Hi. I just bought FSX Gold a few days ago. I have not installed it yet because my current laptop is old and slow but I ordered a new one and should have in two weeks or so. In the mean time I’m trying to figure some things out.My first question is about specs; is this going to be enough to run FSX with some nice add-ons?

Envy 17 3D• Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit• 2nd generation Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM (2.0 GHz, 6MB L3 Cache) with Turbo Boost up to 2.9 GHz• 1GB GDDR5 Radeon™ HD 6850M Graphics [HDMI]• 6GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)• 750GB 5400RPM Hard Drive with HP ProtectSmart Hard Drive Protection• 17.3" diagonal Full HD HP 3D Ultra BrightView Infinity LED Display (1920x1080)

My second question is about Acceleration. Should I install it or go with SP2 instead? My understanding is that they are mutually exclusive. Is that correct?My third question is about add-ons.Planes. I’ll buy the 737 NGX from PMDG when it comes out. It’s my favorite plane and perfect for the type of flying I plan to do (2 to 3 hour flights).I’m also thinking of getting the Level D 767. I’m also looking for a small prop plane with which to fly around the West Indies, let’s say, but I have no idea what to get.REX. Is it as good as it looks in the pictures? Will it run smoothly with specs I posted above? And is it worth the money.Airports. I plan to buy some airports and will concentrate on either N. America or Europe (I can’t really see myself doing intercontinental flights) but I have no idea which area to pick. European airports seem to be more numerous but mostly from Aerosoft…are they any good? I’ve heard others praise the work of FlyTampa and FSDreamteam but not so much that of Aerosoft. Am I wrong about that? That’s it all for now. If you have any specific recommendations (planes, airports or something else) please let me know. Thank you very much.

Get Accel., it contains sp 1 and 2,so you won't need to fiddle with those.Your laptop seems fine, but it's hard to predict. You may want to spend the waiting hours reading up on tweaks for the fsx-config.Don't wait up for the 737ngx, it's been coming soon for a couple of years. Read the reviews also on the LD 757 to see if they're heavy on framerates.REX is amazing, high def. clouds could bring down frames, I have a fairly capable rig and turn down cloud settings, and it still looks amazing.Aerosoft airports are said to be heavy on frames, some of them at least. You should google reviews.Welcome to the neighbourhood!Bjorn

FSX and Laptop and high resolution addons.... Not likely to give you good performance.Sorry :(

FSX and Laptop and high resolution addons.... Not likely to give you good performance.Sorry :(

I don't know that much about computers but I think the laptop I bought will be pretty powerful. Am I wrong?

I don't know that much about computers but I think the laptop I bought will be pretty powerful. Am I wrong?

It depends what your expectations are. Laptops are not ideal platforms for FSX, if like the rest of us, you expect amazing performance and brilliant graphics all the time. Most power-towers don't even achieve this all the time. If you are purchasing your laptop specifically to run FSX, you should reconsider. But if you are just happy to tear about the sky for fun, then the laptop should meet your needs.Eric

It might be a powerful laptop as far as laptops go. But as far as fsx goes it is pretty weak.Most people are running fsx at it's best at 4ghz or there abouts. Just to give you an idea.Obviously this is not definitive as everyone has a different setup and needs.My pc has a 512mb gfx card 4ghz processor 4gb ram several hdd's and it was only when I clocked my processor to 4ghz did I finally get some decent results.This of course is only my view and I'm sure others will suggest other things but I would seriously question how well you want fsx to run before you take delivery of you new laptopThanksTom

It might be a powerful laptop as far as laptops go. But as far as fsx goes it is pretty weak.Most people are running fsx at it's best at 4ghz or there abouts. Just to give you an idea.Obviously this is not definitive as everyone has a different setup and needs.My pc has a 512mb gfx card 4ghz processor 4gb ram several hdd's and it was only when I clocked my processor to 4ghz did I finally get some decent results.This of course is only my view and I'm sure others will suggest other things but I would seriously question how well you want fsx to run before you take delivery of you new laptopThanksTom

Is that 4ghz on a single core? My processor is only 2 ghz but it has 4 cores so I would think it has more computing power than a single core 4 ghz. Or does FSX not take advantage of multi core processors?

It will use multiple cores if you tweak the config file. But 2 GHz is still somewhat on the slow side.Bjorn

Double post courtesy of ipad deleted.B

It will use multiple cores if you tweak the config file. But 2 GHz is still somewhat on the slow side.Bjorn

Even after installing Acceleration?

Even after installing Acceleration?

FSX essentially gets its performance from one core - the other cores can beused for texture loading and running other programs.. Most of us runquad cores.Sorry to be a wet blanket, but the list of addons that you mentioned inyour first post, cry out: "High end computer" to me and the laptophas not been built yet with that kind of power.

FSX essentially gets its performance from one core - the other cores can beused for texture loading and running other programs.. Most of us runquad cores.Sorry to be a wet blanket, but the list of addons that you mentioned inyour first post, cry out: "High end computer" to me and the laptophas not been built yet with that kind of power.

what exactly would I need? The Envy is marketed as a high end laptop by HP.

If it has to be a laptop then you'll have to trust the HP marketing office, or read some reviews that by slim chance take FSX into account, and then settle for whatever settings and add-ons it'll allow. You could be the first to make a review?! :( For a high-end experience you're looking at building yourself a stationary PC or have one built by whatever company makes flightsim-PCs. But the price compared to BIY will be very noticeable, to say the least. After building it you should overclock the cpu, these days the Sandy Bridge cpu's are the hottest thing since sliced bread. There's tons of advice on building and tweaking here and out there, it'll become a hobby next to the flying itself (be warned, it may have you bogged down in tweaking more than you know, it can be addictive).B

If it has to be a laptop then you'll have to trust the HP marketing office, or read some reviews that by slim chance take FSX into account, and then settle for whatever settings and add-ons it'll allow. You could be the first to make a review?! For a high-end experience you're looking at building yourself a stationary PC or have one built by whatever company makes flightsim-PCs. But the price compared to BIY will be very noticeable, to say the least. After building it you should overclock the cpu, these days the Sandy Bridge cpu's are the hottest thing since sliced bread. There's tons of advice on building and tweaking here and out there, it'll become a hobby next to the flying itself (be warned, it may have you bogged down in tweaking more than you know, it can be addictive).B

It kind of has to be a laptop. My wife and I live in a condo and we just don’t have the space for me to setup a desktop without ruining the décor (and my wife would never allow it). I believe the i7 processor my laptop will have is a Sandy Bridge..That should help..right?

Hi,You might be better off with FS9. Plenty of add-ons to make it look great!