Hi AllI have been out of simming for about 2 years now and boy things have changed. Anyway, I have just got this new dedicated FSX system (see sig) that I would like to get paid outside help on setting up to get the best out of it e.g. setup OS, setup FSX, tweak tools to get etc. Which of these 3rd party people that looks at your entire system and steps you through it all by say messenger etc is the best to use?RegardsIan1 x Gigabyte GA-EX38T-DQ61 x Intel E8500 Core 2 Duo Processor4 x Corsair DDR3 XMS3 DHX 1333MHz 1gig Ram blocks1 x XFX GeForce 9800 GX2 1.0GB DDR3 Black Edition4 x Western Digital 320Gb 7,200rpm 16Mb buffer SATA11 hard Drives in RAID01 x Antec 850W TruePower Quattro Power Supply3 x LG L1954TQ 19" LCDs(2m/s and 3000:1 contrast)1 x Matrox TripleHead2Go Digital edition to drive the monitors1 x Saitek Cyborg Evo Force Feedback Joystick1 x Saitek Pro Flight Yoke System1 x Saitek Pro Flight Rudder Pedals1 x Saitek Eclipse 2 Keyboard1 x Saitek GM3200 Laser Mouse1 x Logitech Z5400 5.1 Dolby/THX Sound System1 x XFX X-Gear Gaming Rumble (vibration) Headset1 x Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit

FS-GShttp://www.fs-gs.com/Cheers,Noel.

Ian,I just got a dedicated system for FSX about a month ago myself. I am running:E8400EVGA 8800 GTS 5122 GB PC2 8500 @ 1066mhzAsus Maximus Mobo500 GB Western Dig HD w/16mb cache750 PC Power and Cooling PSWin XPSaitek X52Plus the usual addons for mesh, ground, land class, and sky textures. Plus all WOAI packages and some PAI pakages to fill in the holes. I did the same thing you are wanting to do. Pay a few bucks to get it set up to the best of its ability the first time around, instead of doing it myself and spending hours, days, and maybe even weeks trying to get it perfect. I even posted a thread about my experence a few weeks ago called "new computer + FSX + FS-GS = perfection".The service I used is called FS-GS. The website is http://www.fs-gs.com. As far as I know they are the only pay service that specializes in doing a FS set up. Now, I live in the US, so I am not sure who there will do a service for you depending on the time difference.My results are nothing short of incredible. I can run the sim full out with %100 AI, full weather settings as far as cloud draw and clouds volume, full scenery complexity, basically all the settings maxed out, and I rarely ever drop below maybe 15 FPS in a really, really dense area. Plus, I have absolutly no problems with blurries or things of that nature. I can now fly in the VC and pan around with full fluid motion without stutters or waiting for textures to load.In short it was the best money I have ever spent on flight sim aside from the new computer itself. I really wish I had done this for FS9 when I first got it, but being the type that likes to do it myself it took me a while to get to the "sweet spot" on my own. The way I look at it, if I am going to spend a few thousand buck on a new system, why not spend another hundred bucks and get it set up to it's full potential.Or, you can do what most people on here do, read a bunch of threads on all kinds of tweaks and .cfg tweaks, Nicks tips and tweaks, and try yourself, and still probably come up short (No offense to Nick, I'm sure his tips help quite a few). You will see lots of posts about defraging and modifying the .cfg file, but a lot of this is not necessary if your inner workings of the computer are config properly from the start. In fact, during my service we didn't do anything to the main cfg file, and only a few defrags during the install process. In a way I feal bad for the poor souls that are still trying a still have problems because they insist on having to do it them selves or cant afford the service, but if you got the money its about the best thing you can do. The people at this place specialize in this. Let me tell you, after all the years I had FS9, it's so nice to be able to finally run one of these sims completely full out and enjoy all the eye candy without stuttering around with 5 to 10 FPS, and blurries to boot.Ian I will be out of town for until Thursday and will not be able to check back in on this thread if you have questions. But when I get back I will take a look and see how you get on with it. Good luck and happy simming.Regards,Sean CampbellBTW, I have no ties to this company or any other FS related company, just a very satisifed customer.

Tried sending an email to services at fs-gs.com and it bounced back plus their website isn't very up to date and their forum posts are really oldRegardsIan1 x Gigabyte GA-EX38T-DQ61 x Intel E8500 Core 2 Duo Processor4 x Corsair DDR3 XMS3 DHX 1333MHz 1gig Ram blocks1 x XFX GeForce 9800 GX2 1.0GB DDR3 Black Edition4 x Western Digital 320Gb 7,200rpm 16Mb buffer SATA11 hard Drives in RAID01 x Antec 850W TruePower Quattro Power Supply3 x LG L1954TQ 19" LCDs(2m/s and 3000:1 contrast)1 x Matrox TripleHead2Go Digital edition to drive the monitors1 x Saitek Cyborg Evo Force Feedback Joystick1 x Saitek Pro Flight Yoke System1 x Saitek Pro Flight Rudder Pedals1 x Saitek Eclipse 2 Keyboard1 x Saitek GM3200 Laser Mouse1 x Logitech Z5400 5.1 Dolby/THX Sound System1 x XFX X-Gear Gaming Rumble (vibration) Headset1 x Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit

Ian,I'm another satisfied FS-GS customer and I also recommend them highly. Michael Greenblatt is the owner and he probably needs some assistance with updating his website which is why it's not as current as it should be. That notwithstanding, his service is truly valuable and I consider the modest cost of the FS-GS service to have been money well spent. As I recall, Avsim did a review of FS-GS and gave it a thumbs up. You may want to check the Avsim review archives.According to my records, Michael's direct email address is [email protected]. Try contacting him at that address.Best wishes!-Rick----------- My System -----------P4 @ 2.53 GHz / 1GB RAM / NVIDIA GeForce 6800XT, 256MB / Windows XP Home

PS - Here's the Avsim review:http://www.avsim.com/pages/0306/FSGS/fsgs.htm-Rick----------- My System -----------P4 @ 2.53 GHz / 1GB RAM / NVIDIA GeForce 6800XT, 256MB / Windows XP Home

>>According to my records, Michael's direct email address is>[email protected]. Try contacting him at that address.> I actually tried contacting him regarding his services using the address you just mentioned. This was about a month ago or so. I never got a response from him :(

I have been assured once again by the website admin that the e-mail issue has been rectified.I apologize to everyone and hope now that it finally has.In any case you can always contact me directly:[email protected] also want to apologize if I failed to reply to a request and hope that you'll contact me again.Michael Greenblattwww.fs-gs.com

==================================Or, you can do what most people on here do, read a bunch of threads on all kinds of tweaks and .cfg tweaks, Nicks tips and tweaks, and try yourself, and still probably come up short (No offense to Nick, I'm sure his tips help quite a few). You will see lots of posts about defraging and modifying the .cfg file, but a lot of this is not necessary if your inner workings of the computer are config properly from the start. ===================================No offense taken :)If I were to sit there with people and tune things that would of course be different. Even with a one-on-one service I would still do everything I listed which if you review it carefully you will see its not about defrag runs although that is part of it as it is with any service.If what I listed does not make a defined difference its not the list that is the problem. What I listed was not sim-tuning it was system tuning and unfortunately every system, even with identical hardware, can present different sim settings and system changes.What I listed was a general way to increase performance. More can be done but I did ---NOT-- list everything because some things you simply do not apply to every system out there and there is no such thing as a defined list of system and FSX settings that work for everyone, so, I listed only items that would be safe (with the warnings I provided) for everyone to use/try.Most people do not understand how a system and the sim works and they ----should seek professional help---- if they can not take what I posted and finish the job right.Most can't and therefore such a service can in fact provide help and relief. However, how much such a service provides is also limited, just like what I posted. It may provide a huge benefit to system A and a mild benefit to system B.. and on some, none.

Ditto to all the replies, and the great thing is, if he can't improve your FSX performance, and you arent happy, it doesn't cost you a cent.

E6850 Core2Duo8800GTS 640Mb Graphics (old version)P5 Deluxe MoBo22