RTW Test (long)

I have just completed a Round the World flight in FS2004. The aircraft used was the Rutan Voyager(by Alan Kaiser/Vintage Aircraft Works) on an eastbound Singapore to Singapore route.The route was from Singapore Paya-Lebar(WSAP) direct to overhead Portaviejo in Ecuador(SEPV) to overhead Mogadishu (HCMM) to WSAP.Departed WSAP at 1505Z on Feb 29th, arrived WSAP at 1323Z on 13th March.I am posting this report on the flight in the hope that not only will it be of interest in general, but more that it may give hope and encouragement to the many people that seem to suffer endless problems getting FS2004 to run satisfactorily.As will be seen from my hardware specs- my PC is by no means a" cutting edge" machine- in fact - it's nearly two years now since I built it and can be considered "mid- range" at best. The flight ,which was done online with VATSIM, was intended as both a hardware and a software test of my systemDue to the VATSIM requirement that the pilot be available should ATC call, I ran the sim as long as I was around the PC but saved the flight when not available - resuming later.The basic figures--Total distance-21601 Nautical MilesTime in flight- 142Hrs 50 minsFuel used-99%( approx 15 gallons/85 lbs left out of 1409/8454 lbs)Average speed- 151.25 ktsAltitude 27000ft(much higher than the realworld flight which was at 11000ft)Online times - longest continuous session- 18hrsThroughout the flight Frame rates remained between 25 and 30 fps (locked) both over land and sea regardless of weather or time of day, the exception was the approach at WSAP when things slowed to around 17/18 fps(Daytime in a very heavy thunderstorm).Using FSMetar weather I encountered several heavy thunderstorms - particularly during the last 1000 miles as I approached Singapore at a lower altitude. I can personally vouch for the realism of these storms having lived in what was then called Malaya as a child.Problems encountered were few - none of them caused by either FS2004 or my system hardware or software----------1: Approx 63 hours into flight - System crash. Error log states "Network IP error"- This happened minutes after my wife turned on her PC which is networked to this on LAN.2: Squawkbox - disconnected three times during flight- switching servers allowed immediate reconnection- I guess problem was at the server rather than here.Caused AVC to require reconnection also.3:Servinfo/Vatsim offline for a long time on the 7th of March , - no data or old data displayed - obviously problem not in my system.Overall Performance was excellent.During much of the time, needing to still do other things on my PC, I transferred(dragged) FS to the smaller secondary monitor where it continued to run whilst I did other things on the main monitor-Surfing Internet, typing documents,building Webpages,playing CDs and MP3s, etc.etc. The only time the system complained slightly was when I needed to scan a couple of photos for uploading to a webpage- this caused a short( about 2 minutes)but noticeable drop in the FS frame rates whilst the actual scan took place. Otherwise no noticeable difference in fps when I was multi-tasking the PC.Dave.================================================Hardware- a full system summary at the bottom of this post.=================================Software(System)-WinXP Home + SP1SIS AGP117 Chipset drivers for k7S5ADirect X 9ANVIDIA 56.55 DriversAC97 CMedia Audio V032AOL.8/AOL.9 latest Beta (Both used at various times)Broadband Software (FlightSim)FS2004( No addon scenery specific to this flight, but I do use OceansFX and a selection of the various improved water textures,better cloud textures, Gerrish trees etc.)In addition FS was(and always is) run the entire time using Virtual CD rather than using Disk4.SB RelaySB HostSquawkbox 2.3AVCFSMetar V1.5.2(used continuously)FSUIPC (V3.153) registered versionServinfo(used continuously)Autosave(saves once every 60 seconds)FSScreen(used occasionally)FS2004 settings-Terrain Mesh comp:85%T.M.Size: HighTerrain detail: Med.Water effects:HighSpecial effects:HighScenery Comp:V DenseAutogen Density:V DenseDawn/ Dusk- on Ext terrain Features-onSun Glare -onLens Flare-on VC Quality : HighAircraft Shadows -onLanding Lights-onSight distance :60 milesCloud Draw:40 miles3D clouds:40%Detailed Clouds-onCloud coverage density: mediumFrame rate lock :30Resolution:1024x768x32Render to text-onTransform and lighting -onFiltering :BilinearMipMap:4Hardware Lights:6Global text:High===================================HARDWAREAMD Athlon 2000XP (@133/133)ECS K7S5A Mobo 3.1 :04/29/02 Rev BiosSiS 735 Chipset Rev 12 x 256mb DDR RAMGeforce4 Ti-4200-8x 128mb DDR AGP(not overclocked)AGP 1.17 WHQL . 56.55 XP Drivers2 x Maxtor 40GB HDD (7200rpm)(Both partitioned. (C:= WinME/FS200s- not used much nowadays.. D: = Storage..E:= WinXP/FS2004 used for this test..F:=Backup)LG 8x4x32 CDRWLG 52x CDRDirect X 9.0a Windows ME/ Windows XP dual bootBIOS Settings- DRAM Timing Ultra. CAS Latency 3T,RAS ACtive 6T,RAS Precharge 3TL1 Cache Enabled.L2 Cache Enabled.Sys BIOS Cache Disabled.DRAM Drive Slew Rating - Fast17 inch IBM G70 Primary monitor(1024x768)15 inch LG 560N secondary monitor(1024x768)