FSX-MS Is there a 'paid' FSX install/PC setup service in the UK?

[nandrews 4]

I am looking for a reliable, if necessary 'paid', service to install and setup FSX.

I have, what was a hi-spec PC, bought a year ago primarily to run FSX. But have always had little problems with the set-up.

Now at almost every turn I find FSX goes wrong or crashes and I am getting very frustrated.

I have tried the 'instant fix' apps and also run through a couple of comprehensive set-up procedures (and re-installed 3 times!).

But still I have some basic problems and as I say almost every time I try to run it something goes wrong!

So in desparation I am trying to find someone (in UK) experienced in installing FSX and getting it running reliably and at it's best.

 

Nigel

 

My PC spec

Intel Core i5 4670K Haswell Processor Overclocked to up to 4.4GHz

PALIT JETSTREAM NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Graphics Card

16GB Corsair/Crucial PC3-12800 1600MHz DDR3 Memory (2 x 8GB sticks)

Gigabyte Z87N-WIFI M-ITX Motherboard - Haswell CPU only

 

Windows 8.1 64 bit

[BMoff 0]

Hello Nigel,

 

I live in the UK and have been 'into' MS Flight Simulator from the 'year dot' - after many years with FSX, I still need to tweak and optimise regularly, particularly after a major installation or updating video drivers. And, it can be frustrating!  One day it runs beautifully and the next it suffers from stutters and artifacts! If we are close, maybe we can meet up and I will assist - no charge, as our politicians say, 'we are in it together'!!

 

There are lots of extremely knowledgable people visit this website, and it is likely you will gets lots of advice - some contradictory!

 

My advice, based upon your PC spec is:

 

a. Avoid overclocking - only in extremis

b. Has FSX ever worked okay after installation - if yes, what did you then do?

c. Install it away from Program Files, i.e. C:\FSX

d. Avoid having lots of additional applications running at the same time

e. Keep drivers up-to-date

f. Disable Anti-virus during FSX

g. Keep monitor at native resolution and refresh rate  

h. Initially, keep to one monitor

i. Put sliders in FSX to midpoint - even with lots of RAM, you will get problems with FSX running out of memory, particularly with complex aircraft, scenery and weather programmes - once you have it running, play around with sliders to get an effect/quality that works for you.   

j. There has been quite a few comments from users regarding Win 8.1 - research whether Win 10 might be better - I will stick with Win 7 64 bit until I hear very positive comments regarding Win 10 - remember, FSX is now rather old!!  

 

I can add more to the above, but I will need a bit more specific information about your FSX installation and whether you ever had it running okay.

 

Bill.

[KingGhidorah 209]

Maybe the Steam Edition would be a better starting point for you.

[zmak 331]

Maybe the Steam Edition would be a better starting point for you.

+1 its already optimized just point and fly, doesn't get any easier than that

[Jim Young 2,356]

You have a decent system. I think your CPU is overclocked too much and could cause you many problems as many CPU's have "issues" when overclocked above 4.2GHz. Your system can become unstable if not properly overclocked. You can look at NickN's FSX Computer System - The Bible - @ http://www.simforums.com/forums/the-fsx-computer-system-the-bible-by-nickn_topic46211.html but you should follow his guidance "generally" but his settings do not work with every computer system. You will definitely run into a lot of frustrations by following his guidance to the letter. He's just giving you general guidance anyway. I don't think he expects everyone to follow it to the letter. I tried it as I have the exact same system (same motherboard, video card, and CPU) as he had when he first prepared the guide and figured his settings would work for me. They did not and I had constant BSOD's (system crashes). I found that setting your BIOS settings to optimized defaults work well if you see any system instability and crashes. I have an ASUS board and they have a way to automatically overclock your system to 4.2GHz with just a few changes in the BIOS. That has worked very well for me. Not sure if Gigabyte has that option. In any case, do not mess with the overclock unless you have any Blue Screens of Death (BSOD's).

 

You have Windows 8.1 so you want to read NickN's guidance on Windows 8.1. It can cause a lot of instability in FSX as Microsoft threw in more security. You definitely have to disable User Access Controls and you definitely have to install everything by right clicking the software .exe program and selecting Run as Administrator. You have to disable any anti-virus program during installations too and it should be disabled or FSX exempted when running FSX. If you don't do any of these actions, then you may see FSX crashing a lot. Windows 7 had a lot of security and Windows 8.1 has even more. There's a lot of security built into commercial software programs too. They may decide to "call" the developer to see if you have a legal piece of software and your anti-virus program may object.

 

AVSIM has an excellent FSX Configuration Guide which will help you set up your FSX.cfg and NVidia video card. Pretty basic but it works for most. If you turn your settings all to max, you will see a lot of instability, freezes, and crashes. You need to start off with a simple setup so this guide is perfect for those not totally familiar with FSX.

 

AVSIM also has a CTD Guide which explains what to do if you do have a crash plus it has many tips for optimizing your system and making sure Windows is working the best and FSX too. For instance, keeping your computer system drivers, like your system bus or USB ports, or SATA controllers up to date is important too. Cleaning the registry occasionally helps avoid crashes too. Lots of suggestions.

 

Hope this helps.

 

Best regards,

[mabe54 17]

a. Avoid overclocking - only in extremis <- Agree

 

b. Has FSX ever worked okay after installation - if yes, what did you then do?

 

ans: Yes but then you optimize further to your taste (Word Not Allowed's guide is a good one).

 

c. Install it away from Program Files, i.e. C:\FSX <- Completely agree.

 

d. Avoid having lots of additional applications running at the same time. <- Agree.

 

e. Keep drivers up-to-date <- Agree.

 

f. Disable Anti-virus during FSX <- Myth. Any good one will have a Game Mode.

 

g. Keep monitor at native resolution and refresh rate <- Agree.

 

h. Initially, keep to one monitor <- Agree.

 

i. Put sliders in FSX to midpoint - even with lots of RAM, you will get problems with FSX running out of memory, particularly with complex aircraft, scenery and weather programmes - once you have it running, play around with sliders to get an effect/quality that works for you. <- Agree and goes along side b.

 

j. There has been quite a few comments from users regarding Win 8.1 - research whether Win 10 might be better - I will stick with Win 7 64 bit until I hear very positive comments regarding Win 10 - remember, FSX is now rather old!! <- We shall see in do time.

Cheers,

[Alan Rhodes 2]

We did have one paid for service, but he was locked up last week.

[Airline2Sim 489]

To be honest there isn't really anyone who can tell you more than you can already find out from here and Google. Word Not Allowed's guide is as good as any, although we find locking frames externally helps which he doesn't advocate. NickN has a humongous guide to installing FSX and tuning Windows also.

 

Also don't be afraid to dial back the settings to get the performance you want. If you're flying the 777 for example, a lot of eye candy is totally wasted as you'll be too busy to look at it, or too high to even see it.

[zmak 331]

There was but he is in Jail at the moment

[nandrews 4]

General reply.

Many thanks guys for your replies and apologies for responding so late I've only just learned you had replied (the site didn't email me that you had!)

I will now read and respond to each.

 

Nigel

[nandrews 4]

Bill,

Thank-you for your reply and kind offer. I live on the South Coast (I've just updated my site details), so likely some way from you.

To respond to your questions:-

a. Avoid overclocking - I will check that (someone else promted me) I've not done any overclocking, so what is there, is how it was delivered.

b. Has FSX ever worked okay after installation - Yes, but I think my expectations have changed and also I have added scenery and moved the installation

c. Install it away from Program Files, i.e. C:\FSX - It is still in Program Files (x86) but not on the boot drive. The boot drive is a small(ish) SSD which wouldn't hold FSX and growing scenery install.

d. Avoid having lots of additional applications running at the same time - Only run FSX related apps (Weather/Traffic) and keep the boot apps AV, Defrag etc.

e. Keep drivers up-to-date - I do this.

f. Disable Anti-virus during FSX - Not done this. But is there not a slight risk, being that the PC is still connected and getting at least weather updates online?

g. Keep monitor at native resolution and refresh rate  - I believe it is still

h. Initially, keep to one monitor - Only one in use

i. Put sliders in FSX to midpoint - I have probably been tempted to max everything thinking I have a modern PC running a program some 4-5 years old. But since using Word Not Allowed's (and others) I have adjusted some down.

j. There has been quite a few comments from users regarding Win 8.1 - Yes, but isn't it amazzing that the requirements for running FSX fully maxed are still in the future?!

 

Thanks again and I will respond when I have checked the things above.

Much appreciated

 

Nigel

KingGhidorah and Zoran,

I'll consder anything in the limit, but for now I think I will stay with the apps I have.

 

Thanks

Nigel

Jim,

 

Many thanks for your detailed reply.

I will certainly check and adjust the overclocking on the proc (as many others have also suggested).

I have looked both at Costa's and Nick's guides and followed the detailed PC config that Nick went thru'. So I think I am OK there and I update the drivers routinely.

I've not disabled AV on running FSX and concerned as I'm still connected and at least d/l weather updates. But maybe I need to revisit that.

I will look for and find the Avsim FSX Configuration and CTD guides. To see what extra they can offer.

Lots of suggestions indeed and I am very grateful to you.

 

Nigel

Airline2Sim,

It reassuring to hear that I am in the right place to get advice and that it is free.

I had become frustrated that even though I had followed Word Not Allowed's and most of Nick's advice, that I still have problems and feel I'm not realising the best this system can do.

 

Thanks

Nigel

General reply.

I am much encouraged by all your helpful suggestions and I feel that with this and maybe a few more tips I will get this thing 'flying' properly.

Thanks all

Nigel

[Lorby_SI 2,036]

"isnt it amazing that we cant run such an old piece of software all maxed out"

 

Not really. It is a common misconception that a newer PC is automatically "better" in every way. That is just marketing talk. For quite some time now, the CPUs haven't been getting inherently faster (clock speed wise), instead they grew "sideways". As FSX is not designed to make use of this additional possibilities "on the side", it's core will basically run just as badly on a Pentium4 3,4 than on a Haswell 3,4 GHz.

 

Until someone figures out a new ALU running mightily faster with the same clock speed or find a ways to defy physics and boost clock speeds yet again, we are stuck. Even 64bit FSX won't change that (just look at XP64 bit, it is not running that much better than good ol FSX).

[Overload 91]

I am looking for a reliable, if necessary 'paid', service to install and setup FSX.

 

 

I've been surprised that this home business opportunity has never been addressed. With the ease of access that the internet provides, plus remote access software + paypal, I'm sure there's at least a part-time opportunity for qualified (retired?) IT proffesional with an interest in flight simming to make a few dollars. I'm running P3D, and have run into problems getting UT2, EZDOK, to work - (yes, I've trawled the forums - but a lot of it's just too techy for my limited understanding). 

I can get an IT guy in to fix my printer - sort out my PC, solve networking issues, but when it comes to flight simming, I'm on my own - or relying on the kindness (much appreciated) of other AVSIM members.

I'd be prepared to pay "real world" rates to a reliable, knowledgeable IT engineer, preferably with a verifiable track record on AVSIM. 

Yes, I know "FSX Genius" let the community down, but that wasn't over his IT advice, it was once he started taking money to build PC's. Also My Flight Sim PC is just that - I don't do email, or anything else on it - just P3D and add-onns, so am not worried about privacy issues.

I'm stuck on P3D 2.2, probably will be forever, because to do an upgrade or full install to 2.4 means that the iFly cockpit builders edition that runs my JetMax sim, will need adapting or re-installing, I wouldn't know where to start - the original software was preloaded and configured by Flight deck solutions Canada.

So in the end things like EZDOK, UT2, even VATSIM (can't get my headset to communicate properly), P3D 2.4/2.5 just end up in the "too difficult pile". I've spent thousands on my hardware, don't mind spending a few hundred more  to get it working as I'd like!

Eugene

[Jim Young 2,356]

"isnt it amazing that we cant run such an old piece of software all maxed out"

 

Not really. It is a common misconception that a newer PC is automatically "better" in every way. That is just marketing talk. For quite some time now, the CPUs haven't been getting inherently faster (clock speed wise), instead they grew "sideways". As FSX is not designed to make use of this additional possibilities "on the side", it's core will basically run just as badly on a Pentium4 3,4 than on a Haswell 3,4 GHz.

 

Until someone figures out a new ALU running mightily faster with the same clock speed or find a ways to defy physics and boost clock speeds yet again, we are stuck. Even 64bit FSX won't change that (just look at XP64 bit, it is not running that much better than good ol FSX).

Well stated and my thoughts exactly. 

 

Best regards,

[mabe54 17]

Not really. It is a common misconception that a newer PC is automatically "better" in every way. That is just marketing talk. For quite some time now, the CPUs haven't been getting inherently faster (clock speed wise), instead they grew "sideways". As FSX is not designed to make use of this additional possibilities "on the side", it's core will basically run just as badly on a Pentium4 3,4 than on a Haswell 3,4 GHz.

 

Until someone figures out a new ALU running mightily faster with the same clock speed or find a ways to defy physics and boost clock speeds yet again, we are stuck. Even 64bit FSX won't change that (just look at XP64 bit, it is not running that much better than good ol FSX).

 

You hit it on the nail. But I think the age and reign of silicone has come to an abrupt physical limitation. But not so fast of course because we can't just replace silicone overnight, like a light bulb, since our present tech is built upon it. We already have the hint of which will be the replacement for silicone but we're still lacking the will and commitment ($) to replace the old  already paid infrastructure for a new one. Therein lies the conundrum we are all in.

 

Cheers,