FSX Graphics Hardware

pclancy

So i'm planning to start building simulator PCs to install at aeroclubs and training schools. Am torn between offering a HP box with a good graphics card and good onsite three year warranty, or building my own using components etc and looking after support myself. I'm leaning towards the HP boxes as the aftersales will be much easier.

So I'm wondering what current FSX flyers feel about their graphics cards and which they would recommend.

Nforce

Why FSX? MS Flight is due at the end of the year and it'll perform much better than FSX,apparently. I know people with top spec multi €000 computer's that have difficulty running FSX at times.
Also,the CPU processing power is much,MUCH, more important to achieve decent fps than GFX power. What resolution/number of monitors per system do you plan on running? What addons...or will it be a vanilla FSX install? What flightsim hardware?

Not trying to put you off...by the way.:)

cian1500ww

I had a lot of trouble running FSX on my system with a GTX260 GPU and Q6600 CPU, so much trouble that I switched back to FS9 at one point. I've recently done some upgrades to my computer so I must try running it again but I still have the same graphics so I'm not sure if I'll see much of an improvement.

pclancy

Its totally usable and good looking with the settings tweaked. I'm getting frame rates of 25+ with most detail sliders at max in the PMDG Jetstream. I fly all around New Zealand's high detail Windowlight mesh and its smooth with no jitter. PC is an Athlon 7750 with 3 gigs of ram and a 2Gb Radeon 4850X2.

The key seems to be only a few settings. Light Bloom and Lens Flare eat a lot of frame rates. So does high detail water, high levels of autogen and the detail distance being set too high. Turning down cloud draw distance is also helpfull. I set the weather's visability to 20-30K which is pretty realistic and also saves frames.

For the sims I want to sell they will be used for Cessna, Cirrus or Piper ground school lessons. Basic setup will just be a projector for outside visuals and 26" LCD for cockpit.

I can offer this stuff from SimKits for places with a bit more money:

IrishB.ie

pclancy wrote: »

So I'm wondering what current FSX flyers feel about their graphics cards and which they would recommend.

I recommend THESE. Look at the frame rates he's getting in his video's.

Firekitten

not entirely sure what this 'omg fsx needs uber graphics' comes from...
I run it at 35fps on my compaq laptop, with a ati radeon hd4500 in it... 2gigs of ram, and an amd 3.2 gig 64 bit athalon processor... it runs very very well... that was a £450 laptop...