Smokeyr67

Thanks for the help JIm, I hope I didn't offend, that wasn't my intent, just pointing out the difference in price, and the fact that I trust MSI probably as much as you trust your supplier:) In the link I supplied in the op, you'll see that it's an MXM graphics card, so no worries there. Humpty, cooling looks good, lots of holes in the appropriate places and 2 fans, so that is as good as can be expected, and if I'm not using it in an air conditioned hotel room or office, I'll use a laptop cooler to help:) I've seen tests that put the 980M on par with the 7XX series desktop cards, so I'm not expecting to run with all settings maxed out, but I'd love to know what to expect running at 1080p. Smokey

Sounds great Jim, just a couple of issues, 1. location, and 2 price. On the web site they don't have a shipping option to Australia, and without shipping costs, a comparable system would cost and extra $700 AUD:( edit - actually you can buy them in Aus, but a similar config with no HDD is about $1200 more than the one I linked to in the op.

Hi guys, I'm looking at getting a new laptop, would like to fly X-Plane as smoothly as possible in the upper range of settings, so I was wondering if anyone has any experience with something similar to this MSI Laptop A short set of specs; I7 6700 HQ (2.6/3.5 GHz) GTX 980 M 8GB 16GB RAM (will upgrade to 32GB immediately) 2 x 128GB M2 SSD (RAID) 1TB HDD (will upgrade to SSD a few months down the track) I mainly concerned with the performance of the mobile version of the GTX 980, and how it stacks up against the real version:) Thanks Smokey

Actually not that expensive - I can get a 500GB M2 SSD for $280 aud, about the same price as a similar sized standard SSD. Of course, there are faster and far more expensive options:)

Hutch, it's a different format, instead of being PCI-E or SATA. Heres a link to learn all about it:)http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2015/02/understanding-m-2-the-interface-that-will-speed-up-your-next-ssd/ I'm using one (as a replacement for SATA ssd) and real world speeds seem exactly the same to me.

Debate about frame rates aside, my personal experience is that upgrading from a conventional platter style HDD to an SSD will only improve load times and scenery loading pauses. Like putting Cadillac suspension on a Hyundai, It won't go any faster , but it will smooth out the ride:)

Just a suggestion, there's no need to have a his system fit

Have you tried setting one axis as mixture and testing that out?

And with all the security, early check ins, delays etc etc, you'll still get there faster by car

Try the Carenado 1900 or PC12, that'll slow you down by a fair margin! The 337 is their sweet spot, good flight model and systems and great performance:)

Thanks for the details, I was afraid you may have been running an Uber system:) It sounds like I should be ok with my soon to be built box, 4790k, 970 and 16 GB Ram:) My laptop will still struggle though:(

Apologies if you've already mentioned this, but what hardware are you using when your benchmarking Sesquashtoo? Smokey

Hi Nigel, I'm fairly new to X-Plane myself, and my system has similar specs to yours - 128 GB SSD for OS/"serious" software, 2x256 GB SSD RAID 0 for games and a 1TB Hybrid for backup and other random stuff. I have my sims installed on the RAIDed SSD's and there's very little stutter when loading scenery and weather, so obviously I recommend installing X-Plane on your 520GB SSD. Shane

I'm a convert from Flight Sim, and I have to say X-Plane is (after a bit of a steep learning curve) in my opinion the superior sim. FSX has all the 3rd party support and has a better "world", but once you install a few add-ons (usually free, like HD Mesh, Open Scenery) X-Plane is my go to sim. I still jump into FSX occasionally, only because of a few airframes that aren't yet available in X-Plane. I guess what I'm saying is do it:) P.S. Sesquashtoo, I hope your on commission, your doing a great job selling SoundMaxx:)

The best suggestion I have is to go to X-plane.org:)