Well, some of the long timers might (or might not...   ) remember that I used to be a somewhat regular visitor here plenty of moons ago. Due to some really ugly personal situations, I was unable to keep on with my hobby/vice of flight sim, cause I was left without even a PC to play sim.

Now, after about 2 years, finally getting on track with my life, I got myself one of those Netbooks, based on the Atom processor. Yes, not all that "high end", I know.

I have to tell you that this little piece of tech really impressed me with its performance. I was really expecting a snail, and it has frankly surpassed every expectation I might had.

So, last week, when I received my external DVD, I grow a bit ambitious, and decided to install BOTH FSX and FS9, just for the kick of it, knowing that neither would run (or so I thought).

The configuration isn't impressive at all. Intel Atom N270 @ 1.6 Ghz, 1GB RAM, 160GB HD, Intel 950 GPU..... and this tiny itsy little 10" screen.

Well, FSX: 10-13 FPS, no autogen (obviously), bitmap quality on medium high, default planes (except the 747, which slowed it down to 7 FPS).... I kept thinking that it was impossible, but the results were there.... I just had to have it plugged to an external monitor, cause FSX requires a minimum of 1024X768, and the 10" screen supports only 1024X600...

So, I thought that FS9 might perform a bit better... and it DID!!! 19-20 FPS (almost always, drops a bit in the VC, but not that much), medium autogen, scenary complexity to the max, pretty much everything else to the max settings. Obviously, no AA, since the 950 doesn't support it... but it doesnt look that bad at all. Now, obviously, no add ons, and those FPS are on "stock, normal" airports. On Heatrow, KLAX and Charles de Gaulle (is that spelled correctly??   ) it drops to about 10 FPS.... still playable, but with some noticeable lag.... Also, project airbus A320s drop it to about 9 FPS, but IFDG A320s mantain the FPS. Meljet's 777 gave me about 15 FPS!!!!

And, lets keep in mind that such performance comes from a US$350.00 "computer"!!!! Let me tell you, I was more than impressed!

Again, the quality of the images leaves a lot to be desired, but, hey, it allows me to start playing again!! I never thought I would be able to!

What have I tweaked? The processor is overclocked to 1.96 Ghz, and the 950 GPU is boosted to 400Mhz. No overheating, and it's completly stable.

I unistalled FSX, and kept FS9 installed. Really enjoying it!!!

Just wanted to share this with you, guys. You really can't imagine how happy I am with that!!

Now, I'm starting to consider getting a "formal" computer to really enjoy the sim, with all the graphic majesty shown in the shots I found when returning here. But, since it will take some time, I'm happy that I still have the chance to get on a (virtual) cockpit again!

Cheers!!


Frank.