renault

Welcome Back ! You haven't lost your touch The magic is still there Cheers Renault

It is getting more and more difficult to determine that this is still a simulation Well done Adam, really well done indeed! Cheers Pete

You're most welcome Paul I'm pleased you found it of interest Cheers Pete

Ditto @paulb John I really like the livery . Is that the PAC perchance? Cheers Pete

Hi again Wolfgang Sorry just one more add to my note Dammed cat just jumped on my keyboard as I was typing This is a Microsoft article that contains some good information that you might also wish to try to reduce the size of the cache using the DISM.exe program which comes with every windows installation I have also used DISM to reduce the size of the component store. It is very easy to do Use the /StartComponentCleanup parameter In the article where MS refers to use an elevated command prompt, they mean open a Dos window using administrator mode (In the search bar type cmd and then select Administrator) https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/manufacture/desktop/clean-up-the-winsxs-folder?view=windows-11 This may take some time to complete and even when it appears to stop , just let it run And lastly here is an article from Microsoft on the advisability of deleting files from the installer directory It is very old (2012) but still I feel gives useful background to the above https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/archive/blogs/joscon/can-you-safely-delete-files-in-the-windirinstaller-directory So just to summarize steps that I would suggest you try .... 1) Use DISM to reduce/cleanup the component store first 2) Then do a win10/win11 system refresh. Aside from fixing issues, I've found personally that it tends to keep my machine running in a "like new" condition. Cheers Pete

Hi Wolfgang C:\Windows\Installer is where Windows Installer stores cached copies of the setup packages (.msi) and setup patches (.msp) used for your currently installed programs. These files are required if you want to update, modify, or uninstall a program on your computer. They should not be randomly deleted as they are also referenced by entries in the registry. Without the appropriate .msi or .msp file and the registry entry, you will find that it is impossible to update, modify or delete programs on your computer. The best advice I know of is to proceed with a great deal of caution and most importantly do not try to do this by hand. The only ones that I know that can be safely removed (deletion by hand is not recommended because of the registry entry which also needs to be concurrently removed) are so called orphaned .msi or .msp files. Usually these are left behind from a failed installation You might find the following link instructive to give you some guidance on how to go about cleaning up this installation folder The best advice I can give though is to use extreme caution with any of these methods . I have never tried any of them ( I use the windows refresh approach and it keeps my system running well) and therefore cannot in good faith recommend them to you. https://www.raymond.cc/blog/safely-delete-unused-msi-and-mst-files-from-windows-installer-folder/ And just to remember, even after you have moved them to another location (recommended in the above article) your machine should still boot up normally. There is an important caveat to this .... However you will not know if what you have done is successful or not, until you attempt to update, change or uninstall a program. This is one of those annoying things in windows that unfortunately can cause all kinds of difficult to solve issues when it goes wrong as your computer will run normally until you attempt to modify/delete an existing application in some way. If it were me , I would try doing a windows refresh . This is a link below that I use as I have found this fellow to be very solid It will take you approximately half an hour or so to do. It will simply give you an new win10 installation, while keeping all your settings , files and data for all your existing applications. I find anymore that life is just too short to mess around with a lot of this stuff (and especially then trying to fix the problems that arise) Instead I have found that doing a windows refresh is firstly very safe, easy to do and generally fixes a multitude of issues . I would recommend it to anyone as a periodic maintenance item that is easy to do on any win10/11 machine. Hope this is of some help Cheers Pete

That is very cool Does it glow in the dark when the burner is on? I remember once we took our children to a Balloon glow just outside Dallas. About a hour below sunrise - it was just a magical experience Well done sir! A very nice screenshot indeed Cheers Wayne

@paulb @Sniper31 Thank you for an excellent explanation Landon Sorry for not responding earlier. We have an ongoing family situation that required us to be away for the last few days. The refresh rate of a monitor as you all know simply is the maximum number of times in a second that that the screen image will be updated by a program. Videos or computer games only display stationary images. The "illusion" of motion occurs because our brains are really good at stitching together still images slightly displaced in time and amalgamating them into what we then perceive as a smooth motion. However, every one of us has a slightly different ability to do this. So for some, 20 still images /second may appear to be smooth and fluid motion while for others anything less than 100 images/second may still allow us to discern individual still images and we would wish for a higher rate. When we are not able to do this and create a smooth sequence , our brain interprets the images as "jerky, stuttering or any descriptor you wish to use". The most important comment perhaps is that there is no right or wrong . It is really a very personal reaction to how your brain is able to amalgamate this information. As I mentioned in the beginning , the refresh rate of a monitor is the maximum number of individual images it can update and display in 1 second. Many monitors are designed to display either 50 or 60 hz/sec as it is easy to synchronize this frequency with the power frequency coming into your home. This frequency is very precisely regulated. However , there are some monitors which can display refresh rates of 144 - 240 hz or so. So the first question perhaps is what is the refresh rate of the human eye. Although it is open to debate , most authors would suggest that perhaps the maximum we can comfortably see is between 50 - 90 fps. (1) Another way to look at refresh rate is that it is the time available for the image sent to your eyes and then to your brain to be interpreted. Unfortunately, the process is not completely perfect, and some information may get lost in the translation so to speak. So it is generally thought that slightly more than 60 hz/sec refresh rate is preferable as when information is lost we are not able to form a complete image. However, the process by which the our brain interprets motion has one important element that hails from the time we were living in caves and learning how to heat meat over an open fire. Our ancestors survived because we became very , very good and detecting changes in motion, since that generally might mean something that would be severely injurious to our health and well being was about to make its presence known. In other words, we are very good at determining the difference between motion and changes in light intensity . The end result is that we can see flickering light at 50 or 60 hz and generally we don't feel that is a pleasant experience. Recent research (2) is indicating that we may actually be able to perceive flickering at upwards of 500Hz (500 times per second). Normally screen flickering is not an issue with flight simulation, but with a LCD monitor it can occur if the refresh rate is simply too low. Most monitors get around this issue by inserting a blank black frame between images which reduces flickering - reference 5 -- Blur Busters Black frame insertion test. If we generally can't see much beyond 60 hz/sec then why does a higher refresh rate monitor often just look better as Landon has mentioned. Well one reason is that a higher refresh rate monitor reduces blur and means that more information reaches your eyes in a given interval of time. If what you are viewing is very fast paced then your eye/brain will have an easier job of creating an amalgamated image as blurred images are more difficult to interpret. Of course this has to go hand in hand with have a hardware rendering chain that is capable of supplying a frame rate which is computable with the refresh rate of the monitor as Landon mentioned. If this is available , then the higher refresh of the system looks better, because there is more information presented to us as there are more individual images . Our brain is able to stitch this greater number of temporal still images into a much more cohesive and pleasing fluid motion experience as a result. If the image is being sent to the monitor at a very low rate (low fps) you may end up with duplicate images interspersed with those which have changed, so it is a bit of a tricky situation as to whether it will always look better. Our brains when presented with a series of still images slightly displaced in time fill in the gaps between images by blurring and we perceive this as a fluid continuous motion, rather than a series of images. But put too many images into the sequence that haven't been displaced in time and most of us would probably object. For example , a 60 hz monitor that is receiving a 30 fps input would have an additional image which is essentially a duplicate of each temporal one (changing in time). Some people may not notice , but others may have the sensation that they are watching a slide shown trying to mimic smooth motion. The monitor test that I have included in the references, Blur Busters (5) has a really good example of this (Variable rate refresh simulation) . An often overlooked parameter though that is an important part of refresh rate is the monitor response time (4). Various manufactures define it differently, but in essence it is the time in milliseconds to change from grey to grey midtones in a colour image which is in motion. Simply put , how quickly can a pixel on a monitor change from one colour to another. Faster response times reduce blurring and ghosting. Ideally a response time of between 1 - 5 ms is good for a gaming monitor. So, just to summarize . generally speaking most of us can perceive 60 hz/second as a good fluid motion experience. If our application is able to supply the monitor with a consistent fps at this rate then this would appear as a sweet spot to aim for. Some of us, though may find at even a lower rate of 30/45 fps also appears to be smooth and fluid, while other would find that a lower fps/refresh rate gives a stuttering and unsatisfactory experience. However as we have this innate built in sensitivity to motion detection, a critical part of a good experience is stability in the fps, regardless of the actual value. As I said at the beginning, there is no right or wrong answer with this as in reality it is about individual human perception. The best answer I believe is to chose what you like. If it looks good to you , regardless of how it appears to a colleague then you have the answer which will give you the best flight sim experience on your particular hardware configuration and settings. If you want to experiment with your monitor and have some fun to see what all this looks like visually, have a play with the Blur Busters website (5). I hope this is of some help Cheers Pete References: 1) How many frames per second can the human eye see https://www.healthline.com/health/human-eye-fps 2) Perception of flicker https://www.nature.com/articles/srep07861 3) Samsung - Refresh rates of monitors. https://insights.samsung.com/2022/03/07/how-does-refresh-rate-work-for-monitors/ 4) Monitor Response time https://www.benq.com/en-us/knowledge-center/knowledge/gaming-monitor-input-lag-versus-response-time-whats-the-difference-and-why-should-i-care.html 5) Blur Blusters -- Different Monitor Tests - Have a try , some are quite interesting , but all are good tests to try on your monitor https://www.testufo.com/

Just to add to Jon's excellent guide If you ever have just a single item in your community folder that you want to remove, but still keep a copy , you can just zip it to another location of your choice and then delete it from the community folder. Cheers Pete

Thanks Wayne Cheers Pete

Thanks Graeme Cheers Pete Thanks Iain All the best Pete Thanks Calum It is great to see you around and about again Cheers Pete Thanks Paul See you Pete Thanks Carlos Cheers Pete Thanks Mikee See you Pete Thanks Landon It is a very nice aircraft Has a few bits that don't quite activate yet, but I understand the developer will fix those. Cheers Pete Thanks Adam See you Pete

Just a few first shots of the PAC p-750 XSTOL around Mackay. This is my kind of plane It handles really well, is very stable and visibility is excellent. The level of detail and visual fidelity is outstanding. Perfect for a low and slow pilot like myself who likes a great platform to explore the world with . Absolutely first rate job folks. A great shout out to the folks at Orbx who brought this one to us. Cheers Renault DX11 DLSS - Quality setting This is the agricultural variant of the plane

Good luck to all Cheers Pete Iqaluit is the capital of the Canadian territory of Nunavut It is on Baffin Island in Frobisher Bay in the Canadian Arctic and from 1942 to 1987 was known by that name - Frobisher Bay I've been there once in real life. It is as cold as it looks, but the people were some of the warmest and friendliest I have ever met anywhere The scenery is MS2020 default DX12 - DLSS - Quality Sofly Weather Preset Pro RexAccusseasons - but not much vegetation at the best of times Kodiak 100 Series II

You got it !!! Hooray I am so pleased for you Don PS- the screenshots are pretty darned good as well Well better than that - just plain excellent! All the best Pete

That is really great news to hear Don! Best wishes for the future Cheers Pete PS - take your time unboxing your new acquisition as Landon said. It's half the fun !!

Hi Don But this is a lot of fun too I've never had any problems with helping to spend other peoples money !! In all seriousness , we are all pleased to help. I think it is coming together really nicely, and if you can go for it, you will be extremely pleased with how well it works for years to come. You will really enjoy your hobby again All the best! Cheers Pete

Adam Banks for me

Hi Paul @Sniper31 Kudo's to you in finding a "local" for Don I've copied Landon as he would know what the power consumption of the processor would be, Looking at the specs the only thing that pops out at me is the power supply wattage . I have a 3070ti and it is a really nice card for 1440p . It also takes a surprising amount of power , compared to the RTX 3070. It is rated at max power draw of 290 watts and the following screenshot of a stress test I did on my system shows at 98% utilization at 60 fps, it is using 282 watts, so I believe the max of 290 is correct. My processor is a i7 9700k which takes 95w max. I'm a little concerned that a 750w psu might be a bit light and possibly a 850w would be a better fit I defer to Landon's expertise on this , if he could advise please. Cheers Pete

And Doug @Doug Sawatzky as well ! Sorry Doug for missing you on the list. I am amazed at your setup. Never thought one ran without a case except for a test setup. It is very cool to see Cheers Pete

No worries Don. I'm pleased you found it informative. Sometimes just getting ones head around information to gain a general understanding of a subject is difficult. That's why we're so lucky here to have folks like Landon, Paul and Wayne to help us. Hope the next day is better Cheers Pete

I really second that (the best PC part ) Gumby When you have hardware that works well with MS2020, it becomes such a wonderful experience and a great way to explore our planet. Cheers Pete

Hi Don Every time Landon answers questions about building I learn something important Just to expand on his comments on adequate cooling. Cooling also needs to be a balanced airflow e.g. the air intake needs to balance the total outflow. Good builders will check this always, but sometimes it gets over looked. Also, most psu's required for such systems are larger and heavier than those in smaller systems. They tend to be mounted on the case bottom. The PSU also needs air coming in and if you set the case directly on a carpet there is the possibility that the airflow into the psu if it takes air from the bottom of the case will be restricted. I actually built a little wooden stand for mine which raises it off the floor and assures that the intake to the psu is not restricted. My system has a fractal case, and I certain can vouch for Landon's recommendation. I find they are excellent. Also when my builder air balanced mine I was given a choice of two brands of extra fans to use. They were Arctic cooling and Noctua. The Arctic cooling were less expensive than the Noctua , very quiet and very efficient and worked a treat in my case. The Noctua were more expensive , extremely high build quality and efficiency and slightly noisier when they demonstrated them to me. So I went with the Arctic cooling option and I have been very happy with that choice. Cheers Pete

Hi Don As Paul has mentioned Landon (Sniper31) is an excellent resource for questions related to building His knowledge of such things is second to none. You might also find the attached video helpful in your decision making. It is comprehensive and is supported by MS2020 performance comparisons for each component discussed. The machine that you are looking at is spec'd out very well and the components included in the machine give a performance that is in the top tier in terms of the testing results that are shown in the video. Paul makes an excellent suggestion regarding the resolution that you would be using. In my experience there is a very significant difference between the total computer resources required to run MS2020 well at 4K vs 1440p or 1080p. The machine you are looking at would work extremely well at 1440p and I would think , based upon the video results also do well at a higher resolution. With respect to Vram , it is important to note that Asobo has done a lot of work now on memory management in the sim, especially in DX12. My card is a RTX3070ti with 8 GB. My monitor resolution is 1440p. During the Su10 beta I started monitoring total Vram usage as Asobo was doing a lot of work on memory management , especially for DX12. The utility I was using was called GPU-Z and it gives a very extensive display of GPU information in real time. I also was using the fps display available in MS2020 as well , as it also gives Vram usage based upon what the sim is actually using. What I found as the algorithm was improved through the various beta iterations, was that total allocated VRam used on the card was between 7.5- 7.8 GB. I never got into a situation where I ran out of Vram and total Vram allocated was always within that range regardless of where I flew. What is important to note, is that the algorithm is allocating Vram based upon what is available physically on the card. So with more physical Vram available the numbers will change, but the memory management will then manage resources based on that cards available total memory e.g. a card with 10 or 12 GB will have more allocated and be above what the 8 GB card would have allocated. Put simply, the MS2020 memory management is working to ensure that you are able to use the sim effectively with the Vram resources you have available. The difference between allocated Vram and actual Vram usage on a modern GPU is bit complicated. This is a good article I found for a reference if you are interested: https://appuals.com/vram-allocation-vs-vram-usage-what-is-the-difference/#:~:text=Basically%2C when a game “allocates,Call of Duty Modern Warfare. With respect to hard drive space, other members are correct, more is better as it is surprising how quickly it can fill up. The machine you are looking has a USB-c port which is what I have on mine. I have an WD 4 Tb external SSD drive which I use on this port for XPlane and all its scenery. It works like a charm and I never have noticed any deterioration in loading that would cause me concern. It was also not that much money . I certainly could recommend that as a possible option for the future if you wanted to add additional storage space based on my experience with that approach. I hope this is of help to you All the best Pete

I'd heard that the pony found a nice companion and they both moved to Phoenix Cheers TTM All the best Pete

Thanks Wayne I don't show those This is a family orientated website Cheers Pete