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  1. #1
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    Opinion on computer for PM and others

    Hi guys, good morning. I am starting to think about my future home cockpit. I only have one good PC at the moment where I run FSX. As I am considering to buy the MCP, EFIS, and CDU, I would need another computer to plug all these new hardware and run Project Magenta or Sim Avionics, still to decide. Would you suggest any configuration for this new PC so I can run everything smoothly? Best regards,

    Gabriel

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    Re: Opinion on computer for PM and others

    Hi Gabriel,

    PM is designed for a network. I have 3 clients.
    1 has the PFD/ND captain side , MCP
    2 has the EICAS/CDU (2 vga cards)
    3 PFD/ND fo side.

    All clients are 1 gHz win xp pc with quite low specs. Just take a videocard that is OpenGl compatible.
    And it works very fluently with high frame rates. So just buy old second hand PC's and use your money for other things in your sim.

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  4. #3
    300+ Forum Addict oal331's Avatar
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    Re: Opinion on computer for PM and others

    Hi Gabriel,

    i have 3 PCs but you can make it also with 2 PCs only.

    Here is my idea for 2 PCs:
    1st PC for FS (FSX or FS9) with PM's MCP
    2nd PC with 2 PCI-E VGAs with 2 outpout each giving the Captains and FO's PFD/ND and both EICAS and Lower Eicas (PM's CG). Also the PM's CDU can run here or in 1st PC, as it is only one or two USB connections and finally the PMSystems.

    My Setup is with 3 PCs, because i had 2 low end PCs, one for Captain and CDUs and the other for FO and PmSystems.


    Regards

    Eddie
    Eddie Armaos
    Athens-Greece


    [

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  6. #4
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    Re: Opinion on computer for PM and others

    Thank you very much for your answers. But I would like to share with you my plans:

    * I already have one good PC running FSX. Details:

    Intel i7 940
    Nvidia GTX 295
    Corsair Dominator DDR3 6GB
    Western Digital Velociraptor 300GB with 2 partitions (1 for OS and another for FSX and addons)

    In this PC I will run only FSX plus addons

    * For the second PC, I have thought the following:

    Intel i7 940 changed from my main PC. My main PC would be upgraded to an Intel i7 960
    Western Digital Velociraptor 300 GB changed from my main PC. Main PC would have two SSD, one for OS and another for FSX plus addons
    3 Nvidia GTX 460 (so I can have 3 VGAs plus 3 DVIs)
    In this second PC I will run just Project Magenta or Sim Avionics (which is the best) and the MCP plus 1 CDU plus 1 EFIS

    How does it look like? Would it worth the changes for a better performance? I assume that this second PC would be more than enough for Avionics, but would this upgrades revert positively into my main PC where I run FSX? Thank you very much in advance, best regards

    Gabriel

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    300+ Forum Addict oal331's Avatar
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    Re: Opinion on computer for PM and others

    Main PC looks ok, why you want to change it?
    If you want something to change buy another HDD or these to SSD.

    Don't push so much money to high end PCSs for FSX and for Avionics.....

    Eddie
    Eddie Armaos
    Athens-Greece


    [

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  9. #6
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    Re: Opinion on computer for PM and others

    Thx Eddie. Reason is that although I have tried to tune FSX properly with some payware scenarios I get a very poor performance, sometimes below 15fps. This is not happening with default ones or at cruise altitude, but when approaching to this payware airports it looks to underperform, so I thought that with a better CPU I would increase performance.

    Assuming I dont change my current CPU, would an i5 be enough for avionics? Do you also agree in placing these three graphic cards in the second PC?

    Do you have any preference for PM or Sim Avionics?

    SSD would give me a better performance in the main PC? Sorry for asking again, but I do not have previous experiences with homecockpits and relative limited knowledge in informatic.

    FYI I have decided to buy FDS CDUs and CP MCPs and EFIS. Regards and thanks again

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    300+ Forum Addict oal331's Avatar
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    Re: Opinion on computer for PM and others

    Quote Originally Posted by Gabriel View Post
    Thx Eddie. Reason is that although I have tried to tune FSX properly with some payware scenarios I get a very poor performance, sometimes below 15fps. This is not happening with default ones or at cruise altitude, but when approaching to this payware airports it looks to underperform, so I thought that with a better CPU I would increase performance.
    I have an i7 930 with Nvidia 480 and i also have in some airports with specific payware aircafts such low frames like below 15fps you wrote above. To see the differense you have to overclock your CPU ~ 4.00Ghz (if you know how to do it). I have a very good aircooler but i don't know how to overclock it in safe, so i remain in stock settings.

    Quote Originally Posted by Gabriel View Post
    Assuming I dont change my current CPU, would an i5 be enough for avionics? Do you also agree in placing these three graphic cards in the second PC?
    Yes it is. My low end PCs running with 3 years old Core2Duo CPUs, with 2GbRam and ATI 3870. PM's s/w GC (for PFD/ND/EICAS), CDU & MCP they don't need something special to run. They just need OpenGL. Some years before i was running them in very old Pentium2 Pmsystems needs some better performanse but ANY today's PC is ok.

    Quote Originally Posted by Gabriel View Post
    Do you have any preference for PM or Sim Avionics?
    As i wrote i have PM's s/w, because 8 years ago it was the only one. I don't know if all the others companies making B737 s/w have all the functionallity and compatibility like PM. I think that you can test both and make your own opinion.

    Quote Originally Posted by Gabriel View Post
    SSD would give me a better performance in the main PC? Sorry for asking again, but I do not have previous experiences with homecockpits and relative limited knowledge in informatic.
    SSD is an expensive hobby I have one Intell's SSD 80Gb as primary disk to boot Win7 64bit. But for FSX, because the capacity is very important for install terain, sceneries et, i have a 2nd HDD SEAGATE 2 TB 7200RPM 64MB SATA 6Gb/s ST3200064.

    Quote Originally Posted by Gabriel View Post
    FYI I have decided to buy FDS CDUs and CP MCPs and EFIS. Regards and thanks again
    For CDU i have 2 from Engravity, they are working only with one USB connection each, in the same PC and they are with green display. I don't know about new FDS's CDUs.
    I also have CP MCP Pro & EFIS !!

    Best regards from Athens !!!

    Eddie
    Eddie Armaos
    Athens-Greece


    [

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  12. #8
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    Re: Opinion on computer for PM and others

    Thank you very much Eddie. After seeing your comments, I will not change my actual CPU. I would consider the SSDs and will look for a low end system for avionics. I will keep you posted on my progress. Best regards,

    Gabriel

  13. #9
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    Re: Opinion on computer for PM and others

    I can really recommend an SSD. I put together a new PC that is going to drive our training cockpit with an intel i980x 6-core and an SSD. This thing eats FSX for lunch. Disk access times remain below 2 msec while flying. It is loaded with FSX, REX, various addon airports, ultimate terrain and an AI package and I got a screenshot of it running 500 frames/sec.

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  15. #10
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    Re: Opinion on computer for PM and others

    Thank you for all your help. I am fully convinced about upgrading my HDDs on the FSX´s PC to SSDs. Metamarty apart of your SSDs, you have an excellent CPU, this also makes a huge difference

    I would like to share with you the following configuration for my second PC. Bear in mind that I do not want this second PC only for Avionics, but also for my daily use (download, Lightroom..etc), that´s why I looked for a medium end system. Please, do not hesitate to criticize if you consider something worthless:

    1 Intel i5 760 @ 2.8 Ghz
    2 Gainward Nvidia GTS450 GS
    1 Antec Earthwatts 2.0 650 watts
    1 Antec Three Hundred
    1 Asus P7P55D Premium
    1 Western Digital Velociraptor 300GB
    Corsair Kit DIMM 4GB DDR3-1333
    Windows 7 Professional 64 bits

    All this is worth € 900 without OS. How does it look like? Regards

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