I have used every version of FS since FS4. I am pretty content with FS9. All my add-ons work. My system is a Dell 4600 P4/306Mhz, 1 gig of ram, Radeon 9600 with 256megs & 2 80gig IDE HD's. I generally fly with ASV6 & FScamera. Should I upgrage? I can get FSX for $59. I know this is subjective but I am looking for opinions. Thanks.Pat CallaghanKPDX

Save your $$$$$$ ...I have it,installed it, and I shelved it.I will sell u mine "Deluxe" for $50.00.Not what I expected at all,Weather engine is good and so are the flight dynamics,but that is as far as it goes for me.Too too many tweaks and other issues that only give u a few FPS here and there.As of now there are no 3rd party addons from any of the majors (PMDG,LDS,DF,UT and so on).I would wait for a patch "sp1" and see if any there are any improvements.My FS9 in comparison with all the addons is a keeper for now.This is the first time since using MSFS from the very begining that I did not accept the newest venture from MS.Save your money friend for now and enjoy your FS9.Andy

Definitely get it. Your system is much better than mine, yet even I can get it looking very bice, much better than FS9 on my system. You should do all the tweaks, though, as they make a big difference, but they are easy to do.Martin

Oh, but you got to have 2G RAM to avoid the slideshow. Also maybe reduce some textures to 50%. I think it runs acceptable now on my system, AMD3500+/nVidia 7800GT/2G RAM/19inch TFT at 1280x1024. But I would think twice for a less powerful system. Also I really miss some of my addons, mostly the DO-27. In general, the new sim has a lot to offer :-).Eagle

Pat,It's hard to say how it would run on your PC. However, if you want a recomendation as to whether to buy or not? My personal experience with FSX, would lead me to reccomend you DO get it. True, as with all releases of the Flight Simulator series, there are tweaks here and there that assist in improving performance. If you need those tweaks after installing, that is what we are here for, to help and point you in the direction.I hope you are happy whatever decision you make.[hr color=#000000][table border=0" width="98%" id="table1" height="2" cellspacing="1" cellpadding="1][td width=500]Jason[br /]General Aviation Fan[br][/b]

If you like bush flying and gliders - go for it.If you are into heavy metal...wait a year then get the best hardware you can afford. You will be thrilled.Right now I find it to be an exercise in frustration. Developers are rushing half-finished (read unoptimized) products to market and it is just a madhouse.Just my 2 cents.

Thanks all for the replys. I am still not sure but I have some things to think about.Pat

An item not mentioned is that a downloadable demo was created to assist us all in evaluating, to an extent, prior to purchasing. This allows you to include some of your own observations along with those of others in making a decision.Link ---> http://www.fsinsider.com/Downloads/

what is your video card?

ATI Radeon 9600 256meg AGP

>I have used every version of FS since FS4. I am pretty>content with FS9. All my add-ons work. My system is a Dell>4600 P4/306Mhz, 1 gig of ram, Radeon 9600 with 256megs & 2>80gig IDE HD's. I generally fly with ASV6 & FScamera. Should>I upgrage? I can get FSX for $59. I know this is subjective>but I am looking for opinions. Thanks.>>Pat Callaghan>KPDXI've got a P4 3.05Ghz with 1Gb RAM and a 9800PRO 256Mb graphics card. The demo ran poorly, so I didn't install my copy of FSX. I returned it to the store.Before someone criticizes me I will say this: my "agenda" is to tell you the truth ;)

As Stoopy says, it's well worth trying the demo. It's about 800 Mb so you do need broadband to download it.I have a similar system but I do have 2 Mb RAM and that may be significant. I'm generally satisfied with frame rates with scenery and autogen set to max (but with a tweak that reduces the fraction of treees) and FSX can look stunningly beautiful, far beyond anything that FS9 can do. I would strongly recommend FSX but an upgrade to 2 Mb RAM might help a lot.If you can run the demo, remember that many scenery areas in FSX have more dense scenery and therefore frame rates will in general be perhaps 20% lower.Best regards, Chris

For additional comparison - and NOT to start any kind of argument or criticism - I have a P4 3.2 HT (Prescott) with 1GB RAM (400Mhz DDR) and ATI X800XL, and the demo ran acceptably. I also used it as a testbed to try different configurations and some of the easier "tweaks" which I see simply as "alternate configurations" not provided in the GUI - much the same as was commonly done in previous versions of FS. I've always seemed to be one generation behind on hardware with every FS release, myself.That, again, is also the truth, which seems to be it still can vary widely on system to system based on configuration, background processes, etc..."Your Mileage May ...more likely, Will... Vary". The Demo will help you see how much, in that regard.

I am downloading the demo as I type this.Pat

LOL , I'm not only sure how it would run on your PC, or any future PC for that matter! As of yet I havent heard of any Dual Support , or SLI support being included in the upcoming DX10 patch from the people at ACES?Personally I am playing the wait and see game.CyberSimmer