Ok, so I've been planning to switch to FSX for quite some time now, aiming for the JS41, the NGX, and maybe the MD-11.I'll post this here even though it might best fit in the FSX forums, so if it needs to be moved again, so be it, and accept my apologises in advance.I'd like to ask for advice on hardware / config (mainly overclocking) of my new rig.As for now, this is what I've planed:AMD ASUS M4A785TD-V EVO AM3 DDR3 PCX HD4200 HDMI ATXAMD PHENOM II X4 965 3.4GHZ SKT AM3 6MB BLACK EDITION 4 GB ( 2X2 GB) DDR3 1600 CORSAIR CL9 PHENOM II 1050W TACENS RADIX III SMART 13.5 CM this MB includes a ATI Radeon

Although I don't have a sick rig I know for the fact that FSX is CPU intensive so GPU shouldn't really matter but if you plan on playing other games other than Flight Sim I would try to buy a cheap graphics card for now and try to wait until those new Nvidia graphics cards come out.

ty Taylor.Exactly why I'm looking to wait and see how FSX performs with the stock card. I don't play any games whatsoever.The only objection about NVIDIA cards is that i've read that I would need another ATI card if I want it to run it with the original one and taking advantage of the crossfire thing of the MB (I think i uses them in paralell or smthg like that)Actually if I don't need another graphic card, I might be overscaling the power supply unit with my original choice (1050W sounds a bit too much maybe, I dunno)

Although I don't have a sick rig I know for the fact that FSX is CPU intensive so GPU shouldn't really matter but if you plan on playing other games other than Flight Sim I would try to buy a cheap graphics card for now and try to wait until those new Nvidia graphics cards come out.

Built in graphics = bad idea if you ask me. I would guess you will see performance difficulties from that - it's not a very powerful card. FSX is CPU limited, but it DOES use the GPU for some things. You certainly aren't going to be able to run any high levels of AA and AF with it and it may limit the resolution you can run as well.I'm very happy with the GTX260 as far as FSX goes - I just got and they aren't very expensive anymore. Nvidia's drivers are much better for FS than ATI's are, I've owned both in the last year. ATI refuses to fix issues with AA, Vsync etc, and that stuff all works great on the 260. I might actually be looking to sell the 260 if the new GTX470/480 perform well in FS. I play other games like Battlefield Bad Company 2 as well and the 260 sorta chokes at times on those brand new things.A 1kW+ power supply is seriously overkill. I would get something like the Corsair 620 or 750 instead - it's very high quality and you don't need 1kW for anything but Quad-SLI systems and stuff like that. SLI/Crossfire does basically nothing for FS anyway.

thanks a lot Ryangonna check nvidia cards availability right now. also what this effin crossfire thing is supposed to do anyway LOL

Crossfire and SLI are systems for using multiple video cards - for instance I could get a 2nd GTX260 and it will combine with the other one to process the graphics in games. The problem with FSX is that it's largely a CPU limited engine (not completely, but the core rendering is very much dependent on CPU power, not the power of the graphics card.) As a result, adding a second GPU just doesn't do much for it. What it's awesome for are GPU limited games like Crysis, the STALKER series and a number of other popular games (usually first person shooters) - you see a massive performance increase from it in those instances. It's not something anyone should be concerned with for FS unless they also play other games.

If your looking at a cheap GPU the budget FSX card is a 9800GT 1gb, thats about $152AUD = $140USD. If It was me, id change the CPU from a AMD to a Q9550, i5 or i7. Ive had AMD cards before, didn't really fancy them.

I guess that would mean a whole new system setup, Aidan. can I please ask what sort of issues you had with it? not seeing quite the performance you would expect in a quad core... bla bla processor? that would really suck :(

I never had a Quad Card, but only a single core card. I found with the AMD Athlon 3000+ 2.1ghz, ATI 3650 512mb and 1gb ram I was getting a solid frame rate of 17FPS with the default C172 and scenery. Then when it came to FlyTampa St Maarten and Captain Sim 767 I got about 5FPS. I have heared from people in the past that they don't like the AMD cards and Intel are better, but you may hear different opinions. I also found that AMD works best with ATI. So if you stick with your current CPU Id go for a ATI 4XXX series or the 5770.

Crossfire and SLI are systems for using multiple video cards - for instance I could get a 2nd GTX260 and it will combine with the other one to process the graphics in games. The problem with FSX is that it's largely a CPU limited engine (not completely, but the core rendering is very much dependent on CPU power, not the power of the graphics card.) As a result, adding a second GPU just doesn't do much for it. What it's awesome for are GPU limited games like Crysis, the STALKER series and a number of other popular games (usually first person shooters) - you see a massive performance increase from it in those instances. It's not something anyone should be concerned with for FS unless they also play other games.

IIRC, the other problem with SLI/XFire is no multiple monitor support, unless they've changed that. I'm probably going to add another card to my system (maybe a 285, maybe a 295), and just run them independtly. With some other screens. I guess if I REALLLLLY wanted to splurge, I could buy the 285 and a secon 260, and SLI the 260s and then run the 2nd or third screen off the 285, but I'm not made of $100 bills (I'm only made of $20s...)

IIRC, the other problem with SLI/XFire is no multiple monitor support, unless they've changed that. I'm probably going to add another card to my system (maybe a 285, maybe a 295), and just run them independtly. With some other screens. I guess if I REALLLLLY wanted to splurge, I could buy the 285 and a secon 260, and SLI the 260s and then run the 2nd or third screen off the 285, but I'm not made of $100 bills (I'm only made of $20s...)

Hey Doug, Just wanted to add my experience of the GTX295 since you list you may be in debate which to get. I would not recommend it and stay with a lesser card personally. I have a 295 & 260 and there have been issues with the 295's since their release, mostly driver support. I'd do your 1st choice if anything, but of course wait til the release of the newer nvidia cards to hopefully lower costs.The 260's a great card and I really don't see much improvement with the 295 anyway,,, just in the reviews, not in performance in my games (there is 0 fps difference between the 2 in FSX).

The Intel CPUs are definitely better than AMDs at the moment. i5 750 OCed to 4GHz is really good for the money I think.

Ryan - In 2 weeks, not sure yet.. I plan to O'C my i5-750, hopefully an entire 1.0 ghz! But aimming for 4.1ghz. No idea what cooler yet, need to run into JW.com.au and see what they reccomened, right now im looking at the CoolerMaster V8. Ill post back to you when its O'Ced.

got it now. it's pretty scary cause only one core is being used by fs9 and fsx. I could understand for 2004, but really no way microsoft could program a 2006 simulator to take advantage of that?I still have to go through nick's post to try and tune it up properly, but first impresion is really bad if you ask me :(

I have to say that FSX IS using all 4 cores now I notice. Not all the time but most of it.4 3,4GHz processors at 100% can't deliver more than 15 FPS :(, even if overclocked to 4GHz (OC doesn't help at all)I included an ATI 5770 and lucky me I did, because without it, the ATI 4200 left me with 2 fps.None of nick's tweaks had any effect, except for lowering those sliders, of course15 fps without addon scenery, with the default cessna and no other programs running? very dissapointingI get 25 without traffic though, and 35+ in the air, but even then the screen freezes for a fraction of second from time to time.I'll keep on investigating, but any help at pointing me in the right direction would be appreciated