| Delta Virtual Airlines Water Cooler | PC Support |
Would like some opinions on a potential laptop purchase |
DVA12358
Captain, A320
Joined on September 15 2014
DVA Five-Year Anniversary
Toronto, ON Canada
49 legs, 89.8 hours
48 legs,
88.7 hours ACARS
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Posted onPost created on
December 06 2015 23:49 ET by Geoff Reeves
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Due to my set up at home running a desktop is not an option for me. So, I've been running FS9 on my laptop for the last several years. I've got a decent laptop - it runs FS9 well and could probably run FSX with a bit of a clean up and a few tweaks. However, I use my laptop for so many other things that FS has been slowing down as the drive gets more and more crowded.
SO, I've decided to treat myself to a dedicated FS laptop. It will only have FS9 and FSX on it (as well as Rise of Flight because, well, dog-fighting!). I've looked around and found this model by MSI. My question is: in your opinion(s), will this effectively run FS9 and FSX (I have both FSX and FSX-SE, just never installed them) and will it run them well? Would such a system run P3D or X-Plane well if I ever decided to go in those directions?
Model: MSI GT72S 6QE-030US
Specs:
Latest Skylake 6th Generation i7 Processor
• Windows 10 Home
• Latest Skylake 6th Gen. Intel Core i7 6820K processor
• 17.3" Full HD (1920 x 1080), Wide-View
• Embedded NVIDIA® GeForce GTX 980M with ultra performance
• True Color Technology pre-calibrates each panel, guaranteeing image output at preset mode close to 100% sRGB.
• Nahimic Sound Technology with immersive 3D sound processing
• Exclusive SHIFT technology for system's performance and balance
• Exclusive super RAID 4 with 1xSSD of PCI-E Gen.3 x4 bandwidth.
• Exclusive Cooler Boost 3 Technology
• Killer Double Shot Pro (Killer Gb LAN + Killer 802.11 a/c WiFi) with Smart Teaming
• Audio Boost 2 with 3 independent amp for best sound experience
• Evolution of Sound by Dynaudio 2.1 sound system
• SteelSeries Engine to personalize your own style
• XsplitGamcaster for broadcasting, recording and sharing
• Keyboard by Steelseries with full color LED back light
• Matrix display support up to 4 displays
• Brushed-metal lid and aesthetics line design inspired by matte black supercars, adding high class taste
• 6th Gen. Intel Core i7-6820HK processor
• CPU Speed 2.7 to 3.6 GHz w/ Turbo Boost
• OS Windows 10 Home
• 24GB (8GB*3) NDDR4, 4 slots, Max 64GB
• 17.3" FHD (1920 x 1080), Anti-Glare IPS Wide View Angle,
• GeForce GTX 980M Graphics VRAM GDDR5 4GB
• 128GB SSD (PCIE GEN3 NVMe)
• 1TB (SATA) 7200rpm
• Optical Drive BD Writer
• LAN Killer™ E2400 Game Networking Wireless
• LAN Killer N1535 Combo (2*2 ac)
• 16.85" x 11.57"x 1.89"
• 2 hours battery life
• Weight 3.8kg with battery
• 5kg shipping weight
Like I said, it all looks really impressive to me, but I don't really know much about these things and their performance. So, any advice will be greatly appreciated!
Geoff ReevesCaptain, A320
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DVA11380
Senior Captain, A330-300
OLP
Joined on March 20 2013
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"If cats could text you, they wouldn't."
Boston, MA
2,082 legs, 4,889.8 hours
1,722 legs,
3,657.3 hours online
2,060 legs,
4,813.2 hours ACARS
172 legs,
354.7 hours event
422 legs dispatched, 311.4
hours
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Posted onPost created on
December 07 2015 04:56 ET by Bob Donovan
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The specs should run FSX very well.
My only comment is, the 128gb SSD might get filled up very fast depending how many add-ons and other programs you have.
I have a 500gb SSD dedicated to Win-10, FSX-SE, P3D, and Xplane, and DCS and have about 280 of the 500 used.
How many years on the warranty? Since laptops don't have many customer-replaceable-parts, a 1 year warranty on a such an expensive machine is a big risk... especially since so many components are integrated into the motherboard.
Also, on the warranty, be aware if it's a "mail-in-depot" service, you may be w/out your machine for a few weeks. If you can carry-in or get on-site repair, it's probably worth it.
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DVA12358
Captain, A320
Joined on September 15 2014
DVA Five-Year Anniversary
Toronto, ON Canada
49 legs, 89.8 hours
48 legs,
88.7 hours ACARS
|
Posted onPost created on
December 07 2015 11:36 ET by Geoff Reeves
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Thanks a lot ,Bob, for the insight. Definitely some things to ponder. I'm going to see if I can get them to upgrade the SSD to 256g. My current FS9 file is about 55g - FSX will be at least as big fairly quickly.
I could, I suppose, run FS9 off the HDD and reserve all that SSD space for FSX (which would need it more anyway).
I normally don't go for the extended warranties as they are a bit of a money grab - but given what you say this time I'll probably make the exception.
Do you, or anyone out there, know if FS9 will run on Win 10?
thanks again!
Geoff ReevesCaptain, A320
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DVA11021
Captain, B757-200
OLP
Joined on September 13 2012
B757 100 Club
Everett 250 Club
Triple Century Club
Online Triple Century Club
DVA Five-Year Anniversary
Milford, NH
375 legs, 620.5 hours
365 legs,
604.5 hours online
374 legs,
618.9 hours ACARS
21 legs,
51.4 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
December 07 2015 14:03 ET by Sean Zarella
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FS9 is not a guaruntee with WIN 10 it or miss all over avsim forums. Stay with WIN 7 64 bit dont downgrade to WIn10 with all spyware built in. Not worth it IMO.
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DVA12358
Captain, A320
Joined on September 15 2014
DVA Five-Year Anniversary
Toronto, ON Canada
49 legs, 89.8 hours
48 legs,
88.7 hours ACARS
|
Posted onPost created on
December 07 2015 14:07 ET by Geoff Reeves
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Ok thanks Sean. I will still be flying FS9 quite a bit even with the new rig, just due to the number of add-ons I have. My intention is to operate both FSX and FS9 on my new system and fly whichever program I have the best payware for on that particular leg (if that makes sense).
Geoff ReevesCaptain, A320
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DVA11021
Captain, B757-200
OLP
Joined on September 13 2012
B757 100 Club
Everett 250 Club
Triple Century Club
Online Triple Century Club
DVA Five-Year Anniversary
Milford, NH
375 legs, 620.5 hours
365 legs,
604.5 hours online
374 legs,
618.9 hours ACARS
21 legs,
51.4 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
December 07 2015 14:20 ET by Sean Zarella
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I am right there with you Bud, FS9 till PP3d 64 bitz
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DVA12719
Senior Captain, DC-8-61
OLP
Joined on July 26 2015
Piranha Club
50 State Club
Century Club
US Capital Club
Piston Prop Professional
DVA Five-Year Anniversary
"Let the FO land"
Boca Raton, FL
153 legs, 258.9 hours
32 legs,
43.1 hours online
145 legs,
252.0 hours ACARS
16 legs,
23.9 hours event
12 legs dispatched, 16.4
hours
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Posted onPost created on
December 07 2015 18:11 ET by Yisrael Wealcatch
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Looks awesome with the hardware, but as everyone else said, Windows 10 will be your biggest nightmare.
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DVA12358
Captain, A320
Joined on September 15 2014
DVA Five-Year Anniversary
Toronto, ON Canada
49 legs, 89.8 hours
48 legs,
88.7 hours ACARS
|
Posted onPost created on
December 07 2015 18:52 ET by Geoff Reeves
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I've asked the vendor if I could get it with win7 instead of 10. They've already said they'll upgrade the SSD...for a price of course!
Geoff ReevesCaptain, A320
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DVA10236
Captain, B747-400
Joined on October 02 2011
Century Club
DVA Ten-Year Anniversary
LaGrange, GA
107 legs, 433.3 hours
51 legs,
144.5 hours online
105 legs,
429.8 hours ACARS
3 legs,
3.9 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
December 08 2015 12:32 ET by Jacob Buchanan
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Windows 10 works exceptionally well with me.
Just make sure you have it installed outside of program files into your own folder, UAC is off, as well as windows defender. Whenever you download and install a payware application temporarily turn off your AV (if it comes with McAffee get rid of it and just get AVG) and download via IE, and make sure everything runs as administrator by going into the applications properties, finding (run as administrator always) an select.
Everything I've bought so far has worked, except when I had McAffee (but that was on Windows 8.1).
Payware I own:
FlyTampa (Dubia Rebooted, Seattle, St. Maarten)
FSDreamTeam KLAX
Imagine Sims KATL
UK2000 EGLL
iFly 747 V2 and 737 NG
QW 757
Lvl D 767
Feelthere ERJ145 V2
Carenado C172N, C208B, C90b
AES, FSUIPC, and maybe a few other things. Everything works excellently well with each other, and I can't say more about it all. On Cyber Monday I purchased a 500g Samsung 850 SSD, so sometime soon I'll have that in my computer and ready to go.
Warranties are one of those things where unless there is a horrible amount of reviews stating that everything is total garbage about something, I'll get it, otherwise if everything seems good I'll go without.
All I can say is Windows 7 is only going to be supported for a few more years, while Windows 10 is their infinity project, so eventually everything will be compatible. I don't know of anyone who does what I mentioned above have errors with their products. It typically is people who don't read enough and dive into things unbeknownst to them and that's where errors come in.
I too fly on a laptop for all my needs, and spec wise you're doing well above what my dinky thing does, and I max out at 30 fps (locked) in all my addons, except at KATL everything runs slow. Hope you have fun with your new toy though!
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DVA12358
Captain, A320
Joined on September 15 2014
DVA Five-Year Anniversary
Toronto, ON Canada
49 legs, 89.8 hours
48 legs,
88.7 hours ACARS
|
Posted onPost created on
December 09 2015 12:52 ET by Geoff Reeves
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Hi Jacob, thank you that's extremely useful info! We seem to run a lot of the same things, add-on wise.
If I can get the laptop with Win 10 it will actually save me money. They have to charge me to roll back to Win 7!
Thanks!
Geoff ReevesCaptain, A320
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