Simviation Forums

I've never actually done anything to my system to make my flight sim experience any better, but since my PC crashed and I was given a clean slate to work with I figure I should start.  But since I haven't done anything like this before, I don't know where to start.

I don't remember any of my specs, and don't remember where to find them...  I guess that would be a good place to start.  How would I do that?

I'd really appeciate it if someone could show me or point me to a tutorial that would show me how to tweak my video card and whatever else that needs to be to get the best perforance I can out of my system.

Thanks.  :)

Without specific info it's hard to know exactly what you need but you should be able to find out what you have either from the manufacturer of your system or even the box it came in. You can start however by going into "Control Panel" and open up the icon labeled "System" Look on the "General" tab and see what processor and how much RAM you have installed. Video card: Left click on the desktop and choose "Properties" select the tab "Settings" and in the box under Display: it will tell you what video card you are using. For example mine says "RADEON 9600".

First thing to do however is to get what you have working stable and clean. You might want to post in the hardware forum for better info on how to set up all your hardware and software so it's working as well as it possibly can. The key however is to make sure everything is set up so that you have no bottlenecks anywhere and are taking full advantage of the system you have.

Most prepackaged systems have a lot of junk running that doesn't need to be. Can't tell you what you need or don't need without seeing exactly what programs are running. Check out FSAutoStart. It has a built in guide to what is necessiary and what isn't. It won't tell you everything but it's a start. I think you'll find that most stuff can be shut down when you run FS.

Once the system is set up properly and you know what you need to run or not run with FS then you can begin tweaking for better performance with settings and other small changes to find what works right for you. Everyone is different in the way the fly and the type of flying they do. Some may not need a lot of autogen and terrain detail since they mostly fly at or above FL250 except for climb and approach. Others want more details since they fly GA aircraft low and slow. To each their own and that's the way you want your sim set up.

Most prepackaged systems have a lot of junk running that doesn't need to be. Can't tell you what you need or don't need without seeing exactly what programs are running. Check out FSAutoStart. It has a built in guide to what is necessiary and what isn't. It won't tell you everything but it's a start. I think you'll find that most stuff can be shut down when you run FS.

I had always built my own systems and I didn't quite understand the the big deal of FSAutostart. My computer always boots up with very little programs running in the background. Before running FS, all I have to shut down is my firewall, and my antivirus. Opening up the task manager, at the bottom of the window, the 'commit charge' is usually be between 90-95M.

Recently, my mom bought a prepackaged HP computer, and although it's a very nice system, I'm appalled at the amount of junk running in the back ground. If I remember right, her commit charge after boot up is over 300M, and her list of processes runing is quite long compared to mine

I wish my computer was like Essel's. Running essential background programs only.