its been fun!!

[darrenvox]

its was nearly 30 years that ive been simming, and loving every minute of it now

untill....https://darrensflightsimblog.blogspot.com/

only temporary, and not sure when ill get back to fs2004ing again!!

anyways read the most recent article on my blog...thanks also to the people here who shared my keen interest in keeping fs9/2004 as real as it can get!!

i still fly from time to time on my dads laptop with fsx demo version...so im not at all lost on whats new...

[zswobbie1]

One never knows what can happen.
Yep, time does fly. The 20 years of FS2004 has been awesome. I've tried FSX & just could not get to like it. Then I got P3dv4.5 & loved it, then I got P3Dv5, also good.
But I always go back to FS2004.I've mothballed my P3d & getting my FS2004 to how I like it.
I've thrown everything at it. My install is based on Silver Wings, and I've added Misty Moorings, Tongass, Glacier Bay & other Alaskan scenery. Also in the mix is all the scenery from the Ford Tri-Motor Project & Bill Lyons's great packages. Also Milton & team's planes, Shessi's planes and a bunch of other stuff. Somehow, I've not gone the VA route (as yet)

For me, it's about the immersion factor. Yes, the newer sims are very 'pretty', but the scope of FS2004 really is incomparable.

Maybe I've also been going 30 years.. from the early Spectrum days, Microsoft sims on floppy's... It has been a fun journey.

I really hope that you stick around. your contribution to the sim is very valued.

[ViperPilot2]

Darren,

You've been around long as I've been Simming ('10), and it won't be the same without your presence!

I know your pain; my big rig went South a few years ago, and it took me until the Pandemic to get a cheap used Laptop and reload FS9. Not as fast as the old one, but it allowed me to keep Simming at least.

Hope to see you back when you're able. We'll keep a hot pot of Coffee on fer 'ya!

[Sbob]

As started above, stick around.

One of the neat things about running FS9 on a desktop is that you don't need a newer boutique rig with all the bells and whistles.
Save those joys for the MSFS and DCS folks.

With FS9, all you really need is a basic desktop, fair monitor, and a joy stick.
Make sure your CPU is rated somewhere near 3-4 GHz (stock clocking) and you're pretty much set.
I went with a fan-less (cheap) video card just to get away from those "Intel Graphics". I run an i3 CPU (3.7 GHz stock) and I've never looked back.

If you opt for 16 Gig of RAM, you're good for flights over 24 hours in real time.

Keep an eye out at sites like Amazon and New Egg for "back to school" and "business grade" desktops. You can find some really good deals with PLENTY of horse power to run FS9.

[darrenvox]

i want to fix the computer but im too lazy to find out how...

one computer (origional) just needs some ram retention tabs (old white ones)

the other one will work but maybe it needs a new psu and i havent got the effort to see what it needs by a professional

i still fly using fsx demo...you know the one where you are stuck with TNCM andn all those airports nearby....i fly it once and a while but fs2004 simming is off the cups for now...

laters..

[Sbob]

Sometimes it just isn't fixable.

If you opt for a new desktop, like I said, you don't need top-tier hardware to run old software.

These are just a few of my personal guide posts of what to look for:

CPU- The old i3's are getting tough to find (FS9 and FSX classic are single-core games, you really don't need -or want- a lot of cores) and the i5* series of chips are now considered "entry level". Use that to your advantage. Being a single core game, the faster the CPU core clock speed, the better.

*- Obviously, there's more to life than Intel. Look at all of the options. Shop smart and get the fastest core clock that you can afford. The closer you can get to 4 GHz, the better.

Tower/case- How bad do you need flashing lights? You can save a TON of money by buying a basic pre-built system and then buffing some of the parts. As long as the On/Off button works, what else do you need? A pre-built system will have a stable power supply. Again, use that to your advantage.

Monitor- As long as your old one is good, consider keeping it. I've covered this before, but your display/monitor is one of the more important parts for your system. Its the ONE thing you'll be looking at- a lot. Don't go overboard. An 8 ft wide 4K monitor is going to take over the room. It also needs a LOT more graphics horsepower to run it. VR, IMO, is still a gimmick. In my case, its wasted money due to an eye problem BUT consider how much you have to sink into a system to run VR. A more capable GPU to run VR *may* require a bigger power supply plus a bigger cooling system. This stuff starts to spiral quickly and its always aimed at your wallet.


GPU/graphics card- In the old days of the early 2000's, this was important. With the new generations of CPU's this is no longer the case. A basic/cheap GPU can get you a lot of performance without bottle necking your system. Lower end/cheap GPUs don't require insane power supplies. A REALLY cheap fanless GPU has been just fine for me for the last 10 years and I'm running FS locked at 60 Hz.

Storage- I'm really sold on a 1TB device, either a physical hard drive or an SSD. Start with a good-old hard drive and get your system running the way you want. THEN clone an SSD off your hard drive and switch them over. Its that simple and you'll want to just keep your hard drive unplugged as a long-term back-up. With SSDs, I really like the Samsung EVO (1 TB) but they basically doubled in price last Fall. We're talking $80- $100 bucks today, which is fair, but imagine how many times I've whacked my head on the wall since the price went up.