Soldiering on with FSX

Currently running an AMD Ryzen 3 3200G with Radeon Vega Graphics 3.6Ghz. 16GB of Ram with a 1TB HDD.

This has generally served me well for the past 4 years but I’m looking to update things a bit as I find the many add ins I’m now using, specifically ORBX scenery is choking things a bit, especially in heavily built up areas.

Where do I go from here? A new graphics card, such as the Nvidia GTX or RTX range, but is there any point if the processor isn’t up to it?

Would love some thoughts on this.

Also a welcome from here, although I don't have FSX any more. It was taking up too much time to maintain both FSX and P3D v. 4 and v. 5 at the same time, so now I have only P3D v. 5.

I would recommend, as the first thing you do, is to clone your HDD to a SSD. Everything will run so much faster!

Next up would be your CPU. If possible, look into overclocking it some, every little bit helps. But if your budget allows, look into getting a new motherboard with a faster Intel CPU. But that also means a graphics card, where the possibilities are almost endless, again limited by budget...

Jorgen

Yes , time has left me well behind. I’m still on XP, but running ok…ish.

Of course we all want just that little bit more performance, but one thing I did learn re FSX was that the limiting factor was almost always the cpu. If that is limiting, then any betterment of the graphics card is not worth it.

Also, FSX uses only one core .

The point Jorgen makes re the HDD v SSD is new to me and seems to be one answer. Don’t know much about it, but am I right in thinking that a techie could put in a SSD and transfer all the HDD on to it, and everything, all peripherals, joystick etc would run off it just the same-just faster?

If it isn’t heresy😀, I have thought about MFFS 20 Ona new computer, but my old joysticks, trickier etc wouldn’t work on it.

Scenery’s fine, but FSX is excellent.

Hope you get your extra performance ok.

Cheers

Look up your manual for the make and model of your motherboard. Under support see what the highest AM4 socket AMD CPU you can use and afford.

If you're using a lot of ORBX stuff and what have you you'll want a fast hard drive and a CPU that excels in the single thread department. You can compare and contrast that metric with CPUs at PassMark's website. SSDs are fast, but NVMe is like a hundred times faster. Believe me. I own one and it zips as if you installed the OS entire into RAM. I guess it pretty much is a RAM chip. The caveat here is cost and if you're running Windows 7 you need two slipstreamed updates to get it to work and it may be an involved process. If you're running Windows 10 and above then NVMe drivers are built in I do believe. So you just install the NVMe drive into the m.2 slot on the motherboard and install Windows as usual. Just don't have more than one hard drive connected at the same time on installation. Windows can and will install the boot partition on the second drive if a second drive exists while installing Windows. After Windows is installed you can then add other drives. If the boot partition ends up on a second hard drive you'll have to use EasyBCD to fix it.

If using a flash-based drive like an SSD or NVMe you'll want to use Windows Disk Management and unallocate a 10% portion of the drive. This is for better flash-based garbage collection ability and overall drive health and life expectancy. Note: you never have to defrag a flash-based drive. It's not needed due to the tech. With flash-based drives the data is just "there" as opposed to a platter type drive of which I think your 1 TB is now. Defrag a flash-based drive and you'll shorten its life and increase its MTBF (Mean Time Before Failure). I run two SSDs, and NVMe and three Hitachi Enterprise platters made for longevity that will probably out live that 'ol wascally wabbit dubbed the Energizer Bunny circa 1987. LOL (I remember the commercial that started it all... I was but 7 years old)

FSX and FS2004 are CPU orientated games. Meaning their processing is done primarily in the CPU. So there's no need for a massive GPU (video card) upgrade. The built-in GPU in the CPU its self would suffice, but to keep the load off the CPU and more dedicated to the Sim, just get a modest dedicated GPU. If you play other games, then at this time I recommend an Nvidia RTX 3060 made by ASUS or MSI. If the Sim is your only game then look for something modest but newer instead of the RTX 3060. Trouble is, the RTX 3060 is mighty popular and pricey and is going away like a dodo bird that fart its self to death for the newer NVIDIA GPU coming out. (Dodos do that in ARK: Survival Evolved... LOL)

What is the make and model of the PSU? If it's some no name I'd be apt to update it. After four years with a subpar PSU it's likely to fail and possibly take your system with it. Saw that thread many times on many tech help forums... Look at Antec or EVGA. I've owned two Antec's and so far so good. But production line duds are a reality. So keep that in mind before pushing the one star review button. RAM wise you're fine. I wouldn't even mess with that unless a new motherboard is bought.

=Extra credit=

Consider a quality UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply). Make sure it's made for your PSU (most likely active unless it has a voltage selector switch). These are a temp battery backup allowing just enough time (~8 minutes or thereabouts) to keep the PC running with an abrupt loss of mains power so that you can save data and power off safely. I've seen many threads on tech forums where a computer lost power and not only did the PSU go bye bye, but so did data. Doesn't sound like that would occur but it can. I had a Dell Mini 910 Netbook on 24/7 and when I had a power outage the power adapter was borked. Had to buy an OEM replacement on eBay. Note: Most if not all of these UPS' have a built-in surge protector. Couple of things. 1) Don't use another surge protector to power the UPS and 2) a surge protector is not a lightning arrester. Meaning it WILL NOT protect your equipment from a direct lightning strike. Maybe not even a step leader or a nearby hit a block or two miles away. It depends on the whole situation. Even if you had a qualified electrification wire in a lightning arrester into the breaker box, lighting has an uncanny ability to snake on into a room in many ways... I've read or heard (been years) of a ham (amateur radio operator) get his equipment toasted by lighting that came on down from the roof and thorough the ceiling light fixture.

Would love some thoughts on this.

There's a book for ya. LOL

Edit- A new GPU might mean the need for a new PSU if the current PSU is under powered for the new GPU.

Interesting post CRJ.

I’m looking at computer experts idea of what would be the best computer for FSX today.And any links to their sellers.

Obviously SSDs, or it? Never heard of a NVMe(what is it?).

All the gaming machines I’ve seen boast of loads of cores, but FSX is a one core isn’t it?.

Finally, at present I run FSX on windows XP������. And it goes ok, obviously could go better, but modern puter would mess with my peripherals- trackir, Cougar hot as, etc.l

Could I have a modern computer, and clone the HD with FSX on it and the peripherals and so run it on that computer and then maybe , on another drive,run MSFS 20?

Just asking. Not vital that I do it.

TIA

Interesting post CRJ.

 

I’m looking at computer experts idea of what would be the best computer for FSX today.And any links to their sellers.

Obviously SSDs, or it? Never heard of a NVMe(what is it?).

All the gaming machines I’ve seen boast of loads of cores, but FSX is a one core isn’t it?.

Finally, at present I run FSX on windows XP������. And it goes ok, obviously could go better, but modern puter would mess with my peripherals- trackir, Cougar hot as, etc.l

 

Could I have a modern computer, and clone the HD with FSX on it and the peripherals and so run it on that computer and then maybe , on another drive,run MSFS 20?

 

Just asking. Not vital that I do it.

 

TIA

SSDs are definitely the way to go these days for performance. NVMe is by far the fastest interface for connecting a SSD to your computer compared to the older, and slower, SATA and m.2 SATA ports.

While FSX is mostly a single core application, it does do some things with additional cores, and the operating system can also use the extra cores to handle other tasks in the background. A CPU with fewer cores and higher clock speeds would be better than more cores and lower speeds.

As far as moving FSX to the new machine, it depends a lot on what add-ons you have installed. Many, if not all, commercial add-ons would likely need to be reinstalled due to their DRM and registry entries. Freeware add-ons are usually fine to copy across though. It may also be easier to purchase and install the FSX Steam Edition (it can go on sale for $10) as it includes some fixes for more recent versions of Windows and uses the Steam copy protection/DRM rather than Microsoft's product activation.

Obviously SSDs, or it? Never heard of a NVMe(what is it?).

Non volatile Memory Express. Here's what one looks like.

Do you know what the PCIe slot is on the motherboard? It uses that kind of slot known as an m.2 (M Dot 2) connector. So it's a hard drive directly connected to the PCIe bus which allows for blazing fast speed that used to only be afforded to the main PCIe device most people use - the GPU (Graphics card) If memory (no pun intended) serves (and this may be silk screened on the motherboard its self), the current max speed of the PCIe m.2 bus is 32 Gbps. So you could have two NVMe drives (~ 6,000 MB/s 6 Gbps) working together in something called a RAID (Redundant Array of independent Disks) and have even FASTER speeds. Well, it should at least. But completely not necessary since one NVMe drive is fast enough. Edit- Scratch that. Just read that RAID controllers today can't handle the speed and will melt your face LOL Though, RAID 1 offers some basic level data protection. I say basic because a real backup strategy evolves cold storage and multiple backups... When I say cold storage that means backup hard drives and whatnot not connected to the computer.

Finally, at present I run FSX on windows XP. And it goes ok, obviously could go better, but modern puter would mess with my peripherals- trackir, Cougar hot as, etc.l

Not sure I understand. A modern computer would still allow you to use TrackIR, Hotas, etc. There should be no issue. If anything, the older OS (Windows XP) would be problematic.

Could I have a modern computer, and clone the HD with FSX on it and the peripherals and so run it on that computer and then maybe , on another drive,run MSFS 20?

This is where you'll have issue trying to still use XP. The issue is that a modern motherboard won't have XP drivers. So the motherboard chipset, network driver, etc will not be XP compatible. If you want to avoid Windows 10/11 then motherboard manufactuerer Gigabyte has Windows 7 drivers for chipsets Z370, B365 (9th Gen capable), H310 (9th Gen capable). This is probably true for ASUS and others as well.

Cloning to another motherboard (computer) from another computer (motherboard) is gonna be a bit of an issue unless you know exactly what you're doing.Though, I've done it before using sysprep. But again, if you're trying to move an incompatible OS (Windows XP) to a newer motherboard that doesn't have XP drivers you're SOL. So in this instance a clone won't work. You could however copy/paste using TeraCopy the whole install folder of FSX to another drive for backup however. You'll probably just need to reinstall your paid for add-ons. After you install the new OS (like Windows 7) to the new computer you simply use TeraCopy and copy/paste over the FSX folder to the new computer and run this. Remember to scan ALL files at VirusTotal. The general consensus is four hits and you toss. But it largely depends on what you got there...

MSFS 2020 I believe requires Windows 10 on up.

I've been meaning to try the Sim in a virtual machine. You could run VMware Workstation Player, install XP and FSX in that and fly. Version 15 is the highest compatible version of VMware Workstation Player for Windows 7.

Your username... https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cas-latency-ram-cl-timings-glossary-definition,6011.html Once upon a time in the before time that number was very important. Today not so much unless your application demands extreme RAM speed. That goes without saying, don't spend money on high speed fancy RAM either. Not necessary in this day and age. It's more or less a bragging and numbers game for PC enthusiasts. Overclocking is the same way unless you can REALLY get an OC over 1 GHz or something. A few hundred MHz isn't worth the wear and tear and minuscule results. I know because I tested it in the Sim in populated NY. Then again, that was the Sim and results may vary based on the game or application...

SSDs are definitely the way to go these days for performance. NVMe is by far the fastest interface for connecting a SSD to your computer compared to the older, and slower, SATA and m.2 SATA ports.

M.2 is the interface used for NVMe. Prior to that it was U.2 I believe. Perhaps you're thinking of mSATA which netbooks all used.

Thanks for you time and effort there CRJ. You are clearly one knowledgeable guy, way beyond my understanding 😀.

As it happens, FSX does run well enough on my old setup. I’ll stick with it, but in the knowledge that if it all goes kaput then I’ll lash out on a super duper computer, new peripherals with the latest windows and msfs20.( Having come back here beforehand to find out the latest best stuff from chaps like you who are right up there with the latest info.)

Again, thanks for all your time. I appreciate it, though it is somewhat beyond me. Cheers

but am I right in thinking that a techie could put in a SSD and transfer all the HDD on to it, and everything, all peripherals, joystick etc would run off it just the same-just faster?

No, not everything. Any disk access is faster, but peripherals are unchanged. So the sim will start up a lot faster and every time it goes to the disk (for scenery, etc.) it'll be faster, but anything in memory, anything not actually accessing the disk won't change, though sometimes it may seem that way because a disk access can sometimes be involved also.

So an SSD would help a lot.

I will add this to what Larry said:

Changing from HDDs to SSDs is one of the best things I have ever done to my system. Not only to my flight simulators, but to the whole system.

Jorgen

I will add this to what Larry said:

 

Changing from HDDs to SSDs is one of the best things I have ever done to my system. Not only to my flight simulators, but to the whole system.

 

Jorgen

DITTO!! Merry Xmas

DITTO!! Merry Xmas

Merry Xmas. Just to clarify, Jorgen, did you have FSX on a HDD and then moved everything from the HDD on to a SSD, and then everything just worked, or did you have to re install some things.

If the latter, then that would be a problem for me . Does it matter what Windows you are using.?.

I don’t suppose it would, if the whole hard drive gets moved over?

Sorry for all the questions, but at the moment everything works great, don’t want to spoil it, but it would be nice if a bit faster.

Cheers

Just to clarify, Jorgen, did you have FSX on a HDD and then moved everything from the HDD on to a SSD, and then everything just worked, or did you have to re install some things.

I'm not Jorgen, but just cloning each HD to an SSD let me just continue on with no need to reinstall anything, FS or otherwise.

At the time I had 3 1 TB HDDs in my system: Windows on C:, optical drive D: scenery mainly on E: and FSX on F:.

I used a commercial cloning software (forgot which one), and cloned E: first, worked perfectly. Then F: and last C:, everything worked just fine. It was much easier than I thought, and absolutely nothing to change or reinstall afterwards.

Jorgen

DITTO!! Merry Xmas

Christmas is not a variable. It is an | Christian | holiday. :D

I would recommend, as the first thing you do, is to clone your HDD to a SSD. Everything will run so much faster!

Thanks for you time and effort there CRJ. You are clearly one knowledgeable guy, way beyond my understanding í ½í¸€.

hellodear.in
 

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