bladestrike

Thank you Jim for the very informative reply. I have been digging in doing a lot of reading, this is a great forum. I'm sure I'll get it all sorted out.

Hi to everyone, Let me introduce myself, I’m a 58 year old male who as a former U.S. Army UH-1H/V Huey helicopter pilot, flew as pilot in command for the 1st Squadron 4th Cavalry D Troop Air and 82nd Medical Detachment both out of Ft. Riley, Kansas. Years ago I remember flying my first flight sim on my IBM Intel 8088 computer. (That was way back) Also enjoyed FS 2002 flying the 737, Lear 45 and of course helicopters. Have been out of the flight sim world for sometime and now it’s time to get back into flying. I know much has changed over the years and I’m looking forward to enjoying what the new technology can give in the flight simulator experience. Would I like to have a Jetmax cockpit, sure, who wouldn’t! Just don’t want to fly only one aircraft, I enjoy flying a little of everything. Seems like you spend many thousands of dollars and fly one aircraft or “build” a generic one yourself, (lots of plywood, time, tools and space I don’t have). I would like to see Jetmax produce a touch screen generic main instrument panel using one of their setups they now have, and be able to fly any aircraft. Just a dream of mine. Hear are my plans for my build. Please, anyone who reads this and has a comment or suggestion please feel free to give it, that’s why I am here to do this right the first time. My mission is to have a generic setup. Phase One: Will be three out the window TV’s, one computer and of course a yoke, pedals and throttle. I do have a 24” monitor not being used now and would like to use it as the 4th instrument’s monitor. I’m thinking my hardware will allow me to run the 4th monitor, if not I will fly a virtual cockpit, for now. Phase Two: A second computer for one or two instrument monitors and a third monitor for different views of the aircraft on the ground or in flight for situational awareness, or approach plates, etc. etc. etc. Also will pick up a helicopter control system, such as Cadet, Komodo or MaxFlightStick. Flying helicopters with joysticks just doesn’t do it for me. And I want to do this just once! I do not want to buy something and find out it doesn’t work with something else. I will have the computer custom built by a shop and will do the installs according to Nick’s bible. This computer will be for FSX and nothing else. Remember everything on this build is subject to change, so please give me your opinions. COMPUTER: Case: Corsair Obsidian Series 750D Airflow Edition. (Will increase fans and install a fan control) Motherboard: ASUS Maximus VII Hero Socket LGA 1150 (need recommendations! Do not want a bottlenecked motherboard) CPU: Intel Core i7 4790K (will be overclocked) CPU Cooling: Corsair H110 Liquid Cooling Video Game Card: ASUS GeForce GTX 980 Overclocked 4 GB GDDR5 RAM Memory: 8GB (4GBx2) DDR3/2400MHz Dual Memory with a timing specification of 9-11-11-31 (may be hard to find) Power Supply: Corsair HXI Series 850W Fully Modular ATX Platinum Certified SSD: 120GB Intel 530 Series SATA 6.0GB/s 2.5” (OS only) SSD: 120GB Intel 530 Series SATA 6.0GB/s 2.5” (FSX only) SSD: 120GB Intel 530 Series SATA 6.0GB/s 2.5” (FSX add on files) May need to be larger? (256GB)? Optical Disc Drive: 24x SATA Internal DVD Drive Illuminated Keyboard Mouse or Track Ball Speakers SOFTWARE: OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit Edition) Simulator: FSX something? Help! Too many versions! DX9? From what I’m reading DX10 is not worth the troubles. Orbx, for realism at airports and flying helicopters close to the ground. I was considering 32” to 40” TV’s for out the window. Really need to know what refresh rate (60 or 120) and what resolution to go with (1920x1200)? What works best for a three TV setup? Also would like to know what table’s or desks work the best for my setup, I’m not going to build anything, don’t have the space for that. It’s been a long time since I’ve done any simming, so if I seem somewhat naive on the subject, it’s because so much has changed. I am open to all suggestions and comments. Want to thank everyone who helps me get this built going.