Satisfaction

 

This is a post about how FSX can bring someone back and make them smile. For me, flight simming has always been an exercise in frustration. Just when I think I have what it takes in hardware, either a new version of FS was on the horizon and meaning my rig wouldn’t be able to handle it, or, in the case of FSX, you just can never have enough. But I finally have a decent setup, and FSX seems to run pretty well on it.

 

The Setup

 

I bought this computer a couple of years go at a big box store, so nothing really is custom, although I did soon discover that HP doesn’t really think anyone is going to need to have more than a 350w power supply. (Yes that’s what it had it in out of the box) so I replaced that with a 700w power supply. More on this in a minute. I have Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit installed, the CPU itself is an AMD Athlon X4 635 and it is backed up with 6 GB of Dual Channel DDR3 RAM. I bought a nice 2GB GeForce GTX 550 TI video card for it. (This was the first video card I have used that needed a connection to the power supply. Previous cards had always been plug and play. Simple yes, but a first for me.) The card is hooked up to a 23 inch Acer monitor that runs at 1920x1080 and an old LCD that runs at 1280x1024. Dual monitor setup that comes in very handy for numerous applications, FSX included.

 

The one issue when I put the new power supply and video card into the box was overheating. Reason for this was that the power supply has a fan inside the case that points down onto the video card cooling fan with points UP facing the power supply. I didn’t want the pain and lost dollars of a fried video card, so for the first couple months of running the computer sat on the floor with the side of the case popped off and a floor fan blowing air into the case. All the time I was thinking the floor fan was doing a good job cooling but after testing temps with Speccy (a neat freeware program for monitoring specs and temps of components) it seemed the floor fan didn’t have much impact on anything. So I put the side back on the case and set the computer where it belonged and everything seems to run just fine.

 

FSX Setup

 

Now, before I start, I’ll say this. I love add-ons. Payware or freeware. Gimmie more. Ok now I’ll start.

FSX deluxe edition with Acceleration. Ultimate Terrain X USA, Ultimate Terrain X Canada, Ultimate Terrain X Europe, Ultimate Alaska X, Ground Environment X USA, Ground Environment X Europe, FS Genesis mesh for the entire earth. FlyTampa St. Maarten, FlyTampa Grenadines, Aerosoft Tahiti X, FlyLogic Lugano X, Zinertek Ultimate Airport Environment X.

 

And the two biggies for me, Active Sky 2012, FSUIPC, and Ultimate Traffic 2.

 

Not to mention many plane freeware and payware packages, JustFlight’s Constellation Professional and DC-6B to name a couple. I love the old iron.

 

To complement this I bought two excellent programs. FSPassengers and Air Hauler. So I have the feel of really accomplishing something. Accu-feel is also installed, and is a program, however small, that makes a HUGE difference in simming. For flight planning I use FSCommander 9 and this program goes on my second monitor while FSX runs on the main monitor. Not quite a replacement for FSNAV but darn close.

 

So there you have it, my FSX setup. The sim runs pretty well and only hiccups when I’m near a huge airport and there is a lot of AI activity. All the sliders are set to max, and everything looks wonderful and I come to the reason I have posted.

I have been flying FS since 5.1 and I have fond memories of flying out of Meigs and buzzing the concrete canyons of downtown Chicago. The sim hooked me then. I soon discovered Virtual Airlines, and joined a few but always quit flying those after a few logged flights. I guess the inner me didn’t want my hobby to become a job. But one VA over the years has always been around and looks much the same as it did back in 1998 when they first started. Tradewind Caribbean Airlines or www.tradewind.org. Now I have never joined this outfit, but I enjoy their fleet and I especially enjoy two custom made programs they have on their site that help in a HUGE way make things a bit more realistic. They call these programs the TCA routes program and the other is called the TCA scheduler. Basically it is a route finder and browser for everywhere this VA “flies.” It makes it super handy to find somewhere to fly and especially for me because I love flying in the Caribbean, and that’s where the majority of flights are for this VA. Everything from ail runs, cargo runs, or people runs. The two programs have it all, and tell you what type of aircraft are on the route, but even start and stop times, layovers and whatever. Someone took a LOT of time putting this all together and I applaud them for it. I hope they see this post and see that their work is being put to good use.

 

So this morning I decided I wanted to fly a bit and fired up the TCA routes program and found a nice flight with 4 stops. Starting out at TFFR then to TAPA-TKPK-TNCM-and ending at TQPF. It would take a couple hours to complete. I fired up ActiveSky and FSCommander, and then FSX, setup the plane at TFFR and then got my passengers loaded with FSPassengers. I would be flying the Beech Baron today and weather was partly cloudy with some haze. The rest was just gravy, as I took off and completed each leg of the flight and FSPassengers graded me well on each leg.

Does any other program bring a sense of accomplishment like FSX does? When it is all working well, FSX simply cannot be beat. I know this is a HUGE post, but I wanted to use this as both an introduction and a sample of how I use the sim. So HELLO from the heartland and many happy flights to everyone!

Nice! Glad to hear it's working well for you. Spend 50 bucks on water cooling and crank the processor GHZ up and you'll love it even more. I'm running 4.3GHz without any problems and that's really what FSX thrives on.

Have to check out Tradewinds.

The one issue when I put the new power supply and video card into the box was overheating. Reason for this was that the power supply has a fan inside the case that points down onto the video card cooling fan with points UP facing the power supply.

 

Assuming your power supply is mounted in the top-rear of the case, the fan on the bottom of the PS should be pulling air from the case and expelling it from the rear of the PS. Therefore, it is helping remove warm air from the case. Hopefully, you have another fan in the rear of the case also expelling air.

 

It's always good to hear from someone having a good experience with FSX, expecially using a somewhat modest gaming computer.

hi , welcome, I do find it interesting how others use the sim and what their programs and hardware choices are

hope you continue your enjoyment !