JimGarra Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 So I'm just getting back into flight simming and I got some new gear, not specifically for it but close. I"ll have a CybertronPC Assassin 1TB (serial ATA III 7200 RPM) Hard drive, 8GB DDR3 SDRAM (expandable to 32GB), AMD Quad core FX-4170 processor (4.2GHz not overclocked), dual AMD Radeon HD 6570 graphics cards in a crossfire config, 4MB L2 + 8MB L3 cache memory. I'll be using FSX Gold with Traffic 360. My plan is to use a Saitek yoke with the X55 throttle (I mostly fly just 2 eng planes). Being fairly new and not all that tech-savvy, my question is what kind of performance can I expect? If everything were working correctly that is. I know I could use more RAM and probably a better graphics card but what I'm going to have is it for now anyway. I'm not really sure if I need or want to get addons for scenery or new planes especially if I can get some good performance with what I'll soon have. Any advice from you folks that have been doing this for awhile would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance - A former C-130 Flight Engineer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pvarn Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Your CPU speed is great. FSX only uses 6-8G System RAM and runs fine on 4G, so more RAM will not help in FSX at all and you'll still be able to run all the apps you want. You do not mention the OS, but depending on which one and the bit size, there is no advantage to installing RAM the OS will NEVER use. In FS, No ONE can run ALL the graphics options full and keep their frame rates in the 20-30 all the time without SOME sacrifice. Every add-on and increase in graphical detail will lower your frames from a pure install. CREATE a BASELINE: -First thing you need to do when you fly for the second time while making no changes other than your first plane load is to set FS to default options. Exit FSX and make this ONE change to your FSX.CFG file: [GRAPHICS] ... HIGHMEMFIX=1 -Save, exit the editor and restart FSX. -Next, load up one of the more demanding FS default planes like the Beach King Air and load it at an "enhanced default" international airport like LAX or Heathrow with NO AI planes or ground traffic. Set the weather dialog to Stormy theme and make sure the "weather changes over time" and real world weather are OFF. Fly low and slow around the airport and make notes on a bit of paper or a text file what your lowest and highest frame rate is. This is your BASE line for all future changes you make. From this point on, you easily know if what you have done improves or degrades the sim. ANYTHING you add which is more detailed from here on out will lower your frame rates and you will be forced to decide what you can live with and what you cannot. There is no computer you can buy which will let you run maxed out with full details on everything and add every add-on and enhancement made for FSX and fly with stormy weather at enhanced airports with all the AI turned on and keep your frame rate at 30+. Cannot be done. -Pv- 2 carrot salad, 10.41 liter bucket, electric doorbell, 17 inch fan, 12X14, 85 Dbm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fsxar177 Posted January 21, 2015 Share Posted January 21, 2015 Read the Bible; http://www.simforums.com/forums/the-fsx-computer-system-the-bible-by-nickn_topic46211.html - VFR Simulations - Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScatterbrainKid Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 ..I'm not really sure if I need or want to get addons for scenery or new planes especially if I can get some good performance with what I'll soon have... Good thinking..:) FSX is beautiful straight out of the box, but too many newcomers then plunge straight into buying loads of addon stuff too fast and run into tech trouble. I mean, if you start dating a beautiful ladyfriend, you wouldn't begin telling her how to dress or she'd slap your face and walk off, so at least give it a few weeks or months before you try to talk her into wearing a french maid's outfit. FSX is the same, so don't push her until you've got to know her. I've had FSX for about 6 years and the only addons I've installed are a strip of southern england photoscenery and a bunch of planes, and she runs smooth as silk..:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrzippy Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Good thinking..:) I mean, if you start dating a beautiful ladyfriend, you wouldn't begin telling her how to dress or she'd slap your face and walk off, so at least give it a few weeks or months before you try to talk her into wearing a french maid's outfit. FSX is the same, so don't push her until you've got to know her. Mick, it sounds like you speak from experience!;) OP, If you do go the route of buying aircraft or scenery for FSX, do it in a slow, cautious manner. Test each one for many flights before moving on to the next. Still thinking about a new flightsim only computer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ragtopjohnny Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 I'd say upgrade your ram to at least 16gb. Saw nothing on the graphics it has - you may have to upgrade to a 1GB card to start off from someone - Otherwise, sounds like a good PC. I intend to max out mine with the memory in it through out this year. Then next year doing a new procesor since my computer can take 2 of them. Getting another 3.30ghz Xeon processor for my machine. Keep it all the regular equipment. :) http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o176/ragtopjohnny/NewSig.jpg http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys/smiley-greet013.gif Checkout my new Facebook Page! https://www.facebook.com/pages/Airplane-Porn/1505438883035386 HP Z820 Workstation Intel Xeon 3.30ghz 8 Core Processor 2TB Hard Drive 16 gig of Ram 1125 Power Supply and 2 Gig Nvidia Geforce GTX 970. (YIPPPIE!!!!!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimGarra Posted January 22, 2015 Author Share Posted January 22, 2015 I'd like to add a few planes ie B757, MD-88, a couple Airbus types, C-17, C-130. Any advice where I might find the best that work well with FSX? Had some good and bad experiences with simviation free downloads. I have no objection to paying a nominal fee for some where I don't have to do a lot to install it (not tech savvy remember) and everything works as advertised. (Instruments, TCAS, etc.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrzippy Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 757- http://www.justflight.com/product/757-jetliner-freemium This should have an auto-installer and is trustworthy. You should, however learn the procedure for manually installing your aircraft. It's pretty simple and you will avoid adding useless garbage to your Sim. There are plenty of great aircraft in the File Library. Still thinking about a new flightsim only computer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StringBean Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 I'd say upgrade your ram to at least 16gb. Unless you need it for heavy graphics/video work, FSX runs great on 8GB. Anything more is a waste of money. I intend to max out mine with the memory in it through out this year. Then next year doing a new procesor since my computer can take 2 of them. Getting another 3.30ghz Xeon processor for my machine. It's your money, hope you are not spending it hoping to increase FSX performance. peace, the Bean WWOD---What Would Opa Do? Farewell, my freind (sp) Never argue with idiots. They drag you down to their level and beat you with experience Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abrussell Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Your CPU speed is great. When dealing with comparisons between AMD and Intel cpu's, using cpu speed is not indicative of performance. The Cpu World comparison attached shows that an Intel 3570 @ 3.4ghz is superior to the 4.2 AMD 4170, in all areas of comparison . Bruce http://www.cpu-world.com/Compare/440/AMD_FX-Series_FX-4170_vs_Intel_Core_i5_i5-3570K.html [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]I5-2500k@ 4.5Ghz/ 16 GB Gskill DDR3 1600/Nvidia GTX460 1GB// CH Yoke/Pedals/Throttle/TrackIR/Win7/ Fsx Deluxe SP1 & SP2 "Don't let fear or good judgment hold you back" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pvarn Posted January 22, 2015 Share Posted January 22, 2015 Ragtopjohnny " I'd say upgrade your ram to at least 16gb." MEMORY LIMITS FOR WINDOWS 7 x64 versions: Windows 7 Professional/Ultimate x64 -192 GB Windows 7 Home Premium x64 - 16 GB Windows 7 Home Basic x64 - 8 GB Windows 7 Home Basic 32bit version - 4 GB Windows 7 Home Starter 32bit version - 2 GB Win8 Enterprise 64: 512 GB Win8 Professional 64: 512 GB Win 8 64: 128 GB I haven't seen the OS version this person intends to purchase. 16G+ is way overkill unless you are a CAD designer or billboard artist or use big data visual analytics. If your computer is still running 10 years from now when Windows 21 needs 8GB system RAM just to boot up, then pop in some upgrade SIMs. -Pv- 2 carrot salad, 10.41 liter bucket, electric doorbell, 17 inch fan, 12X14, 85 Dbm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainTower Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Read the Bible; http://www.simforums.com/forums/the-fsx-computer-system-the-bible-by-nickn_topic46211.html I just finished that for today. How did you know? ;) Thank you, Tim ASUS GL 12CX; Intel i7 9700K 3.6 GHz; 16 GB GDDR8 Memory; System BUS 2660 MHz; 8 MB L3 cache; NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2080 8GB GDDR6; Windows 10 Home x64 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CaptainTower Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Ragtopjohnny " I'd say upgrade your ram to at least 16gb." MEMORY LIMITS FOR WINDOWS 7 x64 versions: Windows 7 Professional/Ultimate x64 -192 GB Windows 7 Home Premium x64 - 16 GB Windows 7 Home Basic x64 - 8 GB Windows 7 Home Basic 32bit version - 4 GB Windows 7 Home Starter 32bit version - 2 GB Win8 Enterprise 64: 512 GB Win8 Professional 64: 512 GB Win 8 64: 128 GB I haven't seen the OS version this person intends to purchase. 16G+ is way overkill unless you are a CAD designer or billboard artist or use big data visual analytics. If your computer is still running 10 years from now when Windows 21 needs 8GB system RAM just to boot up, then pop in some upgrade SIMs. -Pv- Maybe Microsoft is working in secret on FSXI and it can take advantage of 16 GB of RAM. Thank you, Tim ASUS GL 12CX; Intel i7 9700K 3.6 GHz; 16 GB GDDR8 Memory; System BUS 2660 MHz; 8 MB L3 cache; NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2080 8GB GDDR6; Windows 10 Home x64 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fxsttcb Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 ... 16G+ is way overkill unless you are a CAD designer or billboard artist or use big data visual analytics... Or you simply want enough physical memory to eliminate most "paging" calls... Your CPU speed is great 4.2GHz in an Intel chip is very good. Unfortunately, FSX is primarily a single-threaded application. That being the case, you want a chip with superior single-threaded performance. The OP's AMD FX-4170 runs on par with an Intel Core i3-2120T 2.6GHz dually, or, an old Core 2 Quad Q9400 @ 2.67GHz. http://www.cpu-world.com/benchmarks/AMD/FX-4170_single.html scroll down to "Similar performing Intel CPUs"...Don HAF 932 Adv, PC P&C 950w, ASUS R4E,i7-3820 5.0GHz(MCR320-XP 6 fans wet), GTX 970 FTW 16GB DDR3-2400, 128GB SAMSUNG 830(Win 7 Ult x64), 512GB SAMSUNG 840 Pro(FSX P3D FS9) WD 1TB Black(FS98, CFS2&3, ROF, etc.), WD 2TB Black-(Storage/Backup) Active Sky Next, Rex4 TD/Soft Clouds Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pvarn Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Paging calls are a non factor with my 8G mem. http://www.simforums.com/forums/the-fsx-computer-system-the-bible-by-nickn_topic46211.html Better to spend the saved money on faster CPU and high quality support gear like headsets and controllers. -Pv- 2 carrot salad, 10.41 liter bucket, electric doorbell, 17 inch fan, 12X14, 85 Dbm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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