LOOKING TO BUILD A NEW PC FOR FSX THEN LOOK HERE!

[txnetcop]

These are the products that consistantly win at TechCorp's shakedowns!


Motherboards I highly recommend:

Core i7 1366 SOCKET Triple channel memory only

High End User
ASUS does it again with the P6X58D motherboard!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131614

Mid Range yet Powerful
Asus does it again with the Sabertooth X58 1366 motherboard!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131665

Gigabyte has a Winner!
X58 UD5
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128422

I DON'T RECOMMEND 1156 SOCKET i5Core because of the new higher powered SandyBridge if you already have 1155 socket use i7860 and above CPUs

SANDYBRIDGE IS HERE AND HERE TO STAY! 1155 socket Dual channel memory only
NEW untested for FSX by TechCorp but several including Nick Needham say it runs all games AT HIGHEST LEVELS WHILE SAVING YOU MONEY-you might check Nick N's guides to see what the latest is concerning FSX and SandyBridge 1155 socket units.

New SandyBridge motheboards
ASUS P8P67 PRO LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131682

GIGABYTE GA-P67A-UD4 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128463

MSI P67A-GD65 LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130553

CPUs I recommend

Core i7 SOCKET 1366
i7 980X $999.99
i7 950 price/performance winner $295.00 best in FSX for the money OC to 3.8GHz
i7930 $280.00

Again, now that SandyBridge is here I cannot recommend i5Core and i7 Core socket 1156

Sandy Bridge
i7 2600K only 3.4Ghz OC to 3.7GHz Excellent performance!
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070 $330.00

WHY SANDY BRIDGE for FSX and other games:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/core-i5-2500k-and-core-i7-2600k-review/
PRICE/PERFORMANCE WINNER OVERALL!




Desktop Memory I recommend

Triple Channel Socket 1366 6GB minimum
Corsair Dominator PC3 12800 Absolute Best
The ultimate Intel X58 Core i7 performance memory
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145224


G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231304

Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226028


Dual Channel For socket 1155 and 1156 motherboards 4GB minimum

Patriot Viper II 1600mhz PC 12800 Sector 5
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5210472&CatId=4527

OCZ Intel Extreme Edition Dual Channel 4096MB PC12800 DDR3 1600MHz Memory
if you can find it very low CAS rating


Video Cards I recommend:

This applies to all games including FSX
Well not many are going to like my recommendation but here it is:
If you already have GTX 460 and can run 2500x1200 or better get another GTX460-this only applies to 256bit interface GTX460s

If you currently run a GTX470 and can run 2500x1200 or better get another GTX470

If you have a GTX480 keep it if you have no bad heating issues

IF you have a GTX260, GTX270 GTX285 get rid of it and buy an EVGA or GIGABYTE GTX580
The GTX580 is 25 to 30% faster STOCK than the GTX480 and is everything the GTX480 was not! However the GTX480 is innovative and worth keeping if you have no heat issues with it


ABOUT PSUs
The most important thing to remember about PSUs is to consider your future upgrade possibilites. Don't buy minimum "just get by power supplies...you aren't saving the earth by doing so! The PSU only uses what it needs to power a unit.

I recommend nothing less than 750 watt, +12V @60A for single rail and 35A or dual rail units 80+ Silver Certified or better, 85%effciency rating or better Make sure it has several PCI-E 6+2 pin connectors for SLI or CROSSFIRE.
All of the above is imperative when choosing a power supply. For gaming single rail 60A on +12V or higher units are superior!

Some trusted mfgs CORSAIR, THERMALTAKE, ENERMAX, ANTEC, PC POWER and COOLING

USE ULTRA-X AND X2 AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION I DON'T RECOMMEND THEM!

I hope this helps many who are in the valley of decision MORE ON COOLING ADDED LATER THIS WEEKEND-TESTING COOLING NOW!!!
Ted

[Lewis-A2A]

Many thanks Ted :ernae:

[txnetcop]

Many thanks Ted :ernae:
My extreme pleasure Amigo! Besides I wanna make sure you guys have the best equipment for testing those incredible aircraft!
Ted

[kilo delta]

Excellent write up,Ted. :ernae:


I've been hearing some great things about the Sandy Bridge i7 2600....an excellent overclocker by all accounts!!!

[OleBoy]

I've been doing a LOT of research on the 2600K for use with FSX. They sound real good but, I can't find any topics where everyone isn't all goofy excited. Meaning all they're talking about is what the 2500/2600 CPU'S are. So far all I've found out there is they're new! No kidding.
.... I'm looking for actual FSX performance results to help me make my decision.

Great write-up Ted!! Thanks for all the help :salute:

[Lewis-A2A]

ok so ive been super naughty,

i have arriving tomorrow;

i7 2600
asus p67 jobbie you recommend ted,
8GB corsair Vengence
750watt Corsair modular PSU

will use my existing 460.

So excited, but totally aware I now need to cut down on the takeaways!

[OleBoy]

Lewis, do me a favor would you please. Let me know how this works for you will ya? I'm wanting to order a new configuration REAL soon!!

[Lewis-A2A]

will do Oleboy, I opted for the slighty cheaper stock 2600 btw as I have no interest in Overclocking and stock speeds should be fast enough for my needs.

[Bone]

So, just to be clear, you are still recomending the i7 980X, even though it's not the Sandy Bridge architecture?

[txnetcop]

So, just to be clear, you are still recomending the i7 980X, even though it's not the Sandy Bridge architecture?


There are several things that Sandy Bridge does not give you..like true Hyperthreading! Also the there are 1.7 billion transistors in the i7980X. The potential for the 980X hasn't even been exploited yet because of "lazy code." The i7 980X also has six cores and all of them have their own cache...in other words it's still the fastest processor out there for retail consumpion.

Now Sandy Bridge is unique and fast as well but in a different way. For instance the GPU is on the die and while not as powerful as say an Nvidia 580X or AMD 6870 it works along with your GPU to give you very speedy graphics. It has it's drawbacks but they are few. I still recommend the i7980X for the upgrade path for six core, but I am totally enthusiastic about the much lower price of the 2600K for the incredible performance it gives!
Ted

[txnetcop]

Lewis, do me a favor would you please. Let me know how this works for you will ya? I'm wanting to order a new configuration REAL soon!!


Here ya go my friend:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/core-i5-2500k-and-core-i7-2600k-review/
Be sure and check out the performance stats. I am not allowed to release the performance info we have at TechCorp as it is strictly for mfgs.
Ted

[txnetcop]

will do Oleboy, I opted for the slighty cheaper stock 2600 btw as I have no interest in Overclocking and stock speeds should be fast enough for my needs.

On the bright side the processor is smaller, cooler and allows for extreme overclocking without water cooling if you should desire later. The 2600K is the CPU to go with for an 1155 socket i5...excellent choice
Ted

[Bone]

There are several things that Sandy Bridge does not give you..like true Hyperthreading! Also the there are 1.7 billion transistors in the i7980X. The potential for the 980X hasn't even been exploited yet because of "lazy code." The i7 980X also has six cores and all of them have their own cache...in other words it's still the fastest processor out there for retail consumpion.

Now Sandy Bridge is unique and fast as well but in a different way. For instance the GPU is on the die and while not as powerful as say an Nvidia 580X or AMD 6870 it works along with your GPU to give you very speedy graphics. It has it's drawbacks but they are few. I still recommend the i7980X for the upgrade path for six core, but I am totally enthusiastic about the much lower price of the 2600K for the incredible performance it gives!
Ted


Whew, OK great! I've got my finger on the "buy" button, and I did a big double-take when I saw your post. I think tommorrow I'm going to order it from New Egg. Which of the three MoBo's from above would work the best?

[txnetcop]

OK all the tests on cooling are in and the winners for Core i5 and i7 are:

ZALMAN 9900 CNPS
ZALMAN 10X EXTREME
Thermalright HR-02
NOCTURA NH-D14 Premium

All of these ran the best under extreme conditons. What you will want to consider is the size of the fan/heatsink compared to your motherboard and the high-rise coolers on your memory placement next to your CPU. All of these are big boys but they cool as well most water cooled products.

Let me say a quick word about the word PRICE/PERFORMANCE. When I use that term it means that for the price of the product the performance is outstanding.
EXAMPLE:
For instance while there are a couple areas of performance that the 2600K even exceed the 980X, however the 980X is still the fastest processor you can buy, but it cost $1000! For less than $400 you can have outstanding performance with the Sandy Bridge 2600K though it will still be less powerful than the $1000 980X. So PRICE/PERFORMANCE (what you get for your money if you are on a budget) the 2600k is a great choice.

I hope that helps
Ted

[AndyE1976]

Wow, that 2600K looks to be a really good option against the much more expensive 980X. The guru3d figures peg them pretty closely matched - probably close enough to make minimal difference to FSX.

I'm looking forward to seeing what else is released.

[Bone]

with the Sandy Bridge 2600K though it will still be less powerful than the $1000 980X.

I hope that helps
Ted

How much better is the 2600K than the QX9650?

About three months ago you recomended the following to me in a pm:

i7 980QX CPU
Nvidia 470/480 Fermi video card
Gigabyte X58A UD 90 MoBo
Corsair Dominator 1600mhz triple channel memory

The MoBo's you have recomended a few posts up are different. Which MoBo would be the best to get?

[txnetcop]

How much better is the 2600K than the QX9650?

About three months ago you recomended the following to me in a pm:

i7 980QX CPU
Nvidia 470/480 Fermi video card
Gigabyte X58A UD 90 MoBo
Corsair Dominator 1600mhz triple channel memory

The MoBo's you have recomended a few posts up are different. Which MoBo would be the best to get?


What made you look at the QX9650 (it's day has passed) as opposed to the i7 980X. You wanted the fastest I quoted it...the i7 980X period-nothing is faster. As far as motherboards it comes down to preference. For ASUS motherboards ASUS RAMPAGE III is the GOLD Standard for speed, power, CPU recovery however we have had them fail The ASUS Asus P6X58D PremiumI quoted above was the next best in speed but had the lowest failure rate in some very rigorous testing. However any motherboard can fail for any reason. The difference in the motherboards quoted are features. Since you have not done a build in the past you would never notice the difference between those two ASUS boards.

As for Gigabyte, the one I quoted you was the Gigabyte Gold Standard however in recent test the Gigabyte I quoted above is a midrange in price but performs almost as well as far as features as the Gigabyte X58 UD9 there are several reviews on all of the boards listed. Here is one for the Gigabyte done by PureOverclockers http://www.pureoverclock.com/article1038.html. As one who has never built a sytem before you would never notice the difference in features. The ASUS RAMPAGE III and the GIGABYTE X58 UD9 are boards meant for ENTHUSIAST OVERCLOCKERS! That does not mean that other motherboards cannot perform nearly as well. The ASUS Sabretooth and the Gigabyte UD5 are bargain boards but both will overclock to 4GHz and beyond but these are not FEATURE RICH motherboards.

Bone you asked for the motherboards I consider the top of the heap I quoted just that. However in six to eight weeks they will not be the top of heap. New versions and new revisions will take their place. The QX9650 is old technology compared to the 2600K or i7 980X and cannot compete on any level, It may run FSX almost as well. FSX though I love it compared to FS9 is old technology, bad coding, and all kinds of nuances that make it impossible to predict which systems will be the absolute best. It was given to us unfinished and rushed by Microsoft and they immediately shut down the ACES crew that built it. Try as much as is possible when you build a unit to build one that will not make you scrap your initial cash outlay too quickly. i7 Core still has a reasonable life cycle ahead of it. Sandy Bridge is anyone's guess right now. But it does look promisning. The fastest is still the i7 980X...but lookout AMD is promising that their new BULLDOZER CPU will beat the Intel i7 Core-we'll see they said that about their AMD 1090T.
Ted

Just to simplify things a little the Sandy Bridge 2600k is the only Sandy Bridge processor so far that has an unlocked CPU. That is what the "K" signifies. Sandy Bridge CPUs contain the HD3000 video gpu as well but can only be used by the "H67" motherboards. The best board for gaming is the "P67" series that does not allow the HD3000 GPU to run but instead must have a dedicated Video card or cards! These CPUs will not work on the i5Core Socket 1155 motherboards but instead use socket 1156 motherboards. I hope this helps clear up what Sandy Bridge is!

[Bone]

What made you look at the QX9650 (it's day has passed) as opposed to the i7 980X.
Ted

The QX9650 is the CPU I've had for the last three years. The reason I asked you the question was based on your bang for the buck idea. Basicly, if the $400 2600K is a better bang for the buck deal than the $1000 dollar i7 980X, then how much better is the $400 2600K than an already paid for QX9650 in a bang for the buck scenario. Since this thread is the first time you've mentioned the 2600K, I gave it some consideration (briefly), so therefore my question. The email you sent me awhile ago said the i7 980X got a 25 percent performance boost over your benchmark test rig with the QX9650...so I'm guessing the 2600K falls somewhat short of the 25 percent gain over the QX9650.

I'm getting the i7 980X, but had some last minute questions...thanks.

[kilo delta]

Excellent choice with the i7 980x,Bone.:)

The Sandy Bridge is a very capable chip too...but requires some serious overclocking in order to come close to the potential of the 980x. It's times like this when I REALLY miss my last Tech job along with the benefits of discounted hardware and the odd freebie too. :(

[Bone]

Lift off, we have lift off......KAA-FRIGGING-CHING! I ordered all the stuff today. I was going to do it yesterday, but I spent a huge amount of time going through all the goodies, and finalizing the choices to go along with the i7 980X chipset.

My old rig is going to be sad.

[kilo delta]

Lift off, we have lift off......KAA-FRIGGING-CHING! I ordered all the stuff today. I was going to do it yesterday, but I spent a huge amount of time going through all the goodies, and finalizing the choices to go along with the i7 980X chipset.

My old rig is going to be sad.

Excellent choice,Bone...enjoy! :)


What monitor(s) will you be running?

[Bone]

What monitor(s) will you be running?

I've got a Gateway 30" with 2560x1600 res, and a Samsung 52" 1080p HDTV that I switch back and forth between, depending on what type of "flying" that I'm doing.


One of the best parts to getting a new rig built, is that I can claim the cost as a tax deduction. In the US, if you're a professional pilot you can deduct flying and training expenses. Since a dedicated simulator is counted as training, I can deduct the cost of parts and all software.

[paulb]

Hi Ted

Thanks fo all of the info in this thread. I need to buy a new pc. Looking at what you recommend, I am seriously considering the following. BTW, I am in the UK and use my pc mainly for FSX.

This is the basic build -

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/pc/range/iforge.html

I can leave out the two 1gb HDs and have one of these instead -

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/components/harddrives-internal/sata500gbto1tb/westerndigital/wd6000hlhx.html

The only other thing that I am considering is to have either this -

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/components/memory-pc/ddr3-triplechannel/corsair/cmx6gx3m3a1600c9.html

or this -

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/components/memory-pc/ddr3-triplechannel/corsair/cmp6gx3m3a1600c8.html

memory installed instead of the standard build.

I will be running W7.

Any comments and observations would be most gratefully received :)

Many thanks if you can find the time to look at this.

Cheers

Paul

[txnetcop]

Hey Paul I'll have a look w3hen I get home...still at work. I only work here part-time for now until Spring so I gotta impress the boss so he'll keep me on to play with these wonderful toys!LOL I'll check back in while
Ted

[kilo delta]

I've got a Gateway 30" with 2560x1600 res, and a Samsung 52" 1080p HDTV that I switch back and forth between, depending on what type of "flying" that I'm doing.


One of the best parts to getting a new rig built, is that I can claim the cost as a tax deduction. In the US, if you're a professional pilot you can deduct flying and training expenses. Since a dedicated simulator is counted as training, I can deduct the cost of parts and all software.

Perfect monitor setup.:)

Hmmm.........a top spec sim pc written off as a tax deduction!!!??? You lucky, lucky............:d

Wonder if I can claim my future build on my health insurance as being beneficial to my mental state? :icon_lol:

[FAC257]

Ted
Well I got it pretty close and partly because of some of your earlier advice. :)

Here's what the final product looked like after I got it all together about Thanksgiving time.

It's got the:
Asus X-58 Sabertooth
I7 950
ASUS ENGTX460 DirectCU
6GB Corsair Dominator 1600-C7 (PC12800)
ZALMAN 9900 CNPS (Nickel Plated Version)
Corsair 850AX

She's running on W7 Ultimate 64bit

29033

29034

Reading your earlier recommendations in different threads in here helped me fine tune what I thought I wanted.

At the time one of the items I was really up in the air about was the CPU cooler. I had it down to a few I liked and then went with the 9900 at the last minute. I was so fickle about the cooler choice I actually ordered it a couple of days after I had the rest of the parts on the way.


FAC

[txnetcop]

Ted
Well I got it pretty close and partly because of some of your earlier advice. :)

Here's what the final product looked like after I got it all together about Thanksgiving time.

It's got the:
Asus X-58 Sabertooth
I7 950
ASUS ENGTX460 DirectCU
6GB Corsair Dominator 1600-C7 (PC12800)
ZALMAN 9900 CNPS (Nickel Plated Version)
Corsair 850AX

She's running on W7 Ultimate 64bit

29033

29034

Reading your earlier recommendations in different threads in here helped me fine tune what I thought I wanted.

At the time one of the items I was really up in the air about was the CPU cooler. I had it down to a few I liked and then went with the 9900 at the last minute. I was so fickle about the cooler choice I actually ordered it a couple of days after I had the rest of the parts on the way.


FAC

OUTSTANDING BUILD! I bet your loving it! That 950 when OC'd just a little is real kick-arse!
Glad I could help
Ted

[txnetcop]

Hi Ted

Thanks fo all of the info in this thread. I need to buy a new pc. Looking at what you recommend, I am seriously considering the following. BTW, I am in the UK and use my pc mainly for FSX.

This is the basic build -

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/pc/range/iforge.html

I can leave out the two 1gb HDs and have one of these instead -

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/components/harddrives-internal/sata500gbto1tb/westerndigital/wd6000hlhx.html

The only other thing that I am considering is to have either this -

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/components/memory-pc/ddr3-triplechannel/corsair/cmx6gx3m3a1600c9.html

or this -

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/components/memory-pc/ddr3-triplechannel/corsair/cmp6gx3m3a1600c8.html

memory installed instead of the standard build.

I will be running W7.

Any comments and observations would be most gratefully received :)

Many thanks if you can find the time to look at this.

Cheers

Paul

Hey Paul looks like a decent build. Ask them if they could go with Cosair Dominator 1600mhz memory? Also what motherboard do they put in there...it matters. I'm a big fan of the Velociraptor HDs so go for it.
Ted

[paulb]

Hey Paul looks like a decent build. Ask them if they could go with Cosair Dominator 1600mhz memory? Also what motherboard do they put in there...it matters. I'm a big fan of the Velociraptor HDs so go for it.
Ted

Thanks for the feedback Ted

I very much appreciate your taking the time to check out my proposed build :applause:

Best regards

Paul

[Lewis-A2A]

Ok here it is;

OS
Windows 7 Pro 64

CPU
i7 2600

RAM
16GB DDR3 Corsair Vengence

Mobo
Asus P8P67

Graphics
Nvidia 460GTX 1GB

HDD
SATA3 650GB
SATA2 500GB
SATA2 250GB
External USB 500GB

Slowly building it past two days, basicly just got OS, FSX and emails up at the moment, Ill be hoping to complete the build this weekend, I have to get my steam list downloaded to see how it handles ARMAII and Railworks2, + of course FSX is screaming along nicely.

[txnetcop]

Ok here it is;

OS
Windows 7 Pro 64

CPU
i7 2600

RAM
16GB DDR3 Corsair Vengence

Mobo
Asus P8P67

Graphics
Nvidia 460GTX 1GB

HDD
SATA3 650GB
SATA2 500GB
SATA2 250GB
External USB 500GB

Slowly building it past two days, basicly just got OS, FSX and emails up at the moment, Ill be hoping to complete the build this weekend, I have to get my steam list downloaded to see how it handles ARMAII and Railworks2, + of course FSX is screaming along nicely.

I can tell you from first hand experience it should handle ARMAII effortlessly...ARMAII is one of several test engines for us at TechCorp. All of our 2600K are OC'd to 3.8Ghz however...don't know if that is going to make a huge difference. Congrats Lewis!

I assume you are not overclocking what are your settings for FSX? In my test which kept FSX at 33fps (fraps avg) were in Orbx PNW-NO GEX just REX2.0 and UT-Home field was Olympia and Renton:

Used Nvidia Inspector to set up VGA
filtering-anistropic
anti-aliasing handled by VGA Gigabyte OC'd 470GTX
full screen resolution graphics were at 1900x1080
global texture resolution-very high
Detail radius- large
mesh complexity- full 100
mesh resolution- 2m
texture resolution- 7m
water high- 2x
scenery complexity- extremely dense
autogen-very dense
special effects-high
cloud draw-80mi
thermal visualization-natural
cloud detail-max
airline traffic density 100-
general aviation 100
airport density-high
land and sea traffic 20%

[Lewis-A2A]

Well ted, the system is thanks to your list in this thread hehe, I was able to find a good uk retailer thanks to some bods over at A2A and just go through the list matching best I could for my budget and needs.

No overclocking, Ive had bad experiences in the past with OC'ing and just like to turn it on and away we go, only OC will be BIOS auto stuff. And on that topic these new EFI bios' are bloody brilliant!

Ill have to play with the FSX settings, Ive not really done much so far. I spent most of last night helping my housemate upgrade his pc with my old parts. Hes a Computing student and his old AMD4000+ was fine for his needs but if he has my old Core2 he can join me online in ARMA fun, and being ex-army he is rather looking forward to it.

The Ram and processor is going to be mucho fun when editing too, I cant wait to test the processing and encoding with the i7, the large amount of RAM and Cuda 3d card.

Anyway Lunch is nearly over back to work, got a shed load of laptops to build, then rush home for A2A work + finish installing/downloading stuff.

[paulb]

Hey Paul looks like a decent build. Ask them if they could go with Cosair Dominator 1600mhz memory? Also what motherboard do they put in there...it matters. I'm a big fan of the Velociraptor HDs so go for it.
Ted

Hi Ted

Yes, they can go with the Corsair Dominator 1600mhz memory.

The motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-X58-USB3 Intel X58 (socket 1366) mobo. Is that OK?

One further question please - is it worth my buying a SSD HD as well - just for the operating system? I can get a 64GB one at an OK price. FSX would still be installed on the VelociRaptor. I know that the SSD would speed up inital W7 loading times, but I switch my pc on first thing in the morning and then switch it off when I go to bed. I don't know what impact the faster SSD drive would have during normal/FSX usage? Plus I dont want to spend more cash unless I get a worthwhile benefit!

Cheers

Paul

[txnetcop]

Hi Ted

Yes, they can go with the Corsair Dominator 1600mhz memory.

The motherboard is a Gigabyte GA-X58-USB3 Intel X58 (socket 1366) mobo. Is that OK?

One further question please - is it worth my buying a SSD HD as well - just for the operating system? I can get a 64GB one at an OK price. FSX would still be installed on the VelociRaptor. I know that the SSD would speed up inital W7 loading times, but I switch my pc on first thing in the morning and then switch it off when I go to bed. I don't know what impact the faster SSD drive would have during normal/FSX usage? Plus I dont want to spend more cash unless I get a worthwhile benefit!

Cheers

Paul

Excellent motherboard for the price they are asking. FSX responds very well to SSDs the problem in the past has been the price. 64GB is not big enough for FSX if you use a lot of scenery and aircraft. I would go for at least a 120GB if the price is right. However with what you have ordered you don't not absolutely need the SSD to make an enjoyable experience with FSX.
Ted

[paulb]

Excellent motherboard for the price they are asking. FSX responds very well to SSDs the problem in the past has been the price. 64GB is not big enough for FSX if you use a lot of scenery and aircraft. I would go for at least a 120GB if the price is right. However with what you have ordered you don't not absolutely need the SSD to make an enjoyable experience with FSX.
Ted

Thanks again Ted :applause:

I think that I will go with the spec but stay with just the VelociRaptor.

Cheers

Paul

[txnetcop]

Thanks again Ted :applause:

I think that I will go with the spec but stay with just the VelociRaptor.

Cheers

Paul

We are not allowed to write public reviews in depth because we report only to the mfg however here is a review consistent with our findings on your motherboard. I favor the ASUS Sabretooth over the Gigabyte USB3 but most builders charge $70-$80 additional for that board which is very unfair. Anyway it is a fast board that does very well in gaming. Watch your temps because it does not have the heavy duty heatsinks that the big boys have.

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/reviews/gigabyte_ga-x58-usb3_review
Ted

[paulb]

We are not allowed to write public reviews in depth because we report only to the mfg however here is a review consistent with our findings on your motherboard. I favor the ASUS Sabretooth over the Gigabyte USB3 but most builders charge $70-$80 additional for that board which is very unfair. Anyway it is a fast board that does very well in gaming. Watch your temps because it does not have the heavy duty heatsinks that the big boys have.

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/reviews/gigabyte_ga-x58-usb3_review
Ted

Thanks Ted,

Yes it looks fine for what I need and the total price that I plan to pay. The case itself has a big fan at the front plus a couple of large side vents where I could also install a fan if needed.

Cheers

Paul

[paulb]

Hi Ted

Well, I am still going around in circles and soon I might disappear up my own ### :icon_eek:.

The company that I plan to purchase from has just released a pc (which I can mod) with a 2600 processor (note not a 2600K) at what looks like a good price. Also I see that NVidea have dropped the GTX470 and replaced it with (almost the same but very slightly better) a GTX560.

So I have been doing the sums yet again!

In truth, I am very keen to get a SSD into my build - mainly after getting the OrbX scenery which I fly 90% of the time nowadays. It's just that the scenery takes so long to load. I am very tempted by the Intel X25-M 160GB Drive SATA-II (£338 over her in the UK plus £7 for the fitting kit).

Anyways, I will keep going around in circles and hope that I am still here on Monday! :icon_lol:

Cheers

Paul

[paulb]

Hi Ted

Just an update from me. I have spent time searching many other forums and reading lots of teccy reviews. Here is my current thinking. This is my summary of everything that I have read.

Firstly, FSX is an old buggy programme, so whatever I go with, I will still need to add a few tweaks to my config and will need to think about my settings ie I will not be able to just max everything in every situation.

Processor -
The i7 2600K comes out top (just). In games (as opposed to tests) there seems little difference between an i7 2600K and an i7 950. Sometimes one is slightly faster, sometimes the other one. The 2500K is not a lot slower and is a little cheaper. No-one favours the unclocked 2600 or 2500, mainly because the price difference is fairly small compared with the K versions. However, the 2600K scores ahead of the 950 because of its overclocking ability – hence my choice. BTW, the i7 980 seems to remain top of the pile, but at a considerable price premium.

Motherboard –
Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD4 (probably), although the Asus P8P67 Pro or the Asus P8P67 De Luxe are good alternatives.

Graphics Card –
NVidea GTX560i OC. Basically this is a price/performance call for me. In terms of performance starting at a GTX460 and working up, the list goes GTX460/GTX470/GTX560/GTX570/GTX580. With a bigger budget, the GTX570 and then the GTX580 will offer a performance increase. I might still go for a GTX570! I have chosen NVidea mainly because of their good driver support.

Memory –
8GB ram Corsair Dominator DDR3 1600MHz dual channel in two 4GB sticks. Although I am still considering the Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz ram which has a slightly lower voltage. Other good makes of ram may be equally good, but the Corsair always comes out well, plus the dual channel 8GB appears to make sense with an i7 2600K in W7 64 bit. Two 4GB sticks are suggested as the ‘sweet spot’. Going faster than 1600MHz does not appear to offer any advantage.

Main HD –
Intel X25-M 160GB SSD. HDs tend to be the slowest part of most systems. Loading times with complex scenery are just to long for me nowadays. Hence the choice of a fast SSD. In terms of size, 160GB is about the smallest (for me) with an install of W7, FSX (with add ons) and a few other necessary programmes. The Crucial C300 256GB is an option, but I have chosen the ‘quality’ Intel SSD after reading various reviews.

2nd HD –
Current thinking is a WD Caviar Black 640GB which will handle my needs. This may change.

Monitor –
HannG HG281D 28” 16:10 monitor which will be run at its native resolution of 1920 by 1200.

750W silent power supply
A fast DVD + RW
A good case with a couple of fans

Cheers

Paul

[txnetcop]

Hi Ted

Just an update from me. I have spent time searching many other forums and reading lots of teccy reviews. Here is my current thinking. This is my summary of everything that I have read.

Firstly, FSX is an old buggy programme, so whatever I go with, I will still need to add a few tweaks to my config and will need to think about my settings ie I will not be able to just max everything in every situation.

Processor -
The i7 2600K comes out top (just). In games (as opposed to tests) there seems little difference between an i7 2600K and an i7 950. Sometimes one is slightly faster, sometimes the other one. The 2500K is not a lot slower and is a little cheaper. No-one favours the unclocked 2600 or 2500, mainly because the price difference is fairly small compared with the K versions. However, the 2600K scores ahead of the 950 because of its overclocking ability – hence my choice. BTW, the i7 980 seems to remain top of the pile, but at a considerable price premium.

Motherboard –
Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD4 (probably), although the Asus P8P67 Pro or the Asus P8P67 De Luxe are good alternatives.

Graphics Card –
NVidea GTX560i OC. Basically this is a price/performance call for me. In terms of performance starting at a GTX460 and working up, the list goes GTX460/GTX470/GTX560/GTX570/GTX580. With a bigger budget, the GTX570 and then the GTX580 will offer a performance increase. I might still go for a GTX570! I have chosen NVidea mainly because of their good driver support.

Memory –
8GB ram Corsair Dominator DDR3 1600MHz dual channel in two 4GB sticks. Although I am still considering the Corsair Vengeance 1600MHz ram which has a slightly lower voltage. Other good makes of ram may be equally good, but the Corsair always comes out well, plus the dual channel 8GB appears to make sense with an i7 2600K in W7 64 bit. Two 4GB sticks are suggested as the ‘sweet spot’. Going faster than 1600MHz does not appear to offer any advantage.

Main HD –
Intel X25-M 160GB SSD. HDs tend to be the slowest part of most systems. Loading times with complex scenery are just to long for me nowadays. Hence the choice of a fast SSD. In terms of size, 160GB is about the smallest (for me) with an install of W7, FSX (with add ons) and a few other necessary programmes. The Crucial C300 256GB is an option, but I have chosen the ‘quality’ Intel SSD after reading various reviews.

2nd HD –
Current thinking is a WD Caviar Black 640GB which will handle my needs. This may change.

Monitor –
HannG HG281D 28” 16:10 monitor which will be run at its native resolution of 1920 by 1200.

750W silent power supply
A fast DVD + RW
A good case with a couple of fans

Cheers

Paul

Hey Paul that looks super. By the way the 2600K is unlocked so you can really step that little rascal up if you can keep it cool! I have one running at 4.5GHz in the test lab on air but it still runs real close to the "don't go here zone" when gaming. Yes 980X is top of the heap with 1.7 Billion transistors powering it but like you said...at a premium price. Your configuration is super fine! A good case is critical.
Ted

[paulb]

Hi Ted

Many thanks! Getting the 'thumbs up' from you gives me a warm feeling!

Can I ask please - what do you suggest in terms of cooling and cases? I have been thinking of one of the Coolermaster cases? I am thinking of going with air cooling but again am not really sure of what would be suitable for my system.


Thanks

Paul

[txnetcop]

Hi Ted

Many thanks! Getting the 'thumbs up' from you gives me a warm feeling!

Can I ask please - what do you suggest in terms of cooling and cases? I have been thinking of one of the Coolermaster cases? I am thinking of going with air cooling but again am not really sure of what would be suitable for my system.


Thanks

Paul

I am partial to full tower cases especially the Antec 1200, NZXT Phantom and Khaos, Cooler Master 932, Thermaltake Armor Plus, Corsair Obsidian these full towers allowed for many video cards in SLI and Crossfire for the bigger motherboards, cooling was EXCELLENT and offered many options for CPU/Heatsinks the CON is weight and size ya gotta have a place to put 'em! But not one mid-tower compared with the cooling capacity of the FULL Towers in all of our test. Not to say that there are not some really good mid-towers out there.

The 2600k is easy to cool...I am huge fan of the new Zalmans

[paulb]

I am partial to full tower cases especially the Antec 1200, NZXT Phantom and Khaos, Cooler Master 932, Thermaltake Armor Plus, Corsair Obsidian these full towers allowed for many video cards in SLI and Crossfire for the bigger motherboards, cooling was EXCELLENT and offered many options for CPU/Heatsinks the CON is weight and size ya gotta have a place to put 'em! But not one mid-tower compared with the cooling capacity of the FULL Towers in all of our test. Not to say that there are not some really good mid-towers out there.

The 2600k is easy to cool...I am huge fan of the new Zalmans

Thanks again Ted, I will look at what you have suggested.

Cheers

Paul

[OleBoy]

Something I could not send back is a very nice full tower case made by Silverstone. I got the Temjin Tj10B-WNV http://www.silverstonetek.com/products/TJ10-WNV.php

[txnetcop]

I just finished testing FSX on our i7 2600K SandyBridge unit at TechCorp vs the old budget i7Core 950 for the second time. The results are about the same as last time. While the stock i7 2600k is about 38-40% faster than the stock i7 950 that difference did not show up in FSX. It did show up in some other games like Left For Dead, BIOSHOCK, FAR CRY2, and CALL FOR DUTY Black OPS. It was 5-9 frames per second faster in each game. Overclocked to 4.2 the i7 950 on an ASUS Sabretooth mother board outdistanced the i72600k by 3-5 frame rates per second and in FSX it ran 5 fps faster on avg. I could only overclock the i7 2600 to 4 ghz for some reason-still looking into it!

Why I still believe the i7 950 with a very good motherboard..those mentioned at the beginning of the thread, is a better deal to start with. The upgrade path for the 1366 socket is better because it leads to the capability to go to hex core. The 980X is very powerful even in FSX there is gain but just not enough to justify spending $1000.00 on just the CPU unless you happen to be rolling in GREEN stuff like Hey Moe! It may come in handy for Microsoft Flight...I don't know that for sure yet. The point is build your system so that you can upgrade when you gaming demands it. For the SandyBridge boards i7 2600k is top dog and there will be a 2800k in few months but no planned six cores. Bandwidth is everything when comes to flight simulation. If you are on a budget or just cautious I still say go with the i7 Core 950 to start. Just choose the best compatible memory, motherboard and video to make your experience enjoyable! Will you still get micro-stutters-only when you exceed the limitations of your setup!
Ted

I will add that if you are one of those that rarely upgrades there is no fault in starting with the i7 2600k SandyBridge just make sure you buy a premium motherboard and 1600mhz memory for FSX

[paulb]

I just finished testing FSX on our i7 2600K SandyBridge unit at TechCorp vs the old budget i7Core 950 for the second time. The results are about the same as last time. While the stock i7 2600k is about 38-40% faster than the stock i7 950 that difference did not show up in FSX. It did show up in some other games like Left For Dead, BIOSHOCK, FAR CRY2, and CALL FOR DUTY Black OPS. It was 5-9 frames per second faster in each game. Overclocked to 4.2 the i7 950 on an ASUS Sabretooth mother board outdistanced the i72600k by 3-5 frame rates per second and in FSX it ran 5 fps faster on avg. I could only overclock the i7 2600 to 4 ghz for some reason-still looking into it!

Why I still believe the i7 950 with a very good motherboard..those mentioned at the beginning of the thread, is a better deal to start with. The upgrade path for the 1366 socket is better because it leads to the capability to go to hex core. The 980X is very powerful even in FSX there is gain but just not enough to justify spending $1000.00 on just the CPU unless you happen to be rolling in GREEN stuff like Hey Moe! It may come in handy for Microsoft Flight...I don't know that for sure yet. The point is build your system so that you can upgrade when you gaming demands it. For the SandyBridge boards i7 2600k is top dog and there will be a 2800k in few months but no planned six cores. Bandwidth is everything when comes to flight simulation. If you are on a budget or just cautious I still say go with the i7 Core 950 to start. Just choose the best compatible memory, motherboard and video to make your experience enjoyable! Will you still get micro-stutters-only when you exceed the limitations of your setup!
Ted

I will add that if you are one of those that rarely upgrades there is no fault in starting with the i7 2600k SandyBridge just make sure you buy a premium motherboard and 1600mhz memory for FSX

Hi Ted

That is very interesting. Thanks for sharing the info with us. Interestingly, I have been reading a number of game comparisons on different sites over the past few days. They don't test FSX any longer, but when they tested 'cpu intensive' games - there was no 'real' difference between the unclocked i7 950 and an unclocked i7 2600K. That brought me to the conclusion that 'probably' I would not see any difference between them in FSX either. Your test now confirms that. :applause:

Interesting to hear of the forthcoming 2800K.

Out of interest what speed was your memory in the FSX test?

Cheers

Paul

[txnetcop]

Hi Ted

That is very interesting. Thanks for sharing the info with us. Interestingly, I have been reading a number of game comparisons on different sites over the past few days. They don't test FSX any longer, but when they tested 'cpu intensive' games - there was no 'real' difference between the unclocked i7 950 and an unclocked i7 2600K. That brought me to the conclusion that 'probably' I would not see any difference between them in FSX either. Your test now confirms that. :applause:

Interesting to hear of the forthcoming 2800K.

Out of interest what speed was your memory in the FSX test?

Cheers

Paul

Hi Paul...1600mhz on both systems

[paulb]

Thanks Ted

[BushAV8R]

Hi,

What would you think about the following setup?

CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K
Cooler: Prolimatech Megahalems incl. BeQuiet! PWM (TOP!)
Board: ASUS P8P67 Deluxe, Intel P67
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 1280MB
RAM: 8GB Corsair XMS3 Dominator DDR3-1600 CL7
Disc: 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 32MB Cache, SATA2
Power: 700W BeQuiet! System Power
Case: Coolermaster CM-690 II Advanced

Would be great to hear a few comments. This setup is around $2000 or 1500 euros.

Thanks!

-Pete

[kilo delta]

Hi,

What would you think about the following setup?

CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K
Cooler: Prolimatech Megahalems incl. BeQuiet! PWM (TOP!)
Board: ASUS P8P67 Deluxe, Intel P67
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 1280MB
RAM: 8GB Corsair XMS3 Dominator DDR3-1600 CL7
Disc: 1TB Samsung Spinpoint F3 32MB Cache, SATA2
Power: 700W BeQuiet! System Power
Case: Coolermaster CM-690 II Advanced

Would be great to hear a few comments. This setup is around $2000 or 1500 euros.

Thanks!

-Pete

Looks to be a good 'un. Personally...I'm holding off a bit on my Sandy Bridge build.

[txnetcop]

Ditto sounds like a plan for that kind of money...make sure you get latest revision motherboard that includes the SATA fix!
Ted

[BushAV8R]

Thanks for the comments.

I heard about the Sandy Bridge problems. That explains why one of the shops where I tried to configure and order my PC is not offering the ASUS motherboard anymore at the moment. Probably due to the current problems.

Is there in estimate when ASUS will have the SATA fix?

Pete

[kilo delta]

Thanks for the comments.

I heard about the Sandy Bridge problems. That explains why one of the shops where I tried to configure and order my PC is not offering the ASUS motherboard anymore at the moment. Probably due to the current problems.

Is there in estimate when ASUS will have the SATA fix?

Pete

As Ted has already mentioned...the latest revision boards should have the fix already. Just double check with your board. :)

http://event.asus.com/2011/SandyBridge/notice/

[txnetcop]

Get ready for a new powerhouse motherboard for SandyBridge processors:
These are currently in test at TechCorp and the news is good for us overclocker maniacs!
What makes the Big-Bang Marshal so special among its fellow LGA 1155 peers, is MSI's implementation of the Lucid Hydra chip, that enabled the company to equip the board with no less than eight PCI Express x16 slots.

These can be used in order to install an impressive number of graphics cards, running either in CrossFireX or SLI, the Lucid chip even allowing users to mix and match models from different vendors.

In addition, to further cater to the needs of the GAMING (http://news.softpedia.com/news/MSI-Unleashes-the-P67-Big-Bang-Marshal-High-Performance-Motherboard-180988.shtml#)crowd, MSI has decided to pair the motherboard with a Creative X-Fi MB2 chip that enabled the use of EAX 5.0 sound effects and carries THX TruStudio Pro stereo certification. (http://news.softpedia.com/news/MSI-Unleashes-the-P67-Big-Bang-Marshal-High-Performance-Motherboard-180988.shtml#)

As I mentioned above, overclockers haven't been forgotten, as the Big-Bang Marshal comes equipped with a 24-phase DrMOS power design, dual 8-pin CPU power plugs, a set of 6-pin VGA power supply connectors (for providing additional power to the installed GPUs), on-board power, reset, clear CMOS and OC Genies buttons, as well as a series of DIP-switches that disable and enable the PCI Express slots according to the user's preference.

Other MSI specific features, like the dedicated voltage measurement points, will also make their appearance.

As far as layout is concerned, everything seems to be arranged pretty neatly, as even the two 8-pin CPU power plugs are easily accessible.

Moving to the back of the motherboard (http://news.softpedia.com/news/MSI-Unleashes-the-P67-Big-Bang-Marshal-High-Performance-Motherboard-180988.shtml#), we find all the usual assortment of ports, but MSI went a step further than other manufacturers and included eight USB 3.0 SuperSpeed ports. All of these boards ship with the SATA fix in place!
Ted

[BushAV8R]

Is it true, that I am not affected by the Sandy Bridge Problem, when I am using the SATA3 interface or the additional board SATA controllers?

Unfortunately, my favorite PC Shop doesn't have the updated boards yet (probabaly end of Feb), but they gave me this answer, if I can not really wait any longer ;-)

[txnetcop]

Is it true, that I am not affected by the Sandy Bridge Problem, when I am using the SATA3 interface or the additional board SATA controllers?

Unfortunately, my favorite PC Shop doesn't have the updated boards yet (probabaly end of Feb), but they gave me this answer, if I can not really wait any longer ;-)

It takes a while for the degradation to occur, depending on how much you use your PC...

[BushAV8R]

So I guess I have to wait for the updated boards to arrive.

Dang, I thought I can buy my new PC next week. ;)

Thanks a lot.

[pied]

Aloha Ted (and other experts!),

I've gotten to the point where my gaming machine needs an upgrade, and this rig needs new MB.

I'm not flush enough to replace the MB/CPU/Memory and Vid Card all at the same time....

Here is what I'm thinking about:

Getting the Gigabyte MB recommended at the beginning of this thread, paired with an i7 950. I'd also be able to get the 'dominator' memory. However, I'd have to continue using the EVGA 8800gt that I already have.

Am I going to see much improvement in FSX with this plan?

Thanks for any input!

pied

[jdhaenens]

I'm going with a 1366 board this year, and have scored an Asus Rampage III Extreme mobo, an I7-990X CPU (same price as the 975), 12 Gigs of Corsair Dominator DDR3 2000 (ASUS QPL certified), an OCZ Single 12 V rail gold certified 1250 watt P/S, and a Zalman CNPS9900 CPU Cooler. I'll keep my two Raedon 5870 graphics cards, the Velociraptor drives (only SATA II) and my current case.

Down the road, I'll spring for an SSD and a couple of SATA 3 drives. Sandy Bridge may be next year's project. I've got the gulftown urge this year. One guy has his 990x pushing 5 MHZ on the Zalman cooler...lol, I'm sure my results will vary. I have no desire to toast a $1000.00 CPU so I'll go mild.

Jim

[txnetcop]

Aloha Ted (and other experts!),

I've gotten to the point where my gaming machine needs an upgrade, and this rig needs new MB.

I'm not flush enough to replace the MB/CPU/Memory and Vid Card all at the same time....

Here is what I'm thinking about:

Getting the Gigabyte MB recommended at the beginning of this thread, paired with an i7 950. I'd also be able to get the 'dominator' memory. However, I'd have to continue using the EVGA 8800gt that I already have.

Am I going to see much improvement in FSX with this plan?

Thanks for any input!

pied

Later, when you combine a GTX570 or 580 you will see more of a significant gain but if you will OC your new system to about 3.8GHz or better then yes you will see some gain over what you have now but very little because the problem will be with the 8800GT bandwidth. The SSD and Nvidia FERMI video cards are really winners in FSX so you will want to add those later.

[txnetcop]

I'm going with a 1366 board this year, and have scored an Asus Rampage III Extreme mobo, an I7-990X CPU (same price as the 975), 12 Gigs of Corsair Dominator DDR3 2000 (ASUS QPL certified), an OCZ Single 12 V rail gold certified 1250 watt P/S, and a Zalman CNPS9900 CPU Cooler. I'll keep my two Raedon 5870 graphics cards, the Velociraptor drives (only SATA II) and my current case.

Down the road, I'll spring for an SSD and a couple of SATA 3 drives. Sandy Bridge may be next year's project. I've got the gulftown urge this year. One guy has his 990x pushing 5 MHZ on the Zalman cooler...lol, I'm sure my results will vary. I have no desire to toast a $1000.00 CPU so I'll go mild.

Jim

VERY VERY NICE Jim!

[ColoKent]

I went to my local Micro Center the other day specing parts for a new PC with TxNetCop's list in hand. When I mentioned the i7 950, the guy at the store showed me a 3.2 AMD processor that was less than the intel one, and was clocked higher out of the box.

Is there a particular reason to avoid AMD CPUs?

Also, he mention that triple channel RAM (vs dual) only has an impat when you over clock. Is that true? (I don't plan to overclock).

Bottom line...help me get smarter on substituting components, please. Or tell me why it's a bad idea...

Thanks,
Kent

[txnetcop]

I went to my local Micro Center the other day specing parts for a new PC with TxNetCop's list in hand. When I mentioned the i7 950, the guy at the store showed me a 3.2 AMD processor that was less than the intel one, and was clocked higher out of the box.

Is there a particular reason to avoid AMD CPUs?

Also, he mention that triple channel RAM (vs dual) only has an impat when you over clock. Is that true? (I don't plan to overclock).

Bottom line...help me get smarter on substituting components, please. Or tell me why it's a bad idea...

Thanks,
Kent


We tested AMD against Intel on many occasions Intel always out-performs AMD in nearly every catagory. This has also been established by other renowned testing houses on the Internet. For instance the newest 3.3Ghz AMD Phenom II X6 1100 six core cannot best the older 3Ghz quad core i7 950. While the results at TechCorp varied slightly this is a close example. The i7 950 overclocks higher and cooler as well.

http://www.hardwareheaven.com/reviews/1079/pg12/amd-phenom-ii-x6-1100t-black-edition-review-vs-intel-core-i7-950-conclusion.html

Another bench test
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/146?vs=100
Ted

[ColoKent]

....sounds that from an FSX standpoint anyway, the Intel i7 950 wins.

Is the comment about dual-channel vs. triple channel true (triple needed only for overcloking?).

Also, with the i7 950, 6 or 8GB of 1600 RAM, and the GTX 580, with the sliders maxed, what fps rates should I get in various areas?

Thanks again,

Kent

[txnetcop]

....sounds that from an FSX standpoint anyway, the Intel i7 950 wins.

Is the comment about dual-channel vs. triple channel true (triple needed only for overcloking?).

Also, with the i7 950, 6 or 8GB of 1600 RAM, and the GTX 580, with the sliders maxed, what fps rates should I get in various areas?

Thanks again,

Kent

With the i7 900 socket series CPUs 1366 you must use triple channel-no choice. Some dual channels may work depending on which motherboard you buy but the performance will be horrible.
Enjoy your new build
Ted

[paulb]

....sounds that from an FSX standpoint anyway, the Intel i7 950 wins.

Is the comment about dual-channel vs. triple channel true (triple needed only for overcloking?).

Also, with the i7 950, 6 or 8GB of 1600 RAM, and the GTX 580, with the sliders maxed, what fps rates should I get in various areas?

Thanks again,

Kent

Hi Kent

I was about to order a 2600K when the 'news' was released, so I went for a 950. I am satisfied with the results. Currently - with my setup/tweaks etc - my FR varies between 30 and 60 most of the time over OrbX addon airport rural scenery - with many sliders maxed - and flying a decent payware aircraft (eg A2A WOP Spitfire etc).

If you dont overclock then 1333 memory will be fine. For an i7 950 - 6GB (3 2GB sticks) and W7 64 is ideal for FSX.

Cheers

Paul

[ColoKent]

...that helps me with making decisions on the new rig.

TxNet - I am going to heed your advice and go with the i7 950...

Kent

[txnetcop]

You might go ahead and look at the i7 960 now that prices have come down. However there is nothing wrong with the 950 if it is a budget decision
Enjoy

[jdhaenens]

Build complete. OC to 4.2 mhz on air and no temp is above 47 deg c after 1.5 hr on FSX . Framerates in NYC no less than 22. HT disabled, no affinity mask. Core volts: 1.3 Dimm volts 1.6.

I think there's finally a computer that will run FSX. This is without ssd's or SATA III. No stutters.
Life is good.

Jim

[txnetcop]

Congrats Jim you are correct! The right i7 Combo will run FSX extremely well
Ted

[kilo delta]

Excellent setup there,Jim! Congrats and enjoy! :ernae:

[gigabyte]

OK Ted I need a recommendation, I know the video cards change as often as I change my shorts ( sometimes I wonder if it is more often...) I was looking at the GTX 460, then the Gigabyte GTX 580 but locally there are none to be had, so what is your current fav?

Just to put this into perspective I am looking to install two cards, I want 4 monitors, and I will upgrade the PSU if I have to - I have a single rail 750watt now. The mother board is an MSI I7, socket 920 and I have 12 gig or DDR3 RAM. I have no real performance issues at the moment, FSX runs smooth at 20FPS locked, with only a rare studder (I have done next to no tweaking on this system yet) my goal is 2 24.5" monitors and 2 19" and I don't want to introduce problems with heat, power or performance so any recomendations will be much appreciated.

[txnetcop]

OK Ted I need a recommendation, I know the video cards change as often as I change my shorts ( sometimes I wonder if it is more often...) I was looking at the GTX 460, then the Gigabyte GTX 580 but locally there are none to be had, so what is your current fav?

Just to put this into perspective I am looking to install two cards, I want 4 monitors, and I will upgrade the PSU if I have to - I have a single rail 750watt now. The mother board is an MSI I7, socket 920 and I have 12 gig or DDR3 RAM. I have no real performance issues at the moment, FSX runs smooth at 20FPS locked, with only a rare studder (I have done next to no tweaking on this system yet) my goal is 2 24.5" monitors and 2 19" and I don't want to introduce problems with heat, power or performance so any recomendations will be much appreciated.

Gee Mike I have never tested any of the video cards with four monitors before. I would hate to make a recommendation that would not pull that off. I will see if James will let me test four monitors next week and see what video cards are left to test with.
Ted

[gigabyte]

Thanks Ted, I am running 2 monitors on an GT9600 now and it works fine, I think the biggest problem may be heat and power, I think the performance should be fine for my purposes, I am just not sure a 750Watt PSU will drive 2 high power cards and I am a little concerned about heat as well.

Looking at the cards I mentioned they have dual DVI outputs so they should work fine I just wonder how much power they will require and hot hot they will get. I have a coolermaster case and it cools fine but I think this might push it just a bit...

[kilo delta]

Perhaps an AMD/ATI Eyefinity setup would suit? I've not tested it myself,but have heard some good results have been seen in other PC games.

[txnetcop]

Thanks Ted, I am running 2 monitors on an GT9600 now and it works fine, I think the biggest problem may be heat and power, I think the performance should be fine for my purposes, I am just not sure a 750Watt PSU will drive 2 high power cards and I am a little concerned about heat as well.

Looking at the cards I mentioned they have dual DVI outputs so they should work fine I just wonder how much power they will require and hot hot they will get. I have a coolermaster case and it cools fine but I think this might push it just a bit...

1000 to 1200 watts is probably a good idea if you go with 570 or 580GTX. I talked to James and he told me I could come in on Wed and setup a full system to include different power supplies to see what works. I'll let you know. Kilo Delta mention the AMD (ATI) Infinity the only problem I have the AMD video cards is that the cockpit lines around the radios and on all the FS9 portovers seem too jagged for my taste...but that is a personal thing. ATI 6870 is a real sweetheart of video card. I had tested three of them and liked them all...not overly impressed with the 6970s yet.
Ted

[gigabyte]

Thanks Ted, I will be interested in your findings, I did see a card roday that will support 4 monitors, first time I have come across a single card with 4 digital outputs. I might get a chance to test it next week and I am interested in how that works. I didn't have time to get the details the shop was closing, but the box clearly said "Supports 4 Monitors and there was a sticker showing 4 DVI output connectors. Mind you the price is up there, $479.00 (I know they will give me a break on the price but it will still be costly).

I will look at what you have to say first, the idea of a single card is appealing I suspect it would require less power, and by the time I bought two cards, and a bigger PSU I expect the costs will be close anyway.

Of course the real issue is always getting this stuff installed without the wife seeing... the card(s) I can manage but when a 4th monitor appears on the desk I am betting she will notice...

[txnetcop]

ROFL about the wife not seeing...it's funny my wife says she knows nothing about computers but she always knows when I sneak something onto mine...I think it must be the look on my face when she comes in the room! LOL

[AndyE1976]

Having got permission from the misses last night I took the plunge and ordered an i7-960, Asus P6X58D mb, 12gb RAM and a Gigabyte GTX580. All sitting in a Cooler master HAF932 case and cooled by a Zalman CNPS10X.

750w Thermaltake PSU and HDD's are coming from my current machine.

I was going to go with a 2600K, but Newegg appears to be out of all 1155 motherboards except the really basic ones.

It'll be my first build, but having read through the online mb manual I don't think it should be too tricky.

Looking forward to finally being able to fly in Aerosoft's London or Manhatten X at double digit FPS :)

Thanks to txnetcop for all the great information you've posted in this thread.

[txnetcop]

Having got permission from the misses last night I took the plunge and ordered an i7-960, Asus P6X58D mb, 12gb RAM and a Gigabyte GTX580. All sitting in a Cooler master HAF932 case and cooled by a Zalman CNPS10X.

750w Thermaltake PSU and HDD's are coming from my current machine.

I was going to go with a 2600K, but Newegg appears to be out of all 1155 motherboards except the really basic ones.

It'll be my first build, but having read through the online mb manual I don't think it should be too tricky.

Looking forward to finally being able to fly in Aerosoft's London or Manhatten X at double digit FPS :)

Thanks to txnetcop for all the great information you've posted in this thread.

I like the SandyBridge boards with 2600k and 2700k CPUs but I am partial to the i7 Core PERIOD! Good choice and you are right it will not be that hard! Holler if ya need help!
Ted

[AndyE1976]

It seems to be really hard to track down an LGA1155 board at the moment and I like the idea that I can go to a 990X just by changing the chip.

One tip that I could use is with regard to the thermal paste. I've ordered arctic silver, but do you have any tips for applying it to the CPU so I don't kill the damn thing!

[txnetcop]

It seems to be really hard to track down an LGA1155 board at the moment and I like the idea that I can go to a 990X just by changing the chip.

One tip that I could use is with regard to the thermal paste. I've ordered arctic silver, but do you have any tips for applying it to the CPU so I don't kill the damn thing!

It really depends on the type of CPU/FAN heatsink you buy...for instance:


[Step #1 - Thermal paste application on 3rd party H.D.T Direct-touch Heatsink]
* if your heatsink is the standard flat base-plate model, then skip this Step and proceed to Step 2.

http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/images/statusicon/wol_error.gifThis image has been resized. Click this bar to view the full image. The original image is sized 600x488.http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/984/hsfvf4.jpg

Directions:-
1. Shown above is an example of the base of a standard 3-heatpipe H.D.T design Heatsink (Xigmatek 1283). (yours might have 4 exposed pipes, etc..)
2. Apply thermal paste by gently injecting the syringe along the grooves in between the copper and aluminium parts. (not the 4 yellow dots but the 4 strips of grooves in between the exposed copper!)
3. Use a flexible card (name card, playing cards, etc) to spread of the paste evenly and ensure the grooves in between are filled properly.
4. Clean off the excess paste on the exposed copper areas and it should resemble the picture above.
5. I would personally put 4 THIN-LAYERED drops at the yellow spots as shown above, to ensure corner coverage after the heatsink is mounted.

This is only one method. Some 3rd party fan/heatsinks for the core i7 already have Arctic Silver or the new Ceramique paste so let me know which fan/heatsink you buy.
Ted

[AndyE1976]

Thanks, that helps.

I have a Zalman CNPS10X Quiet heatsink/fan coming.

This one: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118052

[txnetcop]

Yours is a flat surface type of head. Zalman is one of the best coolers and makes a very good paste I would go with what is on it...although some of the newer ones do not have it applied. If that is the case a single stripe of paste deadcenter is adequate. They supply your paste last time I looked. AS5 or Ceramique either is really good. Some engineers here at TechCorp prefer ceramique for heat dissipation.

http://www.arcticsilver.com/ceramique.htm

This tells you how to apply AS5 or Ceramique and is correct!
http://www.arcticsilver.com/intel_application_method.html

Ted

[AndyE1976]

Thanks for your help, everything arrived and got built up last night and today it even booted (well after I put the memory in the right slots!)

Just trying to get W7 to like it's new home as I brought my HDD's over from my old machine in the hope that it would just pick up the new hardware, but that might have been optimistic.

Hopefully get a chance to try FSX tomorrow.

[txnetcop]

Wow Andy I would start out with a new fast hard drive for Win7...my opinion! Glad ya got her workin'!!! WOOOHOOOO!
Ted

[AndyE1976]

I think the problem is the bios is seeing the drives in a different order than when they were in the old machine so Windows is confused. Reinstalling W7 is no biggy though.

Minor heart attack when it wouldn't post until I figured out the memory was in the wrong slots!

Everything seems to be working though and I have stable temps of 32.5c on the CPU acording to BIOS.

New HDD's are in the plan, but just not quite yet. The old one's will have to soldier on for a few months.

[paulb]

New HDD's are in the plan, but just not quite yet. The old one's will have to soldier on for a few months.

Hi Andy

Your spec looks great! Good luck with it.

Re the HDD's - on my old pc I became very fed up with the long loading times. Even when I wanted to change aircraft in sim, it seemed to take ages. So, for my new pc I went for SSDs. Originally I was going for one biggish one, but after looking at the prices I went for two - a 64GB and a 128GB. I loaded W7 onto the 64GB and FSX (only) onto the 128GB. BTW, my current FSX install is a bit over 80GB. I also have two normal 7,200 1TB HDs for everything else.

Anyway, to the point of my post - the SSDs are amazing! No other word for it. Everything is just so fast now to load. It probably even helps a little with the frame rate as any new scenery that I fly over (I use OrbX/FTX a lot) will load much faster.

These are the ones that I bought -
http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/components/harddrives-ssd/crucial/ctfddac064mag-1g1.html

http://www.novatech.co.uk/novatech/prods/components/harddrives-ssd/crucial/ctfddac128mag-1g1.html

I have had them for about a month now, and they are great.

I thought that it might be of interest to you.

Cheers

Paul

[AndyE1976]

Thanks, I'm looking at getting a PCI-E SSD at some point as there are some reasonable size drives now in the $400-500 range, I purposely got a MB with enough space for that. I also have two free SATA III ports which I also think might find an SSD attached to them at some stage.

I had to keep this build within somewhat sensible limits hence sticking with the old drives, but as soon as I can get away with it I'll put something better in there - at least a RAID 0 array if not SSD's.

My first quick test flight over London with all the sliders to the right got me 50fps steady, so I'm looking forward to trying Aerosoft London and PNW. Aerosoft London was always a bigger killer for me than Manhatten X, so I'm interested to see how that performs.

Definitely no regrets so far.

[gigabyte]

1000 to 1200 watts is probably a good idea if you go with 570 or 580GTX. I talked to James and he told me I could come in on Wed and setup a full system to include different power supplies to see what works. I'll let you know. Kilo Delta mention the AMD (ATI) Infinity the only problem I have the AMD video cards is that the cockpit lines around the radios and on all the FS9 portovers seem too jagged for my taste...but that is a personal thing. ATI 6870 is a real sweetheart of video card. I had tested three of them and liked them all...not overly impressed with the 6970s yet.
Ted

Hey Ted, were you ever able to test out the Gigabyte 5770? I am pretty much sold on it for my needs but would be interested to see any comments you might have. I came across a deal for a 5770 for $150.00 Cdn and the 5750 for $160.00 why the new better card is less I am not sure? I am going t go look at it tomorrow to confirm my plans will work but I think it is what I want.

I also confirmed I have an 800 Watt PSU so this is a better option for now, it will support 3 monitors on one card and the total draw is only 45 watts so Ithink I am ok n power for the time being.

[txnetcop]

yes I did and the test were not as good as I hoped for FSX...I guess it is because of the small interface on the HD5770. It scored good but only as a lightweight card in Far CRhY2 and BIOSHOCK, If you just want cheap and yet some power the card is OK, but better to move up to either a 192bit Nivida GTX460 for around the same price. Of course for FSX a 256bit or higher is better! Be sure and get at least 1GB of VRAM

[gigabyte]

Thanks Ted, I am replacing a GTX9600 which has been fine so as long as this equal to or better than that I am fine with it. I am not into Farcry or Bioshock so that does not concern me. My mian goal was to find something that would support at least 3 monitors and hopefully wul run on my current PSU and I think this one will do that. I looked at the 460, but the price around here is just over $220.00 per and I would need a pair plus a new PSU so that is getting up there.

Thanks ver much for your response, and knowledge, much appreciated.