I'm jealous - I have a lowly 660ti!

 

Like cars, video cards descend in value on a daily basis.  So it shouldn't be long before the 7-series cards become much less expensive.  And while I have a pretty nice cockpit with multiple computers, it pales in comparison to guys who have 'the real deal' hardware in a full-blown actual Boeing nosecone.  I have a pal who is invested 160K in such a setup over 18 years, and it's built with a lot of used Boeing parts... the real seats from a 737 in the real nosecone of a 737 - all sitting in his (amazing) garage.  The first time I laid eyes on it, I injured myself when my jaw hit the ground.  No lie!  He has the yokes, the mip panel, mcp, dual FMCs, the overhead, and (drumroll) it ALL WORKS!  All the dials and gauges!  WOW.

 

So you only need to set a goal and it will happen.  Sending your wife to another country during construction has some side benefits as well..

Like cars, video cards descend in value on a daily basis.  So it shouldn't be long before the 7-series cards become much less expensive.  And while I have a pretty nice cockpit with multiple computers, it pales in comparison to guys who have 'the real deal' hardware in a full-blown actual Boeing nosecone.  I have a pal who is invested 160K in such a setup over 18 years, and it's built with a lot of used Boeing parts... the real seats from a 737 in the real nosecone of a 737 - all sitting in his (amazing) garage.  The first time I laid eyes on it, I injured myself when my jaw hit the ground.  No lie!  He has the yokes, the mip panel, mcp, dual FMCs, the overhead, and (drumroll) it ALL WORKS!  All the dials and gauges!  WOW.

 

So you only need to set a goal and it will happen.  Sending your wife to another country during construction has some side benefits as well..

That's incredible - beyond even just simulation as a hobby, that's electronics and no doubt a hefty amount of programming knowledge too. There isn't much I'd rather plan and create that sort of project. Sadly being mid twenties at the start of my career, that sort of thing is out of reach for me at the moment. One day though

You're right, Luke.  As you get older, your income will allow you to invest more into your hobby interests, but there is no substitute for YOUTH!  The reason is that by the time you're an older person, the simulation will likely be LIGHT YEARS ahead of what it is today.  Also, the plane you choose to build will likely be different (think 787 vs 707) and the computers and displays will have advanced by several orders of magnitude.   The airplanes themselves will undoubtedly be vastly different.

Quick question Robert. With your triple pc setup for the visuals what are you using for weather? Any add on or just real world download every hour? If I had a triple pc setup could I have one monitor for the virtual cockpit and the other two pcs and screens as "visuals"? Thanks!

Quick question Robert. With your triple pc setup for the visuals what are you using for weather? Any add on or just real world download every hour? If I had a triple pc setup could I have one monitor for the virtual cockpit and the other two pcs and screens as "visuals"? Thanks!

 

1.  Right now using XPlane NOAA real weather and the clouds that have been improved in XPlane 10.3b2  (beta 2).  I -was- using SKYMAXX for weather, and am hopeful that Skymaxx will adapt to the new release and once again give us a choice of weather rendering.

 

2.  Your idea of the 2 screens for visuals and 1 for the cockpit sounds good, not sure how to set that up.  I am using a separate (4th) PC for the glass cockpit, plus the Sim Avionics cockpit software from FlightDeckSolutions.