Long time follower of simming, have a few questions before I jump in

Hi all

Let me introduce myself first. I am an avid aviation fan, with pipe dreams of becoming a pilot. I have never had formal flight experience, but I watch tons of stuff on YouTube and do a lot of reading. To start off the new year I'd like to start on informal training through simming and self teaching before I get into actual training.

I have a ton of questions, feel free to answer any or all as they rush to my head. They are a mix of software and hardware related questions. Ultimately I am looking for a very real experience and I hope to augment that with VR and hardware (full saitek controls hopefully).

Let's start with the build and which Sim to pick based on the hardware below and what I'd like to achieve (training through virtual realism)

i3 8100 - bought (kinda on the fence on a i3 8350k but never built or overclocked and the budget isn't enormous. They have not shipped yet and can exchange)

Aorus WiFi motherboard

16gb 2666 RAM (more needed?)

Ssd or m.2 (someone please enlighten me on this one)

I am looking @ video cards from 4-8gb. I know more will be better but is there a happy medium somewhere... can I get by with 4gb? (Note VR and budget)

So... p3d v4 vs xp11 vs fsx?

Please also feel free to comment on my hardware as the only thing that is semi concrete is the processor that I bought online. Looking to do some boxing day shopping in the AM for some more hardware, was hoping to heard back about the video card before I start making serious purchases.

I lean towards p3d v4 for its professionalism and I think it has native VR support so no need for flyinside?

I'll be using the Sim to fly small single engine and multi props, a little fun with the big boys but I find great fun in operating things properly. Probably will stick to cessna missions but would like to play with low wings (in Sim and real life). On that note the add ons I'd be looking for is plane skins (or whatever you call them for more realistic planes), scenes (I'm Canadian so looking for a lot of SW ontario scenery or canada in general. would be cool to fly the entire country in sim) looking for real time weather (if thats possible), with traffic of multi player (although i believe we are diving into the realm of avsim, if someone can dispell that for me), and of course atc (the real if possible to develop my radio skills).

VR would not come until further down the line, looking to get the build first, get the SIM, work on hardware and finally VR hardware. I would like to Sim when the PC is built and do not have a monitor, I come from console gaming and haven't touched hardware/software for over a decade.

To add to those, I would like to hear a few things from the community about the following things:

Best Sim for VR? (Flyinside or native)

VR vs trackir?

VR and using addional controls like throttles or any additional hardware?

Rift vs oculus vs mixed reality?

I know this is a lot of questions, but I hope to hear from you guys. Any help is appreciated.

Thanks

I'd like to start on informal training through simming and self teaching before I get into actual training.

Be very careful with this, if you're heading into real world flying, because it's easy to build bad habits that an instructor would have to spend extra time (and your money) to break and establish proper habits. One of the worst "bad habits" is using the instruments too much in visual flying (pretty much everything before working on the instrument rating) -- you need to learn to fly with outside visual references, with the instruments being used only in an occasional glance to confirm your goal(s).

The FAA's Aviation Handbook and Manuals site has many good reference works (all free), including the Pilot’s Handbook of Aeronautical Knowledge which can teach you a LOT.

P3D would be my sim choice, perhaps with something like Real Air's Cessna to learn in (much better than any default aircraft). I'd also stay away from the big iron until you really learn to fly consistently well. You might also peruse the Real Aviation Tutorials & FAQs section below, which condenses many years of (real world) questions and answers from this site into segments you can learn from (Takeoffs and Landings, Maneuvers, Speeds and Altitudes, etc.).

I would cancel the processor for now. Most people recommend a 4.0ghz quad core Intel processor for this. (4.0 base freq, 4.4 turbo freq. Or higher.). At least i5, preferred i7. Often advised is i7 7700-k

depends somewhat on game you play and addons you choose. Make those choices first.

Fsx alone can do with lower cpu, but with scenery addons like orbx, and high detailed planes like a2a planes, and weather addons, all running, such a cpu is needed.

For x-plane you need a nvidia videocard like the one mentioned. With a lot of V-memory.

For fsx you can with less high specs.

Fsx has only a published list of minimum requirements to run only fsx. (without addons.). So that doesn't tell you much.

But x-plane and P3D both publish minimum and recommended lists. Look on their sites.

Ok, welcome to flight sim! So, lemme just go straight into this...

I have 8 gigs ram and 3.10 GHz i5-2400 processor on a 64 bit windows 10 pro. I am running FSX Gold, which with medium-low settings, the graphics are okay, and i'm satisfied with the frames. But this judgement might come with some bias because I used to "game" on a windows xp, so I sorta got used to low framerates. ;)

So you might want simething better than an i3 processor, but with 16GB ram, you might be able to run x plane 9, 10, or 11. (i don't have it, but I've seen the requirements) But i'm not sure about running it with the i3 though... please give the GHz rating on it, that would make it easier.

So don't rely *completely* on this recommendation for the small chance that I might be completely wrong, but I think I know what I'm saying; if you are Mr. framerate-hungry, get fs2004, and FSX should give plenty of frames, still not sure about that i3 processor again. and x plane should run normally, though I'm not sure because I've never tried it.

Hope this helps a little,

-Cobra

Be very careful with this, if you're heading into real world flying, because it's easy to build bad habits that an instructor would have to spend extra time (and your money) to break and establish proper habits. One of the worst "bad habits" is using the instruments too much in visual flying (pretty much everything before working on the instrument rating) -- you need to learn to fly with outside visual references, with the instruments being used only in an occasional glance to confirm your goal(s).

Yes, whatever you do, DO NOT rely on FS as your training. I know it's been stated many times, but some may overlook it. No offense intended.

-Cobra

For VR you must have at least a i5 processor, i7 recommened. GPU: NVIDIA GTX 1060 / AMD RX 480 or greater, Compatible HDMI 1.4 video output. Windows 10 64 bit. If you OC you WILL need at least air cooling so make sure your CASE is large enough to accomodate it.

Chuck B

Napamule