To bwallis

[jerryuscg 1]

"Sorry fellows, I have both on my computer and yes I do fly FS9 quite a bit due to certain sceneries and various addons, however, I made the big upgrade to a high end gaming machine 6 months ago and have my FSX sliders maxed and with a few tweaks of the cfg my FSX rocks and the dynamic scenery, moving vehicles, boats and high end addons, its a thing of beauty, even in 3D with my GeForce 3D Vision. "I'm thinking of "adding" FSX, not deleating FS2004, this fall when hardware has a little more time to improve, I'd like to know what you went thru when you switched over to FSX. Probably like you, I have hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars invested into FS2004.WHAT DO YOU LOOSE WHEN YOU MAKE THE SWITCH ?Aircraft, scenery, upscale airports, mesh, special programs ect..... Can any of these FS2004 be saved and used in FSX or do you have to start all over from scracth ? Thanks jerrycwo4

[Chock 17,769]

I've got quite a bit of photorealistic scenery that was released for FS9 installed in FSX, an example would be the Just Flight VFR UK scenery that was released for FS2002/FS2004. Needless to say it can't directly install into FSX since there is no option to do that in the installation program, but you can install it into FS9 and then copy the folder over from FS9 to FSX and it works just fine if you do that and manually enable the scenery. Of course it won't be at the kind of resolutions FSX can handle, but then again, photo-real is photo-real, so there you go.You can also do that sort of thing with a fair bit of FS9 scenery, such as airports, although some work will and some will not, so a bit of trial and error is often in order.Al

[1st fltsimguy 466]

"Sorry fellows, I have both on my computer and yes I do fly FS9 quite a bit due to certain sceneries and various addons, however, I made the big upgrade to a high end gaming machine 6 months ago and have my FSX sliders maxed and with a few tweaks of the cfg my FSX rocks and the dynamic scenery, moving vehicles, boats and high end addons, its a thing of beauty, even in 3D with my GeForce 3D Vision. "I'm thinking of "adding" FSX, not deleating FS2004, this fall when hardware has a little more time to improve, I'd like to know what you went thru when you switched over to FSX. Probably like you, I have hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars invested into FS2004.WHAT DO YOU LOOSE WHEN YOU MAKE THE SWITCH ?Aircraft, scenery, upscale airports, mesh, special programs ect..... Can any of these FS2004 be saved and used in FSX or do you have to start all over from scracth ? Thanks jerrycwo4

Good question:Its all the above. but its not about losing stuff but what you might be gaining, however, you will need to open up your wallet or use your credit/debit card again. For instance I have FS9 Misty Fjords, Tongass, Vancouver FS addons and none of those work in FSX you need to "replace" with the FSX versions. If you are a FS Navigator user like I am - this planner does not work in FSX so consider a replacement like FS Commander, any FS9 custom scenery is likely that custom to FS9, different landclass, textures etc do not work in FSX.FSX is loaded with great features already built in but some aspects of ground textures are annoying and you will want to get replacement textures from freeware or various payware packages. The UT series can be ported to FSX and that is explained in the support forums, I did that before purchasing UTX the real deal.So you will be keen right off the bat like me to start building the new sim. There are lots of great freeware addons you can pull down to start without spending money but there are a suite of must have's you should consider investing on as soon as possible, that would depend on you financial ability to do so. IE all UTX products, North America, Alaska, Europe, the FS Addon, Tongass Fjords, and Vancouver +, and soon to be Misty FJords, Anything ORBX/FTX like FTX-PNW and OZ are musts, Ground Environment Pro (NA/Europe) is also a very good addon, REX2 (which I do not have yet). I do not yet have all these products but they are well know to be superior addons.I have my FS9 on a separate drive and loaded to the hilt and still use if for certain flights or planes or scenery.I have my FSX on another separate drive and am building it as fast as I can.

[Guest 747-fan]

Yup, you don't need to choose either/or just yet. I kept using both for over 6 months. The worst part for me was getting my head around the FSX views system and the keyboard shortcuts being slightly different. As for addons - a lot of FS9 addons have been ported over to FSX, but it seems that the "pure" FSX addons have better framerates and look more detailed. If I was starting over, I'd first get the PMDG J41, any of the accusim A2A planes, REX, any ORBX scenery package and UT USA or Europe.

[jerryuscg 1]

Thanks for all of the great info. I have already been saving. The very "top of the line" FSX rig from Jetline ( where I bought my FS2004 rig) is going to cost close to $7000 ( a so so used car). I know thats a lot to a lot of people but Flight Sims are my MAIN hobby and thats just what it'll take. I'm going to keep my "dedicated" Fs2004 rig and have a completely new computer built for FSX but I am going to wait until this fall until I do. Thanks jerrycwo4

[some1 65]

The "top of the line" PCs are very overpriced when you consider how much performance gain you get over medium range computers. Usually its twice the price for 10-20% performance increase, plus the high-end hardware loose value very quickly as new and faster products are released. So unless you really have the money to buy everything from the top shelf, better stay in medium-high product range.FSX requires different approach than FS2004 in that even with top PC you won't be able to set all sliders in game to 100% without any tweaks, load complex addons and get good FPS. Just forget about maxing sliders and enjoy the view.

[1st fltsimguy 466]

Thanks for all of the great info. I have already been saving. The very "top of the line" FSX rig from Jetline ( where I bought my FS2004 rig) is going to cost close to $7000 ( a so so used car). I know thats a lot to a lot of people but Flight Sims are my MAIN hobby and thats just what it'll take. I'm going to keep my "dedicated" Fs2004 rig and have a completely new computer built for FSX but I am going to wait until this fall until I do. Thanks jerrycwo4

Wow! I say if thats what you want go for it. Personally if I were you I would shop around some, my rig cost $2000 and its loaded but not very top of the line. I personally think you could find the top of the line at $3,000. Why not save a bit on the computer at that level and consider all the addons you will be able to go out an get right away.

[jerryuscg 1]

747fan said, " The worst part for me was getting my head around the FSX views system being slightly different......"What was he talking about. I use 3 monitors for a full 180 degree view? I dont want any "view" problems that I dont know about. Thanks jerrycwo4

[Mike T 211]

Thanks for all of the great info. I have already been saving. The very "top of the line" FSX rig from Jetline ( where I bought my FS2004 rig) is going to cost close to $7000 ( a so so used car). I know thats a lot to a lot of people but Flight Sims are my MAIN hobby and thats just what it'll take. I'm going to keep my "dedicated" Fs2004 rig and have a completely new computer built for FSX but I am going to wait until this fall until I do. Thanks jerrycwo4

Jerry:That is INSANELY overpriced (assuming you are quoting US Dollars). The fastest CPU on the market retails for about $1,100 and the fastest video card weighs in about $500. Unless you are putting this in a platinum / diamond encrusted case, there are no components that will cost you the remaining $5400. From an FSX standpoint, it won't make any use of multiple CPUs or multiple video cards so there is no need to purchase them. You don't need any more than 4GB of the fastest RAM unless you are planning on running a server in the background or planning on doing a lot of multitasking applications. Also, if you learn to build your rig yourself you will save thousands of dollars.Not, deriding your passion by any means, but at $7,000 you are being milked like a cow! I'll be building a new rig later this year, I don't know if I'll look at FSX because I already have a very high end system (can run Cysis all sliders maxed at 40 FPS) so for me it is about spending another $3,000 to buy all of my add-ons again.

[Guest belga1]

Hello,Maybe it's 7.000 Zimbabwean dollars ?1 US $ = + - 41 972 ZW $ Seem's very cheap config .. ROFLRegards.Gus.

[jerryuscg 1]

No guys, it's real U.S. dollars, greenbacks, bucks etc. I still have NOT figgured out just what is SO special about FSX over FS2004. What is the big deal????? Why would I even want a new rig for FSX. No one has been able to tell me ?? jerrycwo4

[FlyAndFight 37]

No guys, it's real U.S. dollars, greenbacks, bucks etc. I still have NOT figgured out just what is SO special about FSX over FS2004. What is the big deal????? Why would I even want a new rig for FSX. No one has been able to tell me ?? jerrycwo4

I have both flight sims and still fly both but FSX has really taken over much of my flying time due to the addition of the EZdok/EZCA program. That program alone has taken the immersion factor to the next level for me. But aside from that, the fidelity of detail is far sharper in FSX and truly makes a difference, particularly when flying low. Throw in the EMBseries for bloom effects (freeware) and it only gets more realistic.Here are a couple of videos showing the amazing EZCA effects in action:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hizQtFWMhc...feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvXQBOMktj4...feature=relatedAnd here it is, working with Track IR: (simply amazing)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhofJbEcmFMI highly recommend FSX and truly is worth trying it out, especially with the above addons thrown in.

[cmpbellsjc 2,963]

No guys, it's real U.S. dollars, greenbacks, bucks etc. I still have NOT figgured out just what is SO special about FSX over FS2004. What is the big deal????? Why would I even want a new rig for FSX. No one has been able to tell me ?? jerrycwo4

In my opinion $7000 is way to much to spend on a computer system, when you could buy the parts seperately and either assemble it yourself or have a shop put it together for you. 2 years ago I had the system in my sig put together by Microsoft in Dallas for a total of about $1700 including the Window OS and using the same monitor I already had. Frankly, I think that if you have compared screen shots of both sims, say from a non biased source like on the GEX and GE Pro websites, or looked at other FSX shots like the ones Soya posts here in the screen shot forum, and you cant tell much of a difference, then you should probably just stick with FS9 and save yourself the money and hassel of setting it up and tweaking it. Personally the cosmetic difference alone in FSX is enough for me, but some have said that they think FSX looks cartooney, which I still dont see. Since they are both not the real thing I would reason they both look cartooney.When I built my rig 2 years ago it was for FS9 as I had no intention of going to FSX based on all the negative posts I read about it. Another fellow talked me into installing FSX first just to see how it was before I reinstalled FS9. I have been using FSX ever since as it performs great on my "antique" computer system and I am a flyer of complex airliners, lots of AI, etc. Just for kicks about 3 months ago I was bored one day and decided to reinstall FS9 for the first time after 2.5 years just to see how much difference it was performance wise to FSX. After spending about 2 days installing all my airports, Ge Pro, Ultimate Terrain, AI, photosceneries, patches, and the final tweaks, I was quite surprised to see that performance in dense hubs with lots of AI and the LDS 767 I used as a test vehicle, wasn't that much better than what I am getting in FSX, and to boot it looked a lot worse when it came to the GE Pro ground textures vs. GEX ground textures. I flew about 5 different flights into major hubs to compare and that was it for FS9 for me. I am back to FSX. I know that FSX isn't for everyone and a lot of people struggle to get good performance. I guess I am one of the luck few judging from the forums that can fly heavies in it.Good luck Jerry what ever you do, but PLEASE dont let someone take $7000 from you for a computer system.Regards

[jerryuscg 1]

Thanks so much to all of you for you timely replies. I know that it took a long time for such detail replies. I dont ever plan to fly a real aircraft so I really enjoy the eyecandy scenery that I get from FS2004. My "custom" Fs2004 rig has a 2nd harddrive installed with nothing on it. I think I'll invest for the price of FSX just to check it out for myself. It will not be a complete test because the "default" install of FS2004 looks NOTHING like my "custom" install of FS2004 with all of my addons but that's about as close as I can get. Thanks again for your great replies. jerrycwo4