Getting back into the simulated air

About two months ago my flight simulation practice came to a screeching halt when my previous laptop died a very hideous death.  The computer had been demonstrating some irregular behavior for a while.  It froze from time to time and took longer and longer to start up.  Eventually it got to the point where it just crashed and never restarted.  A computer tech friend of mine looked at it and nursed it back to health.  However, he said that the system was corrupted and that the machine would not be with us for much longer.  He suggested that it was time to start looking for a replacement.

After reloading Microsoft Flight Simulator X it became clear that program was too much to ask of a machine on hospice.  The computer would simply freeze and I would never make it off the runway.  In desperation I even tried FS2004 to see if the older program would be a little more gentle on the aging circuits.  Things went a little bit better.  It was possible to get airborne, but the computer still crashed after a few minutes.  Because of this, over the past few weeks I have been using the laptop for essential computing only.  Flight simulation just had to wait.  Fortunately, I had X-Plane on my phone to help tide me over.

First I figured out my budget and began researching what a new machine might look like.  There were a few variables to consider.  My new computer would have to double as a work machine, so I could not look at a dedicated flight simulator like the Redbird Jay.  Another laptop was briefly considered, but in the end I decided that a desktop would give me far more bang for my buck.  It would also allow me to use a larger monitor, making my virtual flying far more immersive.  The performance of a good gaming machine was just too good to pass up.

After looking at several options locally and online, I decided to order my new machine through the Army Air Force Exchange.  This allowed my money to go a little bit farther and provided free shipping.  Not being particularly technology savvy, I decided to order a pre-built Asus gaming package that just had to be plugged in and turned on.  My new machine arrived this weekend and I got to work setting it up.  Overall, the new computer is everything that I had hoped for.  It is fast and has plenty of memory and hard drive space for future scenery upgrades.  Unfortunately, the monitor was slightly damaged in shipment, but the AAFES customer service representative was very helpful and a return and refund was immediately arranged.

In terms of flight simulation, one of the things that I am most excited about is the fact that the new computer has allowed me to upgrade to X-Plane 10 and get some more advanced add-ons for Microsoft Flight Simulator X.  Up to this point I have been restricted to X-Plane 9 and a fairly stock installation of FSX.  My machine just did not have the memory or speed for anything more complex.  The new Asus allowed me to go straight to Steam and download the newest versions of each.  It has only been a few days, and it will take a while to get both programs set up the way I want them, but first impressions have been good so far.  At this point I am still working with just a simple joystick, but hope to upgrade to more authentic controls in the future.  Most importantly, it just feels good to virtually get back in the air.

ASUS Machine Specs:

(for the technically minded folks who understand what these numbers mean–I am not one of those people)

Processor: Intel Core i7-6700

Memory: 16 GB, DDR4

Graphic card: Nvidia Geo Force GTX970 (4GB)

Hard disk: HDD 2 TB & 8 GB SSD