Bluescaster

Hi All, I read these forums when I can in an attempt to learn a bit about what makes my computer tick! (It is working slowly as I feel I understand more of the jargon at least:-) )However - reading this thread I'm confused about the mention of TWO graphics cards...... always on the lookout to improve performance (and there have been some super tips in the forums over time) could you tell me if TWO graphics cards can be fitted to any system and if so HOW does that improve things.I'll monitor this with nterest.Happy New Year to all .... Blue

Thanks all - for those that like a conclusion I went for a 19" CRT LG Flatron T910BU in the end - It really is very nice and a great improvement on the old 15" (increase of resolution to boot) As someone said - "Like a new sim"Thank you for taking the time and trouble to help me out. Regards Blue

Anthony, Many thanks...... I'm leaning towards a CRT still at presentas although timewise I use the set mainly for Flt sim. other family members use text programs a fair amount :-) Regards Blue

Food for thought for sure Gents. Regards Blue

Greg, Thanks for the information. I shall have to see how the new monitor runs. My picture clarity, colour and resolution is most satisfactory at present. Regards Blue

Par, Thanks for taking the trouble to reply. One further question. I'm currently happy with the resolution of 1024 X 748 on my 15" monitor. With a 17 or 19" monitor (Say CRT for now) would that resolution still be the one to use? Or is there a set resolution for the size of the screen? I'm sorry I'm no expert when it comes to computers. Thanks.Regards Blue

Hi all, I'm looking to upgrade my monitor only - I have an nVidia 2700+ CPU with 1 gig Ram (Sorry don't know which type - not a computer buff unfortunately) I have an nVidia FX5600 graphics card and have Windows XP home. 15" CRT monitor running at 1024 X 748.I'm very happy with this system which I put together about a year ago. Due to desk top space I didn't update my monitor at that time, now I fancy I've room for a bigger monitor - 17 or 19 inch may be possible. I understand that CRT monitors are best for Flight Sim stuff. I'm looking at a LG Flatron Ez T910BU 19" (friend has one seems good??)These forums have stood me in good stead in the past for system advice and I'd welcome any advice on this subject. (My thanks to any of you who replied to an earlier post :-) )Regards Blue

>Well buying a new fan to put into a Ti-4800 is really to much>work for to little. I would just take the failing fan for a>perfect valid reason to upgrade :DI don't agree..... Sorry. The card being used was quite satifactory..... a new fan therefore solved the problem. What could be more simple. If you're satisfied with what you have then why change. Sometimes I think we lose sight of what we want all this hardware/software for and upgrade for the sake of it.Just a thought. Regards Blue

IGO, If you see my post above, you'll notice I check NEITHER with my system. That may be the way I have things set up but it works for me and was one of the reasons I wrote the reply to Chriss above. Hope that helps. Regards Blue

Thanks gents......... much apprciated. I'll certainly look at the monitoroutlet.com Scott. Thanks Blue

Sorry, could you please explain what a "LCD vice CRT Monitor" is? Regards Blue

Hi All, About this time last year I updated my system. It is now nicely optimised, thanks mainly to the advice and help of these forums; I am really pleased with it. However, due to limited physical space on my desk I kept my 15" monitor. It is running at 1028 X 748 70hz. which gives a good visual representation and is satisfactory other than the size of the viewing area.My system has a MSI K7N2 Main board; AMD Athlon 2700+ Mg Hz processor; 1 Gig Hz Ram; An nVidia FX5600 128Mg hz Graphics card. (Hope this makes sense - I'm not much at understanding the jargon:-) )I believe now that I may be able to fit in at least a 17" monitor. I wonder if any of you would be good enough to give me some advice on the spec. I should look for in a monitor used mainly for Flight Sim. duties.I am not a computer whizz so a short explanation as to any techincal jargon would also be useful; As would Make, model advice if you have a system similar to mine.Thanks. Regards Blue

Hi all & Chris...... Chris, I'm no expert I'm afraid but seem to have similar (but older spec) components as your system so thought my two penny worth might help :-)I have AMD 2700+ with 1 gig of RAM (don't know what type??) I have an nVidia FX5600 card. (I'm afraid I don't know all the technical jargon but hope this spec. gives you an idea.) 17" monitor on 1028 X 748.My point is I run BOTH FS2002 and FS9 regularly...... I have no jaggies at all that I can notice on either system. I set the nVidia Anti-Aliasing to off (it says something like -"Application controlled") I then set Anti aliasing OFF - Yes!! un-tick the boxes on BOTH the simms. I've just loaded both sims to be certain of this - and checked the nVidia thingy on my desk top!!! If I knew how to put a screen shot on here I'd show you an example.Now I don't know why this should be, my frame rates do vary but mostly they are around 25-30 on FS9 (limited to 30) with some stuff at max but not all. The frame rate is considerably higher on the FS2002 (Limited to 35) Mostly maxed sliders.I can tell you that I visited these forums for several days - a week maybe, almost constantly when I updated my system about this time last year. I asked lots of questions and experimented, read lots and lots (learned a huge amount:-) What I'm getting at is that when I first updated the system I was VERY disappointed as the expensive, (to me then) new components APPEARED to give little in the way of improvement. Now it's great!!Hope this gives you some encouragement to sort out your system. It isn't that difficult..... I'm useless with these modern things but as I'm getting too old to fly for real, I wanted to have an escape with "feeling" to the virtual world when I hang up my helmet for good!! Regards Blue PS. I managed to upload a picture - I don't have many - it looks worse here on the reproduction than the screenshot I have on file - and THAT looks a bit blurred to how it appears on screen.

Mike, I'm looking to upgrade my monitor only at present..... could you please let me know what the physical size of your Sony unit is? I'm trying to decide on the biggest screen size to fit into my desk....limited space. Also if you are really satisfied with this monitor. Thanks. Regards Blue

Justin, thanks......... I'll give it a shot. Regards Blue

Hi All, Please excuse if this seems to be a ridiculous question - I'm not up to much with computers - (Still learning my files from my folders if you like :-) I'm looking for add-on mesh to cover the Yukon, I've tried British Columbia and that made a great improvement to my VFR flights. I searched the files and can only seem to come up with FS2000 mesh for this area. Question: Can anyone point me to mesh I could use in FS9/2004 or are mesh files the same in all versions of Flight Simulator.Regards Blue

Allcott, Many thanks for getting back on this. Clearly my "Steep learning curve was not steep enough because I didn't understand ALL of your settings/terms :-) However, I'm getting there. My card is the 128Mb version, with the AMD Athlon XP 2700+. I've updated the BIOS from MSI also am running the latest chipset drivers.I didn't understand "Properties - MSI Clock -D.O.T Enable - Colonel", is this a BIOS setting?The nVidia controil panel settings I do understand, they seem to be similar to those I've recently set from memory but I will need to check.My monitor doesn't display at such a high resolution - (New Monitor is on the shopping list) mine is 1024 X 728 X 32.My FS settings are comparable with yours (from memory but I will check these also)I haven't altered my FS9 Config.Further questions if you are able to answer them are: In light of my FX5600 card being 128Mb - is it appropriate to have FS9 Config. settings similar to yours?Also: the "Properties - MSI Clock........ - Colonel" above, what is it please?Thanks for your help so far, Regards Blue

Allcott, Thanks for replying........ You'll see elsewhere in the forums I've posted a note which, in effect also updates here. This is quite an old posting and received few ideas for me to work on - in the meantime I've been on that steep learning curve and following much advice from these forums, I now have a very much improved setup of which I'm very pleased. Basically - as you seem to be suggesting, I hadn't a clue about setting everything up. Now that I've delved into drivers and BIOS, along with optimising Windows XP to say nothing of the FX5600 itself - then the game settings! Well as you might imagine - Much better all round.I really didn't realise there was so much to these computer things! In any event many thanks again for your interest. I would be interested to learn more of your settings and system - in light of you having the same card as I have. I could also, look up the settings I'm using if it is of interest still. Kind Regards Blue.

Hi All, Have been interested reading this and can relate to many of the points. I have recently upgraded my system to an AMD2700+ with the nVidia FX5600 and 1Gig of RAM. Frankly I was pretty disappointed when I loaded up FS9. Thinking I'd made some big mistakes somewhere - and being pretty Non - computer literate, I started to try to find out what the problem was etc. etc.I've looked through all sorts of pages within the AVSIM forums and have taken much advice over the past few weeks. Most of it related to making the best of the new system. The most important lesson I have learned is that I needed to have a better understanding of my computer - I can't remember all the tweaks and adjustments I've made, but in essence they have been to get rid of stuff slowing the system down that; a. I didn't know was there and; b. I didn't need.Then there were the tweaks etc. to optimize the Operating system (Windows XP) the Simulator program itself - the settings are pretty complicated to the likes of a chap like myself.In conclusion I now have a GREAT system with excellent fluidity and smoothness - lots of add-ons and mesh/aircraft/scenery. With locked frame rates (set at 30) it rarely drops below unless in heavy cloud - In the unlocked setting, the system runs between 60-100fps the majority of the time. Most slider in the max settings.I'm still learning but the process has been well worth while and I felt it might be of use to pass on my experience - i.e. it wasn't so much I'd got the wrong kit - just that I didn't know enough to set it up properly!!Regards Blue.

Hi again All, I'm still trying to figure out all the inner workings of Flight Sims, having been years flying the defaults and just now starting to realise there's lots more to be had with the add - ons. Following this thread regarding, "Lots of smaller mesh...." can I take it that one can load up a variety and they will join together; or is that an over simplification of the advice you are giving Holger?Regards Blue

Thanks for the input people - very grateful. Regards Blue

Gosta, Many thanks for taking the trouble to answer my queries. I'm learning slowly but it has been an uphill struggle with some of the stuff.I've also just switched on ot the fact that I can "Search" this Forum - I have been reading it for a month or two thinking I could only go to each page shown under the various subjects! See how dumb some people are :-)Regards Blue.

Justin, My sincere thanks for explaning it all - even to the extent that I can understand it. I think I'll have a bash now and see how it goes. Hopefully I won't blow the stsyem :-) Regards Blue

Hi Guys, Sorry to butt in on this thread, however I'm still in the early stages of getting to the bottom of what's in my computer - Could I be a pain and ask for a simple explanation of terms? I seem to read so much that just as I THINK I'm beginning to understand, I read something that throws me out again.Therefore can you explain how the "Motherboard" and the "CPU" (Processor?? ) fit into things, and maybe how the "RAM" effects the graphics card which I see written as i.e. nVidia FX5600 128Mg.etc.I ask as it seems to me that these four components are the basis of what makes my flight sim work,(or not!) fast/slow - or give, Good image/bad image. Sorry if these questions are unclear but my mind boggles at all these terms and components which I'm struggling to undestand. ThanksRegards Blue.

Thanks Justin. I think I understood most of that. I have a 2.7+ gig processor (AMD motherboard ) with 1 gig Ram. nVidia FX5600 128meg graphics card. (Again I think all the terms are correct.) I therefore assume from what you say that I should be OK to download new mesh. If I were to do all of Canada would that be too much - I like flying in British Columbia etc. - I'd like to add Alaska also but don't want to over do it.Sorry to be a bother but are "Landclass" files the same as the terrain mesh one sees posted on the site? If not, do I need these also?Also, I was intending putting the extra mesh in the "ADDON Scenery" folder. Does this have the "companion texture folder you speak off.Thanks and apologies for being rather vague concerning this - I'm afraid it is all pretty complicated as yet.Regards Blue