GEX on older computers: Acceptable or not?

[Guest Rick Baldwin]

Hi all,With all the RAVES I see regarding GEX, I can't resist asking if anyone is successfully and happily running it on an older system? My machine specs and settings are somewhat below the minimums recommended for GEX: - Recommended CPU is 2.60 Mhz. I have 2.53. - Meters per Pixel recommendation is 1 or lower. I set it at 2 meters. - Autogen recommendation is dense. I use none or slight.Flight 1 website says customers will "still be able to enjoy Ground Environment X at lower [than the recommended] settings" but obviously we won't get as much benefit.So I'm just wondering, would I be throwing my money away if I brought GEX, or would it be worthwhile even on my machine?Thanks for any feedback!-Rick

[billgustaf 27]

Rick,I run it along with U-Terrain on a pentium 2.8 with an ATI 512 Mg video card. I usually have it set about same as you mention, and it runs OK if i use the Real Air Marchetti and stay away from the largest cities. I do use a liitle AI traffic, but no auto-gen. This will have to suffice for me as I probably won't upgrade PC till FS 11 (We have a 5-year old!)The visual change from default is stunning, and I am one of those who actually saw a slight improvement in frames and smoothness with this product. I would guess that you would still benefit from some of the shading and faux "3-D" effects even if you ran at 2 meters or higher. Its not too much of an investment to try it.Regards Bill

[Guest cseidel]

RickOne of the nice things about purchasing from Flight 1 is that if it will not work on your machine you can get a full refund from Flight 1. I think it is fantastic and Nick has done an outstanding job.XP Home w/SP2, Core 2 Duo E6600 OCed to 3.0 GHZ, 7950 GT 512MB,300GB sata HD, 2GB Corsair 6400 DDR2, FSX w/SP1

[Guest Alphahawk3]

That could be a hard question to answer..but the other reply in your post is correct. If you do not like a Flight1 product they will give you a prompt refund. I tried UTX and as hard as I tried I could not get good performance from my system and asked for a refund and received it. My system is P4 3ghz...2gig ram....7600gt video card. I was using FSX before GEX and it was OK. I had given up on the fact that FSX could perform on my system to my liking. Then I purchased GEX! I was one of the ones who did archive an increase in FPS and I can run my auotgen at sparse and get good results as long as I stay away from big airports. Then I also got FEX....I was able to achieve still better performance and have great clouds...per the programs instructions of not using 32 bit. Then...the major upgrade for GEX and I am as happy as a pig in a sty. The look of FSX on my system is great now. I am not going to upgrade my computer until FS11 or whatever it will be called. Just don't have the funds. My point is for a few dollars I was able to achieve what I wanted from FSX and am flying more than ever. I....like many others...am anxiously awaiting the FEX major upgrade. Here is how my sliders are set......Frame rate=unlimited...Global texture resolution=very high....level of detail radius=large...mesh complexity=100....mesh resolution=10m.... texture resolution=60cm....water effects=low 1.....scenery complexity=extremely dense....autogen=sparse. This works well for me and while I don't constantly use the frame rate counter my FPS will run around 25 to 30 on the ground at KMRC and while flying in most regions at around 5000ft I can get as high as 45 or 50 but will stay constant in the 30's in the air. I have tried taking off from Seattle Tacoma and my FPS will drop down to 12-15 on the ground. While doing landings at small to medium airports all is smooth and I have never had any stutters at all on landing or otherwise for that matter. I could not say that when I first bought FSX and it just got better with the patches and with the Flight1 add ons. There is a guy on here who has a lot of posts and also posts a lot on Flight1 by the name of Nick. Reading some of his work may help you out with your flying. He seems to know a lot about FSX and the quirks or the ins and out of the program...as many others on here do too. I have read many posts from someone with a low end machine like mine and yours who are flying with good performance...I have also read many posts about people with high end machines that don't get anywhere near what I do in the way of performance. Those post I do not understand. Someone with a Q6600 and are only getting 15 FPS in places I get higher than that has made me wonder what is going on. I might add that some more post to read on here is from a man named Geofa. I read about turning off auto gen buildings and keeping the trees. I did not turn off all the buildings but greatly reduced them in the cfg file. Money back guaranteed from Flight1...you can't go wrong. If your system can handle GEX and FEX you are going to be amazed at your new experience. Good luck. Regards, Randy

[Guest Rick Baldwin]

Thanks everyone for your comments. I have downloaded GEX and am evaluating it now.-Rick----------- My System -----------P4 @ 2.53 GHz / 1GB RAM / NVIDIA GeForce 6800XT, 256MB / Windows XP Home