gordonicus

I was always a MSFS fan but was dissapointed with MSFS 2020. I know I made a mistake buying it within 6 days of launch as it was extremely buggy and the load times were terrible. I gave up and parked my yoke. Last month got X-Plane 11 (I had tried X-Plane 10 as well). Wonderful! Loads fast and doesn't take as much memory. I added freeware including Airport Environment, sky and weather enhancements, and UHD textures, as well as a payware 727-200 (I like old heavy metal). Anyway this is running on a 1-1/2 old mid-range Dell G5 and I consistently get framerates of 55-60 FPS (VSync enabled) with no stutter or flickering. IMHO, X-Plane is the way to go...Good luck on whatever you decide to do. Here are my graphics settings: (0% lowest possible setting to 100%, highest possible setting) Visual Effects: 75% Texture Quality: 75 % Antialiasing: 60% Anisotropic Filtering: 4x World Objects: 50% Reflection Detail: 60% Draw parked aircraft and shadows AI Traffic: Low Computer specs: CPU: Intel i7-10700F @ 2.90 GHz (Stock) with Turboboost to over 4.0 GHz OS: Windows 10 64-bit Home edition RAM: 16 GB HD: 1GB Graphics card: GTX 2080 5 GB

So far I like it much more than FSX or XPlane. Haven't simmed in about 3-4 years because I was tired of CTD's and chasing all the add-ons. Running a Dell with a Intel 10-700F (not overclocked), 16 GB of ram, RTX 2060 6 GB and flying the GA models on a medium setting without a single CTD yet in 1200 x 1920. Not so happy with the graphics so far but haven't even begun to start tweaking settings other than limiting FPS to 30 and cutting AI traffic to 10%. In fairness to airliner flyers, I haven't tried the 320 yet and probably wont. I prefer old heavy metal and trying to be patient for a PMDG DC-6 port or Connie from FlightSim. I realize MSFS is buggy but think in one year it will look a whole lot better and for the $ 60.00 USD I have into to it now its acceptable.

Thank you Luke!

Does any one know how the scenery cache is managed? I'm asking because I'd like to install MSFS on an SSD, but keep the scenery cache (plan to start with 50 GB) on my HDD. Is this possible? Haven't installed the game. Thank you.

Skyvector is a great tool. I use it to plan IFR flights but will it will give you nice color VFR maps. It will show weather advisories as well. I'm kinda cheap so don't like paying for things such as approach plates. I've found that most countries have sites with updated approach plates for their major airports. Not sure if you are using any but it adds much fun when you can accurately pull off an approach using VOR/NDB. ( I like 50's era flying with DC-4s, Connies, and such....

Thanks! After I posted I finally (duh) noticed your RAM FPS monitor readouts. Think I will try it as it as see how it goes.

Just a question Bilal2104? I noticed your running 16GB of RAM. I have a similar if a bit slower set-up I7-10700F running on a RTX 2060 6 GB with 16 GB of 2333 mhz RAM. I haven't bought the game yet (soon this week) but am concerned about running out of RAM. Did you monitor your RAM usage? Any concerns? I have an older Dell monitor 1280 X 1980 resolution for which I usually restrict frame rates. Ran great with Xplane 11. I usually set AI traffic around 10% and don't try to go for Ultra settings on anything. PS thanks for your screenshots!

I had to stop FSX and X-Plane about 3 years ago due to graduate school and the crash of my then-pretty good PC. Just got done with school and looking forward to MSFS on a decent PC I just picked up. I am about half-way on the 'nerd' slider--I don't do VATSIM or new jets and ton's of add-ons, but am looking forward to 3rd party older heavy metal like the Constellation, DC-4, DC-6 and a 707 once in a while. I spent time in the Middle East when I was young. I love to build VOR/NDB flight plans of this area and semi-replicate some of the routes as flown in the late '40s and early '50s'. For me a good multiday trip would be Cairo-Amman-Beirut-Damascus-Kuwait-Bahrain-Muscat-Aden-Khartoum-Abu Simbel-and return to Cairo. This would be flown at low altitude as to honor the non-pressurized aircraft (plus I enjoy the desert and water scenery). I haven't installed MSFS yet--will wait another week or so then give it a shot. I do not expect it to be bug-free experience and again miss the days of picking thru postings from some awesome folks helping with those workarounds. I am not looking for perfection. I realize Cairo and some of the other big cities may drag frame rates but will compromise as I need to. Not big on AI or Ultra settings at this time. I also know it will probably be a WHILE before a good 3rd party aircraft release has been ported and play-tested (such as a PMDG DC-6) so will spend the time relearning all key mapping, tweaking settings, reading up on what others have discovered, and beta-testing the routes with the stock King Air 350i.

I haven't spent time with FSX in about 4 years mainly due to graduate school and the loss of a high-end computer. For a while I was into X-Plane 11, but faded away. I just got a pretty good PC with mid-range hardware and look forward to MSFS. I will probably buy it in a couple of weeks. I believe it will be buggy at first like most new releases but will use the time before the first big patches roll out to re-learn all the key mapping, etc...My only dismay at this point is the lack of 3rd party aircraft, especially old heavy metal like the DC-3 or the PMDG DC-6. Hopefully these will be available within a year or so.

Aharon, I did not mean to say the Just Flight DC-6 is not good. I do enjoy it alot and I think my money was well spent. Most importantly I haven't found a bug yet, unlike a certain brand name payware seller of the 707. Once I emailed Just Flight's tech support about a cockpit lighting question and got a good follow-up from them in one business day. But maybe like some of you I am always looking for the next step-up! Personally would just like more working cockpit switches/systems such as the supercharger switches. While I prefer vintage props, from what I see of the modern jetliner crowd in FSX there seems to be a concensus that PMDG really fleshes out systems, which in a DC-6 seem simplistic compared to some of the modern stuff.

I would really like to see the DC-6 come out. I have the Just Flight version which overall does pretty well but it would be nice to have a wee bit more on the working gauge/switch/systems side of the house. Also some clean-up on layout on instruments which certainly seems within PMDG's abilities. How about a 'grubby' vs. 'factory fresh' panel option..I tend more the Captain Sim look (without software bugs although) rather than clean and shiny.

Bryan, I finished my first build this summer and used a P8Z-77 V LK after a lot of research. I like the 4 fan ports and am using all for my FSX build. This is with an i5-3570K (not overclocked yet) and 8 GB of 1600 RAM. Couple of things-as you may read the board defaults to 1333 Ram timings unless you enable XMP on the BIOS. Also, the whole rebate thing is awful so I just write it off--its not worth the high blood pressure. I didn't have any issues installing Windows 7 and a new Samsung 830 HDD (256gb) and the board fired everything up without issues. I also liked the PCI 3.0 and USB 3.0 buses. Future-proof it for a few years. I am only running one graphics card (Nvidia) so don't have an opinion if you are planning to run SLI. Good luck!

Thanks idahosurge, I will start with those links and do some homework.

I haven't used FSX in 4-5 years since XP days and am now just getting back into it with Windows 7 - 64bit on a i5-3570k. As I really want to learn the roles of different settings and tweaks I am holding on an expensive Graphics card and instead running a IGB Nvidia GTX 650 which seems to give me good frame rates at stock settings. I am not running any scenery add-on's yet. The standard Nvidia driver includes the control panel. I am confused about "NVidia Inspector." I understand this is an aftermarket application? If so, and I download it, does it automatically override the Nvidia Control Panel settings or is there a configuration to set so the card is driven by inspector? Also one more - I understand from some research that disabling the FSX anti-aliasing option and instead enabling it through the driver/Nvidia control panel is the best way to go. Have tried both and can't really notice too much a difference. Sorry for the basic questions...Thanks for any help.

Newbie, I just finished my first build with similar specs (using an i5-3570K). I also got the GTX 650 because I wanted a couple of months to play around with settings before dumping a bunch of cash into a graphics card. To date I haven't had any issues and have been able to run most settings on high/maxed without buggy frames. I admit I have yet to load any scenery add-ons, at which time I will probably start looking at a better card.