FS2004 vs FSX (or even XP10)

[Cyrus]

Relatively new here.

I'm flying with FS9 (2004) and no add-ons. I'm barely looking out the window these days, being most interested in the instruments and trying to pay attention to the radio. Looking for the fields, mountains, and coast. Not much else needed, even VFR (especially as I have Foreflight keeping an eye on my location). So I'm wondering if there's much point in upgrading to FSX? BTW, I mainly fly the Beechcraft Baron 58 twin prop.

Also, I've seen the ground detail (and street generation) on XPlane 10. Now THAT is impressive. But eye candy tends to wear off, as does the fun of buzzing a 50' truck (plus, what would ATC say if I did that?!).

Basically, I'm pretty happy with what I have... but was wondering what I might be missing, and if newer sims really add anything to what we're doing here on PE?

Grateful for any advice.

Cheers,

Cy

[Cyrus]

I should add that FSX: Gold Edition is only $27 on Amazon (with my free Prime shipping), so it's not that big a deal. Just wondered if it's really worth the hassle.....

[Keith Smith]

I love the gauge fluidity of XP10 and the subtle nuances of the flight models. I love that I have to worry about icing, right out of the box. The eye candy is great, but isn't why I fly it. See the BFL-MYF flyout video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVb6S_3qnzc), particularly the arrival into MYF following one guy ahead of me. The sensation of being near (but not in) the clouds is powerful, and as I said, the gauge movement is great. If FS9 is giving you all of that, then stick with it. Otherwise, try XP10.

[Cyrus]

Thanks Keith. Yeah, I actually watched that video yesterday (been trying to absorb everything the internet has to offer re: PE in last few days ). And, in fact, just I said to myself "wow. look at the rays from those clouds" you said "wow. look at those clouds" (or similar). Made me laugh.

But XP10 is almost 3 times price of FS9 (and that's a couple of months worth of PE. Now the decision is getting harder....!)

May try to stop watching XP10 videos for a while... and just concentrate on what I have. Birthday coming up anyway....

[Cyrus]

Update... for anyone who was thinking about doing the same....

I downloaded the XP10 demo yesterday and gave it whirl... I was impressed with the cockpits, the clouds, the dynamic lighting, and the true 3D ground objects (especially the cars on the real roads) - basically, the eye candy - however, I was most UNIMPRESSED with the performance on my desktop PC. I've got a modest Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.4 GHz and 8GB RAM running 64 bit Windows 7 Home Premium ("Windows Experience Index" of 5.2). With the "Rendering Options" all turned down, I was getting about 15 fps. Not bad, although it obviously looked like I was flying a 1995 desktop flight simulator. At the other end of the spectrum, it was about 3 to 5 frames per second. It'll be a great program to benchmark system performance, but as for using it on a current PC in the $400 to $600 range (i.e. most PCs), forget it. I can't really comment on the apparantly-amazing physics model, because it's hard to judge such things when the movement is so jerky. I'm sure with a beefier computer and/or more VRAM (can't remember what I have today I'm afraid), it would have performed much better. I guess it's possible, because the video that Keith referenced above looks pretty darn smooth. But he's a CEO and I'm just a worker bee, so I gotta stick with my current PC

Bottom line: The whole downloading (waiting... waiting... ), installing, loading (waiting... waiting...), trying, tweaking, trying, then getting kicked off [my joystick] after the demo expired has made me appreciate my FS2004 THAT MUCH MORE. So now, perhaps I will start reading FS2004 vs FSX reviews. OR.... maybe I'll just stop thinking I need to trade in my reliable old wife for a younger supermodel. Especially when said wife can still cook, sing and shag [uhhh, dance] like a champ... and maybe I should just get back to what I really enjoy doing; that is learning about and experiencing airspace navigation and ATC interaction a la PE with what I have right now (which would still be rewarding, even if I were blind and didn't have a sweet tooth for satan's eye candy).

[Ryan B]

I'm a little out of date with your post but FSX will run crappy too on your Q6600. Better to stick with FS9 or XP9.

Time for an upgrade!

You can easily setup a fast XP10 or FSX rig for around $1000 these days...

best bang parts these days:

Z77 motherboard
i5 2500K (preferably overclocked later on - needing a simple aftermarket cooler like Hyper 212+)
8GB ddr3 ram
geforce 660ti (if going FSX route) or probably AMD card for XP10

And possibly a new PSU if yours isn't fairly modern (at least 500w with solid 12v rails)