Well guys, MS is on top again but we are lagging behind the best guesses for best monsters machines that will be able to operate VISTA, DirectX-10 and of course our beloved new soon arrival, MS_FS-X. Best guesses please, based in reality as far as anybody knows.By the way, Windows Vista should come with an option to stop all unnecessary processes that are not Gaming related. But remember never to call MS_FS-X a game or even less treated like it. We are a way of life.Cheers,MAB:-jumpy

I don't see any hoops in the sky, it must be a game now ;)

THe boxes at E3 were 3.5ghz machines or there about, with 2 gigs of ram and Nvidia 7800s. The demo missions ran very well actually and I was impressed by the very improved sound. I'm tending to think that if you have a decent machine right now, your going to be able to run it fairly well. Let's wait and see though before we start speculating.We all know that this sim has pushed the hardware limits. To expect it to be different with this version is kind of silly IMHO. It already appears to have some scalability though, just as always.Hornit

Yeah, there will always be a price to pay. Most of the screenies I've seen so far show one type of option or another but not too many all at the same time. DX10 is supposed to bring a vast increase in performance (I've heard 6x) but with all the new effects we'll be lucky to break even. I'm already saving for my new machine. I plan to buy after Vista has been released and DX10 capable hardware has been out for a little while.

If you want all the graphics in FSX with everything running my guess would be something like: A new Intel Conroe processor, 2 DX10 graphics cards in SLI configuration. 2GB of RAM maybe XDR RAM - the same as in Playstation3. A couple of crazy harddrives in RAID. Other than that you only need a big wallet.

Now that I understand Microsoft are supporting physics co processors we might need one of those as well. Pure speculation based on absolutely no facts but see:http://www.theinquirer.net/?article=31385Did any details re this general physics processor(rather than FSX specific)support emerge at E3?Chris

On another forum, Mike specifically stated that there would be no support for PPUs this time around.

FSX is, indeed, a game. And any speculation at this point regarding hardware would be idle at best. Better to wait 60-90 days after release and then ask the question.Doug

I can confirm that PPU's at least initially are not going to be needed.Hornit

I read the above link about MS's new "Physics API". This is the first I have heard of it. The way I understand it, is that there will be yet ANOTHER cpu to handle just physics-related things? And then MS will have a new API designed to handle physics functions? If so, thats the same thing that happened with 3D. This is unexpected, I admit I didn't see this coming...maybe I should have...Rhett

<>Me, too. ;)

I'm kinda glad I'll need new Dx10 hardware to fully enjoy this title, gives me a reason to upgrade. I'm a gamer and this is just how it goes to FULLY enjoy the latest and greatest advancements in graphics and physics technology. For example, got Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter last week (being a huge fan of the original 5 years ago is was a no brainer) and while the game is a fantastic tactical shooter, I am limited in my resolution and can not even select the highest texture detail option just because I do not have a 512 mb vid card, that is crazy when I have an Asus 64 bit mobo, X2 4800+, SLI ATI 850XT PE 256 system, oh well.Regards, MichaelKDFWhttp://www.calvirair.com/mcpics/mcdcvabanner.jpgCalVirAir International

>best guesses for best monsters machines that will be able to>operateYes, the better monster will run it better - I can tell you this today, it is not a guess.Michael J.http://www.precisionmanuals.com/images/for...argo_hauler.gifhttp://sales.hifisim.com/pub-download/asv6-banner-beta.jpg

Wow, that IS amazing about Ghost Recon; but one thing about it, I have found that in the past, if I built a system to run FS well, then it will usually be able to handle any game pretty well.Rhett

well, ChrisE did say: "Pure speculation based on absolutely no facts"Rhett