New Boy to Flight Simulation

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Member for

15 years

Posts: 1

New to this aspect of computing, I know most of my equipment suitable for FS but is Graphic Card up to the Job if not recommendations please. Intend to get Microsoft Flight Simulator Gold Edition
Gigabyte GA-EX58-UD3R Motherboard
Intel i7 920 2.66 Mhz Quad Processor
320 Gb Samsung Hard Drive
8 Gb Crucial Ballistix DDR3 1066 Memory
Vista Home Premium 64 bit
Nvidia 8500 GT Graphic Card
22 inch Samsung Monitor 1680 x 1050 Max Resolution
Thanks

Original post

Member for

17 years 1 month

Posts: 113

Everything looks fine, but you're right, the graphics card is not the best although it'll work ok for a start.

See how you get on, but if you want to go for photo or other high definition scenery and/or purpose made airfields and towns etc., you'll probably want something better.

Go for at least a 500 mb, preferably 1 GB Nvidia card with the highest number you can afford and get the most up to date driver for it.

Then download Nhancer and up the anisotropic and atialiasing filtering to get the best effects.

John

Member for

15 years 7 months

Posts: 129

I'm also looking to start playing a bit with FSX

I've got 4GB RAM, Intel Q6600 quad core (@3ghz) and an 8800GT (with factory overclock)

What sort of settings can I expect?

Also - can anybody reccomend a decent budget joystick?

Member for

17 years 6 months

Posts: 378

I'm currently using a Nvidia 8600GT on a 3GB Quad rig, it was the best when i bought it, but it has since become outdated and i believe there are far better to be had on the market now.

Chris - I'm achieving around 20FPS with High settings (excl. autogen & Traffic) and i think removing these things actually makes the sim look more realistic, aswell as improving your frames. Yours is a better setup than mine, so you should achieve at least this.

Without going too far off topic, if you are planning to fly online, may give LinkUK VA (Virtual Airline) a sneaky plug...we have 24/7 sessions on an excellent platform and have a great community.

Happy Flying.

-James

Member for

15 years 7 months

Posts: 129

Thanks for that.

I've had a look at the LinkUK site - looks good...can you explain a bit more about how it works? Do i just download addons for FSX?

I've bought a copy of FSX from ebay (not the deluxe edition though) - how much do you get 'out of the box' and what will require addons?

Member for

16 years 5 months

Posts: 1,873

chris, a good cheap joystick, i use the Logitech Extreme 3D pro :) about £25 and it works fine im on FS9 though

Member for

17 years 1 month

Posts: 113

Hi Chris

There are literally thousands of addons but I suppose the most popular are the scenery packages. They make FSX look dull by comparison. However, you need to know the Country you will be fling over. There are scenery packages for most of them excepting Africa and Asia.

John