Currently running win7 64 bit with 4G of RAM (see my sig). So far, no memory problems have been encountered. During my FSX sessions (usually 1 to 1.5 hours) I show nearly 1G of available RAM. If I fly for longer durations should I expect to run out of available RAM on my rig? I'm thinking of bumping it up to 8G now simply because a matching kit is easily available, or is that extra 4G a solid waste of money and investing it towards a FSX dedicated SSD a better idea. Thanks for reading.

is that extra 4G a solid waste of money and investing it towards a FSX dedicated SSD a better idea. Thanks for reading.

that would be my personal opinion but perhaps you need to do a test:Start from somewhere and fly on autopilot to somewhere else, a flight that takes 8 - 16 hours (while you go do something that you should be doing). See how long it takes to have memory issues, if it does. If it has memory still free after 12 hrs then the SSD would be my recommendation. I don't think the sim can use all 4G anyway. I've never seen it max out my 4G....Loyd

Currently running win7 64 bit with 4G of RAM (see my sig). So far, no memory problems have been encountered. During my FSX sessions (usually 1 to 1.5 hours) I show nearly 1G of available RAM. If I fly for longer durations should I expect to run out of available RAM on my rig? I'm thinking of bumping it up to 8G now simply because a matching kit is easily available, or is that extra 4G a solid waste of money and investing it towards a FSX dedicated SSD a better idea. Thanks for reading.

According to NickN who wrote the excellent guide for setting up FSX and tuning it (http://www.simforums.com/forums/topic29041.html) "FSX is a 32bit application and as such even when run in a 64bit operating system memory amounts greater than 4GB will be of little use to FSX directly, however, when applied with a 64bit OS and i7 FSX SP2 (or RTM/SP1 with edited fsx.exe files) will be allowed access to a full 4GB with other processes and applications running along side having access to more (over and above). Therefore 6GB (3x2GB) i7 systems as addons and aircraft become more complicated will benefit FSX on a 64bit OS. If you switch to i7 you are far better off on 3x2GB than 3x1GB in system memory." If you haven't already, you might take a look at his article/tutorial for more info. In regards to SSD, you should check out the AVSIM hardware forum where there have been some discussions regarding the use of SSD drives with FSX. Best regards,Jim

Thanks for the replies. I'm familiar with the NickN guide, and that's what sort of prompted my interest in the extra RAM. I was just wondering if anyone with RL experiences with maxing FSX address space would chime in with a definative answer.In hindsight, if I had my built my system solely for FSX I've would have gone for a X58 based system with 6G tri-channel memory, but I had other requirements and limitations at that time. I'm strongly leaning towards the extra ram, mainly considering what other unknowns the future may hold.

Thanks for the replies. I'm familiar with the NickN guide, and that's what sort of prompted my interest in the extra RAM. I was just wondering if anyone with RL experiences with maxing FSX address space would chime in with a definative answer.In hindsight, if I had my built my system solely for FSX I've would have gone for a X58 based system with 6G tri-channel memory, but I had other requirements and limitations at that time. I'm strongly leaning towards the extra ram, mainly considering what other unknowns the future may hold.

I cannot answer specifically about the difference between 4 or 6 gigs of ram. I am running FSX in the VERY SAME FOLDER by 2 different systems: XP64 and Windows7-64. Both systems run very very nicely much better than a 32-bit system. I would say that windows-7 has the edge. My recommendation, go with SIX GIGS, it would come in handy for other applications such as VIDEO for example.Abe