Hardware upgrade

[glideslope]

Hi fellow simmers!

Since weeks I´m planning a step toward future, tired of stuttering and fps in the low 20 range. Now FSX is announced - a mere coincidence - the planning gets even more real.
The future will be dual core processors it seems (maybe not yet 2006, but surely 2007 and further when software development expands).
So I am waiting for the soon expected release of Intels new 3,45 GHz Pentium extreme edition 955 (produced with the new 65nm technology) dual core cpu with hyper threading activated and want to combine them with two grafic cards (SLI)and 4 GB RAM.
Does anyone know if FSX will support two core cpu´s? It is a fact that you can only benefit from a dual core processor if you can use supporting applications, which are not many at this time. Otherwise you could expect more speed from a high-speed single core cpu?

My second and last question is the hard disc configuration: I would use 2 S ATA 250GB discs (the second one mainly for backups. Now it looks very persuading to use them in a RAID array (remembering 6 min flight loading times using fotorealistic scenery...). What I don´t know is how such a configuration looks like: will the 2 physical discs show up as only one 500 GB disc in windows explorer?
Does anybody of you guys know if it´s possible to defrag them or to make a drive image or any other backup (like Norton ghost)if files are spread all over the two drives? Can I use a third physical drive (e.g. a 3,5" firewire drive)to save or create restore points in case of a severe problem?
Maybe you could answer some of my questions

My regards to all of you

Michael

[jcmissionary]

Unfortunately, we don't have specifics yet on what exactly FSX will support in terms of dual-core CPU's, SLI, etc... However, it seems that MS is planning on FSX to be one of their flagship games for Vista, so I would think that it would take advantage of that newer technology. We should hear more in the coming months about the technical side of FSX.

[link:www.dreamfleet2000.com|http://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/im...UM_HOWELL.jpg]
PPL-ASEL
Instrument Rated
http://172pilot.blogspot.com

[Relax]

>Hi fellow simmers!

>My second and last question is the hard disc configuration: I
>would use 2 S ATA 250GB discs (the second one mainly for
>backups. Now it looks very persuading to use them in a RAID
>array (remembering 6 min flight loading times using
>fotorealistic scenery...). What I don´t know is how such a
>configuration looks like: will the 2 physical discs show up as
>only one 500 GB disc in windows explorer?
>Does anybody of you guys know if it´s possible to defrag them
>or to make a drive image or any other backup (like Norton
>ghost)if files are spread all over the two drives? Can I use a
>third physical drive (e.g. a 3,5" firewire drive)to save or
>create restore points in case of a severe problem?

If you want to accelerate the load time then you would create a RAID0 array. Once this array is created WinXP sees it like one disk of 2 x 250 GB. Of course you can defragment it or save an image to a partiion of this disk or to any other disk including a third or fourth physical drive or an external hard disk with firewire interface.

I am doing this with my configuration:

| AMD Athlon 3500+ 130 nm HeatlaneZen NCU 2000 | Abit AV8 3rd-eye Bios 2.4 | 2 x 1 GB Corsair CMX1024-3200C2 | Seagate 2 x 400 gig SATA RAID1 | Seagate 2 x 120 gig IDE | HIS Excalibur X800 XT PE | NX-4090 Real Silent Power Supply 400 W | NEC MultiSync 2180UX | NEC MultiSync 1770NX | WinXP Pro SP2 |

[glideslope]

Hi Relax!

Thank you for you reply! I am convinced with the RAID 0 array! Have you been reporting acceleration of inflight texture loading times too? (As you know the handling of texture loading priority is one of the real draw backs in the current sim).

yours

Michael

[loki]

Check out the PC Hardware forum for a review of how RAID 0 helps FS9. As with almost all games, the RAID0 array only provided about a 15% performance boost. Nothing like the 50-100% theoretical boosts people talk about. RAID0 works best for very large files, like those in video editing, but not lots of smaller files, like those in most games and flight sims.

As for the processor upgrade, if you are willing to spend $1,000 on a processor, I would wait until Intel and AMD release their new generation of processors later this year. If you need to upgrade right now, the Athlon dual cores would probably be a better choice.

http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets...px?i=2658&p=14

loki

[Relax]

Hello Michael,

I am using a RAID1 rather than a RAID0 to increase the reliability of my storage system. My data archive survived 2 disk break downs because of that. I am very satisfied.

Hence I can not report a load acceleration (RAID1).

In theory they say a RAID0 would increase the load speed up to 50%. In the FS reality it is ~ 10% only.

A real alternative for RAID0 is the use of a fast SATA disk or even a disk with 10'000 rpm, e. g. WESTERN DIGITAL Raptor WD740GDRTL, 73.4GB. The disadvantage here is noise. If you want a silent system, then you need to damp the noise. But there are solutions for that.

[khaliah]

Save your money instead of buying now. This is my formula.
I bought a new high end PC at the time fs2002 came out. This PC ran fs2002 very good. When I moved up to fs2004, all I did was upgrade the memory and graphics card. Fs2004 runs good on my 4 year old pc with all sliders full. After I bought the pc for fs2002, I started saving money for a pc for fs10. When fsx is released, I should have $2,500 saved after 3 years of saving. I suggest you use the next 10 months to save. When fsx is released, new technology will exist as well as hardware of today will be cheaper in 10 months.

[jcmissionary]

This is good advice. I remember upgrading in the middle of 2003 for Halflife 2, and we all know how that turned out, right? :-)

[link:www.dreamfleet2000.com|http://www.dreamfleet2000.com/gfx/im...UM_HOWELL.jpg]
PPL-ASEL
Instrument Rated
http://172pilot.blogspot.com

[glideslope]

Thank you guys! I cancelled my hardware orders and wait to see what will be coming up concerning dual core cpus. I also heard of Asus/NVidia 4x SLI boards. And after all I don´t like to set up with WinXP Pro until the 64 bit version Vista comes out. I better wait and start with a brandnew (and maybe a little cheaper by then)PC, a 64 bit OS and shortly after FSX.

You helped me a lot with your advices!

Wish you a short 2006 (concerning the waiting time only...)

Michael
Austria

[ricka47]

Also, will FSX incorporate Directx 10? If so, we would not want to update our video cards until later also?

I'm in the same boat as you Michael, stuttering along at 20 FPS. But, I want to wait until Vista is released before getting the new PC. I don't want the hassle of re-installing the new OS.

Plus, if Vista is delayed, there may be some new hardware developments or price changes.

Here's what I have now:
-AMD 2600+
-512 MB RAM
-Radeon 9800 Pro (128MB).

Here's what I'm looking at getting:

-Motherboard Asus A8N-SLI Premium
-Dual Core AMD Athlon 64 x2 4400+
-2GB RAM
-nVidia 7800GT 256MB PCI-E (Two of these)

I was thinking of RAID 0 also. But, as Relax suggested above, I'm now considering using a 10000 RPM drive for my main drive and a 7200 RPM for other, less demanding applications, and for backup.

We many have a long wait until both Vista and FSX are out and we don't want to be kicking ourselves for upgrading too soon....as exciting as that can be!