New PC for FSX

[OWEN LEE 1]

Hi All

Before I part with my hard earned cash I would like to pick your brains with regards to a new PC for FSX. I'm no computer wizz so I have been looking through other forums and doing a general Google search to see which is the best system to run FSX on more or less full spec, I have found a system specs are listed below your thought would be very much appreciated.

Thanks Owen

Case PCS TRAIL-BREAKER 7206B BLACK CASE

Overclocked CPU Overclocked Intel® Core™i7-4770k Quad Core (3.50GHz @ max 4.40GHz) OC Settings Show/Hide

Motherboard ASUS® SABERTOOTH Z87: USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, THERMAL ARMOR

Memory (RAM) 32GB KINGSTON DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz (4 x 8GB)

Graphics Card 4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 770 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready

Memory - 1^st Hard Disk 120GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)

2^nd Hard Disk 2TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 64MB CACHE

1^st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive 24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM

Power Supply CORSAIR 1050W PRO SERIES™ HX1050-80 PLUS® GOLD MODULAR

Processor Cooling Corsair H80i Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler

Extra Case Fans 2 x 12CM Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof)

[Virgin America Captain 27]

Looks like you've got it down. FSX will run like a dream! Just remember to overclock and optimize fsx.cfg.

[Matt_Smith 1116]

Personally I would add at least a 240Gb SSD for FSX/your chosen sim. 120Gb is way too small and you will run out of room on it in next to no time, keep it for your OS. They you will quite litterally be flying.

[lindbergh72 74]

Personally I would add at least a 240Gb SSD for FSX/your chosen sim. 120Gb is way too small and you will run out of room on it in next to no time, keep it for your OS. They you will quite litterally be flying.

I agree

[OWEN LEE 1]

Thanks guys, upgraded to 240GB now for the price GBP1774 reasonable or ripped off ?.

Also forgot to ask for FSX which is best Window7 or 8 at the moment the build has Windows 7 home premium 64BT sp1 but it can be changed to any Windows 7 or 8.

Thanks Owen

[Cheyenne Chief Pilot 829]

Oversized! Size down a bit and invest a part of your money in

- second monitor

- rudder pedals

- flight yoke

- TrackIR

- tbc.

I would take the plunge and go to W8 immediately - it's the future and it's more convenient with stuff like speech recognition.

[Jeroen Doorman 1763]

Bigger SSD as Matt said and tone down on the 32GB RAM which doesn't bring you anything unless you are going to use it. I would stay with W7 64 bit but I like what I have and will not change that fast

The rest just looks great! FSX will run like really smooth

[Aerosoft Team [Inactive Account] 51558]

I would take Win 7/64 at this moment as OS.

[OWEN LEE 1]

Thanks again for all the input, taken the advice re the ram and dropped it to 16GB.

The price is now GBP1666 incl delivery. I have also given the specs to my local computer shop who have advised me that once they have the parts they will build it for GBP70.

Is GBP1667 a good price if not what sort of price would you be expecting to pay.

Thanks again Owen

[OWEN LEE 1]

Sorry did make not it clear my local shop will charge me for the parts then GBP 70

On top for the build

[LMAA 28]

i have Win 8 64 bit ,no Problems.GEX,NGX no Problem

Thanks guys, upgraded to 240GB now for the price GBP1774 reasonable or ripped off ?.

Also forgot to ask for FSX which is best Window7 or 8 at the moment the build has Windows 7 home premium 64BT sp1 but it can be changed to any Windows 7 or 8.

Thanks Owen

[OWEN LEE 1]

Thanks for the reply re Windows 8 that's about the only thing I can't decide on.

[cattz 3]

Sorry did make not it clear my local shop will charge me for the parts then GBP 70

On top for the build

I'm assuming the i7 is an OC'd ' Haswell'. ( is this from Overclockers?)

Maybe worth sourcing from, say, Ebuyers.com and comparing prices for your local shop to build.

Unless you really need, for other stuff, I think 16 GB memory is OTT . FSX is processor hungry not memory. 8GB would suit me if you need to save cash.

Which brand of GPU have you chosen? and do you need a 4GB version (2GB will run 2 screens with no prob)

(just my 2 pence worth, of course)

[OWEN LEE 1]

Cattz

Sorry for the delay on replying, yes I believe that it is a HASWELL and it's not from overclockers. I have looked at the reviews and taken the advice and here is the new specs would love to know your thoughts.

Thanks Owen

Case
PCS MAELSTROM T900 BLACK GAMING CASE

Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™i7-4770k Quad Core (3.50GHz @ max 4.40GHz)

Motherboard
ASUS® SABERTOOTH Z87: USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, THERMAL ARMOR

Memory (RAM)
16GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS DUAL-DDR3 1600MHz, X.M.P (2 x 8GB KIT)

Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 770 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready

Memory - 1^st Hard Disk
120GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)

2^nd Hard Disk
240GB KINGSTON HYPERX 3K SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 555MB/sR | 510MB/sW)

1^st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM

Memory Card Reader
INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT

Power Supply
CORSAIR 1050W PRO SERIES™ HX1050-80 PLUS® GOLD MODULAR

Processor Cooling
Corsair H80i Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler

Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND

Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Network Facilities
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs

USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS

Power Cable
1 x 2 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence

DVD Recovery Media
Windows 7 Ultimate (64-bit) DVD with paper sleeve

Anti-Virus
NORTON 360 SUITE - 1 Year Licence for upto 3 PCs *SPECIAL*

Monitor
AOC I2369VM 23" Widescreen IPS Monitor - 1920 x 1080, DP, HDMI

Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)

Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 11 working days

Miscellaneous
FREE SPLINTER CELL BLACKLIST GAME with GTX 660 & 7 Series GPUs!
Quantity
1

[cattz 3]

All looks good to me with perhaps one exception.

If you use the first SSD for your OS plus a few added progs, you will only have 240GB's for all your FS add on's and I think that would quickly disappear. If you use that 2nd SSD for just the basic FSX stuff then OK.

My choice ( only mine, of course) would be, in addition to your first SSD, if the money runs to it, the largest Vrap disk for your add ons. I think a 1TB is now available.(around £170-£200) and some extra internal/ external space for back up.

Just a comment: install FSX in it's own folder not the default C:program files etc. ( sorry if you already knew that)

I'm in the process of upgrading an ageing i7 960 so what other folk are now running FSX on is of great interest.

(just my 2 pence worth, of course)

[OWEN LEE 1]

If I keep the SSD for the OS would a 4 TB WD HDD 7200RPM do the job for fsx?. I know that the SSD loads FSX faster but is there any other benefits.

[cattz 3]

A 4Tb would give you lots of room certainly.

I suggested a Velociraptor as that has a 10000rpm speed.giving faster loading times. The choice is, of course, yours. I have a 350GB Vrap (from 4 years ago and really isn't big enough for all the latest sceneries etc.) which has my FSX install.

Just keep your FSX install on a different drive to the OS if you are using the SSD for the OS.

The i7 and GTX 770 are the bits that do the work really.

Any one else like to comment?

(just my 2 pence worth, of course)

[y2k538 0]

As far as my research is concerned, FSX can take at the max 8 GBs of RAM, rest is not being used. Having a min of 250 GB SSD is wise decision. What about multi screens. couple of Matrox THTGs would realy give a big jump.

[Airlifter 60]

As far as my research is concerned, FSX can take at the max 8 GBs of RAM, rest is not being used. Having a min of 250 GB SSD is wise decision. What about multi screens. couple of Matrox THTGs would realy give a big jump.

FSX is a 32bit application and as such it can not use a single bit more than 4 GB. Even with a 64bit OS, a 32bit application is bound by a limit of 4 GB. By installing 8 GB you ensure FSX can use the (fast) RAM and the background Windows / virus / etc apps can also still use RAM and will not have to rely on the (slower) page file.

[philwhite 29]

I use a Hybrid drive from Seagate. It's essentially part SSD and part HDD. The speed is nearly as fast as an SSD but without the SSD price tag. I currently have a 750gb but will be getting a 2tb drive and the cost is just over £90.00 so it's a no brainer in my opinion.

[BrunnerPCs 71]

That H80i will very unlikely bring you up to 4.4Ghz you should rather look into an H100i !

[FS20 0]

This is absolute overkill, to the absolute max!!

A system half that price will run FSX smoothly without a considerably lower drop in fps.

1) i7 - isn't necessary, SB i5 just as competent with better OC at half the price. (FSX doesn't utilise HT)

2) z78 sabertooth - massive waste of money, no advantage in fps whatsoever other than slightly finer OC and added functionality (useless for FSX).

3) 16GB RAM - FSX only uses 4GB.

4) 4GB 770 - Massive overkill, FSX is CPU hungry.

5) Corsair 1050W!!? What are you planning on running? 3 770's? FSX doesn't like more than 1 GPU so that is a massive waste of W's. A gold rated 600w's will do a 4.5ghz+ OC with a single GPU.

6) All the SSD's!? What is the point? Use one for the OS and save the £££, no advantage in fps there either, just slightly faster loading times.

An i5 OC'd to 4.5, 8GB 1600ghz, 560/70/80/660, a decent cooler, one SSD and 1TB HDD will cost you £500/600 and have you running FSX just as well as what the above will do. Don't waste an extra £1000 on things you don't need.

Get the right components working together as they should, apply the correct tweaks for that system and you'll find it solid at 30+fps at max settings.

Brutal regards,

F

[fsafranek 1]

Based on the date of the post previous to FS20's today, OWEN LEE probably already took delivery. I'm sure he is enjoying it and not aware that half the system is just idling. I wonder how much of a system with those specs would be beneficial for P3Dv2?

[OWEN LEE 1]

Hey

I'm still here and still saving.

[FS20 0]

Take my advice above and you'll be happy that you saved the cash!

Nothing worse than spending too much on something and it falling short of your expectations, which it will as FSX can't utilise it's power.