Hey folks, I am avid 20 year fan and user of MSFS. As I have aged, I have slowly become more and more ignorant on techs and specs - but quite frankly have always found it challenging to sort out all of the information on good hardware setups on MSFS with respects to over clocking, core usage or not, CPU versus GPU weighting. So you guys have always been much smarter than me on this...I know there is still no silver bullet though...Here is what I am interested in...-Completely new PC and monitors...-My only requirement is that I be able to use (3) monitor setup. I will purchase new monitors at same time. -I do not want to learn how to overclock...Questions...- I have read up on the ATI "eyefinity". Looks pretty good... do you guys recommend this? if so which brand? If not, what is best setup for (3) monitor display?-Also - what is best Motherboard and processor - without buying more processor - in terms of cores - than FSX will utilize?-Finally, what is best operating system now? xp, vista, 7, ... 32 or 64 bit?Thanks in advance for your expert advise!Richard

Eyefinity is great. It's the ideal solution for a 3 or more monitor setup. Don't even think about Matrox's old Triplehead2Go solution. Overclocking isn't nearly as difficult as you believe it to be. It's certainly not a matter of "learning how to overclock". You can buy an X58 board from Gigabyte or Asus and an i7 920/930/950/960/975/980 and overclock using specific settings that others have found to be stable with the given set of hardware. After you pick a board and a CPU, you can search the forum for overclocking advice using a search string with "overclock" and the model of your motherboard. After copying down the settings you find, a 2 minute trip into the BIOS is all that's needed to get a free, much-needed performance boost. MSFS just isn't the same sim when using stock CPUs. Overclocking delivers playable framerates at settings that stock CPUs simply can't touch. Trust me, it's worth it. Windows 7 is the only O.S. worth considering, IMHO. Windows XP is ancient, and Vista is only worth it if you already have it. Likewise with the 32-bit vs. 64-bit question, 64-bit is the only way to go.

-------------Eyefinity is great. It's the ideal solution for a 3 or more monitor setup. Don't even think about Matrox's old Triplehead2Go solution.

TgMax- Hope you can answer a question on Eyefinity. Can you open new FS 2D views (Fwd L, Fwd R etc) - undock and drag them to monitors 2,3,4 etc to create a single wide view, spread across all mons?Can you, in Panel Cfg, adjust the start angle of such outer views to compensate for bezel separation of the views? (so creating a unified, very wide view)If this is possible, it's a winner!Alex Reid

TgMax- Hope you can answer a question on Eyefinity. Can you open new FS 2D views (Fwd L, Fwd R etc) - undock and drag them to monitors 2,3,4 etc to create a single wide view, spread across all mons?Can you, in Panel Cfg, adjust the start angle of such outer views to compensate for bezel separation of the views? (so creating a unified, very wide view)If this is possible, it's a winner!Alex Reid

Alex - really great question that I am also interested in finding out. Guess I could call ATI directly unless someone here knows...

Eyefinity is great. It's the ideal solution for a 3 or more monitor setup. Don't even think about Matrox's old Triplehead2Go solution. Overclocking isn't nearly as difficult as you believe it to be. It's certainly not a matter of "learning how to overclock". You can buy an X58 board from Gigabyte or Asus and an i7 920/930/950/960/975/980 and overclock using specific settings that others have found to be stable with the given set of hardware. After you pick a board and a CPU, you can search the forum for overclocking advice using a search string with "overclock" and the model of your motherboard. After copying down the settings you find, a 2 minute trip into the BIOS is all that's needed to get a free, much-needed performance boost. MSFS just isn't the same sim when using stock CPUs. Overclocking delivers playable framerates at settings that stock CPUs simply can't touch. Trust me, it's worth it. Windows 7 is the only O.S. worth considering, IMHO. Windows XP is ancient, and Vista is only worth it if you already have it. Likewise with the 32-bit vs. 64-bit question, 64-bit is the only way to go.

Thanks for taking time to respond and give advise techguymaxc - I appreciate your input and will take your suggestion on overclocking.

TgMax- Hope you can answer a question on Eyefinity. Can you open new FS 2D views (Fwd L, Fwd R etc) - undock and drag them to monitors 2,3,4 etc to create a single wide view, spread across all mons?Can you, in Panel Cfg, adjust the start angle of such outer views to compensate for bezel separation of the views? (so creating a unified, very wide view)If this is possible, it's a winner!Alex Reid

I posted your question to AMD video and here is the response... What do you folks take from this with regards to "yes it does it or no it doesn't"?Dear Customer,Your service request : SR #{ticketno:[8200292814]} has been reviewed and updated.Response and Service Request History:Thank you for providing us with your information. Please refer to the following responses included:1. Can you open new FS 2D views (Fwd L, Fwd R etc) - undock and drag them to monitors 2,3,4 etc to create a single wide view, spread across all mons? Typically, multiple views are conditional upon the application. However, try to adjust and manipulate additional views with ATI Hydravision. Refer to support.amd.com for the additional plug-in/add-on.2. Can you, in Panel Cfg, adjust the start angle of such outer views to compensate for bezel separation of the views? (so creating a unified, very wide view)Normally, any additional bezel separation is compensated in the latest Catalyst 10.x Suite as a standard default. If you continued to see bezel nonuniformity, please report your issue to AMD Software Engineering through the Catalyst Crew Feedback Form. Please encourage others who have experienced the issue to do so as well.Catalyst Crew Feedbackhttp://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages...ewFeedback.aspxhttp://forums.amd.com/game/messageview.cfm...;threadid=88116In order to update this service request, please respond, leaving the service request reference intact.Best regards,AMD Global Customer Care

I posted your question to AMD video and here is the response... What do you folks take from this with regards to "yes it does it or no it doesn't"?Dear Customer,Your service request : SR #{ticketno:[8200292814]} has been reviewed and updated.Response and Service Request History:Thank you for providing us with your information. Please refer to the following responses included:1. Can you open new FS 2D views (Fwd L, Fwd R etc) - undock and drag them to monitors 2,3,4 etc to create a single wide view, spread across all mons? Typically, multiple views are conditional upon the application. However, try to adjust and manipulate additional views with ATI Hydravision. Refer to support.amd.com for the additional plug-in/add-on.2. Can you, in Panel Cfg, adjust the start angle of such outer views to compensate for bezel separation of the views? (so creating a unified, very wide view)Normally, any additional bezel separation is compensated in the latest Catalyst 10.x Suite as a standard default. If you continued to see bezel nonuniformity, please report your issue to AMD Software Engineering through the Catalyst Crew Feedback Form. Please encourage others who have experienced the issue to do so as well.Catalyst Crew Feedbackhttp://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages...ewFeedback.aspxhttp://forums.amd.com/game/messageview.cfm...;threadid=88116In order to update this service request, please respond, leaving the service request reference intact.Best regards,AMD Global Customer Care

Looking up ATI Hydravision, I got this spec- Quote-"Expand your horizons overview--Hydravision

Richard- looks like we aren't going to get a definitive answer for Eyefinity re multiple 2D FS views and how Bezel Correction is done. Too new I presume. However, to adjust accurately for bezel separation in any multi monitor arrangement, you must, one way or another, be able to input the relationship between main screen horizontal width and the precise distance the secondary monitors are separated by bezels. Otherwise bezel correction is really only an averaged guesstimate. The eye/brain combo is pretty discriminating in deciding if three different images are really unified or merely three separate pics. So one hopes that Eyefinity might have an arrangement to enter specific monitor measurements as part of a truly effective bezel correction feature. Especially so when there are an unlimited supply of physically different monitors!Alex Reid

whaT many dont undertsanding about overclocking and building PC' s today is that its now more simple than ever before to DIY. Mobo makers and pc component makkers in general now target the For Dummies user. So that - overclocking your PC from BIos is now as simple as setting the time.- My gigabyte UD7 bios will not allow me to OC my CPU beyond a certain point till the PC has booted and restarted succesfully on that setting.- Just built my first PC , and the most complicated part of the build was my lian li case not the Mobo.- Gigabyte even has a tool to let you OC from windows by setting a dial that looks like something from a game, OC doez eazy theze dayz

My only requirement is that I be able to use (3) monitor setup. I will purchase new monitors at same time.

I

Hey Guys - Thanks for the replies. I did actually circle back with tech support at AMD / ATI via telephone and got a chatty guy that was very familiar with fsx that gave me a lot of time and detail on eyefinity with FSX. Basically he said the biggest challenges are with folks that are trying to "retro" fit the card with older PC's and "existing" monitors. One thing he mentioned that may be very common knowledge but that I completely missed in my research is that the "eyefinity" will NOT work on windows XP... Period... i am at the point that I am convinced there is no silver bullet so I just took the plunge and ordered the following..I haven't figured out which memory to go with, If price wasn't an issue what would be your recommendations?Item List: 1 x ($249.99) HD 2T|ST 7K 64M SATA3 ST32000641AS - OEM $249.991 x ($234.99) PSU CORSAIR|CMPSU-1000HX 1000W RT - Retail $234.991 x ($289.99) MB ASUS P6T DELUXE V2 1366 X58 RTL - Retail $289.991 x ($699.99) VGA MSI | R5970-P2D2G HD5970 RT - Retail $699.003 x ($129.99) MNTR ASUS|LCD 20" 5MS VH202T-P RT - Retail $389.971 x ($139.99) WIN PRO 7 64-BT ENG 1PK DSP OEI DVD - OEM $139.991 x ($69.99) CPU COOL CM|RR-UV8-XBU1-GP R - Retail $69.991 x ($1089.99) CPU INTEL|CORE I7 980X 3.33G R - Retail $1089.991 x ($31.99) DVD BURNER LITE-ON | IHAS424-98 R - Retail $31.991 x ($19.99) DVD ROM LITE-ON|iHDS118-04 18X % - OEM $19.991 x ($418.99) SSD 128G|CRUCIAL CTFDDAC128MAG-1G1 - Retail $418.991 x ($159.98) CASE CM|RC-932-KKN1-GP BK RT - Retail $159.98Forgot to include the monitor stand I went with...It is the Ergotron Triple Display Stand. Here is the link: http://www.amazon.com/Ergotron-Triple-Disp...7944&sr=8-1

I just read this http://www.techspot.com/drivers/driver/fil...ormation/13383/It sounds to me that there is a hotfix to support xp