flyingscampi

Is FSX Deluxe supposed to work on Windows 8.1? I had a miserable experience and just as I was about to reluctantly give up on 8.1, FSX SE miraculously appeared and it is smooth and stable without any tampering with FSX.cfg. All my add-ons are working perfectly too (just waiting for NGX). I expect SE will also work, or be modified to work on Windows X.

Like others have said, when using ATC I never specify the SID/STAR in the flight plan. I only program the FMC when Radar Contact announces the departure/arrival runway. RC has options to let you fly your SID/STAR's without interference.

I built a new rig over Christmas with Win 8.1 and I couldn't cope with the amount of CTD's I was getting with FSX Deluxe so I stripped it off my system and started again with SE. As I've changed my core system (i5 4690K from i5 750) I can't compare performance, but I finally have a rig that runs FSX smoothly with all my add-ons. All my add-ons came over with the exception of ASN (nearly at beta), the 737 NGX (waiting for the new installer) and the Reality XP GNS (which I replaced with the GTN). I'm not bothered about the debate whether SE has been, or is going to be improved by DTG, as I'm getting value for money by simply having a sim that runs stably on Win 8.1 with all my add-ons.

Your CPU with integrated graphics is going to chug regardless, but what drive have you got in your laptop? If it has the usual 5400rpm SATA drive, replace it with an SSD.

Don't thank me, I'm just the messenger

I've updated the pinned topic as well, but I've just noticed there is now a 2015 version of the magdec.bgl file available since the 1st Jan. Sorry if this is old news. http://www.aero.sors.fr/navaids.html

I've just noticed that since 1st Jan, there has been a 2015 update available for the magdec.bgl file.

Windows 8.1 FSX Deluxe SP2 & PMDG 777 cleanly removed before Steam Edition installed (with Jan update) As suggested by Steve Dra, I too had to run the 3 x SimConnect.msi installers from the SDK folder before I was prompted to activate the 777 (installed from SP1d package).

dH Mosquito please. OK, only joking but I just saw these videos

I use the FMC to calculate fuel as shown in the second tutorial. TOPCAT adds a layer of realism with the takeoff performance calculations without having to pore over tables and graphs in the manual (which I quickly got bored with as I can just restart the flight when I roll off the end of the runway). TOPCAT encourages you to take off and land the NGX at unsuitable airfields leaving a few feet of runway. Like any tool, the investment saves you hours of manual labour and TOPCAT is worth the money I think.

I use an i5 750 @ 4.1 GHz with a nVidia GTX 460 and get acceptable performance with the 737 in bad weather at UK2000s' Gatwick plus all the usual add-ons. In clearer areas I get 30fps solid thanks to Word Not Allowed's guide. I was going to upgrade when Ivy Bridge came out but was put off by the benchmarks as it wouldn't provide much performance difference for the dosh. I'll upgrade when Haswell comes out in a few months and see whether the extra cache gives FSX a boost. I'm planning on a GTX 670 to partner the Haswell. I've just come back to FSX after being totally absorbed with ArmA2 for the past year

Ivy Bridge

I must resist...resist...I failed :(

Sorry DX11 was an assumption, surely MS would take advantage of their own API? Oh wait I remember DX10 in FSX...

Flight is simply taking advantage of DX11 and modern hardware including 6 years of GPU development. If MS would just do the same to the FSX engine and release SP3 I'd be very grateful