-ons are stored. Am I just being dumb ? Any advice gratefully received.Banananav

AFAIK there is no reason to install FSX addons on a seperate drive...? You can install scenery on a seperate drive and then manually add them using the Scenery library, but it's not a common thing to do. And AFAIK planes really have to be installed into the FSX directory... Programs like FEX or REX can be installed on another drive, but even the things they give you (textures) are always installed into the FSX directory. Which manufacturers are you talking about...?

AFAIK there is no reason to install FSX addons on a seperate drive...? You can install scenery on a seperate drive and then manually add them using the Scenery library, but it's not a common thing to do. And AFAIK planes really have to be installed into the FSX directory... Programs like FEX or REX can be installed on another drive, but even the things they give you (textures) are always installed into the FSX directory. Which manufacturers are you talking about...?

Not true Jeroen. I am currently installing FSX and my addons on my new i7. It has 2 Velociraptors and one WD Caviar Black 2T 64mb hard drive. I configured it that way BECAUSE my FSX installation (on my old Q9650) was over 500GB in size with all the addons. There is no way I could get that on ONE velociraptor.The main FSX folder in on one of the Vraps, along with addons for it that should (or in some cases...MUST) be installed to the main FSX folder. Things like UTX and other addons that I will NEVER be disabling in the Scenery Library. I am placing many of my OTHER addons on the 2TB WD...photoscenery, for example, and linking them to FSX via the Scenery Library. Photoscenery addons can be huge...MegaSceneryEarth California (the whole state) is over 80GB all by itself. There is no way I could put that on the same VRap drive where FSX is (with other stuff, too) and maintain a reasonable amount of "free space" on the Vrap (or even exceed it's storage capacity altogether). BASICALLY, if there is an entry in the Scenery Library for the addon, AND it does NOT have to be installed directly to the main FSX directory, it is going on my WD 2TB drive. So far, everything works just fine. That new WD Caviar Black 2TB drive is very fast, and FSX is purring along with no problems whatsoever.A LARGE FSX installation just won't fit on ONE Vrap drive, so you are going to HAVE to put many other things...including some addons that make Scenery Library entries...on one or more other drives if you want to use them with FSX.You are correct about "texture only" replacement programs like GEX...IF all they do is "swap" textures in and out of FSX using a user interface BEFORE you run FSX. I actually installed GEX on an EXTERNAL hard drive, and can just run the user interfaces from there. I wouldn't put something like the entire REX on an external drive though...it has OTHER things it does besides just "swap textures" in and out of FSX.Rick

I am currently installing FSX and my addons on my new i7. It has 2 Velociraptors and one WD Caviar Black 2T 64mb hard drive. I configured it that way BECAUSE my FSX installation (on my old Q9650) was over 500GB in size with all the addons. There is no way I could get that on ONE velociraptor.

Edit to my above in my last post (too late to do it directly):The reference to the WD Caviar Black 2TB drive should have said "64mb CACHE". It's still a 2TB drive. :( Also, if you read my previous posts in this thread, you'll notice I did change my FSX installation configuration. I did dedicate one of the vRaps to FSX only, and I'm using the WD 2TB drive for addons that can be linked to FSX by using the Scenery Library (as long as they aren't required to be installed in the main FSX folder directly).Also, with something like GEX "texture only" addons...you can put the BACKUP texture folders they create on an external drive, too. That's where I had GEX save the initial FSX default backups it creates...on the same external drive I installed the GEX programs. No use using any of your internal high-speed drives storage space just to save backup files from FSX.So far, everything is working outstandingly. No stutters, pauses, slow loading textures, etc. FSX is running like a charm in even the most intense scenery areas.

Not true Jeroen. I am currently installing FSX and my addons on my new i7. It has 2 Velociraptors and one WD Caviar Black 2T 64mb hard drive. I configured it that way BECAUSE my FSX installation (on my old Q9650) was over 500GB in size with all the addons. There is no way I could get that on ONE velociraptor.

Okay, of course disk space is a good reason to install addons on a seperate drive, but I don't know how big banananav's dedicated drive is. If things would fit on it, I don't think there is a real reason to install addons on a seperate drive. I mean, it's not common to do this, as in 'this is what everyone does and it's the way to go to get the best performance'. Dedicating a drive to FSX is indeed wise and good and common, but putting addons on a seperate drive is less common. Well, at least AFAIK. :( Anyway, I doubt if banananav's question is answered :( : I do think aircraft HAVE to be installed into the FSX directory, so you always have to point the installer to your FSX folder (if it doesn't do that already by itself). Scenery can be installed on another drive and you can use the Scenery library to add the scenery manually (if the installer doesn't add the scenery automatically when you install it elsewhere). If you are using Windows 7, you can read how to do that here.

This thread has got me wondering how important hard disk cache size is in a (non-RAID) system with FSX using multiple drives. I had assumed that "more hard disk cache implies faster load times of scenery, implying better frame rates and less stutters"... is it fair to assume that the scenery files are mainly benefiting from the larger cache hard drives as opposed to addon aircraft and other FSX files being read?

...is it fair to assume that the scenery files are mainly benefiting from the larger cache hard drives as opposed to addon aircraft and other FSX files being read?

It can't hurt. :( That's the reason I bought and use the WD Caviar Black 2TB drive for SOME of my addons. I'm still installing FSX from scratch on my new i7. I have two VRaps and use one for my OS and the other for my "main" FSX install. The 2TB WD 65MB Cache drive so far has over 270GB of photosceneries installed on it and linked to the FSX Scenery Library. FSX is running beautifully this way. Initial load times for FSX and flights are still under 30 seconds total time. The WD 2TB drive is composed of FOUR separate 500GB platters with FOUR separate seek arms, and each seek arm uses TWO arms for faster access (new technology...search the 'net to learn more about it). Some folks said it wouldn't be as fast as a VRap spinning at 10,000 RPM. It doesn't have to be. The drive configuration on the 2TB with the four platters and the new seek technology loads everything for FSX plenty fast enough to not make FSX wait for anything while flying. It's a lot less expensive than buying 6 VRaps, and with the main FSX installed on one Vrap, it is working outstandingly.

It can't hurt. :( That's the reason I bought and use the WD Caviar Black 2TB drive for SOME of my addons. I'm still installing FSX from scratch on my new i7. I have two VRaps and use one for my OS and the other for my "main" FSX install. The 2TB WD 65MB Cache drive so far has over 270GB of photosceneries installed on it and linked to the FSX Scenery Library. FSX is running beautifully this way. Initial load times for FSX and flights are still under 30 seconds total time. The WD 2TB drive is composed of FOUR separate 500GB platters with FOUR separate seek arms, and each seek arm uses TWO arms for faster access (new technology...search the 'net to learn more about it). Some folks said it wouldn't be as fast as a VRap spinning at 10,000 RPM. It doesn't have to be. The drive configuration on the 2TB with the four platters and the new seek technology loads everything for FSX plenty fast enough to not make FSX wait for anything while flying. It's a lot less expensive than buying 6 VRaps, and with the main FSX installed on one Vrap, it is working outstandingly.

It can't hurt. :( That's the reason I bought and use the WD Caviar Black 2TB drive for SOME of my addons. I'm still installing FSX from scratch on my new i7. I have two VRaps and use one for my OS and the other for my "main" FSX install. The 2TB WD 65MB Cache drive so far has over 270GB of photosceneries installed on it and linked to the FSX Scenery Library. FSX is running beautifully this way. Initial load times for FSX and flights are still under 30 seconds total time. The WD 2TB drive is composed of FOUR separate 500GB platters with FOUR separate seek arms, and each seek arm uses TWO arms for faster access (new technology...search the 'net to learn more about it). Some folks said it wouldn't be as fast as a VRap spinning at 10,000 RPM. It doesn't have to be. The drive configuration on the 2TB with the four platters and the new seek technology loads everything for FSX plenty fast enough to not make FSX wait for anything while flying. It's a lot less expensive than buying 6 VRaps, and with the main FSX installed on one Vrap, it is working outstandingly.

Jeroen & RickThanks for the advice - my set-up is just like Rick's , 2 x 60GB drives for the OS and FSX and a 1TB for add-onsHowever, I was unsure if aircraft could be accessed if on the 1TB drive - clearly not so I won't waste further time on itChris

AFAIK there is no reason to install FSX addons on a seperate drive...? You can install scenery on a seperate drive and then manually add them using the Scenery library, but it's not a common thing to do. And AFAIK planes really have to be installed into the FSX directory... Programs like FEX or REX can be installed on another drive, but even the things they give you (textures) are always installed into the FSX directory. Which manufacturers are you talking about...?

It is quite commen to have scenery on a separate drive, in fact I have all of my scenery on a second drive.Also, it is easy to have aircraft on a separate drive, just alter the fsx.cfg [Main] section:SimObjectPaths.6=J:\!FSXAircraftSimObjectPaths.7=J:\!AIAircraftSimObjectPaths.8=J:\!WOAI_AircraftSimObjectPaths.9=J:\!FTXAI_AIRCRAFTSimObjectPaths.10=j:\!MAIW_Aircraft

Jeroen & RickThanks for the advice - my set-up is just like Rick's , 2 x 60GB drives for the OS and FSX and a 1TB for add-onsHowever, I was unsure if aircraft could be accessed if on the 1TB drive - clearly not so I won't waste further time on itChris

Well, I've got two 300GB Vraps...but the idea is still the same. I wanted the largest Vrap I could get for the primary FSX install because there are some addons I place in the main FSX directory to get better performance from them. With addons like all the UTX products and several other complex scenery ones both freeware and payware (Tongass, Victoria +, Vancouver +, ORBX FTX), the size of the FSX main installation can get big relatively quickly. Not to mention the complex aircraft addons like the PMDG's and Flight1's. My last FSX "main" folder install on my Q-Core was already over 100GB all by itself.My OS Vrap has some other simulations on it, but none of them are anywhere near as large nor demanding as FSX, so they work fine from there with the new i7. NASCAR Racing 2003, rFactor, and Orbiter 2006 are the three primary ones I run from the OS drive. I still have plenty of room on the 300GB Vrap OS drive with Win7 there so as not to have to worry about "free space" problems for a long, long time there yet. Actually, in the near future I'm going to network my new i7 to my old Q9650 and run a 6 monitor setup for both of them. Then I'll put the other sims back on the Q9650 'cos they ran fine on it. Then my i7 will be solely dedicated to FSX. I'm just waiting right now for all the dust to settle between the ATI Eyefinity, new nVidia GF100 and GF200 Surround GPU's, and the recently announced new MATROX TH2G GXM that allows six monitors to be run from one video card for Surround Gaming. When it becomes apparant which method will be the best to use now (and the most upgradable path for the future), I'm gonna be spending some bucks on a Surround Gaming monitor setup from h*ll to replace my current Analog TH2G running at 3840 x 1024. :(