help me spend some shekels

[robbie]

Hi All,
I been away for quite a while due to health problems, I decided to retire last year so I'm back and looking forward to doing some flying again, I think I've stuck with fs9 for far too long so I've ordered fsx gold..at last!

Now I need to choose some payware add-ons to enhance the game, so I'm going to ask you guys for some ideas please.
Weather, Traffic, Scenery, environment etc, I've been hunting around the stores on line for a week, now my brain hurts!.
I'm trying to get as much boxed stuff as possible because up here in Northern Newfoundland we don't have very good internet speed so huge DL"s are out of the question.

Lets have your suggestions please guys.

Robbie
ps
nice to be back.

[Airspeed]

Hi Robbie
Greetings from the other end of the planet!
Which area(s) do you want the scenery for?
What aircraft do you like to fly? GA, Warbirds, Jetliners, Biplanes, Helicopters?
Do you want major international airports, or regional & landing strips?
Sorry to hear that your health has let you down. Let's hope that you find some relief in simming.

[robbie]

Hi Mike,

I think I'll stick with Europe for scenery, civil commercial ops with only big A/C for me.

It's just the basics I'm interested in at the moment, I'll decide on airports and a/c later, I went through "Just flight" store looking for boxed soft wear, but over 50% is either out of stock or discontinued?.

I really just wanted to know what everyone has installed to get the best from fsx.

Thanks for the reply Mike.

[Vancouver]

For weather textures I like REX
For a Moving map get Plan-3G it is free.
For Mesh I like FS Global 2010 _ I tried FSGenesis and found it had odd elevation issues plus support was non existent when I lost the program after a crash and outside a certain time span.
ORBX/FTX for accurate coastlines etc (Global & Global Vector) airports and areas can wait for the moment. it is expensive.
When it comes to aircraft - Tubeliners, you cannot go wrong with PMDG products and for others choose A2A - fabulous models there.
Plus Matlbys 1-11's (free) and Tridents (free) work great in FSX.

[robbie]

Thanks Alex I'll check those out,

I'm taking my pc in on Monday for an up grade,
AMD Phenom II x4 955 processor 3.2 GHz
4G RAM 64 bit
Radeon 6800HD 1G video card

I'm going increase to 8G RAM
and change out the card for a 2G (never liked the Radeon anyway) my Saitek x52 has never functioned properly since my last upgrade but that could be a Windows 7 problem.

What video card would you guys go for?.

[Airspeed]

Hi again Robbie,
I'm a sucker for NVIDIA cards, I seem to have less trouble than what I've seen reported by others.
Apart from a couple of months when I got driver error messages, none of which ever affected FS, I have been very happy with mine.
Mine's three or more years old now, so you'd get something way better.
Personally, I'd go for the best you can afford. Even then, the dealer will tell you in five months that "It was pretty good for its time"
The screen size, refresh rate etc also play a significant role in enjoyment.
I'll leave heavy tech stuff to the gurus here.

[robbie]

Hi Guys,

I think I have all the basics ordered, but I'm still missing ATC service, Radar contact would be my first choice, anyone have any other suggestions?.

Also I like a little background noise on a flight, so I'm thinking of adding FS passenger, again any ideas if there's anything superior on the market?.

I ended up installing a 970 GTX 4g video card.

Spent fortune last week, I think FlightSim store and PCAviator will be inviting me for tea and biscuits soon lol, what do you think Mike?.

Robbie.

[robbie]

I think I've changed my mind about RC, I did some checking on what's available and It seems PRO-ATC/X has improved quite a bit over the last year!.

Watched this today, quite impressed!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zccEKf5SrGk