RAMdisk

[Andydigital]

Hi Pete I remember you asking over at the MyTrafficX forum about some information you required for setting up a RAMdisk to help with quicker loading of textures on AI aircraft, did it actually help in the end? I'm thinking of going down the same route hopefully later this month or maybe next. I'll be going with 12Gb RAM and trying for a 4Ghz overclock on an i7 920 too, I'm wondering if its really worth pursuing 12Gb or not.

[Pete Dowson]

Hi Pete I remember you asking over at the MyTrafficX forum about some information you required for setting up a RAMdisk to help with quicker loading of textures on AI aircraft, did it actually help in the end? I'm thinking of going down the same route hopefully later this month or maybe next. I'll be going with 12Gb RAM and trying for a 4Ghz overclock on an i7 920 too, I'm wondering if its really worth pursuing 12Gb or not.

No, there was really no noticeable difference so I stopped using it. I'm now 100% using Solid State Drives (a 128 Gb for Win7 and a 256Gb for FSX), and they seem to help a lot more. I got the OCZ Vertex drives.

Also, since those experiments I upgraded to an i7-975 water-cooled and overclocked to 4.5Ghz, and that has 6Gb of 2000 MHz DDR3 memory. Of all the changes I've ever done I think the combination of the core i7 PC and the fast DDR3 memory is really responsible for the biggest improvements -- a fast processor isn't enough, the memory access is then the bottleneck, and I think that was the problem on my dual 9775 setup. Maybe now, with fast DDR3 memory using the direct connection the i7's offer, a RAMdisk would help, but to be any use I'd have to add far too much 2000 MHz DDR3 memory and I am told it is very difficult to get a stable overclock with more memory, even with water-cooling.

That's my 737NG cockpit setup, used with a projector at 1400 x 1050. I'm upgrading the projector on Tuesday to full HD at 1920 x 1080. With the overclocked water-cooled GTX 285 I'm not expecting any deterioration in performance because I don't believe the 285 is working anywhere near peak as it is. I'm very pleased now, having at last achieved my ambition of getting smooth performance at a fully populated UK2000 Heathrow Extreme -- with 100% UT2 traffic, plus MyTrafficX traffic for the remaining airlines etc, and AES, it stays around 20 fps (I'm locked at 30 fps which is sustained almost everywhere else). Very satisfying, butnot cheap, obviously!

I also have a VFR setup, on a 32" TV screen at 1280 x 1024, with a Piper Arrow hardware cockpit. I updated that for much much less money, getting a mobo, i7-920 processor, 6Gb 1800 MHz memory and decent cpu cooler bundle, pre-overclocked to 4.0GHz, for a tenth of the amount I'd spent on the 737NG setup. That's pretty good too, but I don't fly into large dense airports in my Piper! ;-)

Best Regards

Pete

[Andydigital]

Thanks for the info Pete, maybe I wont go for 12Gb after all then. Sounds like you have a sweet set up for the 737, and by the sound of it you may have got your pre-clocked Piper rig from OCUK, I imagine they are only around the corner for you as well. I get quite a bit of stuff from there and its only 30 minutes or so drive from Macclesfield. I've noticed they aren't as competitive on prices anymore, especially when it comes to the RAM I'm after (1600mhz), SCAN on the other hand seem to be very good on prices and they have a huge selection of hardware too, shame they are a little out of range for me, I know I can get it all couriered but I like to go to a store when purchasing a lot of kit at once.

[Pete Dowson]

Thanks for the info Pete, maybe I wont go for 12Gb after all then. Sounds like you have a sweet set up for the 737, and by the sound of it you may have got your pre-clocked Piper rig from OCUK, I imagine they are only around the corner for you as well.

Yes, about 4 miles away now, they moved nearer before Christmas. I see they've put the bundle price up now -- it was a real bargain when I got it, less than £500.

I get quite a bit of stuff from there and its only 30 minutes or so drive from Macclesfield. I've noticed they aren't as competitive on prices anymore, especially when it comes to the RAM I'm after (1600mhz), SCAN on the other hand seem to be very good on prices and they have a huge selection of hardware too, shame they are a little out of range for me, I know I can get it all couriered but I like to go to a store when purchasing a lot of kit at once.

I've been to Scan's place. My dual 9775 system, also water-cooled, came from them. I'm using it now as my development system in my office -- and as an extra radiator to keep warm! ;-)

Regards

Pete