I have read many blogs about how to set up and install and tweek FSX many of which contradict others (RAID or not, AA or not etc) or require considerable specialist knowledge and expertise.I have tried to set up my own FSX + UTX + all the upgrades a few times and I am fed up with the seeming impossibility of it. For example there are so many bits and patches to reinstall and all in the right order that I cannot remember all the details. In order to install it all properly one has to become fanatical and that takes the joy out of this otherwise excellent programme.Why cant the software read my machine and make its own decisions based on my GT8800 and whatever? I realise that it does run, after a fashion, out of the box. But it seems to me unreasonable to demand advanced computer literacy before it can be made to run well.There is satisfaction to be had from a successful tweek in the config file but IMHO many (especially me) have not the faintest idea of all that is going on under the bonnet. I am no longer prepared to imitate a monkey in fron of a keyboard trying to produce a Shakespearian sonnet. :( Maybe levitation would be easier to learn . . . rhha

Why cant the software read my machine and make its own decisions based on my GT8800 and whatever?

To tell you the truth... it can! The default settings you get after installing FSX are based on your system specs and are different on every computer. The problem is that everyone thinks the suggested settings are too low: everyone wants more eye candy, so they turn up the sliders and start complaining about bad fps and so on... :(Apart from that: FSX only has two patches, which isn't that much and complicated. If you want to add addons to make things look better (and perform worse), yes, then things can get VERY complicated indeed. :( :(

Rhha:The main thing you have to know (and are finding out) about FSX... And FSX in particular... Is that it is not coded very well at all. It is based on very old code whose origins date back to almost a decade ago. And that code hasn't changed very much in the preceding decade, either.That said, there ARE things you can do improve YOUR simming experience. The key word being "YOUR". As in what do YOU want to get out of the sim?I'm not trying to lecture you, but I have to stress FSX can be a very fun and enjoyable experience...1) Assuming you have adequate amount of hardware to run it2) You accept you have to make concessions in visuals vs. performance given the type of flying you like to do.Number two is the most important aspect, IMO.It's even more important than having the right hardware because there are no consumer computer components currently available to my knowledge that can run FSX with every single slider at the right and maintain playable e.g. non-single digit frame numbers. This is just the nature of this program. This is why you have to make concessions and be willing to adjust the settings depending on the kind of flights you like to do; IFR vs. VFR, weather conditions, areas you are flying into and out of, etc.For example, when I fly heavies... I have to turn down the autogen to Sparse. That's just the way it is on my machine. And I accept it. I wish I could have autogen all the way up like when I fly GA, but that's not possible on my rig. It might be on others, but not mine. And I accept this... And more importantly, I am grateful ACES gives me (us) the opportunity to do this instead of forcing us to stick with predetermined profiles like a lot of games are resorting to because they are console ports that don't require a lot of hardware power to begin with.

Maybe levitation would be easier to learn . . .

I don't know......but this post tells you exactly what you need to do to install and tune FSX to include the proper order of installation of UTX and patches.There's no levitation required and its not rocket science. It's quite evident you have not spent much time in this forum asking for help yet you have no problem coming in here to throw poo. Makes me wonder....................http://www.simforums.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=29041

Sargeski is right. Membership of a forum such as this implies enthusiast. Enthusiasts appreciate that Knowledge is Power, but it's nothing without Application of Knowledge. If you won't, can't or can't be bothered, then simply reinstall the basic FSX, apply the patches or Acceleration, fly default aircraft on default settings and leave it at that. Your experience will be satisfactory.For the rest, try the search function of this forum. The information is here, or the links to it.

While these guides may be helpful, they do not consider the specific hardware you may be running and the settings recommended may not be supported on your hardware.

While these guides may be helpful, they do not consider the specific hardware you may be running and the settings recommended may not be supported on your hardware.

Agreed. I don't believe in guides. I've done a lot of them in the past, also NickN's one (after a discussion on another forum about hard disks I even tested Nick's complete O&O defrag schedule again yesterday, without ANY luck... again), but I can't say they helped me. Right now I only have ONE tweak applied to my fsx.cfg (Bufferpools) because that clearly helps my GTX285 (and AFAIK it's about the only tweak ACES suggested as being helpfull with nowadays better hardware), but everything else in my cfg's is default and I have FSX simply setup using the ingame FSX sliders and me eyes: there isn't a better guide than that. My Windows 7 install is also an out-of-the-box install (apart from that useless and incredible time consuming defrag session yesterday, although that's not really a tweak, of course)! And I like what I have right now! :) (Using DX10-preview here btw.)BTW Nick N's guide is exactly what scares the OP off, so I don't really understand why that link was posted. If someone who is new to FSX and who is used to simply installing games and playing them, it's guides like those that might make people think OMG, what's THIS?!? That guide is completely over the top and way too much for the regular computer user. So rhha, install FSX, install the patches, if you want to use the Bufferpool tweak according to the graphics card you have (that tweak alone might scare a lot of people already) and then move the sliders in FSX around until you are happy with FSX's smoothness. Then leave those sliders and tweaks and guides alone and simply enjoy flying around!

While these guides may be helpful, they do not consider the specific hardware you may be running and the settings recommended may not be supported on your hardware.

Which is where knowledge of your own system and its limits comes in. I agree not everyone has this knowledge, but it is fairly simple if you use some common sense. For example, if you have a dual-core CPU (not overclocked), you know that using settings recommended for users with quad-core i7 CPUs is going to be futile, so you tone said settings down.A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, but lack of common sense is more dangerous still.

BTW Nick N's guide is exactly what scares the OP off, so I don't really understand why that link was posted.

Nick's guide is one of the easiest and well written guide for tuning FSX ever produced. I'm sure even my Gran (God rest her soul) could have followed it, particularly if she had managed to install FSX, and any associated add-ons, managed to navigate to the AVSIM website and sign up for an account, and open her e-mail and confirm the account. If you get my drift :( The percentage of people the guide helps is far higher than those it does not, which is why you'll find it is posted in threads asking about performance/tuning/making the sim run better. 9 out of 10 times it helps the person needing the help. :(

If the OP is not familiar with, or cannot use the instructions by NickN, then this could be the alternative, it's the complete opposite approach, to put it mildly.Mathijs Kok from Aerosoft get 50 FPS+ with an old ATI Radeon 4650 card!It's hysterical, follow the discussion:http://www.forum.aerosoft.com/index.php?sh...=30796&st=0IMO it's all about your needs...Are you a visual perfectionist and a tweak-geek more than an aviator, then use Nick's advise.If you dont give a **** - then do as Mr. Kok! :(