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The second section will tell you what controls are the best to use. I get asked this question all the time as well, and want to share with you the bare essentials all the way to the pure gold of serious simming tools.
Naturally, you will need an excellent 3D or 3Dfx card, and I have found, for FS2000, the Voodoo III 3000 is the very best. I have tried TNT and TNT2 based cards, as well as the new highly touted GEForce by LeadTek and each one produced constant lockups in FS2000. Now, this may be my machine only, however, I find it unacceptable that I have gone through three NVidia based cards now and the only card that does not produce lockups seems to be the Voodoo III 3000 by 3dfx. It is an outstanding card and installation was the easiest out of any card I've ever used so far! Full installation is recommended for FS2000 to keep everything on your hard drive. Performance is best that way. And don't forget to install the MS FS2000 patch, it also helps out early flaws with frame rates and performance problems.
GEForce vs. Voodoo III 3000 (New as of 2-15)
Having received lots of emails from users who have had great luck with the TNT line or the new hot GEForce 256 DDR card, I had to see for myself and take the plunge! I did lots of research on Tom's Hardware Guide to see how this new NVidia card was rated. Very highly. In fact, in comparison with all other 3D cards going today, the new GEForce based card is superior in speed and all other parameters. Being not able to even find a GEForce in the stores here in MA, I ordered mine from EBWorld Online. The service there is excellent and I received my card only 20 hours from when I placed the order!
The installation of the New GEForce was easy as pie. So far I was very happy. After the self-installing drivers were done my new card was ready to test. Immediately I jumped to FLY! to see the awesome sky graphics in 32-bit resolution. Amazing! Then I tried FS2000. All was good. I flew FLY! and FS2000 for the entire day without a hitch. The next morning I went to use FLY! and pow - lockup on the main menu. I thought "oh no, don't tell me NVidia has done it to me again". I had to reboot the machine and try FLY! again. Well, it must have been nothing so I flew for a while and about 10 minutes into my flight - pow - another lockup! Arrrgh! Reboot. Tried FLY! again. Lockup. Tried again. Lockup a few minutes into flying. Tried again. Pow. Lockup city. Lockups, lockups and more lockups over a 5 hour period. All occurring within 0 to 20 minutes of flying. Exactly the same lockups I had in the TNT2 card with NVidia drivers. Well, maybe it is FLY! doing this. So I ran FS2000 and horribly true, lockups occurred there too.
Okay folks, I know many of you out there are not having an ounce of trouble with your NVidia card. Great. But for some reason my Dell T500 XPS system is either incompatible with NVidia cards, or I am getting bum cards. After two days of drivers updating, tech. support calls and help from the team at TRI I have given up. There is nothing that will prevent these lockups. Even Dell told me, it may just be not compatible with their XPS T500s.
I took the GEForce out and quickly packaged it up for return. I guess I will have to run FLY! in 16-bit mode on my Voodoo III again. FS2000 still looks just as good. I tested FLY! all night on my VoodooIII and it never locked up at all. My personal feelings are that there is something wrong with a card that won't work on a very common and well treated system. Searching net sites and forums all over the place once again revealed the number one complaint I found in GEForce cards and NVidia cards was the lockup problem. There have got to be thousands of others out there like me with the same problem. I receive emails at least once a day from flight simmers asking me why they get so many lockups as well. And gosh darn it, they have NVidia cards too!
So before I get any of you who disagree with me and want to send me an email of defense for the NVidia card - just remember it is my opinion only that NVidia cards are "junky", and not that of FlightSim.Com or anyone else. If you have success with this card and want to review it here, I'll gladly assist in getting your review online!
FrameRate Comparison
When comparing my trusty Voodoo III 3000 to that of the GEForce 256 DDR framerates seemed almost the same. They were somewhat better in FLY!, perhaps up to 5fps better using the GEForce. In FS2000, they were 100% identical. Image quality looked the same to me between cards, but clearly FLY! looked spectacular using the GEForce because of its 32-bit display.
So, I have one hope left. The Matrox G400. It is not an NVidia card. I will give it a try soon and let you all know what happens!
Having at least 128 meg of ram will help loading times of cockpit graphics and external scenery. However, this is the minimum ram you should attempt to use. Double this amount of ram, and the entire program will run snappier and views will load a lot faster as well.
Summary of Minimum Required Hardware for FS2000:
INTEL PIII500 / 128 MEG RAM / VOODOO III 3000 AGP VIDEO
A 3D card is a must, but not a Voodoo III as in FS2000. You will do very well with a basic Diamond Monster 3D I, or II or any basic 3Dfx based video card. If you're on a budget, stick to FS98 and a lower end 3D card.
Having at least 64 megs of ram will enable fast loading graphics and scenery. Get 128 megs, and you'll really be in for a smooth ride!
Summary of Minimum Required Hardware for FS98:
INTEL PII233 / 64 MEG RAM / VOODOO I PCI VIDEO OR SIMILAR LOW END 3D CARD
The 3D card is where FLY! really stands out. Unfortunately not any card will do. It must be a 32-bit based card (latest models are usually 32-bit) in order to get the amazing cloud and weather effects to stand out. This is what FLY! was meant for. Most 3D cards are only 16-bit such as my favorite Voodoo III 3000. That is too bad for most 3D card owners. Trying FLY! on a 32-bit video card is an experience that will not easily be forgotten. I just wish FLY!s aircraft and weather looked as good or better in 16-bit. The good news, is either card will produce excellent instrument panels, one of FLY!s most famous attributes. The most popular 32-bit cards are the TNT2 based cards, GEForce or the cards with RIVA chipset in them. Basically, most of the the non-3Dfx based cards do support 32-bit graphics. However, once again, I had such bad luck with TNT2 and GEForce cards locking up FS2000 and FLY!, that I now can not enjoy FLY! to the fullest extent on my Voodoo III.
Having 64 megs of ram will enable fast loading and viewing of graphics and scenery. Again, getting more will only make things better, but with at least 64, you will be in for a good show.
Summary of Minimum Required Hardware for FLY!:
INTEL PII350 / 64 MEG RAM / VOODOO I PCI VIDEO OR SIMILAR LOW END 3D CARD
The choice for 3D is 3Dfx again. Although any good late model 3D card (12 meg of ram+) will work great in FU3, only the Voodoo based card will give you the best, most accurate sky coloring and shading as well as night lighting effects. TNT based cards will produce some graininess to the textures, while Voodoo II or Voodoo III cards produce very smooth imaging.
Having 128 megs of ram is necessary in scenery loading and view changing. Again, you may get by with less, but I feel the loading times would be unacceptable.
Summary of Minimum Required Hardware for FU3:
INTEL PII400 / 128 MEG RAM / VOODOO II OR SIMILAR 3D
Video cards should be Voodoo II or TNT based cards. Riva TNT based cards are optimal for X-Plane. X-plane was written for the Riva chipset. Voodoo owners be aware, some features will not be shown (such as hazing) unless you have at least the Voodoo II or greater. If you have an old 3D card that is GLIDE based, not 3Dfx, you should be fine to run X-Plane and the latest versions.
48 meg of ram is all that is needed to run X-Plane without trouble, or at least the earliest versions.
Summary of Minimum Required Hardware for X-Plane:
INTEL PII233 / 48 MEG RAM / VOODOO II OR 3D CARD
If you were stranded on a desert island and had the choice of a joystick or a yoke for your flightsimming, I'd hope you'd choose the yoke. If you're a combat simmer, then the stick would do. Over the years I have used many pieces of hardware. I have broken some, worn some out, and given others away. My number one picks are from CH Products and are shown below. If you are budget minded or only have under $100 to spend, then you'll be fine. If you can squeeze out a total of $170, then you can get rudder pedals with your main controller. Flying with rudder pedals is about 50% of the total experience, so why cheat yourself out of 50% of the flying realism and fun?
$60 TOTAL OR LESS You must get:
1st Choice) CH PRODUCTS VIRTUAL PILOT PRO YOKE / About $59. The most rugged, realistic feeling plastic yoke for a good price. It has a good dampened out feel and is not as sensitive as most joysticks, thus making your flying more realistic. It comes with many buttons and a built in throttle. In six years of using them, I have worn out only one over that entire period. A second yoke did have two buttons "cave in" and stop working as well, over a three year period with that one. Excellent, considering I had flown on it about 20 hours per week at the time. The entire unit clamps well onto any 1" thick or less tabletop that has no lip or ridge (must be a flat table top and bottom).
2nd Choice) CH PRODUCTS FLIGHTSTICK PRO / Built like the yoke, with fewer buttons. Reasonably priced around $35. It is slightly too sensitive on the pitch axis as most joysticks are. Out of most sticks, this is still the best feeling one around. Does not clamp down to a table however, you'll have to hold it down yourself.
$200 TOTAL OR LESS You must get in addition to one of the above:
1st Choice) CH PRODUCTS PRO PEDALS / around $75. The best pedals around for the price. Realistically built and smoothly operating. Hooks up easily to yoke or joystick. However, over a period of three years I did manage to break two units - they wore out and the rudder movements became jittery over time. So, each pedal set will last about 1.5 years of hard usage - again, worth the money at this rate.
2nd Choice) THERE IS NONE
$200 TO $500 TOTAL There is nothing in this price range that does better than the combinations listed above. There is a new USB Yoke that offers mixture, prop and throttle all-in-one coming out soon by CH Products. Based on the quality of their other lineup, I could certainly feel confident in getting anything they put out.
$500 TOTAL OR GREATER You must get:
1st Choice) PRECISION FLIGHT CONTROLS YOKE / About $450. Now, we're talking sweet. Heavy duty all metal construction means the smoothest flying outside of the real thing. PFC makes many yokes ranging in price and model from light aircraft to an airliner style yoke (the one I have). They are heavy duty and have a built in throttle. The smoothness and motion are unmatched by the CH line. However, even with the price, they do not offer the same amount of programmable buttons the others do. I have used two PFC yokes over time, one of which was tested by thousands of wild kids and pilots at Oshkosh this summer to demo Flight Unlimited III. Over four days of violent useage, one yoke became stiff and broke to pieces internally! The other yoke that I use myself under much more normal and caring conditions has been working great for 9 months. However, just recently a button on the back of the yoke broke off after it hit the throttle piece. All parts fell out from inside and this could not be fixed. The yoke still works, but the button was very fragile. The PFC yoke with throttle has a design defect where the yoke hits the throttle at times in a turn. This indeed can result in a button being snapped off. In any event, the quality of this yoke is unmatched and if you purchase one, it one quality piece of hardware! You might as well have taken one out of a brand new jetliner!
2nd Choice) PRECISION FLIGHT CONTROLS RUDDER PEDALS / About $350. To complement the above yoke is a simmers dream. Once you try these together, you'll never go back to anything less. Heavy duty and strong, these pedals provide the very finest in control movements and realism. In 9 months of testing, I have had not one glitch.
I hope you have learned more about what hardware will run your flight simulation best. The hardware is the root of all performance issues but everyone must also get used to fiddling with configurations within each program to further help out the performance issue. And when you get dizzy in the store where a million joysticks are on display, just because the guy next to you is buying one for $12, doesn't mean he's trying to fly an airplane either!
Good Luck!
