I don't fly anything near a 744 (and won't for probably 20 years) but with regards to FS as a trainer I would say that I find it good for procedural flying but don't feel it has any real value in terms of handling (due to lack of control feedback). The best thing is that it keeps your scan in reasonable shape.
I have no idea of your experience level, but the one thing I would say is that it is possibly useful to practice your scan on something that is non EFIS as well due to the fact that not all sim assessments will be done on EFIS / partial EFIS equipped types (eg no speed/alt tapes). My suggestion re hardware would be a basic joystick with a throttle lever and a
BIG monitor to stop you going cross-eyed.
sr