Hi folks,

 

I am looking for advice.

 

My current system runs FS 2004 in a fully enclosed attic cockpit with 5 screens. MaxiVista  runs two screens for control panels via 2 slave PCs. The main PC - (Dell Optiplex 780 with Intel® Core 2 Duo CPU E8400  @  3.00GHz, 2992 Mhz, 2 Core(s), and AMD HD 5450)  runs 3 screens using a Matrox TH2GO digital version, providing forward and both sides exterior views. OS Windows 7 pro. It is a very modest main PC but it works well for FS 2004 generally comfortably achieving 45 fps with most of the main  sliders well to the right.

 

My plan is to upgrade to FSX (or possibly P3D which I know very little about), mainly for the add-on selection, in particular the scenery options. I have concerns about FSX compatibility with windows 10 and am currently leaning towards sticking with windows 7 in a new computer built around an  i7 4790k  CPU, but I am heading into unknown territory  and would very much appreciate advice from those who have already traveled this road. What is the best way to proceed?

 

Particular concerns:

New Main PC spec.

Windows 7 or 10.

FSX disc or SE.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice,

 

Philip

I have concerns about FSX compatibility with windows 10 and am currently leaning towards sticking with windows 7 in a new computer built around an  i7 4790k  CPU, but I am heading into unknown territory  and would very much appreciate advice from those who have already traveled this road. What is the best way to proceed?

On my old Windows 7 system, FSX:MS ran well. When I upgraded my system last year I decided to go for Windows 10 and FSX:SE and I'm really pleased with the results. For me, so far, FSX has been fully compatible with Windows 10. I run FSX in DX10 mode and have add-ons from A2A, RealAir, ORBX and REX to name just a few with weather from Active Sky and all of them have worked flawlessly.

 

I would say that you're much less likely to have problems if you're starting with a clean installation of Windows 10 rather than an upgrade from an earlier version of Windows. Although I was a big fan of a Windows 7, I think that Windows 10 seems much more polished - faster boot and shutdown and it just feels more slick, overall.

On my old Windows 7 system, FSX:MS ran well. When I upgraded my system last year I decided to go for Windows 10 and FSX:SE and I'm really pleased with the results. For me, so far, FSX has been fully compatible with Windows 10. I run FSX in DX10 mode and have add-ons from A2A, RealAir, ORBX and REX to name just a few with weather from Active Sky and all of them have worked flawlessly.

 

I would say that you're much less likely to have problems if you're starting with a clean installation of Windows 10 rather than an upgrade from an earlier version of Windows. Although I was a big fan of a Windows 7, I think that Windows 10 seems much more polished - faster boot and shutdown and it just feels more slick, overall.

 

I agree with vortex661. A clean FSX-SE install on a reformatted drive or one who's registry is clean of prior FSX installations is the most important aspect in my view. Side by side Boxed and FSX-SE registry entries do not seem to play nice in my experience.

Win 10 and FSX-SE are flawless with me.

Better FPS, smoother, better memory management, much less VAS usage.

Best

BaldyB

Thanks guys...sounds encouraging. If I do go W10, it would be on a new PC, probably i7 7700k, Do you know if P3D would complicate matters if on the same HD?

P3D on the same drive is not problem. There will be some overlap on i/o calls using a HDD but it will probably never be noticeable. With a SSD there is no overlap at all.....Doug

As Doug said, having them both on the same drive should be OK. If you only have hard disks, the recommendation has usually been to put FSX/P3D on a dedicated drive to prevent possible slow-downs due to fragmentation. However, if you defrag regularly, this shouldn't be a problem. Better to put them on an SSD which will give much faster loading of the sim and subsequent flight (but doesn't noticeably improve in-flight performance). Plus, SSDs don't need to be defragged (shouldn't, in fact). I have the OS and FSX running successfully from the same SSD with a hard disk for program backups and extra aircraft that are used less frequently. Most new systems come with an SSD but it's worth specifying at least 500GB to allow for expansion.

Thanks Guys.

 

I was initially thinking in terms of a new main PC built around an i7 4790k CPU and a NVidia GTX780 or 970, on a Win 7 OS.

 

After considering your advice (thanks again) I am now leaning towards Win 10, which leaves the door open to a i7 7700 k CPU and a good NVidia GPU. Then with FSX SE installed on a new SSD hopefully things will go smoothly.

 

I have also been getting advice to forget about FSX and go to P3D. Apparently it has the coding to allow it to take advantage of hyper-threading on modern CPUs, which FSX cannot do. Have any of you guys experience on P3D and, if so, do you see it as the future?

I have also been getting advice to forget about FSX and go to P3D. Apparently it has the coding to allow it to take advantage of hyper-threading on modern CPUs, which FSX cannot do. Have any of you guys experience on P3D and, if so, do you see it as the future?

I'm running a 6700K and GTX 1080s, and from my experience both FSX SE and P3D perform perfectly smooth most of the time, with P3D a little smoother at some addon airports with heavy traffic. Of course, if visuals are important to you, P3D is a better option due to native DX11 and much better lighting. Not to mention it's rapidly growing library of good quality payware addons. As for the future of desktop flight sims, I think it's gonna split in a few different directions. P3D will continue to develop (hopefully into 64 bit), FSX SE will probably eventually be abandoned in favor of DTG's new sim whatever that may be, and X-Plane is steadily gaining in popularity and payware support.

As of right now, I'd say its probably a wise idea to go with P3D rather than FSX especially if you qualify for the Academic License, but I'd recommend trying them all and investing in the ones you like best. FSX SE can be as low as $5 on Steam, P3D has a monthly subscription and a money back guarantee, and X-Plane also has a free demo.

Hi Guys,

 

Following on from you advice / suggestions, I asked “Overclockers” UK to give me a quote for a system built around the 7700k and the spec below is what they suggest. It comes in at Stg 1,677, which doesn’t seem too bad. It will be the last system I ever buy so your advice / observations / suggestions would be most welcome. I am doubtful about the GPU, what do you think?

 

Thanks very much guys. I look forward to your comments.

 

Philip

 

 

Custom Intel i7-6700K @ 4.0GHz System

 

XX-065-OK Full Cable Management

 

GX-106-ZT Zotac GeForce GTX 1060 Mini 6144MB GDDR5 PCI-Express

Graphics Card

 

HD-193-SA Samsung 1.0TB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D

V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E1T0B/EU)

 

HD-024-TS Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache HDD - OEM

(DT01ACA100)

 

CD-069-AS Asus 24x DVD±RW DRW-24D5MT SATA ReWriter - Black (OEM)

 

CA-004-SF Super Flower Golden Green HX 650W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply

- Black

 

MY-066-TG Team Group Elite 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C16 2400MHz

Dual Channel Kit - Black (TPKD416GM2400HC16DC01)

 

CA-203-CM Cooler Master HAF X Gaming Tower Case - Black (RC-942)

 

HS-037-CS Corsair Hydro Series H80i v2 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU

Cooler (CW-9060024-WW)

 

CP-62G-IN Intel Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz ( Kaby Lake ) Socket LGA1151

Processor - OEM

 

MB-31H-MS MSI Z270 PC Mate Intel Z270 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX

Motherboard

 

SW-172-MS Microsoft Windows 10 64-Bit DVD - OEM (MS-KW9-00139)

Hi Guys,

 

Following on from you advice / suggestions, I asked “Overclockers” UK to give me a quote for a system built around the 7700k and the spec below is what they suggest. It comes in at Stg 1,677, which doesn’t seem too bad. It will be the last system I ever buy so your advice / observations / suggestions would be most welcome. I am doubtful about the GPU, what do you think?

 

Thanks very much guys. I look forward to your comments.

 

Philip

 

 

Custom Intel i7-6700K @ 4.0GHz System

 

XX-065-OK Full Cable Management

 

GX-106-ZT Zotac GeForce GTX 1060 Mini 6144MB GDDR5 PCI-Express

Graphics Card

 

HD-193-SA Samsung 1.0TB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D

V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E1T0B/EU)

 

HD-024-TS Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache HDD - OEM

(DT01ACA100)

 

CD-069-AS Asus 24x DVD±RW DRW-24D5MT SATA ReWriter - Black (OEM)

 

CA-004-SF Super Flower Golden Green HX 650W "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply

- Black

 

MY-066-TG Team Group Elite 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C16 2400MHz

Dual Channel Kit - Black (TPKD416GM2400HC16DC01)

 

CA-203-CM Cooler Master HAF X Gaming Tower Case - Black (RC-942)

 

HS-037-CS Corsair Hydro Series H80i v2 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU

Cooler (CW-9060024-WW)

 

CP-62G-IN Intel Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz ( Kaby Lake ) Socket LGA1151

Processor - OEM

 

MB-31H-MS MSI Z270 PC Mate Intel Z270 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX

Motherboard

 

SW-172-MS Microsoft Windows 10 64-Bit DVD - OEM (MS-KW9-00139)

That looks like a very solid setup. If you plan on playing other games or going 1440p/4K, I would definitely recommend springing for a 1070, but if you are just going to be using FSX/P3D on a triple 1080p setup the 1060 should be just fine.

Thanks wckorb - I probably will co for the better GPU, possibly even a 1080 if the budget allows.