Hi Friends,

I am new to Avsim. I have become a fan of PMDG aircrafts and I am planning to buy one soon.

But my problem is that I am very confused as to which one should I zero on. I aim to fly on VATSIM and join a good virtual airline (say Cathay Pacific VIrtual or British AIrways VIrtual to name a few)I know its not that easy to do for a newbie like me. I own a low spec PC (Intel Core 2 Duo E7400, Nvidia GT610 DDR 2GB and 3 GB RAM and a Windows 32bit OS ) and a Flight Simulator Gold Edition Retail plus a few World of AI downloaded AI Packages. At the moment I am doing free flights in FSX with default aircrafts :-)

 

I need your help to decide the following:

 

I have shortlisted the following PMDG Aircrafts.

737NGX

747-400X (I love 747 in real life)

MD11X

Bae Jetstream

 

 

I wish to fly them on VATSIM on short to medium routes. Is 737NGX capavle to fly on medium routes and can I fly it for long haul with stop overs in between. Will any virtual airlines accept me with small aircrafts like 737NGX and Jetstream.

Most importantly I have heard that PMDG aircrafts have limited number of activations. How many times can I activate it and what do I need to do if I reach my activation limits due to several factors like hardware changes, formats and crashes, etc.

 

These are the queries that I need advice before I make my decision to buy my dearest PMDG Aircraft. :-).

 

There are more queries but I will ask them once I get my hands on either of the above aircrafts :-)

 

Thanks and all help appreciated

 

Regards

DreamAero

 

 

 

Welcome to for forums,

I would say the NGX is a good all-rounder which has a decent range - see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_737_Next_Generation#Specifications

You can't really go wrong with the NGX.

:rolleyes: Hi Jude,

Thanks for the reply....

Please tell about the activation limits for pmdg products...if I run out of my activation limits will I be able to reactivate it.

 

I am in a process of upgrading my system my current specs are

 

Intel Core 2 Duo E7400 2.80Ghz

3 GB ddr 2 RAM

Nvidia GT610 DDR2 2 GB

Windows 7 Ultimate 32 Bit

 

 

I am planning to upgrade and the new specs will be:

 

Intel Core i7 4th Generation

16 GB DDR 3 RAM

Nvidia GT 610 DDR 2 2 GB (I will retain this GPU from my old system)

Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit

 

Will FSX run perfectly on this.

 

Please let me know

I am sorry if I am posting this topic in the wrong section of the forum as I am new to avsim I need some time to get accustomed to it.

Thanks once again

 

Regards

DreamAero :rolleyes:

There should be no trouble with activation, I have this since it was released, and never had to call support over activation issues.

If you do have trouble, open a ticket with them here: http://support.precisionmanuals.com/Main/Default.aspx

 

You should have good framerates with your machine,but remember that FSX will take everything you have so don't expect too much and don't have the sliders to the right on all settings.

There is no machine yet build (except by NASA) that can handle FSX the way that people expect.

You should aim for about 30 fps anything else is not realistic and you will be disappointed.

3 GB physical RAM and a Windows OS in a 32bit version are serious restrictions, in case you want to expand your simming via scenery and/or weather addons, for example. Check PMDG's recommended specifications, including operating systems:

http://precisionmanuals.com/pages/product/FSX/ngx8900.html

 

... and their article on VAS management:

http://support.precisionmanuals.com/kb/a108/vas-management-stopping-out-of-memory-oom-errors.aspx

 

Your current setup with Ai traffic and the NGX only may still work, though.

Hi,

Thanks a ton for your replies.

First the Good News...I have ordered the PMDG 737 NGX and it is on its way....my first pmdg aircraft  :rolleyes: . I am very excited. My system upgradation is also scheduled for next week so I expect to fly in my new bird in the next 15 days.

 

I have read the VAS management article and found it of immense help. I have understood why fsx needs to be in a 64bit windows environment to tackle the OOM Errors. I have suffered plenty of such errors in the past and have changed several GPU's thinking that my low performance  GPU is the cause for such errors. The main cause was actually my OS (I was using Windows XP SP3 32 bit then). Although I am still in the 32 bit environment of Windows 7 but all that will change next week when my system goes in for a major overhaul (D-check in aviation parlance  please correct me if I am wrong :smile:  )

I had installed all of the World of AI packages in fsx plus I had fsx default traffic which I had converted to fsx through the AI Flight planner Editor of Peter Dowson although my settings were on a slight higher side with the AI traffic slider on about 70%...I got plenty of OOM Errors.. Now after the upgrade to i7 I will install only AI packages of major airlines so that I will get descent AI traffic at the airports I love to visit in my brand new PMDG 737 NGX.

 

 I am also planning to buy the Concorde X from Flight sim labs....quite complex aircraft but would be fine for a quick flight across the Atlantic

Do you think concorde X will work on my upgraded system.

 

Intel Core i7 4th Generation

16 GB DDR 3 RAM

Nvidia GT 610 DDR 2 2 GB (I will retain this GPU from my old system)

Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit

 

One more advice needed is that I have read on the internet that the Intel i7 3rd Generation processor performs better than 4th Generation processor, 4th Generation consumes more power and heats up as well.

 

Is that true.

All help appreciated

 

Regards

DreamAero

 

 

One more advice needed is that I have read on the internet that the Intel i7 3rd Generation processor performs better than 4th Generation processor, 4th Generation consumes more power and heats up as well.

 

I think you would get better results if you went to our Hardware forum for CPU's and talked to the experts there. 

 

 

 

I am also planning to buy the Concorde X from Flight sim labs....quite complex aircraft but would be fine for a quick flight across the Atlantic
Do you think concorde X will work on my upgraded system.

 

The Concorde X uses a lot of system resources and was really never upgraded.  It is detailed but a very complex aircraft.  You should have no problems using it on an i7 system.  Your only problem will be to learn how to fly it (which is what flight simulation is all about). 

 

Best regards,