Old FSX flier, returning, which sim and computer to buy?

Hi all,

I know this question was broadly asked and well answered. But if possible, can I focus a bit narrower?

Coming back from old FSX and old Alienware. Looking for fresh advice for new sim and computer. My style is is low/slow flying, small airports, singles and twins. I like detail at low altitude and on the flight line apron. Like lots of add-ons.

Cost not a terribly important issue at this stage of my life (over the hill).

Regards.

You know what shop there are, what they are like. Also what pc they require, and if you don't you can read the system requirements.

So on advice needed, ok then. Then you just have to go make a choice now.

There are of course many answers to your questions, but I will give you mine based on my current setup, that works great. Get a computer with a 4+ GB CPU speed and a top of the line GPU such as a GTX 1080, and SSD(s) to reduce the loading times for very large files. Then get P3Dv4.3 from Lockheed Martin and Orbx sceneries like FTX Global Base Pack and FTX Global Vector. After that you can get more details with their open Land Class North America, open Land Class Europe, etc. You can even get more scenery detail and authenticity with the various Orbx regions. Good luck!

Intel Core i7-7700K @ 4.5GHz; NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080Ti 11GB GDDR5X; ASRock Z270 K6 Gaming MB, 16GB DDR4-3000 RAM; 500GB SSD + 2TB HDD; Windows 10 Pro 64-bit; 34" 21:9 curved 4K Monitor

You want a fairly powerful computer for best performance. I agree with John that P3D and ORBX is the way to go for low level operations. There is lots of detail, even to tractors and combines in some farm fields, animated people, dumpsters, vehicles, telephone poles, light poles, parking lines, some sloped (non-paved) airports, and much more. There are times when I'm flying at 100-1000 feet, come over a ridge or around a bend and see a scene that looks photographic, though there are otherwise usually details that are obviously not photographic but still give a good opportunity for immersion in the sim. Lots of pleasant surprises as you explore. Regions and individual airports give you the most detail, Global Base improves textures and landclass and Vector makes accurate roads, rivers, RRs, etc.

Good stuff.

I truly consider ORBX to be the best scenery software I can find for low level flying!

Having said that, I have both FSX with Acceleration and P3D 3.4. And I truly prefer the way the scenery looks with FSX! I've posted tons of shots using FSX and ORBX on the website here. However I've flown many of the same areas with P3D and ORBX and not found them to to be worthy of saving, much less posting. Different strokes for different folks!

One constant considering your hardware. I HUGELY RECOMMEND YOU BUY THE FASTEST CLOCK-SPEED INTEL CHIP YOU CAN AFFORD!! Yes, a good video card is essential. But the speed of your Intel CPU and of your ram will make a huge difference in your enjoying the sim experience.

I've tried two (2) different AMD CPUS and despite their having multiples of cores, high speed, etc. none of them IMO could hold a candle to a good Intel CPU at the same clock speed. I'm told that was because Microsoft used Intel CPUS exclusively when designing their software.

Correction: I meant of course a 4+ GHz CPU - a senior moment I'm afraid.

Intel Core i7-7700K @ 4.5GHz; NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080Ti 11GB GDDR5X; ASRock Z270 K6 Gaming MB, 16GB DDR4-3000 RAM; 500GB SSD + 2TB HDD; Windows 10 Pro 64-bit; 34" 21:9 curved 4K Monitor

Correction: I meant of course a 4+ GHz CPU - a senior moment I'm afraid.

 

 

 

Intel Core i7-7700K @ 4.5GHz; NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080Ti 11GB GDDR5X; ASRock Z270 K6 Gaming MB, 16GB DDR4-3000 RAM; 500GB SSD + 2TB HDD; Windows 10 Pro 64-bit; 34" 21:9 curved 4K Monitor

I have senior moments all the time, but thanx much for all the insightful replies. It's given me a direction to head towards. I'm going to follow all your advice.

I've said this now many, many times on this forum already, and I'll just repeat it. FS is largely a CPU driven game, and at that it's only single threaded. So a multicore processor won't be largely utilized. What you want to focus on in choosing the heart of your system (which is the CPU) is one that has fast single thread capability. Now you're probably wondering, "how the heck would I know which CPU I need?"

Easy! Look here at this chart. I'm not too sure how accurate it is, but it's a good start. Obvious the higher the score the better, but you can save some money and find one two or three notches down. Probably wouldn't make much of a difference withen 300-500 points or what ever.

Now, depending on what CPU you chose will dictate whether you can use Windows 7 or Windows 10. Personally, I'd use Windows 7, but that's just me. I currently use an i5 6600k and it gives me 25 FPS for most of my Sim. I have it locked to 25 as that is what should be done anyway. It allows breathing room for other stuff and your eye can't detect anything faster. 25 FPS is the European TV standard anyway, and I think moves are in and around 25 FPS, but I could be wrong. Anyway, setting the FPS to 25/30 is good practice.

When you install the Sim, install it to the root of C drive. Like C:\FSX. Reason being is that the programs folders have security attached to them by the OS and some add-ons may not work.

The amount of RAM you need depends on whether you'll game with other software or do other things like photo/video editing, etc. FSX is a 32 bit application so it will only address about 3.5 GB of RAM. Going beyond that and you'll get an OOM error. To combat that read my Sig below. If you intend on installing a lot of photo-real add-ons, then you'll want to heed the advice in that PMDG article. A good baseline amount of RAM to get is 8 GB. When you find the motherboard you'll buy, Google or go to its manufacture website and look up the QVL (Qualified Vendor List) list for RAM. Many people don't even do this and wonder why they have RAM issues and have to do a PITA RMA return. So it would be in your best interest to get RAM that was indeed tested to work for the motherboard you intend on buying. This is what I have done and no issues. Not saying you can't get a bad stick, but it's better then gambling with money and time.

With the QVL list it more than likely will come in PDF format. Use Foxit (Adobe is bloated) and search for the RAM you desire. Highlight and copy the model number. Now go to http://www.Newegg.com and do a search with that model number. Now you can see what specific RAM it is and search several other computer parts vendors for the lowest price. Sometimes Newegg simply doesn't have the RAM you search for though.

Video card is not all that important to FS. At least with FS2004 and FSX and probably Prepar3d, but I'm not sure. The amount of video card usage by FS2004 and FSX is about 25%. You could get by with a GTX 1050TI if you want. If you intend on playing other games, then at least a GTX 1060 is what you'd want and you can go up from there.

PSU wise you want something name brand and well known. I prefer Antec myself. Never had an issue with that at all. My current PSU is an Antec 750 gold. It has all the bells and whistles one could ever want for a PSU. Use this power supply calculator to figure out what wattage you need. The video card is the biggest power consumer. http://powersupplycalculator.net/ There's even one from Newegg. https://images10.newegg.com/BizIntell/tool/psucalc/index.html

As mentioned, ORBX is a great product if you intend to fly the way you do. You may also be interested in BlueSky Scenery. http://www.blueskyscenery.com/

I can do a parts list with the website pcpartpicker if this sounds like nothing but a PITA. LOL Just tell me what OS you intend on using. Your budget would be nice, too.