Pahlmla

Thanks, Ron. Fantastic! Your suggested change to the .cfg file worked like a champ. I even had to zoom-"in" a bit. And Rodney, good luck on your 6-monitor setup. Larry

While I'm thrilled with my new 3-monitor "surround" VC, I'm struggling how to best read the instrument panels without having to back away from the 6000x1200 display. Although I've used the "-" key to zoom out as far as I can, it's still not enough for me to properly view the flight deck without physically moving my chair further away from my desk. It makes using the mouse a bit of a challenge. I'm also using TrackIR and found disabling the z-axis helps, but still doesn't solve my zoom-out limitation. I almost feel I should do my flight prep in single monitor mode (1920 x 1200) and save my triple monitor display for when I'm in flight. But what I really am hoping for is any suggestions members may have in tweaking my configuration such that I'm good for viewing all aspects of the VC without having to go into the next room. Thanks. - Larry

I became "un-stumped" regarding the 4th monitor being disabled after setting up the 3-monitor NVidia Surround". I right-clicked on an empty area of my desktop, then chose "Screen Resolution". I then selected the 4th monitor and changed the setting under "Multiple Monitors" from 'Disabled' (which NVidia had set this monitor to when going to Surround mode) to 'Extend Desktop for this Display'. I'm now able to run FSX in either Windowed mode or Full Screen and run auxiliary programs, maps, etc. on the 4th screen. Solution could not have been much easier.

When I set up my 3-monitor Surround mode using the 2-DVI and 1-HDMI ports of my Asus GTX 770, my 4th monitor ("accessory" monitor) using the DisplayPort is disabled by NVidia "Configure Surround, PhysX" setup. All monitors work fine in NON-surround mode. I want to use the 4th monitor for maps, Reality XP, etc. Ideally, I would fly FSX in VC windowed mode with the ability to undock certain instrument or other windows and move them to the accessory monitor plus run separate related programs (e.g. FS Commander) in the 4th display. So far, I'm stumped on how to do it.

.I'm about to replace my EVGA GTX 560 Ti (1Gb) with a 3-monitor, NVidia surround capable GPU. I already have my 3 monitors (Dell U2412M). Although I'm not quite over sticker shock, I'm leaning toward the EVGA 780 (3Gb). Any thoughts on this choice?

I'm trying to figure out the best setup for my new 3-monitor (Dell U2412M) configuration. I believe my existing desk is large enough (46" W x 30" D) for all 3 monitors, but the desk has a 1/2" raised edge (leg piece) on each side of the desk that limits the individual monitor stands from extending over each side of the desk. So there's no way the 3 separate monitors will fit. I considered a new desk or modifying my existing desk until I saw the Ergotech 100-D16-B03-TW Triple Monitor Desk Stand. Is anyone using this stand for their FSX 3-monitor setup?

Thanks, gb. I've added the new GTX 770 and GTX 780 to my candidate list.

After completing my first FSX dedicated PC build, I was revelling in the satisfaction of reaching FSX nirvana. That is until I watched a YouTube video of a 3-monitor FSX flight. It became apparent that my 2-monitor setup is “surround-challenged”. From my research, it appears that to move up to a 3-monitor “Surround” setup I need to: Add a 3rd Dell U2412M monitor to match my existing pair Replace my GeForce GTX 560 Ti card From what I’ve read, it looks like a GeForce GTX 680 (or perhaps GTX 670) is the way to go. In particular, the ASUS GTX 680-DC2T-2GD5 caught my eye. I believe this is what ASUS calls their DirectCU II TOP video card. In addition to its hefty price, this triple-slot card has a hefty length (11.8”). I’m not positive it will fit into my Rosewill Blackhawk ATX mid-tower case. (Rosewill advised me max length is 11”, but I think I can re-configure the HDD cages so that it will fit.) Is the GTX 680 the right way to go or would the GTX 670 work as well from a FSX stand point? Also is a “stock” GTX 680/670 card a more prudent choice vs. the ASUS triple-slot TOP card given that this is pretty much a FSX dedicated PC? I think I have a build that is well equipped to move on to the next level of realism with a 3-monitor surround setup (Asus Z77 Sabertooth motherboard w/ i5-3570k CPU). I’m currently running at 4.2 GHz and if I ever figure out how to set the proper Vcore/VID/Offset values (I know, each CPU is different), I think I have enough cooling capacity to get 4.5-4.7 GHz. Any recommendations or suggestions would be most welcome. Larry

Thanks, guys. I’ve come to a similar conclusion… System Mechanic will no longer be a part of my system. This comes up at a timely juncture as I’m about to do my first PC build, sans System Mechanic.

I have System Mechanic (SM) installed and have experienced the same problem as Lon Duncombe (“Lon David”) described in his 5/7/12 posting (FS2Crew voice recognition stops working). When the problem occurs, and it has occurred many times, I can normally "recover" from SM's "disabling" of FS2Crew's voice recognition by running Safety Net. Safety Net, a feature of SM, allows you to undo selected SM "registry optimizations". If that doesn't work, I try a System Restore. Only once have I done a Windows re-install to resolve the issue. While the Windows re-install did fix the problem SM apparently created with FS2Crew, and as much as I love FS2Crew, I will never again do a Windows re-install if SM/FS2Crew is the only issue. It's just too time consuming. Unfortunately, neither Safety Net nor System Restore has fixed the latest occurrence of this problem I’ve just encountered. FS2Crew voice recognition no longer works on my system. If anyone has a suggestion of what I might try (short of a Windows re-install), I’m all ears. Otherwise, I guess my next step is to contact Iolo Technologies (publisher of System Mechanic) and see if they’re ever going to resolve this issue (ref. Bryan York’s comment that “System Mechanic damages SAPI in some weird way.”). I would sure like to find a “lasting” solution since I don’t want to give up System Mechanic and I really enjoy FS2Crew for my PMDG J-41, Leonardo Maddog, PMDG 747 & Level-D 767… and hopefully soon PMDG 737NGX.

Thanks, Jim. I'll follow your suggestions for trouble shooting the freeze-ups. I also removed my system specs from my signature and moved that info to my profile page. That makes a lot more sense and is a good way to inventory your "hangar" of FS hardware and software.

I get system "freezes" almost every time I fly. The freezes can occur during almost any phase of the flight (as early as taxiing, but usually after I'm at cruise level). It happens with the feelthere E-jet v2 Embraer-175, the Maddog MD-83 and the Level-D 767-300. Once the lock-up or freeze occurs, if I don't touch anything (i.e. no mouse clicks or keyboard entries), the system will "thaw out" (aka un-freeze) in about 8 minutes. Everything is then fine again. On rare occasions, I'll have two freezes during a flight. My flights are normally less than three hours. I've just been putting up with it. I do tend to run a ton of FS add-ons (FS Commander, AS2012, STB, Radar Contact, FS2Crew, Track IR, DreamTeam, Orbx, EZ Cam...). I'm running two LG W2252TQ monitors on a eVGA nVidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti DS. My frame rate is normally very acceptable unless I'm in a highly detailed terrain (Orbx, Aerosoft US Cities X) with a good dose of broken clouds. I think I've upgraded my processor to about as high as I can (Q9650 @ 3.0 GHz) and expanded my Ram to 8GB. FSX sure would be more enjoyable without these freeze-ups. I, too, am very interested in anyone's thoughts. - Larry

Interesting topic. When I add up the PC upgrades (CPU, memory, monitors, sound card), FS specific hardware (Yoke, Pedals, Throttles) and FS add-ons (Aircraft, Scenery, ATC, Crews, Passengers, Airports, Flight Planners, Training, Sound Sets and Utilities ad infinitum) I've got invested over the past 3 years in my FS "hobby", I could have been well on my way to obtaining my RW pilot's license. FS can be very addictive to many. And like playing with toy trains as a kid, I always wanted to expand my layout, scenery and rolling stock. But unlike my toy train world, FS offers the challenges of RW flying and the spectacular RW scenery some developers (like Orbx) have created. Did someone say additction? I still have so many places I'd like to fly to and so many planes I'd like to try out. And I've been addicted since I first booted up FS on my C-64 some 25+ years ago.

The "Duh" factor finally hit me. I selected another theme (dah) and it installed successfully. I don't know what corrupted my "custom" theme that I've been using for a long time, but I'm gald the themes install without any problem now. Hey, I got myAS2012 moved out of the x86 folder so it wasn't a total waste of time. Thanks again Dave for the suggestion.

Thanks Dave. My UAC is indeed off. I installed AS2012 onto another drive in it's own folder (and removed it from the "X86" folder on my C:\ drive). Good suggestion. Didn't solve the problem, but it's still a good suggestion as I've read elsewhere "X86" is not the best place for FSX programs. I have no idea what the AS2012 errors about missing runway 11, 12 and airport parking .dds files is referring to.