Quoted form brucets above: "That sounds like a great ride Mitch!!! Here's a few pics from 2 bike trips I made in the last couple years. Doesn't look near as good in FSX though! I'll try Nova Scotia in FSX!"What a killer slide show dude!! Believe it or not, I've ridden to all those sites (sights?) too over the years. Like it!! Love it!! Want more of it!!When I was in Nova Scotia (Cape Breton Island--anti-clockwise of course) I stopped at a point where one could get right down to the shore of the Bay of St. Lawrence. The beach was a stone beach, not sand or soil. The sound it made as the waves washed in and out remains in my mind to this day. I was there 30 years ago. Magic beyond belief. Yes, teary eyed.

That sounds like a great ride Mitch!!! Here's a few pics from 2 bike trips I made in the last couple years. Doesn't look near as good in FSX though! I'll try Nova Scotia in FSX!http://www.vimeo.com/8671426Bruce

Great Pics, Bruce!We did that ride about five years ago. That shot of the Stagecoach Route just south of Flagstaff really brought back memories. I used to live in Phoenix (just off Central Avenue) for a number of years, and so we headed back there for a ride from Chicago to Phoenix, then onto San Diego, Vegas, and home through the Bad Lands, etc... BTW, it is funny how we tend to fly the places that we live at currently, or have lived at during our lives. I have forced myself to branch out into FSX's world and see what there is. I have been most pleasantly surprised by the varied topography that FSX can dish out. In fact..that is why I purchased UTX and GEX EUROPE. Time to break out of merely 'familiar' places, or staying put flying over N. America. Done that...have the T-shirt. I have been flying of late a lot in Germany, and am having a blast doing so. This is where FSX really shines...the low and slow, rubber-necking kind of flying....3, 500 ASL up above it all..and enjoying all the terra-forms within FSX. Great stuff, all!Mitch

Quoted form brucets above: "That sounds like a great ride Mitch!!! Here's a few pics from 2 bike trips I made in the last couple years. Doesn't look near as good in FSX though! I'll try Nova Scotia in FSX!"What a killer slide show dude!! Believe it or not, I've ridden to all those sites (sights?) too over the years. Like it!! Love it!! Want more of it!!When I was in Nova Scotia (Cape Breton Island--anti-clockwise of course) I stopped at a point where one could get right down to the shore of the Bay of St. Lawrence. The beach was a stone beach, not sand or soil. The sound it made as the waves washed in and out remains in my mind to this day. I was there 30 years ago. Magic beyond belief. Yes, teary eyed.

----------------------------------------------------Then my friend, fly the Gaspe Peninsula in FSX..and then do the ride for real!Start at Quebec City..and then take the St. Lawrence side around to Gaspe at the tip ...check out and walk out to the famous 'Prudential Rock'...lol....watch the tide......and then come around the other Atlantic side. The people are first rate, the fresh-baked in the stone oven bread alongside the road is first rate, with cheese and wine, and the Cod that could be caught by you, just melts in your mouth. Be prepared to (make time...) to stop at each little fishing village (oh...check out the GOLD LEAF spires of the churches in the area!) and just enjoy that mount you are sitting on! As you said, just wonderful stuff..... Biking and flying (for real) are truly very similar experiences. One, merely banks into the wind with two square inches only...touching the ground....the other....nothing touching the ground.... :) Both pass on the same feeling of FREEDOM...ahhhhhhhhhhh....... Spring....where are YOU!?!?!??Mitch

Been there, done that, as the saying goes. In 1995 Joyce (wife) and I rode from here (Eastern WV) up to Cape Breton and around there for several days, on to the Gaspe and around there (in the bloody rain) then on across the Canadian Rockies via the Trans Can Highway and down to Seattle WA, on to the Black Hills SD and home. 10,000 miles (not nm or air miles), 30 days, BMW R100RT. We moteled that trip to save time and weight.We had fun.

Been there, done that, as the saying goes. In 1995 Joyce (wife) and I rode from here (Eastern WV) up to Cape Breton and around there for several days, on to the Gaspe and around there (in the bloody rain) then on across the Canadian Rockies via the Trans Can Highway and down to Seattle WA, on to the Black Hills SD and home. 10,000 miles (not nm or air miles), 30 days, BMW R100RT. We moteled that trip to save time and weight.We had fun.

Wow...I'd say that qualifies into the 'Iron Butt' league!You know...because of flight simulation, and having taken FSX around to some parts of the country that I have not actually been....like the Fraser Valley in British Columbia, Canada, in the next phase of my life post-retirement (and truly this is not a 'we-must-do-lunch-sometime' thing), I have discussed with my wife that I would like to get my 'ticket' VRF/IFR/Instrument/Night Rating and look at a Cessna StationAir 6 Amphibian. This model as per my screen shots has both land and water operation. The only way that I have convinced by wife to travel via air with me, and our family to fill the other four seats...is the fact that any suitable lake, river, ocean, city or town reservoir, road, and field can be an unexpected 'runway' for if something should happen that it needs to be. She really feels better that all those lakes and rivers down below (other than dedicated airfields...) can be a landing point. I agree. Not to mention that my sister lives on a lake, and that we are looking at lakefront property ourselves in the Carolina's.... So...I find myself flying a lot with the plane that so far...has caught my eye.... I REALLY like the fact that you have the economy of a single engine, a six seating capacity, and that as stated...you have more options if that engine were to go silent......and you did not turn it off! :)The real deal...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usEktxc_cDM...feature=relatedThis plane as the Amphib Turbo model.....----------------------> I'm sold! :) This is what I fly in FSX and FS9...and it is great! :

Mitch

Wow...I'd say that qualifies into the 'Iron Butt' league!You know...because of flight simulation, and having taken FSX around to some parts of the country that I have not actually been....like the Fraser Valley in British Columbia, Canada, in the next phase of my life post-retirement (and truly this is not a 'we-must-do-lunch-sometime' thing), I have discussed with my wife that I would like to get my 'ticket' VRF/IFR/Instrument/Night Rating and look at a Cessna StationAir 6 Amphibian. This model as per my screen shots has both land and water operation. The only way that I have convinced by wife to travel via air with me, and our family to fill the other four seats...is the fact that any suitable lake, river, ocean, city or town reservoir, road, and field can be an unexpected 'runway' for if something should happen that it needs to be. She really feels better that all those lakes and rivers down below (other than dedicated airfields...) can be a landing point. I agree. Not to mention that my sister lives on a lake, and that we are looking at lakefront property ourselves in the Carolina's.... So...I find myself flying a lot with the plane that so far...has caught my eye.... I REALLY like the fact that you have the economy of a single engine, a six seating capacity, and that as stated...you have more options if that engine were to go silent......and you did not turn it off! :)The real deal...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=usEktxc_cDM...feature=relatedThis plane as the Amphib Turbo model.....----------------------> I'm sold! :) This is what I fly in FSX and FS9...and it is great! :

Mitch

Hey Woodhick---WOW! That's a major league bike ride!! The RT is a great scoot for that though! My trips have always been in the 8-9 day time frame. I do have close to half a million miles of saddle time though. Am currently on my 54th motorcycle!Mitch, I am not a ppl and never will be. I spent my entire working career in the airline and travel business so I have lots of hours at major airports and on most of the commercial airliners from DC3s and Convair 580s to the Concorde to 777s. That's why I only play with the commercial stuff in FSX. Just can't get interested in low and slow. Maybe with PNW and the rest of the U.S. from ORBX I would do more of that. In the mean time I fly primarily from Denver to the major U.S. airports and sometimes to Heathrow and Gatwick. Love England!I lived in WNC for 5 years (Brevard) and rode every road including Eastern TN, WV and VA. That is a wonderful place!!!! Did the Dragon twice and wondered what the big deal was ---as every road out there was spectacular!! Just getting up and down my driveway was a challenge!BrucePS - One of these days I would love to hear an update on your new i975 system. At first it was the end all system that overpowered FSX. Then you overclocked it. Then you went back to stock settings. Then you asked about the forthcoming 980 chips. I get the feeling that you're not quite as thrilled as you were at first. Does FSX still need more hardware improvements?

PS - One of these days I would love to hear an update on your new i975 system. At first it was the end all system that overpowered FSX. Then you overclocked it. Then you went back to stock settings. Then you asked about the forthcoming 980 chips. I get the feeling that you're not quite as thrilled as you were at first. Does FSX still need more hardware improvements?Hi Bruce,As to the above, I find the i7-975 to be a fabulous system on the whole. The reason that I went back to Dell stock speeds (a 27 on the multiplier as delivered by Dell) was that I found I was able to do so after having upgraded to W7 64 Ultimate from what came with the system; Vista 64 Ultimate. As per my General Screen Shots in the Screen Shot Forum, I get OVER 30 FPS when even using the FPS Limiter Software, my system wants to buck it up, and fights the hold-down, lol. In FS9, as per some of my S.S.'s I maintain 60 FPS quite easily. Now with the benefit of lower temperatures and the chip sticking around for a while.As regards my 'pondering out loud' on the i7-980, it was more to the view that I don't see how another two cores can make truly any difference to justify anybody going from a four-core i7'x' chip when running either FS9 or FSX. I did say that if there was a complete rewrite of a flight simulator that could use any multi-cored chip you could throw at it...then and only then, would I might upgrade yet again...but it would have to be a landslide increase to warrant myself leaving behind my 975! The short answer;....you couldn't get my system away from me unless my hands were cold and dead! That, you can take to the bank...lol.Cheers!Mitch

PS - One of these days I would love to hear an update on your new i975 system. At first it was the end all system that overpowered FSX. Then you overclocked it. Then you went back to stock settings. Then you asked about the forthcoming 980 chips. I get the feeling that you're not quite as thrilled as you were at first. Does FSX still need more hardware improvements?Hi Bruce,As to the above, I find the i7-975 to be a fabulous system on the whole. The reason that I went back to Dell stock speeds (a 27 on the multiplier as delivered by Dell) was that I found I was able to do so after having upgraded to W7 64 Ultimate from what came with the system; Vista 64 Ultimate. As per my General Screen Shots in the Screen Shot Forum, I get OVER 30 FPS when even using the FPS Limiter Software, my system wants to buck it up, and fights the hold-down, lol. In FS9, as per some of my S.S.'s I maintain 60 FPS quite easily. Now with the benefit of lower temperatures and the chip sticking around for a while.As regards my 'pondering out loud' on the i7-980, it was more to the view that I don't see how another two cores can make truly any difference to justify anybody going from a four-core i7'x' chip when running either FS9 or FSX. I did say that if there was a complete rewrite of a flight simulator that could use any multi-cored chip you could throw at it...then and only then, would I might upgrade yet again...but it would have to be a landslide increase to warrant myself leaving behind my 975! The short answer;....you couldn't get my system away from me unless my hands were cold and dead! That, you can take to the bank...lol.Cheers!Mitch

Mitch ---OKay, so you are completely satisfied that FSX is performing flawlessly. That's great. But, How about the popping of autogen and scenery tiles into and out of focus---and shimmering? I upgraded to the Q6600 @ 3.6Ghz with a GTX8800 768Mb Ultra GPU about 3 years ago. Even though I followed Nicks setup guide I get the popping autogen and scenery tiles and some shimmering everywhere, and occasional autogen spikes in highly detailed areas. In those dense areas I can't have the autogen slider past sparse using the default or posky airliners. Does your system solve those problems? In this Denver to Jackson Hole video you can see the popping autogen as I am getting close to Jackson. Does your system smooth this out?? It's my main beef with my system and FSX. I am guessing that even your system would display the same popping affect using the same settings and scenario and that it is just one of the short comings of FSX. I think Phil Taylor called it *alpha fade* and he said that they didn't get around to fixing it with SP2. Do you think ANY further developments in hardware will polish FSX to the degree that it should have been?http://www.vimeo.com/9094488Bruce

Mitch ---OKay, so you are completely satisfied that FSX is performing flawlessly. That's great. But, How about the popping of autogen and scenery tiles into and out of focus---and shimmering? I upgraded to the Q6600 @ 3.6Ghz with a GTX8800 768Mb Ultra GPU about 3 years ago. Even though I followed Nicks setup guide I get the popping autogen and scenery tiles and some shimmering everywhere, and occasional autogen spikes in highly detailed areas. In those dense areas I can't have the autogen slider past sparse using the default or posky airliners. Does your system solve those problems? In this Denver to Jackson Hole video you can see the popping autogen as I am getting close to Jackson. Does your system smooth this out?? It's my main beef with my system and FSX. I am guessing that even your system would display the same popping affect using the same settings and scenario and that it is just one of the short comings of FSX. I think Phil Taylor called it *alpha fade* and he said that they didn't get around to fixing it with SP2. Do you think ANY further developments in hardware will polish FSX to the degree that it should have been?http://www.vimeo.com/9094488Bruce

Bruce, I looked at your video again, and I do have some mountain terrain that will 'firm up' but not be grossly forming ahead of the aircraft. I think that everybody has this, but it is of how fast the 'firming up/my term' is done, is how much less of an irritation factor it becomes. I can say this...if you go out and grab an i7-975/nVidia GTX285 running driver suite, 195.62 and have the latest nHancer as well.... and, have the 975 running at anything over 3.6 GHz, you will get what I have shown my system to render in the Screen Shot Forum. Take a look at some of the screens where I had on the FPS counter. It's all there. You will get stunning results. I have no intentions of upgrading unless I can see that there truly is some payout MEGA BEYOND what I am fabulously getting with the above specs. The above will guarantee smiles on your face, and virtual air-miles in your log. :)

Bruce, I looked at your video again, and I do have some mountain terrain that will 'firm up' but not be grossly forming ahead of the aircraft. I think that everybody has this, but it is of how fast the 'firming up/my term' is done, is how much less of an irritation factor it becomes. I can say this...if you go out and grab an i7-975/nVidia GTX285 running driver suite, 195.62 and have the latest nHancer as well.... and, have the 975 running at anything over 3.6 GHz, you will get what I have shown my system to render in the Screen Shot Forum. Take a look at some of the screens where I had on the FPS counter. It's all there. You will get stunning results. I have no intentions of upgrading unless I can see that there truly is some payout MEGA BEYOND what I am fabulously getting with the above specs. The above will guarantee smiles on your face, and virtual air-miles in your log. :)

OKay, Mitch! Your screen shots are great, indeed, but they don't (and can't) show the popping textures the way a video does. My FPS is more than adequate most of the time, but the popping textures occur even at 60+. I think I'll stay with my current rig for the foreseeable future. I'll watch for the 980 chip reviews here on this forum and see what gives. BTW I did a trip around the island as you suggested. Very nice indeed with the Fall colour! Wish I was doing the bike trip!!Bruce

OKay, Mitch! Your screen shots are great, indeed, but they don't (and can't) show the popping textures the way a video does. My FPS is more than adequate most of the time, but the popping textures occur even at 60+. I think I'll stay with my current rig for the foreseeable future. I'll watch for the 980 chip reviews here on this forum and see what gives. BTW I did a trip around the island as you suggested. Very nice indeed with the Fall colour! Wish I was doing the bike trip!!Bruce

Bruce, what your video showed...was what I think, as you say, everybody has some of...textures that 'firm up' over land class layout. If that is what is bothering you, and you get great frame rates..then absolutely stick with what you have. I just honestly think that we have pretty well squeezed out what both FS9 and FSX can give...and we have to wait for a totally modern render engine if a new flight sim is to come along....BTW, nice vid! :)Yes, FSX does a good job of Cape Breton.Mitch

Bruce, what your video showed...was what I think, as you say, everybody has some of...textures that 'firm up' over land class layout. If that is what is bothering you, and you get great frame rates..then absolutely stick with what you have. I just honestly think that we have pretty well squeezed out what both FS9 and FSX can give...and we have to wait for a totally modern render engine if a new flight sim is to come along....BTW, nice vid! :)Yes, FSX does a good job of Cape Breton.Mitch

Roger that, Mitch! I think FSX is what it is. I just landed at Sydney on Cape Breton a few minutes ago. A very pleasant afternoon!! Thanks for the suggestion. My wife and I are seriously looking at a 14 day Fall Color Cruise from Cape Liberty, NJ thru the Maritimes to Quebec City and back in September of this year or next. After flying around Cape Breton this afternoon I am all pumped up about it! Will have to see what the income tax refund fairy leaves us!Cheers!Bruce

Roger that, Mitch! I think FSX is what it is. I just landed at Sydney on Cape Breton a few minutes ago. A very pleasant afternoon!! Thanks for the suggestion. My wife and I are seriously looking at a 14 day Fall Color Cruise from Cape Liberty, NJ thru the Maritimes to Quebec City and back in September of this year or next. After flying around Cape Breton this afternoon I am all pumped up about it! Will have to see what the income tax refund fairy leaves us!Cheers!Bruce

----------------------------------------------------We visited Quebec City about five years ago, and down in LOWER TOWN (the part of Quebec City that is on the waterfront, and not on the cliff...) there was this small church that to the side of the Alter, was a battle-scarred CONFEDERATE FLAG! I asked the tour guide about it, and she said that a battalion of Southern Confederate troops had had enough of the Civil War, and came up to Canada to escape the bloodshed. The men settled in and around Quebec City, and the church where the flag is to this day, became their place of worship and a gathering of sorts. There is so much rich history that abounds within and around Quebec City...that you could take a month, and still not take it all in. We hope to go back one day, and absorb a little more... :)Cheers!Mitch

Southern Nova Scotia is quite nice, too, for those who are looking for a vacation. I'm quite fond of the Bay of Fundy and also the Lunenburg area on the other side. Kejimkujik National Park has some great canoeing.For those looking to visit Nova Scotia in FSX, you might want to check out simaddons (I don't think that's been mentioned in this thread yet).

----------------------------------------------------We visited Quebec City about five years ago, and down in LOWER TOWN (the part of Quebec City that is on the waterfront, and not on the cliff...) there was this small church that to the side of the Alter, was a battle-scarred CONFEDERATE FLAG! I asked the tour guide about it, and she said that a battalion of Southern Confederate troops had had enough of the Civil War, and came up to Canada to escape the bloodshed. The men settled in and around Quebec City, and the church where the flag is to this day, became their place of worship and a gathering of sorts. There is so much rich history that abounds within and around Quebec City...that you could take a month, and still not take it all in. We hope to go back one day, and absorb a little more... :)Cheers!Mitch

That's very interesting, Mitch. Wonder how those Rebs got to Canada!!! Have always wanted to visit Quebec City and see the Hotel Frontenac and the fort, etc. That ship is in port from about noon to noon so we'll have about 24 hours there. I'm a history buff so I'll try to get two half day tours in.If you are interested I uploaded this 2006 bike trip video: http://www.vimeo.com/9222048and this FSX TWA 747 DEN to SFO: http://www.vimeo.com/9275241Take care!Bruce