Just got FSX..Now what!

[Steve Raas 1116300]

This may be a lengthly read, but it is necessary.

 

I just got FSX super cheap NIB, I believe its the standard version, not any special edition or what have you.

 

I installed it, got some pretty poor performance out of my pc, and then tried adding squackbox, and it did not work.

It had a 'you need a valid version of fsx' ect ect. I found the 'REGESTRY fix' for it, but it was not intuitive, nor did it work.

 

So, I uninstalled FSX, and I will re-isntall hopefully all will be ok.

 

I have a lot of questions so here goes.

 

1) I know there are updates for FSX, I dont wanna air race, I just wanna get on vatsim n fly commercial jets, what updates are CRUCIAL.

 

2) Besides Squak box and i think its called fsinn, what else is needed as an addon.

 

3) For all the PC hardware guru's out there I definatally NEED to upgrade my video card/power supply,

I am running onboard vid now, and to be expected it is rather lousy.

In time I WILL run multi monitors, so I will want a vid crd capable of such, so Im looking for recomendations on what to buy.

 

PC SPECS ARE AS FOLLOWS:

HP A6330F

AMD 64 x2 5600+

3gb RAM

Vista home premium

I have 1 PCIE x16 slot & 1 PCIE x1slots on the mobo avail.

 

I would really like to keep costs down, well under 200$ If possible, I dont need 100 FPS, I dont know who would.. but I digress.

 

As a side note, I am also looking for a 15 pin (female) to USB adapter for an older CH Prod flightstick pro I found.. I dont even know what to call it much less search for it, using the mouse to fly is.. well.. rediculous.

 

Seems as everything has changed in the few years I have been gone from FS, so.. please bare with me.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

-Steve

[Garry Morris 920567]

Firstly, you *must have* FSX Service Pack 2. You need to download SP1 and SP2 from Microsoft and install them after having a clean install of FSX on your machine. Not for "air racing" and whatnot, but because SP1 and SP2 provide a number of performance fixes that you really need for things to run well. FSInn, at the least, requires SP1.

 

You only need *either* FSInn or SquawkBox. They both do the same thing, and are like apples and oranges. They're just different. You really need nothing else (except maybe a USB headset to make talking to ATC easier) to fly on VATSIM.

 

I'm not sure I'd count on multi-monitor with that board (though someone may be along to correct me). After upgrading to the best video card you can afford, you may want to look into the "Triple Head 2 Go" from Matrox. That unit allows you to use one monitor plug, plug three monitors into the TH2G unit, and then the unit simulates that it is a single monitor that is three times as wide, allowing you to span the game across your monitors. Google it and check it out.

[Richard Gerrish]

here are a couple links to an adapter that should work for you.

 

http://www.directron.com/gm168199.html?gsear=1

 

http://www.amazon.com/Manhattan-Usb-Game-Port-Adapter/dp/B0009PXKZ8

 

http://www.gigaparts.com/store.php?action=profile&sku=CB70222