Computers, Hardware, Software and Set-Up

Computers provide the "grunt" to operate the software.  Although I'm not an expert on computers or their various internals, I do have access to a number of individuals who do have a sound knowledge in this field.  Like anything in life, success is not always what you know, but learning to accept the knowledge of others and build upon this knowledge.

The simulation will be operating with Flight Simulator 10 (FSX) and the avionics suite will be ProSim737.  Previously it was Sim Avionics (Sim-A).

To run the simulator, I am using two computers linked in a network. One PC will run FSX and ProSim737 and the second computer will host various other necessary programs.  The benefit of using two or more networked computers is the sharing of resources; accessory programs need not take valuable resources required for FSX.

Although as at February 2013 these computers are to specification, it must be remembered that technology rarely is stagnant and in the future more powerful computers will mostlikely be available.

The computers have the following specifications (February 2013):

PC-1:  FSX Computer

  • ANTEC six hunded gaming case
  • VANTEC ION2+ 600W ultra quiet PSU - SLI certified unit
  • 1 GIGABYTE GA-Z68X-UD3HB3 Motherboard. Z68 Chipset unit
  • 4 X DDR3, 1333, RAID, GBLAN, 2PCI-E 16x, SATA3, USB3, ATX, STEP3, LGA1155
  • INTEL CORE I7 2600 3.4GHZ 8MB cache LGA1155 unit
  • TP-LINK wireliess G PCI Adapter with removeable antenna unit
  • 2 x 4GB 1333MHZ DDR3 desktop RAM
  • 1.00 OCZ VERTEX 3 SERIES 120GB solid state drive. SATA3 2.5" unit
  • 1 x NVIDIA GTX580 1536MB DDR5 GPU: GeForce GTX 580 GPU unit - Clockspeed: 772 Mhz Memory: 1536MB GDDR5 (384 bits) Memory.  Clockspeed: 2004 Mhz Pixels per clock (peak):N/ABandwidth:192.4
  • GB/s Ramdac: 400 MHzBus: PCI-Express 2.0 Cooling: 2-Slot
  • FanVideo-Features: Mini HDMI connectability: Dual DVI-I
  • Front loading internal USB 2.0 HUB 4 PORT BLACK, EOL unit
  • DVD-RW BURNER, SATA II, DUAL LAYER, BLACK, unit
  • MICROSOFT WINDOWS 7 home premium 64 BIT edition OEM
  • CAT6 Crossover network cable

  PC-2:  Avionics Computer

  • ANTEC Three hundred gaming case unit
  • VANTEC ION2+ 600W Ultra quiet PSU - SLI certified unit
  • Z68XP-UD5 MB, Intel Z68, 4x DDR3, HDMI, 7.1CH, crossfireFire/SLI unit
  • SATA3, eSATA, RAID, USB3.0, Firewire, ATX
  • INTEL core I5 2400 LGA1155 quad core 3.10GHZ 6MB cache unit
  • 2 x 4GB 1333MHZ DDR3 desktop RAM
  • OCZ Agility 3 series solid state drive 60GB. 2.5" drive unit
  • TP-LINK wireless G PCI adapter unit
  • 3 x NVIDIA GT 430 PCI-E 1GB 128-BIT DDR3, DVI, VGA, HDMI, fan unit
  • DVD-RW burner, SATA II, dual layer black unit
  • MICROSOFT Windows 7 home premium 64 BIT edition OEM

Project Architecture

An unusual title that I am lead to understand is a visual document showing the architecture of the computer systems and  how they integrate with each other, the main instrument panel, instruments, throttle, yokes and external views.

A diagram of sorts will be uploaded in due course.   Until this occurs, this is what I have done.

The software has been segregated between two computers.  The flight avionics, for the most part has been installed on one computer, while the base program (FSX) and programs that need to run with FSX are on the other computer.  Using two computers shares the load and enables each computer to operate with maximum efficiency.

SERVER Computer (FSX PC)

  • FSX
  • ProSim737 main folder (server)
  • ProSim737 MCP
  • ProSim737 sound
  • PM Sound
  • FSRaaS 2
  • FS2Phidgets
  • ORBX AI, airports & scenery
  • WideX & FSUPIC
  • CP Flight MCP, EFIS, ADF 1/2 & rudder trim module (center pedestal - connected hardware)
  • Flight Deck Solutions NAV1/2 & M-COM modules (connected hardware)

CLIENT Computer (Avionics PC)

  • ProSim737 overhead panel
  • ProSim737 Captain side PFD and ND display
  • ProSim37 First Officer side PFD and ND display
  • ProSim 737 sound
  • PM sound
  • ProSim737 CDU/FMC
  • ProSim737 EICAS display
  • WideX
  • PMDG B737 Fuel calculator
  • Top Cat load calculator