Hello fellow simmers

[pilotwannabe]

Hi there. I've been a member for a short while but I've been looking around the site for a bit longer.

At the moment I'm running FSX SP2 on decent 3 year-old kit (Core2Duo E6600 2.4Ghz, 2Gb DDR2, nvidia 7950GT) but will certainly upgrade - WHEN is the question Control is via Saitek X52 Pro stick and throttle - not ideal but it'll do for now. I'd at least like a yoke and pedals

Just bought the new Horizon VFR Vol.4 : The Western Isles and it's great, but I'm concentrating on a round the world flight just now.

I've never bought a ready-made PC, so I feel quite at home with the insides of a computer. I was into electronics when I was a laddie (seems like a LONG time ago - I'm 42 now) and would like to build some of the kit on the Open Cockpits site so I'd be interested in hearing other builders' experiences.

That'll do for a first post. Don't want you all sky-diving without a 'chute

Best wishes

[Geremy Britton]

Hi,

Welcome to the site, i'm sure you'll enjoy everything you find here. Having just received more opencockptis panels today i'm very happy with them and the company offer good quality parts.

Although make sure you shop around before you purchase.

[pilotwannabe]

Thanks Geremy. I have noticed a few sites offer similar panels and the prices vary too, as do the designs. It was the 737 MCP which caught my attention initially - as soon as I saw it I had to have one! Which panels did you get?

I'm not sure what kind of cockpit I'd build. Having seen some of the 737 cockpits on the net and some methods of construction it is very tempting to jump in at the deep end. However money is always a problem (no £45m lottery winner here then) so I'll be a bit more realistic, with my ambitions if not the pit.

I'll probably start with something "simple" like a lights panel and magnetos/master/start switches and a throttle quad for twin engine GA.

[jmig]

Hi there. I've been a member for a short while but I've been looking around the site for a bit longer.

... Open Cockpits site so I'd be interested in hearing other builders' experiences.

That'll do for a first post. Don't want you all sky-diving without a 'chute

Best wishes

I would like to welcome you, also. I use some of the OC cards bt I built my own panels. A good FSX computer is pretty easy to build these days. A Q9650 is inexpensive and be O/Ced to 3.5 GH with air cooling. the new AMD chips are nice. I think they currently offer a better value than the Intel chips for FSX, provided you are willing to settle for 90%. The I7 is still the King of the Mountain for FSX chips but, can run you two to three times the ADM CPUs.

[pilotwannabe]

A good FSX computer is pretty easy to build these days. A Q9650 is inexpensive and be O/Ced to 3.5 GH with air cooling. the new AMD chips are nice. I think they currently offer a better value than the Intel chips for FSX, provided you are willing to settle for 90%. The I7 is still the King of the Mountain for FSX chips but, can run you two to three times the ADM CPUs.

Hi jmig

Thanks for your welcome message. People here sure are friendly.

It's funny you should mention upgrading to another 775 socket CPU - it was something that just occurred to me the other night. My original intention was to get a Core i7 920 and 6Gb RAM, but I'm running an Asus P5B Deluxe Wi-Fi AP motherboard so it may make more sense to only up the processor. I thought that the i7 would be a bit more futureproof.

As far as overclocking is concerned, I wouldn't know where to start. Alright, I'm chicken! I bought the Asus with that in mind but never got round to it - ahem.

Anyway, I've got an old Sempron system lying around so another extra PC would be handy for the A380 in the loft!