Latest and greatest realistic FSX hardware

Well back with another episode of realistic hardware for FSX in 2011.Am going to list what I have and why and then let the Sidewinders have at it.First the Flight Sim hardware and software:FSX w/ SP1 and SP2. Level-D 767 or PMDG 747-400. Want to add 737NG (new one from PMDG) and 777 also from PMDG and 757 from Level-D (it won't happen in my life time. My how long did it take to get winglets (they are wonderful but like pulling teeth to convince those folks that the winglets had a huge demand. TrackIR ver 4.. Radar Contact (instead of VATSIM due to lack of coverage to my favorite destinations). FS2Crew voice edition for the 767 and 747. For now using the kinda real-time FSX weather soon to be replaced to ASE. Only use WoAI AI planes as they don't put the huge strain on FSX..the stock AI is a killer. Saitek yoke and rudder pedals. Can't afford the NICE ones..only $500+. Also want the $500 4-engine throttle that is out there..not going to happen. May add some of the extra Saitek units like the radio stack. 90% of my FSX add-on ware is running on the system now, wondering if the X6 will be a positive influence. I know FSX does multi-core but can it make use of six? I could set one core aside for my "extras" but would rather let FSX and Windows 7 Pro 64-bit sort it out. MB: Gigabyte GA-790FXTA-UD5. Decided overkill as I'll never do anything such as play games (Don't get me started if you call FSX a game..even if M$ does). Will run only one video card and use it for mundane uses such as email, office software, web-surfing and watching web TV....and FSX. Oh, now a GIGABYTE fan since the company I used since my first build, ASUStek has simply lost it IMO. Their reputation is now the pits in many circles.Processor: AMD Phenom II x4 955 BE. Great chip and have it OC'd from 3.2MHz to 3.8MHz without pain. Have a CoolerMaster V8 cooler that keeps prime95 happy at 59C at 3.8MHz. But change on the horizon. Keep the MB and replace the processor with the Phenom II X6 1090T OC'd to maybe 3.6MHz. If people that do FSX for a living, like me since retirement, agree on anything, it is that FSX is a unabashed CPU HOG. I know FSX does multi-core but can it make use of six? I could set one core aside for my "extras" but would rather let FSX sort it all out. Changing out the V-8 for the Corsair H70. The specs and reviews I've read say they would do the job. And boy would that make it easier to navigate around the processor.Memory: 2x2GB G.Skill PC3-12800 / DDR3-1600 - F3-12800CL9-2GNBQ. The size is right. System has never gone to the forth stick and barely the 3rd stick. May replace with G.SKill F3-12800CL7D-4GBECO 2x2GB. This memory has tighter timings 7-8-7-24-2N and runs at a paltry 1.35V. Current memory is 9-9-9-25-2N and needs at least 1.5V. And the ECO memory is only $67 now on NE.PS: SeaSonic X-750 SS-750-KM Plus 80-Gold Couldn't be happier with this VERY quiet unit and its neat fan. Should be enough for my projects.HDD: 2x250GB WD and 2x1TB WD. Have carefully placed the active FSX files on the 1TB drive on the outer tracks and the critical files like .bgl at the outside edge tracks. Every recommendation I've heard urges this type of allocation. Won't do RAID-0 as I've never found ANY bang and am paranoid of seeing a RAID-0 get screwed up, even with proper backups. The other software is optimized on other drives. Placement does make a difference. Also haven't seen a concrete situation where the Raptor returned what the money you paid gave back. Have heard that the 7200 RPM 1TB drives work darn well when set up the way I do.Case: CoolerMaster Sniper. Big as a Boeing assembly hanger. No issue there.Now the most controversial part: the Video Card. First, my second card is an ATI 4850. The reason it is second is that IMHO after reading little stories that the design team preferred the nVidia or only had use of the nVidia. Another point. When FSX was created, video cards weren't nearly as sophisticated as they are now. With that thought, having a huge expensive G-Wizz card on a system that was not at all designed for the new bells and whistles, like the new DirectX 10 made no sense. I bought a nVidia for it is supposed to run faster on FSX and that has been my experience.Remember what I'm running. Small stuff and FSX. Memory hungry FSX. I've heard various folks say DirectX 10 is worth turning on in FSX, I've heard others say that was some of the worst code that was written. So it is forever off. My current card is a BFG GTX 260 OC. Alright I hear BFG closed their doors to video cards, but the ones left sure had some crazy good numbers. I like the memory bandwidth of 111.9 GB/sec. Move all that magic code in and out fast would seem to be to be a good idea. The texture fill rate seems impossible as well with 42.5 GB/sec. Some of the much higher cards of the time could hardly keep up. It does only run DirectX 10. So what? One could say FSX doesn't either. So of all listed, is there justification to go for a fancier card like the EVGA GTX 285 SSC 01G-P3-1287 that also has very good numbers? How about a GTX 460 EVGA SSC+ w/backplate - 01G-P3-1380-KR that has outstanding numbers. Should that make my heart pump faster? The ONLY stress on the system are my 19 hour real-time flights. Will the complexity of the new architectures cause FSX to slow down as many have reported?My system works nearly perfectly. The sliders in FSX are set VERY aggressive and nary a glitch. Yes, have made some minor changes to the NVIDIA Inspector settings for FSX and the fsx.CFG. Am only confused by the BUFFER parameter.Am an old fart that has wasted well over 3000 hours since my first FS, ver 1. ah subLogic. Bruce Artwick and the gang. Have had every version since. And for a person that has commented that this is the last version of FSX because it was so bad...BS. I worked for the 2nd largest software company to M$ and one day the ENTIRE staff for a product that was in alpha testing, some 19 of us were given our pink slips when our company was acquired. It wan't ACES, it was the suits that don't have a clue about FSX except to say that the product did not fit the long term direction of the corporation. What a crock.Safetys off, let those sidewinders make me smarter or at least retired while having the right stuff for FSX. REMEMBER FSX, NO GAMES.

Edited March 8, 201115 yr by crash_geh