NGX : my first flight

Just finished my first flight yesterday. Incredible impressions. With my "low" quad core 2,33 GHz, i am stuck around 10 fps on the apron BUT...

Let's start first with the good news, just for people who didn't buy the "beast" already.

We all heard what the NGX has reached in term of technical simulation (electrical, electronic and fuel systems) but the first impression is an incredible comfort in the cockpit. This liner is probably the first to perfectly simulate all the lighting. One of the usual problem for FSX simmers is the lack of light at dawn and dusk, especially with the sun in front of you. Here, everything is working and is precisely adjustable (much more than the Ariane).

Second surprise is the smooth, fine and accurate rendition of sounds. Realistic but not too noisy, hundreds of different click sounds.

Buttons handling : despite the fact that PMDG has create another new way to handle buttons (it's small rotating hand), this feature works really good and is intuitive.

And of course, the virtual cockipt and panels are absolutely great visually. I am amazed by the small reflections on the glass parts of the MCP and of course, the dust on buttons, the markings on the windshields etc, but tons of posts have already explained that.

Now the framerate.

I was really afraid about that but eventually, the 10 fps (it's an average figure on gate position in a mid-size airport), are not so bad. I mean, i know that a core I5/I7 would have been better but with my ATI HD5850 and three screens, i guarantee you that i really feel the speed on take off. I landed at Fly Tampa Athens on 12-13 fps with absolutely no jerks sensations.

And, by tuning my ATI card (mipmapping, anti-aliasing etc..), i can gain some precious fps.

I also tweaked a little bit my FSX.CFG (remember, the file is in user\roaming\Appdata\Microsoft\FSX

In the manual, PMDG advices you to set Texture_Max_Load to 4096. I tried it and the virtual cockpit becomes wonderful but as a result, i lost 3 fps. So, back to 2048.

I finally found a compromise on my ATI settings. The virtual cockpit isn't wonderful yet but quite acceptable. What's important right now (for me), is the quality of flight, the accuracy of systems, FMC etc. And i am not disappointed !

Facing sun at dusk but perfect visibility in the virtual cockpit...

For those who want to compare their system with mine and try to know what they can expect on term of fps, here is my complete configuration.

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Intel core 2 quad Q8200 2,33 GHz

8 go ram

Windows Seven 64.

ATI HD5850 linked to a Matrox triple head, 3 x 22 inches.

REX and UTX / Also tried on IVAO network.

Of course, i previously tweaked my FSX.CFG with all these commun settings (highmemfix etc...)

And i also applied the famous Venetubo.com utility.

Now FSX ;

Now, writing about framerates and optimization, it has always been a dangerous thing.

My configuration is certainly not perfect but the important thing is that you have now a point of comparison.