ok, now i know its possible to connect 6 monitors to one computer, but what hardware would i need if im running xp, with flight simulator X on full graphics without any lag (looking for around 20 - 25 FPS)?

now after answering that question, what about if you used two computers, and connected 4 monitors to one (scenery monitors - the high end part), and 2 to the other (instrument panels - low end part)?


now this needs to be as cheap as possible because we are constructing 8 flight simulators, and an air traffic control center, and is to be all networked with two servers.


BTW, the computers are all being overclocked.

Flight Simulator X doesn't run NEAR smooth on MY pc, so, no offense, I know it won't run worth a damn on yours.

It's a CPU intensive simulator. Core 2 Duo all the way, no matter the ghz (since you are overclocking).

EDIT: Ok, let me rephrase this. It will take a hella computer to run it smooth with 6 monitors.

ok i thought so. so were going to need a core 2, most likely a quad though. then wed need a good video card, but seeing as were going to be using 6 monitors, im assuming wed have to get a mobo that has crossfire or sli, and use 2 video cards. ive seen these little boxes from matrox called triple head, which allows one vga output to support three monitors. were were planning on using those, but i think it would be best to use 2 computers, with the high end computer displaying the scenery with two video cards capable of supporting two monitors each, then have the low end computer display the instruments. now once that is done, how do we get the two computers connected to eachother so that they run in sync with eahother?

To run flight Simulator X over 6 Monitors, depending on size, you are looking at an effective resolution of....well quite a lot more than any 3 Video cards in Triple SLI or any 2 dual cards in Quad SLI are capable of performing. You would effectively need a supercomputer, basically a good 4-6 computers linked together off one unified OS, which is RAID 0'd over a mass of hard drives, all outputting to the multiple monitor setup. I cant even fathom what type of hardware, or software you would need to make this work. My advice, is to honestly walk into a Best Buy or a store that has one of those multiscreen displays setup(you know, like 16 monitors playing one image) and see how they do it. Ask what software they use, and how they do it off of how many computers. Next I would figure out how to link computers together to create a supercomputer. I know people have done it with Linux, multiple computers running one copy of Linux very fast, cant see why it couldnt be done with Windows.

This is going to be an expensive endeavor, please post pics and let us know how its going along the way.

what kind of prices are we looking at for one set, and for 8 sets (why do i have the feeling that im not going to like it?)

now also, who here has FSX? if these figures are too high, then the two options are to either lower the graphics quality a bit, or switch to FS2004. so if anyone here has FSX, can i get a good graphics setting please?

To have FSX running on 6 monitors at about 20-30FPS is pretty much impossible with current technology.

I have FSX, and on my rig, I can get 40-60fps on high settings with half of the sliders on max and the others nearly at max.

Q6600
8800GT
4GB RAM
19" Monitor

PS: What's it for anyway?

quote SeVenth Moon

To have FSX running on 6 monitors at about 20-30FPS is pretty much impossible with current technology.

yep, that is a problem. and the budget is around 10k as well (i think)

seventh moon, its for some basic flight simulators (no hydraulics).

now, before i proceed with more questions, i need to fully understand, to the last little detail, how two or more computers interacting with eachother works, and how to do it. i cannot proceed with anything else until that information is given to me.

ok i found something for flight sim called WideView. firstly, from the reading ive done, am i to assume that this works by having wideview and fsx on both computers, which are then connected to eachother via a network? now if so, can it be used on a gigabit port, or is there going to have to be a separate network connection between the 2 computers in each sim, then another connection from one of those two to the port?

If you have enough routers/switches, you can connect each group of computers together, then connect that switch to a 'main' switch that connects all the other computers/servers together.

i really got to get the project leader onto neoseeker for this.

now there is also something called wideserver, but nothing is on its website. i just remembered wideserver because someone elses flight simulator used wideserver for their one. but seeing as i cant get to the website, i guess ill have to move on.

so, finalizing on 2 computers communicating with eachother, they need some kind of module, and a network connection. but is it safe to use them over a switch? does each computer set have some kind of identification code that lets the modules know what computer to connect to?

ok, now if we kick it up to three computers each sim, thats about $14200AUD in total if all three in a sim are identical. however, i just remembered that the third one displaying the instruments doesnt have to be as powerful. so were going to take the details down a notch for a start to get these specs on the two main computers (disregard the '24 = $' and XP already provided):

Mobo:
Gigabyte GA-G31M-S2L - 1333FSB, 4GB RAM 800MHz Supported PCI-e16x, SATA
$59.00
24 = $1416.00
http://www.onlinecomputer.com.au/product_info.php?cPath=51_53_118&products_id=180

CPU:
Q6600 - 2.4GHz - 2x4MB - 1066FSB
$210.00
24 = $5040.00
http://www.megaware.com.au/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=72551

HDD:
Seagate Barracuda 80Gb 7200RPM 8Mb SATA 2
$34.00
24 = $816.00
http://www.centrecom.com.au/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=107_22&products_id=18219

DVD:
Lite-On Black DVD - DVD+-20x8x8 - 8x4 - DVDRAM 12x - CD 48x32x48
$28.81
http://www.megabuy.com.au/product_info.php?cPath=233_237&products_id=66333

RAM:
A-Data - 4G Kit (2x2GB) - 800MHz - DDR2
$91.00
12 = $1092.00
http://www.msy.com.au/Parts/PARTS.pdf

VRAM:
XFX 8800GT - 512MB - DDR3 - 256bit - PCIE - Dual DVI Out - 600MHz Engine - 1.8GHz Memory
$216.47
24 = $5195.28
http://www.megabuy.com.au/product_info.php?products_id=69793&ref=ShopBot

PSU:
SHAW - 860W - Tri Fan
$27.00
24 = $648.00
http://www.msy.com.au/Parts/PARTS.pdf

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that '24 = $' is obviously how much it would be for 24 of that hardware, so im going to have to adjust that for 16 instead. so i have the 8 remainder, as the instrument panels computers. what kind of hardware will we need for this to run smoothly (im assuming that because this is a separate computer, the graphics can be lower than that of the main computers, so that makes it easier)? dont worry about linking me sites, just give me the model number and ill look it up. the psu and dvd drive can stay as they are, and i dont need a case (that particular psu is dirt cheap, the drive will be used one at a time on each computer to install fsx and nothing else, and all hardware is being mounted directly onto the skeleton of the simulator, eliminating the need for a case).


EDIT: all future posts, including the answer to my last question should go here, as i will be deleting this thread in a few days.

[size=1][color=#666666]This message was edited by hiigaran on Jul 24 2008.