Hello PMDG Staff,

 

I had a quick question about the 777. I have a fairly new laptop with Windows 8 and I have read with some programs W8 is "different". In fact, some developers for FSX have a general policy of not supporting Windows 8.

 

Currently I have W8 64 Bit.

The only other area of concern for me is the processor. I have a Intel Core i5-3210M cpu @2,5 ghz. There is a 3.1 ghz turbo mode if needed. I was concerned because it is my belief that it is only a single core processor.

 

All of this is on a Envy M6 Laptop.

 

Will any of this be an issue for the 777 if I buy it. If so please let me know your thoughts.

 

Thanks,

An226

Austin Johnson

Definitely not a single core. Maybe dualcore, I am not sure with the M models.

 

Not much of a performer though, still, should be able to run on lower settings.

Hi

 

It's indeed a dual-core CPU > http://ark.intel.com/products/67355/

 

One thing, though, about the frequency : don't consider it as a 3.1GHz CPU.

The turbo mode is auto-activated when needed but will also deactivates itself when temperature and/or power consumption become(s) too high (GPU getting hot too won't help)... in a laptop it may prevent the turbo mode from being available for a long time (it's less of an issue in a desktop PC as you can have a better cooler, there's more space and CPU/GPU are farther apart)... so yes, available when needed but probably not for a whole long flight (but, CPU requirement may lower in cruise... not sure).

 

Re. Win 8... don't know... i have allergies to this OS so i didn't look into it much :-/

W8 should not not pose any problems.

 

For specs you can compare to the PMDG recommendations for their NGX on their website.

Just be aware that it is a laptop, and hot components might clock down to prevent melting, which will directly impact performance. If you try and overclock, you will only make this situation worse. I'd disable the "turbo" mode - it's a crude way of getting more performance through overclocking, and will only harm in the long run. There are plenty of technical documents on the Intel website about how this feature actually works.

 

If your FPS suddenly drops from 20-30 to 10 or less, then it is getting too hot.

 

The laptop form-factor is generally not suitable for high performance components as the cooling of components is poor.

 

Best regards,

Robin.

We are not explicitly supporting Windows 8. We're going to reevaluate after the release of 8.1 in October and we'll have some kind of firm statement at that point.

It's highly likely that it will work under 8, but we just can't guarantee it at this point and we won't be able to troubleshoot issues arising from it.  I intend to have 8.1 installed the day it comes out and I'll begin testing it then.

I run a ton of FSX stuff under Windows 8 with zero troubles, including the PMDG 747, J41, MD-11, and all variants of the NGX on a Dell XPS M1710 laptop from 2007 (Core 2 Duo, 2GHz). The only FSX-related things that have had troubles in Win 8, in my experience, have been EZDok (replaced by Opus), and the Coolsky MD-80's (fixed with some tweaks). I get fairly smooth performance (I don't fret over FPS). On a mid to low range laptop, you just have to scale your expectations accordingly. I would expect the T7 will do great considering it's said to perform better than the NGX.

 

I'm hoping my new custom Win 8 rig arrives today....