Upgrade for Flight Sim. ?

J

jetsmell

Member
HP- Desktop

Model > p7-1420t

64-bit operating system

Processor Cores > 4

Processor > intel ( R ) Core ( TM ) i5-3330CPU@ 3.00GHz

Memory > 6.00 GB

Graphics > intel ( R ) HD Graphics

Primary Hard Disk 476 free of 910 GB

Windows 8.1



I have a number of scenery and aircraft add ons. The last add on was Anchorage X. I flew there and apart from a few freezes everything went ok. Now when I try to go there, either FSX crashes at the start or when the Sim. is loading the terrain data it get's to around 80 % then just freezes there. I tried going to an airport a few miles away from Anchorage and it worked, but then it froze. I tried another payware site Denver KDEN and got on the runway, but there were no buildings. I can successfully access average airports with little problems. The frame rate is around 10 - 15 , but for the most part it's smooth. My settings in FSX are about average. The aircraft , vehicles, boats, etc. are around 10 %.

I do have a WD External drive 1.5 TB that has very few things on it not related to FSX.

My question is what would you do if you were in my shoes ? New Processor, New Drive, do I put everything not related to FSX on my External Hard Drive ? Should it be over clocked ? I'm not very computer literate so try to make things simple. Thanks for your help.
 
Very complex questions. This is one of the very few times I recommend you go to a dedicated forum. There are pages and pages of configuration and hardware experience beyond what I would respectfully suggest you'll get here.

Beyond that, you'll need a better CPU and a better GPU (GTX780). You'll probably need a better PSU too. This is a CPU hog of a game. Make sure you have the latest patches and service packs.

Please state your budget and read here: http://fsrijnmond.airworld.nl/PDF bestanden/FS_Guide for FSX DX10 en DX11_Avsim_1-2013.pdf

Then we can help.
 
A better graphics card I agree with 100%. That said, I don't think a GTX780 is necessary unless you have a lot of very high res graphics mods.

Everything else sounds fairly reasonable.

As for that hardware guide, it reads like the authors sell hardware. FSX is from 2006, You certainly don't need an i7 running at 5GHz to play it as is recommended. The guide also says your RAM "must be matched to the mainboard Memory Support List for compatible DIMMS." You don't need to match your RAM to the qualified vendor list.
Then you need to overclock and get water cooling, or at least the best tower heatsink money can buy.... it's a bit overkill in every way.

Sure, FSX will bog down flying into LAX with everything cranked, but there's probably very few systems that wouldn't. Keep reasonable settings and all is good. The integrated graphics are the biggest bottleneck on it now.

As for why some of your scenery isn't loading, it kind of sounds like your payware addons didn't install correctly. It could be why it's crashing as well, but without error messages, okedokey's suggestion of a dedicated FSX site is a good idea. People who do nothing but play it all the time will know a lot more about it's potential problems than we will.
 
A GTX 570 and a decent PSU will be fine for FSX. You don't need extreme upgrades to run it smooth. Just don't have the terrain density maxed out.
 
All my payware airports worked fine, even the most recent Anchorage X worked a couple of times. I will take the graphic card into consideration. thanks
 
I agree, and im not trying to start an argument, but it is very well known that an i7 is a much better option for FSX due to the higher memory cache. 4770K and a GTX780 with high frequency RAM on tight settings are commonly held to the be the best option. Given he's asking for advice, and only getting 11 - 15FPS, the GPU is probably the best option, but if the budget is wider, then look to those components.

If you have the money:

4770K
GTX780
500W Corsair PSU

Is what would be best.

If you don't want to do all of that, then Id go for just a GTX 750 (without a new PSU). Anything higher e.g. GTX770 will need a new PSU.
 
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FSX is very CPU orientated and in fact only 25% is GPU driven. I am a Flight Sim enthusiast. My install is 26GB. You may need to lower your settings a bit. What are the settings? Plus there are several things you can do to the FS.cfg. I would check out flightsim.com.
 
Okedokey said:
I agree, and im not trying to start an argument, but it is very well known that an i7 is a much better option for FSX due to the higher memory cache. 4770K and a GTX780 with high frequency RAM on tight settings are commonly held to the be the best option. Given he's asking for advice, and only getting 11 - 15FPS, the GPU is probably the best option, but if the budget is wider, then look to those components.

If you have the money:

4770K
GTX780
500W Corsair PSU

Is what would be best.

If you don't want to do all of that, then Id go for just a GTX 750 (without a new PSU). Anything higher e.g. GTX770 will need a new PSU.
Click to expand...
I'm not either, I'm just saying the suggestions in that guide aren't for a lot of people and some of them are down right silly.

In his current set up, far and away the weak link in the video card. Hence an upgrade to even a midrange discrete card will make a lot of difference. The CPU is more than enough to play it reasonably well.
 
I ran FSX perfectly fine on an old i5 760 at stock if memory serves me correctly.

I think the current i5 this guy has will do the job well enough.
 
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