just got RealFlight G4 going....

[sellonoid]

I flew a couple of sailplanes 20+ years ago and now I'm back. The RealFlight G4 sim I just got going seems to accurately simulate the way my planes flew and crashed.

One beef I have with RealFlight is that their web page said my video card had to be DirectX 9.0 compliant (and have 1.4 shading), which my original card was. Then during installation, they started saying it had to be DirectX 9.0 C compliant, and sure enough I couldn't run it. The new video card I bought as a result (GForce 6200 in AGP 8X form) does do a nice job so I shouldn't complain, but the "C" versus "non-C" DirectX 9.0 is apparently an important distinction.

If you're looking for a card that will do the job, the GForce 6200 is available in either PCI-Express or the AGP 8X form. Both are very cheap. I paid $60 locally, but I saw them on the internet for ~$40. My computer is an Intel 2.8GHz dual processor with 1GB of RAM, and with the 6200 video card I was seeing anywhere from 30 FPS to 80 FPS. I didn't try changing anything to improve the frame rate because it seemed fine to me. I read where some people get 200-300 FPS !!!!

I don't want my very first post to be whining, so I'll emphasize how nice the G4 sim is once you get your video upgraded.

[jim_ag3y]

I'll vouch for the need for a halfway decent video card to get good performance out of the sim. I have a 3 Ghz computer with video on the motherboard, and cannot get the level of performance out of it that I can with a 1 Ghz machine with a dedicated video card.

I am thinking of putting a video card in this 3 Ghz machine, but the case is a low profile, and I believe the edgecard socket is PCI-Express. It is heck when you get a Gateway computer, and Gateway gets sold to someone who doesn't support the older computers any more.

I guess I will just be happy with the 25+ fps I get over water on the 1Ghz machine ( nearly 80 fps otherwise ) since I have learned an awful lot about flying various airplanes by using this simulator!

Any complaints I would have are NOT directed toward the simulator, but only toward the company that took over Gateway and decreased their level of technical support.

The Sim is TREMENDOUS!

Best wishes, Jim

[sellonoid]

This web page has the same card I bought, plus a low profile version for $45.

http://www.evga.com/products/prodlist.asp?family=GeForce+6+Series+Family

[flyx]

Holly schmolly ...I only have a 1 Gig ram and 128mb share memory on a laptop.
And it runs at 53 fps at full screen.
I fine it hard to belive that if your PC has 3gigs, it's going have
less than 128mb vedio card, now a day.

The first problem i had was...My pc was set to only 64mb vedio from
the factory. I changed it in the BIOS.
I just run it 16bit color becuase vista is a memory hog.
I also increase the memory in the performance option.
The virtaul memory option. Click advance and allocate
more memory from the defult setting of Vista.

I also shut off all those stupid software that starts up
everytime you turn on your PC. It turns on and stay running
even if you don't use it, slowing down your PC.

Turn down the smoke a little and adjust some of the settings on the vedio card
and it runs fine. Everything else is still left on. It still has smokes , just not as much.

Yeap 256mb vedio so you can crank up the antialsing.lol