Recommended PC for Xplane?

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Sebastian Thomas

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SThomas
Hello All. Wishing I could get some help on how to buy a cheap pc to run xplane today. Heading for the shops soon. Can you guys recommend the best way to go to (cheaply) get a working system here at home so I can practice my CFII instrument flying with Xplane?

Can’t afford the Gleim sim package. Wallymart? Target?
 
As much memory as possible. You can add the memory yourself, which is usually cheaper than buying it already installed. I prefer Crucial memory - reliable and excellent customer service.

As for the computer itself, I’m still using an older HP running Win7 with no problems. Not super fast but still faster than the airplane. Scenery as low level. The goal is procedures and your scan, not a as-close-to-real-world-as-possible sim.

I’m also running it on an older Mac.
 
I’m using this: https://xforcepc.com/english/platinum-html.html
It works great for me with the scenery etc. set on highest detail. If you’ll be using PilotEdge too, get a headset with separate mic and earphone plugs. (Single “phone” plug didn’t work for me, nor did a splitter.)
 
I’d get the fastest cpu for the price. Currently X-Plane is CPU limited for most people as it’s highly dependent on single core speed. They are porting over to Vulcan to make better use of multi cores but no one really knows when that will happen.
 
Lon33 said:
I’m using this: https://xforcepc.com/english/platinum-html.html
It works great for me with the scenery etc. set on highest detail. If you’ll be using PilotEdge too, get a headset with separate mic and earphone plugs. (Single “phone” plug didn’t work for me, nor did a splitter.)
Click to expand...
The OP is looking for something to practice IFR, not high-end gaming. Context is everything.

Questions for the OP
1) Do you want a desktop/tower or a laptop? If a tower, you'll need a monitor.
2) Do you want to use the computer for anything else?

An HP laptop with a large screen will run you less than $600. Same for Dell, Lenovo, etc.

If you belong to Costco or Sam's Club, check the computers at the stores.
Avoid Target & Walmart, the sales staff assume you know what you're doing, because most of the time they don't.
Is there a MicroCenter anywhere nearby? You may be able to pick up a refurb unit at a great price. Also check any used computer stores in the area.
 
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For me, with a fairly new laptop and decent specs I find I’m frustrated with setup, with fine tuning so it isn’t hanging here and there, getting the yoke setup so I can use it for things like mixture, trim, throttle, flaps, etc. and getting used to it, and time spent also getting my home airport configured somewhat.

As someone mentioned I wasn’t looking for high detail graphics, but...

I was frustrated by the amount of time and learning curve for configuration, and play.
Also, with one screen it is very hard to look left and right while adjusting controls.
I have a buddy that spent a lot of time, adding total three screens (he can look left and right while flying) makes it worth it, but the time and money...

Also I don’t have a high end joystick, though it has controls like throttle, but it has some play so when neutral (trimmed) it still drifts.

I decided that I had maybe better reviewing and chair flying, etc.
If you have time to go into it a learning curve and background even if you don’t want perfect can be a pita...but some manage to get it work ok.
 
murphey said:
The OP is looking for something to practice IFR, not high-end gaming. Context is everything.

Questions for the OP
1) Do you want a desktop/tower or a laptop? If a tower, you'll need a monitor.
2) Do you want to use the computer for anything else?

An HP laptop with a large screen will run you less than $600. Same for Dell, Lenovo, etc.

If you belong to Costco or Sam's Club, check the computers at the stores.
Avoid Target & Walmart, the sales staff assume you know what you're doing, because most of the time they don't.
Is there a MicroCenter anywhere nearby? You may be able to pick up a refurb unit at a great price. Also check any used computer stores in the area.
Click to expand...


No. I’m not going to use it for anything else. I have a monitor I can use with it. And yes, it will only be for using avionics/IFR procedures?

Does xplane come with a current nav database? ( like jeppesen)?
 
Im not sure but if its anything like 90% of games its gonna be limited by gpu rather than cpu. It might even have the annoying single cpu thread speed being a bottleneck as well. Imo sims arent that great for ifr currency. They dont fly the same and the atc environment isnt the same.
If i had to buy something in laymans specs i5 with a gtx 1050ti or better with 16gb ram.
 
*sigh* $1000 gaming machines with Oculus headsets...no.

CHEAP man—I’m curious if I can swing a usable sim that will allow me nav and approach data so I can shoot approaches in my local area and work the scan.
 
Sebastian Thomas said:
*sigh* $1000 gaming machines with Oculus headsets...no.

CHEAP man—I’m curious if I can swing a usable sim that will allow me nav and approach data so I can shoot approaches in my local area and work the scan.
Click to expand...
You forget. This is POA. Responses are what they want, not what you want.
 
Sebastian Thomas said:
Does xplane come with a current nav database? ( like jeppesen)?
Click to expand...

You will want to get a subscription to something called Navigraph. I think it's like $10 a month. They source Jepp charts and they allow you to update the nav data once a month with the latest AIRAC data. It's worth it if you are practicing approaches and any kind of IR training in xplane. www.navigraph.com. Wish jepp subscriptions were this cheap (and you get all the damn jepp plates, but can't use them for anything other than the sim.... damn).
 
Sebastian Thomas said:
*sigh* $1000 gaming machines with Oculus headsets...no.

CHEAP man—I’m curious if I can swing a usable sim that will allow me nav and approach data so I can shoot approaches in my local area and work the scan.
Click to expand...

You didn't specify a budget. $1,000 is cheap to some. You're on a pilot forum after all, not many here living on food stamps.

XPlane ran fine on my Dell i7-7700K and 1060 graphics card which I bought 2 years ago for about $900. As mentioned (by the person giving the XPlane-specific answer), XPlane is CPU bound and single-threaded, so get a strong CPU and decent RAM and go nuts.

If you're set on a laptop, you probably want the H (HQ, HK) suffix chips, and not the U series, and definitely not the Y series. They may all throttle when they get warm. One solution is to get the most obnoxious looking gamer laptop you can, festooned with vents and fans and whatnot. It may keep up while roasting your crotch. Pretend you're flying a Piper on a warm day. :)

If you don't mind the "frugal jerk" approach, get a Costco membership, pick out one of their gaming laptops (Dell G5 does pretty good for short money), and enjoy a 90 day free loan.
 
schmookeeg said:
You didn't specify a budget. $1,000 is cheap to some. You're on a pilot forum after all, not many here living on food stamps.

XPlane ran fine on my Dell i7-7700K and 1060 graphics card which I bought 2 years ago for about $900. As mentioned (by the person giving the XPlane-specific answer), XPlane is CPU bound and single-threaded, so get a strong CPU and decent RAM and go nuts.

If you're set on a laptop, you probably want the H (HQ, HK) suffix chips, and not the U series, and definitely not the Y series. They may all throttle when they get warm. One solution is to get the most obnoxious looking gamer laptop you can, festooned with vents and fans and whatnot. It may keep up while roasting your crotch. Pretend you're flying a Piper on a warm day. :)

If you don't mind the "frugal jerk" approach, get a Costco membership, pick out one of their gaming laptops (Dell G5 does pretty good for short money), and enjoy a 90 day free loan.
Click to expand...

Hey thanks. This was good advice. I shouldn’t be fussy with the replies I get—you are right. It’s a forum. Everyone is trying to help. Just sucks I am living on food stamps. ;-)
 
Hi.
LongRoadBob said:
I was frustrated by the amount of time and learning curve for configuration, and play.
Also, with one screen it is very hard to look left and right while adjusting controls.
Click to expand...
I have an app called Vocals.exe for Windows and I created a profile for XP11, MSFSX... that works well for that. You can also assign L/R/U/D to your View button and in 2D Mode it will give you a quick 45 deg. look. If you have Rudder pedals which is a must for IFR practice, and you have a Twist in your jstick, like the Logitech 3D pro or others, you can assign that to Look Left / Right for a quick look in the pattern. Post here or send me a private Email if you need more ind / details.

For the PC throughput the faster the CPU the better, around 4GHz is bet with 16GB RAM and at least a 1070 is what I found to give some acceptable performance with AA 4, Objects Medium these 2 settings affect the FPS the most, at least in my systems.
While you may? be able to run it in a lower performance PC you need to be aware that with the Clouds on that takes a lot of CPU power and when you get at, or below 20 FPS your real time gets stretched, on a 2 min approach real time you may be looking at a 2:30 sec. sim time, to give an impression of a more fluid play.

See the Vocal Commands / Phrases that I've implemented.
Could not load a formatted / .doc file but you can get the idea.

Commands / Phrases for Vocals Speech control app used in XP11.

To use: Place "win.xpl"(extplane.zip), and "Vocals.exe" (https://www.alth.fr/Vocals/index.php) and Run Vocals.exe, "profiles_xml.vc" included here, in a newly created directory ...X-Plane 11\Resources\plugins\ExtPlane\Vocals, and Start XP11 in windows mode. Make changes to the keys NEW and CHANGE keys listed below, Start Vocals with Run as Administrator, and select XP11 profile, and Application X-System. You can now go back to XP11 and use Full screen.

Some versions of XPlane have it already you can try it and if it works you do not need to add it.

For Flight Gear (FG) you do not need anything, just start FG in window mode, and Start Vocals.

NP-Numeric KP, FG-Flight Gear, XP-XPlane; Stop listening- must be enabled with KB Ctrl key

Note: Dx is Decimal number 1.. OemOpenBrackets IS [ etc. NG =Tested from KBoard Jstic only in c182 NG


Command Key XP Answer Key FG

Flaps up D1 Flaps up 2 -New FG OK

Flaps down D2 Flaps down 2 Ctrl -New FG OK

Brakes toggle B Brakes toggle Off / ON b Shft OK

Landing gear down D Gear down g Sft

Positive rate gear up U Gear up g

Map toggle M Map toggle NOT IN FG NA

Mixture Off F7 Mixture Off SKIP n (finer) 4x NG

Mixture Full F8 Mixture Full m (richer) 4x NG

Carb heat off F9 Carb heat off $ Sft 4? Toggle NG

Carb heat on F10 Carb heat on SKIP NA???

Trim nose down OemOpenBrackets Nose down PG7 Dec Elev? NG

Trim nose down a lot OemOpenBrackets Nose down a lot (4x) NP 7 4x NG from KB??

Trim nose up Sft OemOpenBrackets nose up (NEW KEY XP11) NP 1 Inc elev? NG

Trim nose up a lot Sft OemOpenBrackets nose up a lot (4x) (NEW KEY XP11) NP 1 4x NG

Reverse trust toggle Sft OemBackslash Reverse trust m Sft Enga revr

Speed brakes extend D4 Extend one j spoilers

Speed brakes retract D3 Retract one k

Spoilers Toggle NA Spoilers toggled k Ctrl

Toggle speed brakes Ctrl b Speed brakes toggled (New in XP11) B Ctrl OK

Auto start engine Sft x Engine Started s

Cowl flaps toggle NA Cowl flaps toggle D NG from KB??

Cowl flaps open Ctrl c x20 Cowl flaps partially open (Add in XP) NA

Cowl flaps closed Ctrl o x20 Cowl flaps partially closed (Add in XP) NA

G 1000 approach toggle SHFT O Approach toggled (NEW KEY XP11) NA

Autopilot toggle (G1000?) SHFT G Autopilot toggle (NEW KEY XP11) W Ctrl? Wing Lelr NG

Auto pilot approach toggle CTRL A A. Pee Approach toggled G Ctrl

Autopilot heading hold toggle SHFT A Heading hold toggle H Ctrl NG

Auto pilot altitude hold SFT i Altitude hold a Ctrl ALT Lock NG

Flight director toggle SFT J Flight director toggle NA


3 D cockpit SFT D9 3 D On c

Move head up UP Head up F6 Sft Not Wokng from KB??

Move head back Oemcomma 2X Head back NA

Move head forward OemPeriod 2X Head forward NA

Move head down SFT DOWN Eye point down F5 Sft NG from KB??

Move head right Sft Right Move right NA

Move head down Sft Left Move left NA

Look ahead W Default view (DEFAULT) 8 NP Sft

Forward view NumPad1 Num pad 1 (View Crtl NumP1) V Ctrl Init viewp NG KB

Look up SFT R Look up fast F6 Sft Scrl Dwn NG KB

Look down SFT F Look down fast NA

Look left SFT Q 4X Look left (90DEG.) 4 NP Sft OK

Look right SFT E 4X Look right (90DEG.) 6 NP Sft OK

Increase ground speed SFT T Increase ground speed NA

Increase ground speed a lot SFT T 2X Increase ground speed a lot NA

Outside view D8 Outside view NA

Full screen mode toggle Ctrl J Screen toggle (NEW KEY XP11) NA

Cycle view (Free Cam XP) c Cycle views (Free Cam XP) V OK

Cockpit View Sft D9 Cockpit V Ctrl OK

Zulu time backwards K 4X Time backwards NA

Zulu time forward L 3X Time forward NA

Zulu time backwards a lot SFT K Time backwards NA

Zulu time forward SFT L Time forward NA


Swap Nav 1 CTRL D9 Naav1 swap

Swap Nav 2 CTRL D0 Naav 2 swap NA

Swap Com 1 OemMinus Com 1 swap NA

Swap Com 2 CTRL 0 Swap com 2 (CHAHGE IN XP KEYS) NA


Pause P Pause p

Exit Simulator Shft F4 Exit (CHAHGE IN XP KEYS) ESC FG OK

Testing KeyCode Speech is On sir (TEST) KeyCode OK

Stop listening Control Key Toggle listening (Voice Stop Listen) Control Use KB for On /Off
 
Just for ifr stuff ms flight sim x would be less intensive on the hardware side and honestly despite its age is better supported than xplane.
 
Check out the Xplane web site for soecifics: You can get the current FAA approaches from the FAA site for free; then you'll need a subscription to one of the companies that supply geo data, to keep the approachs and "earth data" in sync - like from Navigraph, for example.

Any desktop class machine will run it well enough IF you don't care about graphics quailty - a cheap machine will have a cheap, slow graphics card, and you'll have to reduce the settings way down to avoid hesitations and delayed response. I added an after-market graphics card to a lower end Acer, and it works very well.

I use it for IFR proficiency, and it does well for that purpose, plus I can try out approaches I'll be doing for real. I have a cheap yoke, and find trimming a pain, as the yoke doesn't center as well as in the real airplane. But it works.

If you have Foreflight, Xplane will "talk" to it over your home WiFi; essentially, you "pair" your iPad to Xplane, just like you would with an external GPS source, like Dual or BadElf. If you use FF when flying IFR, as I do, it makes the simulation more realistic.
 
I always suggest people who aren't into PC games and what not just get FSX off Steam for $12. It's so old that it should run fine on just about any computer. If you want to nerd out and really get into flight sim games then you can spend a good chunk of change setting up cockpits and what not.

I spec'd out a machine the other day and it came up to $2200... that's before I add a VR headset, new monitor, etc.
 
Somedudeintn said:
I’d get the fastest cpu for the price. Currently X-Plane is CPU limited for most people as it’s highly dependent on single core speed. They are porting over to Vulcan to make better use of multi cores but no one really knows when that will happen.
Click to expand...

This. I made the mistake of investing in a Vega 64 w/ 16GB VRAM that's rarely over 60% load. I have an 8 core CPU that boosts to 4.5GHz for single core, which is not enough to feed the GPU. I'm sure this will improve but I would get the highest CPU boost you can find first. Also make sure you have 32GB of ram or 64GB if you want to use lots of custom scenery. If you have a 5GHz CPU and 64GB of ram then I'd look at say a 2080 but not before, it will sit idle.
 
Sebastian Thomas said:
How about MS Flight sim? Can you shoot approaches with that?
Click to expand...
Sure. You could get FSX for $20 probably and easily run it on a $300 tower at low settings. If all you want is to practice your scan and fly approaches you can do that just fine in FSX with "legacy" paper approach plates. Just download 'em off the world wide Interwebs.
 
John Myers said:
This. I made the mistake of investing in a Vega 64 w/ 16GB VRAM that's rarely over 60% load. I have an 8 core CPU that boosts to 4.5GHz for single core, which is not enough to feed the GPU. I'm sure this will improve but I would get the highest CPU boost you can find first. Also make sure you have 32GB of ram or 64GB if you want to use lots of custom scenery. If you have a 5GHz CPU and 64GB of ram then I'd look at say a 2080 but not before, it will sit idle.
Click to expand...
A $2,500 solution to a $300 problem.

And scenery is RAM-dependent? I have an 8700k and a 1080 and 16 GB of ram and I'm a bit disappointed in my framerates to be honest. Scenery settings maxed and at some fields I stutter on short final in simple GA aircraft. Is more RAM the answer?
 
mryan75 said:
A $2,500 solution to a $300 problem.

And scenery is RAM-dependent? I have an 8700k and a 1080 and 16 GB of ram and I'm a bit disappointed in my framerates to be honest. Scenery settings maxed and at some fields I stutter on short final in simple GA aircraft. Is more RAM the answer?
Click to expand...

I’m no expert but x-plane has a tutorial, where you go through a checklist to find out what if anything is problematic. I’m sure you can find it. Basically it takes you through each section, as I recall yes, CPU is important but graphics memory and card also, and there are a few other sub sections. It has pointers on how to interpret the findings also. I’m making it sound more involved than it is, it was pretty straight forward.

I recall you go through raising each sub section one at a time, note the result as they let you know what to look for, set it back and go on to the next, and it ought to help you find out what you might need to upgrade, or at least what settings for each section will give the best you can get with current hardware.
 
A few learnings from my X-Plane experiences regarding system config:
1) The GPU is as much if not more important than the CPU - go big on the graphics card - as big as you can, this will make or break the speed and usefulness of the flying experience
2) To test whether your systems is truly fast enough, use the timer in your x-plane airplane and compare it to a "real-life" timer. If the system is slow, you'll find that the timer is slower than real life, which means 2-minute turns will take 2.5 to 3 mins, which messes everything up
3) Test x-plane's frames-per-second FPS output as you use it. If you're seeing <30, then you probably won't have a great experience
4) To make x-plane work faster on a slower PC, go to settings and decrease all the graphics bells and whistles (outside objects, rendering, etc.)
5) One thing to explore is cloud-based desktops. You can right now get one for ~$10/month with high end hardware - as long as your network connection is fast, it will work fine - except audio won't work properly. So this won't work with PilotEdge.

On the note of using x-plane at home:
6) Avoid practicing landings - doesn't really simulate well
7) Try to set up random outages and fires to really test your response
8) Use the x-camera plugin to quickly change views
9) Connect your tablet/efb to x-plane if you use it in the air
10) Suggest starting with a joystick (logitech extreme 3d is ~$40 and does the job) before buying a yoke, pedals, and all the other hardware - you may find that for the purpose of sim it's fine

Good luck
 
To add onto the above-

Not specific to flight games, but all graphic intensive games benefit more from GPU (Graphics Card) than they do from clock speeds or core #s on a CPU. To reduce bottle necks it's best to ensure all components are around the same caliber.. don't take an old machine with an old CPU and try to slap the newest video card and 64 GB of RAM and expect it to be awesome. For most I would suggest getting an off the shelf big brand PC and putting a better video card in it. Unless you're really really really into PC games it will be more trouble than it's worth to spec out your own machine.

An over looked component is also a cluttered computer. You've seen those 'Finally Fast PC' commercials and the like, computers will slow down based on how much nonsense is trying to run or how much crap you have on the computer. A few times I've blown away my OS and reinstalled things I'm currently using to improve performance.

As for using a home Flight Sim for actual training. You can call it whatever you like but bottom-line it's a video game. Being fantastic at flying a video game airplane only makes you fantastic at flying a video game airplane. I watched a you tube video of a guy wearing a flight suit, helmet, oxygen mask, VR headset, full stick and rudder set up while he was landing F-18s on an aircraft carrier. While he probably understands the process more than the average joe, I would guess he would struggle trying it in a real F-18 on a real aircraft carrier. Not faulting him for his hobby but if you're wanting to utilize a video game for real world applications then stick to the procedural train aspect. Walking through a checklist and clicking on things in the cockpit, or setting up an approach and following it through. Even using PilotEdge, will help familiarize yourself with talking to ATC and increase your comfort level. During my PPL and instrument I used Prepar3D (Lockheeds product) so much that I had the 172's checklist memorized and rearranged the standard one into flow-checks that I still somewhat use today on a more complicated airplane.

I would also go ahead and just fake fly around for fun. It's not going to make you a stick and rudder pro but it's pretty fun to do these things in a game. Fly low and fast, fly between buildings, land a 172 on an aircraft carrier, all good times.
 
OkieAviator said:
To add onto the above-

Not specific to flight games, but all graphic intensive games benefit more from GPU (Graphics Card) than they do from clock speeds or core #s on a CPU. To reduce bottle necks it's best to ensure all components are around the same caliber.. don't take an old machine with an old CPU and try to slap the newest video card and 64 GB of RAM and expect it to be awesome. For most I would suggest getting an off the shelf big brand PC and putting a better video card in it. Unless you're really really really into PC games it will be more trouble than it's worth to spec out your own machine.
Click to expand...

It is a balance but X-Plane in particular is more limited than most games by the CPU, because it is to a large extent single threaded (I think the weather computations run on a second core but not much else). One core is maxed out- so the maximum "boost" speed is usually the limiting factor, the number of cores are irrelevant to X-Plane since they just sit idle. I don't think a CPU exists that will max out my graphics card with X-Plane, so I goofed there. I am looking forward to the Metal software update they are working on.
 
Agreed. X-Plane relies more on the cpu than gpu than any other game I’m aware of. I’ve got my i5-8600k overclocked to 5Ghz and it’s matched fairly well with a 1070ti with a slight overclock.

That level of hardware isn’t needed unless you are venturing into VR.
 
Hi everyone.
As others have mentioned XP11 will not take advantage of multiple cores, it only uses 1. At 2xAA and above, the a 1070 and 1080 video will get maxed out with a decent CPU, at no AA it's around 70%. The bottle neck is the overall approach the LR / Xplane developer is using to render the image and all the useless stuff like reflections, smoke..
Clouds take a lot of resources and what you will need to render above 20FPS is a CPU with around 4GHz or above.
For around $500.00 it is not likely that you can buy, or build, something that will run without slowing down real time, or get too much stuttering.
See pic included, you may want to download and expand / zoom in, to read the numbers. In the lower left is a LUA Script I wrote to get better feedback when I test.

If you can get the MSFSX or something in that level / family you may be better off.

When, and if, you get to the point that you want to practice IFR you can use all the updated Plates on your Tablet with a free app called Avare, which will interface with FSX and or XP11, post here if you need more details.
 

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I have the opposite of most...I have an older Core i5-4670k cpu, 16gb ram, and a newish RTX2070. I have everything turned up high, anti-aliasing etc and haven't noticed much framerate stuttering in xplane11
 
Hi.
You must be running a low res, 1080P? In 4K that system will have a difficult time in getting 20FPs at 2AA and Medium to High settings. If it gets below 20FPS it may look smooth but it goes in extended stretched real time (RT) mode. It may take 22 min to fly a 17 min RT leg.
XP11 it's very demanding on the Video board. not as much on the CPU, as a matter of fact that is one of it's problems, it does not take advantage of all the cores available.

alter said:
I have the opposite of most...I have an older Core i5-4670k cpu, 16gb ram, and a newish RTX2070. I have everything turned up high, anti-aliasing etc and haven't noticed much framerate stuttering in xplane11
Click to expand...
 
the RTX 2070 is a pretty good video board...I'll try and see what FPS I'm getting, but I'm absolutely sure my video card is not the limiting factor at all. I'm at 1920x1080@144hz
 
Yea I get over 100fps on a single 1080 screen with an i5-8600k at 5ghz and a 1070ti.

In vr on the Samsung odyssey + I’m in the 30’s.

I just did a practice instrument approach in VR last night and I love having the ability to do that. It’s 100x better than the redbird TD2 at the club that I can legally log for currency.

I just keep waiting for Vulcan. Hopefully at the end of this year.
 
I just ordered a Samsung Gear VR..its basically just a cheap VR solution that uses your cell phone as it's display. I've seen where some people online have been able to get Xplane working with it with pretty good results, anyone here try that yet? If not, I will post my results.
 
Sebastian Thomas said:
...how to buy a cheap pc to run xplane today...
Click to expand...

There is no "cheap" with XPlane, there is only how much performance and capability are you willing to trade off. If I have 256 GB memory and the best graphics card out there with a full yoke and pedal system, and a VR setup, XPlane will use all of it.

Start with the recommended minimums.
 
Re FSX as a training tool, I used FS 3.0 to prep for more my CFII exam on an 8086 processor monochrome laptop, back around 1990. Lately,
I've come a long way in the world and so now use a Dell Inspiron (color!) 1501 laptop, offline only, with no virus protection, as Windows XP is no
longer supported. For software I use MS FSX. Think it cost me $29. You can set it up so that you hear continuous ATC chatter from Tower and Approach. I pull
up the approach plates either on my iFly, or on my chromebook. Then I go fly. I don't use a yoke. Keyboard's fine. Bruce Williams has a couple of books on Kindle that have a series of IFR practice drills and approaches. You can download the scenarios straight into FSX. All of the foregoing is a really inexpensive way to keep up your IFR memory and procedural skills. You can fly instrument approaches and holding patterns all day, for nothing. If you need hard core flying in weather to increase your IFR skills, there's only one way to do that and it's not with a Simulator, no matter how fancy your kit is. Good flying.
 
I am trying to run three 4k TVs, left center and right. I have the left and right at 1080p (really just needed for visual reference) and 4K on the front TV so I can read the instrument panel. It's too slow even with the Vulkan update so I just bought a 5900X to replace the 3900X. Hopefully that does the trick. If not I will need to spring for the 3080 to replace the 2080 Ti which is supposed to be about a 25% bump.
 
John Myers said:
I am trying to run three 4k TVs, left center and right. I have the left and right at 1080p (really just needed for visual reference) and 4K on the front TV so I can read the instrument panel. It's too slow even with the Vulkan update so I just bought a 5900X to replace the 3900X. Hopefully that does the trick. If not I will need to spring for the 3080 to replace the 2080 Ti which is supposed to be about a 25% bump.
Click to expand...
Which has nothing to do with the OP's original request.
 
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