glacier

That sure shoots down my theory.

Here's a wild, way out there, theory of mine. PMDG has stated that they are working on a Dash 8. Maybe this is a play on words and they are talking about a 747-800.Dustin

Conspiracy theories aside, I also never experienced the cloud hit when I used the 4870. But I can say that after switching to a GTX285, FSX has never looked better. No more shimmering and no more hoping AA would work when starting a new fight. In the past, I found that the unofficial Omega drivers would solve most FSX problems on ATI cards, but that project now seems dead. It seems that both ATI and nVidia could both care less about FSX driver optimizations, but on MY system nVidia wins hands down...I'm glad the 4870 works for you though. As they say, YMMV.Dustin

In my 10 years of PC use, I've only ever owned ATI video cards. Sold my 4870 last week on ebay and got my first ever Nvidia card. Making the change was the single best thing I've ever done for FSX. AA now actually works and shimmering is virtually gone resulting in vastly superior image quality on my new BFG 285.I guess you can now call me a Nvidia "a really excited user"

Could someone send them to me [email protected]

I have the Saitek X52 Pro and the only way for me to get reverse on my throttle is via FSUIPC. My throttle has a detent so I assinged reverse below the detent in the FSUIPC throttle axis. I'm not familiar with your Saitek yoke, but in your case you could assign a button to the F2 key and hold the button whenever reverse is required.

Compared to other products, the price sure looks good. Just hope this isn't a case of "you get what you pay for".

I'm thinking that the increase is because of the high resolution FEX clouds. Those 4096x4096 textures were probably choking my old 1950xtx.Your lack of increase was probably because you were already CPU limited. I'd assume that if you had a higher end Core 2 or Quad and went from a 6800xt to a 8800gt you'd see a rather large increase aswell.Dustin

JIMJAM,Of all the issues that you've listed, the only one I've ever experienced was getting the AA/AF to stick on my old 1950xtx. Figured out that it was the catalyst drivers and when I switched to the Omega drivers the problem completely went away. Unfortunately the Omegas haven't been released for the 4800 series yet. When they are, it may help you with this issue. Even though my 4870 has been issue free, I'll probably switch to the Omegas once they are released. They use much less memory compared to the catalyst drivers/CCC.JayDub,Here are my FSX.cfg tweaks. FS9, for me, went the way of the dinosaurs a long time ago.{DISPLAY}TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=50WideViewAspect=True (if your monitor is widescreen){BUFFERPOOLS}Poolsize=50000000{Main}DisablePreload=1All the tweaks came from a post NickN made several months ago. Oh and if you cut and past the above, change the {} brackets to square ones. For some reason the forum won't accept square brackets.Dustin

JayDub,Just finished my first flight with the 4870 (catalyst 8.7), no problems to report. As you said, I'm really happy with the performance. Good choice on the card, I've always preferred ATI over NV for image quality reasons.If you're ready to give FSX a chance, your new computer will more than handle it. My settings are maxed, except for no autogen (can't stand the look of it) and water at 1x high. I'm running PMDG 744X, FEX, GEX, UTX, FSG and various airport sceneries. I am now more than happy with the performance. Just a couple tweaks in the fsx.cfg file and you're ready to go.Congrats, your new rig sounds great.Dustin

This is for anyone sitting on the fence thinking about upgrading their video card. I, after much debate, finally upgraded my video card from an ATI 1950XTX to a ATI 4870. The rest of my system is a [email protected] GHz, 2GB DDR2. I knew I'd get an increase in performance, but just wasn't sure if it would be worth it. Using Gary Dunne's FSXmark07 benchmark, I got the following results with my custom FSX settings and addons.Before Video Card UpgradeFrames, Time (ms), Min, Max, Avg 6342, 300000, 16, 31, 21.140After Video Upgrade UpgradeFrames, Time (ms), Min, Max, Avg 10169, 300000, 27, 48, 33.897My non-scientific results are: PMDG 744X in the VC sitting at FSDT's KORD gate C18 increasing from ~17FPS to ~25FPS.So if you're sitting with a higher end system with a "dated" video card, get rid of that GPU bottleneck and upgrade your GPU.Now I can truly say that FSX is CPU bound on MY system!BTW, thanks Gary for your wonderful benchmarking tool.Dustin

Good news for those of us waiting to use FSX with SB4. A public beta release candidate has been sent to Vatsim for approval. Hopefully next week it will be released.http://squawkbox.ca/news/

My frames are locked at 20. In the VC I get 15-20 on the ground in YVR. In the air fairly steady at 20. Most sliders are full right, water is 1x high, no autogen. This is with fair weather using FEX cloud textures.My system:C2D 6600 @ 3.2Ghz2GB RamRadeon 1950XTXWindows XPDustin

Here you go. Yes I know, I'm no screenshot pro! Hope you get the download soon.Dustinhttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/179515.jpghttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/179517.jpg

Just did my first circuit in YVR. Performance is right about where I expected. Good job guys! Only small issue I had is that the LED's on both the Captain and FO clocks are blank.Dustin

I still use it. Won't be upgrading to the FSX 744 if my MCP/EFIS/EICAS hardware won't work with it. As far as paying for it, I guess it would depend how much the interface would cost.Dustin

The last airline I worked for had this in both the Before Takeoff and Before Landing Checklists. Basically all it is, is a way to start a checklist and finish the remaining items at an appropriate later time.exampleWhen approaching the runway hold short line. The PF would call for the "Before Takeoff Checklist to the line". Once cleared into position the PF would call for "below the line". Once both are completed the PNF would say "Before Takeoff Checklist" complete. In this example, "below the line" may contain transponder and some external lights etc... stuff that shouldn't go on until entering the runway.Dustin

They are set via the FMC. That's the way the real 744 is and is how PMDG modeled it. Suggest you read the manuals.Dustin

Released for registered LevelD forum users. Download links posted in their forum. General release is supposed to happen within a few hours.Dustin

I use the top throttle wheel for a steering tiller. The slider on the throttle is for speed brakes. This you have to use FSUIPC to setup. I don't use a clutch in my profile, but use the Mode switcher to control gear and flaps.Dustin

Also pricing has been announced. $14.95 for upgrade and $54.95 for new owners. And yes that's USD! Should be released in a couple of days according to their forum.Dustin

The manual has been released and just like the FS9 version, the FSX version requires a 2D FMC while in the VC. That's really too bad.Dustin

Ryan, I used the MS Force Feedback 2 several years ago, this joystick is several generations ahead of that one. It isn't cheap, but it's worth it in my mind. Every switch on the MCP is programed except for THR, ALT HOLD and HDG HOLD (only because I rarely if ever use them). It has 3 HAT switches. I use one for panning, one for MCP alt and heading increase/decrease, the last one for speed increase/decrease. The scroll wheel on the throttle controls the V/S wheel. The programming software allows you to program each HAT switch to serve as 8 different buttons (1 for each direction). With all the buttons on the stick and throttle programed, the hardest part is remembering which one does what, but once you do a few flights it becomes second nature.The cheapest place I found this joystick was Amazon. When I bought it GoGamer had a cheaper list price, but charged tax on orders delivered to my state, so I went with Amazon.Dustin

I've been using the X52 Pro for a few months now. Works for all aircraft that I've used it with (PMDG and LevelD). Best controller that I've ever owned. No way I could go back to using my old CH yoke. The MFD has also been make compatible with FS9. If you end up getting the Pro version, let me know and I'll give you the link to the guys website that made the MFD FS9 module.Also if you get it make sure you take the time to learn the button programming software. It was quite daunting for me at first, but once I figured it out it was well worth it. I have most of the MCP programmed to buttons which makes flying in the VC much easier. No more reaching for the mouse to change heading, altitude, speed etc..Dustin

Hi John, I'm not familiar with those sceneries that you are using. I have a few different sceneries that use frequencies to activate jetways. Simflyers works as stated in their manuals. The Imagine Sim sceneries manuals say that you need 111.0 in NAV2. If you do this with the PMDG 744 the jetway constantly moves in and out. If you put 111.0 in both NAV1 and NAV2 the jetway will dock normally. I believe I was told that this has to do with the way PMDG codes their avionics. So all I can suggest is you put the required NAV frequency in both 1 and 2. If this doesn't work try the scenery designer's support forum.On a side note, if you enjoy active jetways etc, I suggest you check out Aerosoft's AES. It makes jetways and service vehicles automatically activate at most payware airport sceneries. No headaches about trying to remember which frequency goes where.Dustin