PDA

View Full Version : E-Cycler Build..AKA..Frankenstein



OleBoy
January 31st, 2011, 13:19
Ok, obviously my FSX build isn't happening. SO, off in a different direction I go.

Hopefully with a little help from the local E-Cycle shop (computer recyclers) I can come up with a good core 2 duo or core 2 quad to optimally run FS9. But, I need advice from those who know what best suits the use.

I'll be running Ultimate Terrain USA/CAN/ALASKA, Ground Environment Pro, FS Global 2010, Real Environment for starters with more added later.

So far, a very thoughtful member here has/is supplying a 9800GT video card. Which is a very good start!
...I'm still needing to know the best (if it so happens that way)

Motherboard (socket 775?)
CPU
Memory

Any and all help will bring Frankenstein to life

scottmm73
January 31st, 2011, 15:01
For whatever reasons...I'm guessing the supply, Core 2 Quads are ridiculously expensive right now. The Core 2 Duos are probably more on par money wise. I have the E8400 overclocked (OC) to 4.0 ghz on air, however, I got 2 years out of her before I OC'd. I got my use out of her so time to abuse her now. That being said my FSX hasn't looked/performed better than it is now, no doubt in large part to the 4ghz and 8GB ram.

Gigabyte Motherboards have never done me wrong. ASUS boards are tempermental. I believe when it comes to MBs it's personal preference, just make sure whatever board you get it suits your needs when it comes to expansion slots, rear panel ports, and on-board devices (i.e. lan and sound).

As far as Memory make sure you have a minimum of 4 gigs. Memory is cheap right now, so more the better.

Forgot to mention, you at least want to get a 3 ghz or higher processor. The C2Ds highest is 3.33 ghz. If you go that route make sure you get the E0 stepping they are much easier to OC.

txnetcop
January 31st, 2011, 17:06
Ok, obviously my FSX build isn't happening. SO, off in a different direction I go.

Hopefully with a little help from the local E-Cycle shop (computer recyclers) I can come up with a good core 2 duo or core 2 quad to optimally run FS9. But, I need advice from those who know what best suits the use.

I'll be running Ultimate Terrain USA/CAN/ALASKA, Ground Environment Pro, FS Global 2010, Real Environment for starters with more added later.

So far, a very thoughtful member here has/is supplying a 9800GT video card. Which is a very good start!
...I'm still needing to know the best (if it so happens that way)

Motherboard (socket 775?)
CPU
Memory

Any and all help will bring Frankenstein to life

See if you can scrounge up a used gigabyte X48 DQ6 or a Gigabyte EP45 UD3P or R. These are very fast motherboards with a core2duo or quad

there is some great pricing on here and amazon.com for used processors http://www.pricewatch.com/gallery/cpu/core_2_duo_e8400

scottmm73
January 31st, 2011, 17:21
See if you can scrounge up a used gigabyte X48 DQ6 or a Gigabyte EP45 UD3P or R.

I can vouch for the EP45 UD3P. That's what I have had to seat my C2D, not one problem with it.

OleBoy
January 31st, 2011, 17:48
Confirmed to be a good board, and complete, I just bought a GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P VER. 1.6 for..$150.00. I hope this was a fair price?

30032

txnetcop
January 31st, 2011, 18:18
Confirmed to be a good board, and complete, I just bought a GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P VER. 1.6 for..$150.00. I hope this was a fair price?
30032

Yep pretty fair...all the 775socket stuff has gone up in price simply because there is very little available. By the way this board paired with 1066mhz memory, an E8400 or higher, and your 9800GT should run FSX pretty well. let me know when you put her together I will help you OC it. I have done dozens of these

I just thought of something I might know where I can get my hands on an ATI 4870 video card for free that is even faster than what you have...I'll let ya know

OleBoy
January 31st, 2011, 18:25
A free VC?.....I'll wait patiently..lol

Sigh...good. I was hoping the price was ok. Next the brain (E8400) Should be easier from the looks of availability so, no rush there. I'm curious what do you suggest to get for memory and how much?

txnetcop
January 31st, 2011, 18:28
A free VC?.....I'll wait patiently..lol

Sigh...good. I was hoping the price was ok. Next the brain (E8400) Should be easier from the looks of availability so, no rush there. I'm curious what do you suggest to get for memory and how much?


4GB is sufficient on this board. By the way it will also take 1200mhz memory if want to increase the bandwidth. Just don't get VALUE type memory. Hey I just talked to the guy I lent my ATI 4870 to and he said I can get it back this weekend. PM with your address and I will send it to you.

OleBoy
January 31st, 2011, 18:30
I'm open for your recommendations :salute:

PM sent. Thank you.

Some how, some way, I will return the kindness.

txnetcop
January 31st, 2011, 18:42
I'm open for your recommendations :salute:

PM sent. Thank you.

It is a little more than I thought but it will work great with that motherboard. Let me see if I can scrounge up an E8400 for free give me a couple of days
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104098

OleBoy
January 31st, 2011, 18:43
Holy cow. I'll surely wait!
...I looked at a few e8400's, some refurbished. Just the word scares me.

I just saw the link to the memory. I'll take note of that. You mention 1200mhz memory but, what's the best route to go?


By the way, good news. My wife called and said our pup was out of the operating room and doing good.
...Pippin (our pup) had two disks out of place and another that was pinching the spinal fluid tube. The doctor said he'll be as good as new in 7-10 days after getting plenty of pampering and meds. Sigh, I'm relieved that it all went well. I'll go see the pup tomorrow.

OleBoy
February 1st, 2011, 15:41
Took a trip to Tacoma today to see how the pup was doing. They wouldn't let us see him as it was too soon after surgery and they didn't want him to get excited. Wished I'd have known. I drove 2 hours to get there, sat there for 2 hours, had coffee, drove home. I was bummed. Needless to say, my wife didn't ask if we could actually SEE him before we left! When Pippin does get home, he's on a very strict routine for 6 weeks.

There was a delivery while I was away. Someone dumped off Frankensteins body 30091(pc case) on my porch

OleBoy
February 4th, 2011, 12:55
Nice. My Gigabyte EP45-UDP3 motherboard arrived. All accessories included right down to the "Gigabyte" badge. Cable packages are unopened, CD is unopened and the manual unscathed.
...The board itself looks very good. I can't even tell if it was ever mounted as there are literally no marks on the stand-off holes from screws. All resistors and capacitors like new.

OleBoy
February 5th, 2011, 09:27
I can vouch for the EP45 UD3P. That's what I have had to seat my C2D, not one problem with it.

Sorry to have forgotten to reply, as I did very much use your response to strengthen my purchase of this motherboard.

OleBoy
February 14th, 2011, 18:11
Ted, I found a good price on the memory you suggested. $61.00

Kingston HyperX T1 Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model KHX8500D2T1K2/4G

Slow and steady wins the race

txnetcop
February 15th, 2011, 04:56
Your video card is on the way!!! Sorry I could not get a deal on the E8500
Ted

OleBoy
February 15th, 2011, 07:19
I'll have an eye out for it and welcome it's arrival :jump:

I appreciate your attempt to track one for me. So far I'm not getting positive results at local shops. Least of this area anyway. Online, lots of them. It might be a good possible when we get our tax refund.

Thank you Ted :)

OleBoy
February 15th, 2011, 18:23
A stop by the local pc repair shop got me a used Xion Supernova 600 watt modular PSU for $20. LED even..lol.

OleBoy
February 15th, 2011, 20:22
Does anyone have suggestions for a good CPU cooler? I will be overclocking.

OleBoy
February 16th, 2011, 15:18
I took a bunch of old computer stuff to the PC recycle place today. After the proprietor and I finished packing it inside, he offered me a cup of coffee. I accepted. After roughly an hour or so I was set to get going as I had other things I had to do. He, Roman was his name said he had something for me. He handed me a blister package. I asked what it was. He said "open it" Well, I opened it up and inside there was a e8500 cpu chip. To end a long story I am sure none of you want to hear, Roman sold me the "tested and working" cpu for $60!! I had a grin from ear to ear..lol!

Slowly I am getting this to come together :wiggle:

txnetcop
February 16th, 2011, 15:34
Best cooling available for the socket 775: In a word ZALMAN
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118003
Ted

OleBoy
February 16th, 2011, 15:40
I'll see if I can find one on ebay. Cheaper the better.
....Thanks Ted!

OleBoy
February 19th, 2011, 08:54
For as much as I didn't want too, I bought a new cpu cooler from the egg. That is the last piece needed. It should arrive by Wednesday. Then the fun part of giving life to Frankenstein begins (thunder & lightening..boom..flash, flash). Defibrillator at the ready, I'll keep my fingers crossed in hopes all these donor parts will cycle power and play well enough to get me into the bios.

I've got Windows Ultimate 32/64. Question is, do I install 32bit, or 64?

Stratobat
February 19th, 2011, 14:27
Hey OleBoy,

If you want to make use of the full 4Gb of RAM then you'll have to go the 64 bit route :wavey:

Regards,
Stratobat

OleBoy
February 19th, 2011, 16:46
Hi SB. Yes I know this. I suppose I should have worded things a little more clear. Maybe something like this.

Now, considering I have both Windows XP and Windows 7 Ultimate 32/64, (4gb of memory on the mobo), and knowing XP only C's 3gb, What's my best option for operating systems and FS9/FSX? To my knowledge there really makes no difference which route I go.

Is there an advantage from OS to the other and the flight sims?

Stratobat
February 19th, 2011, 17:28
Hey OleBoy,

I don't use Windows 7 but I can say this much... If I had Windows 7 sitting on the desk, I'd format and install it in a heartbeat.

You have to look at it in a global context and not just from a flight simulation perspective. Windows 7 is newer, people are happy with it, it comes with better security (From what I've heard and read) and being 64 bit, you'll probably see more performance and have a little future proofing thrown into the mix as well.

On my Windows XP setup I can see 3.49Gb of RAM.

Regards,
Stratobat

OleBoy
February 19th, 2011, 20:34
SB, maybe I should consider it. 7/64 I mean. I never planned on the flightsim pc ever going on the internet though, so I don't know if it makes any difference.
...It's going to have the very least it needs to run to avoid all unnecessary resources. FS9/FSX, Adobe Photoshop and my other painting goodies at the most.

txnetcop
February 20th, 2011, 01:48
You can always dual boot your OS. I have win7 64 Ultimate and XP on mine...although I have not had any trouble with using Win7 for anything because Ultimate lets you use XP compatibility mode.

Stratobat
February 20th, 2011, 10:34
Hey OleBoy,


I never planned on the flightsim pc ever going on the internet though, so I don't know if it makes any difference.

I reckon a little built in redundancy wouldn't be a bad thing.

Should your internet computer fail, at least you will still be able to stay up and running, so to speak :salute:

Regards,
Stratobat

OleBoy
February 23rd, 2011, 18:21
The CPU cooler came today and I have it installed. Nice cooler!! It was 4-pin so I connected it to the CPU header. All is good there.

Ted, I'm in need of assistance because I have no idea what's going on. I did everything by the motherboard book, but it won't take off. It does, but the video signal is not recognized. I tried two different VC'ds and three cables trying to get it resolved. No dice. It keeps restarting too. I'm not sure what's going on. I even went through the troubleshooting in the back of the manual and nothing changes.

I gave up for the day as I had my fill of frustration. Tomorrow is another day. Not sure what to do, but I'll hit it again after coffee

txnetcop
February 24th, 2011, 01:12
The CPU cooler came today and I have it installed. Nice cooler!! It was 4-pin so I connected it to the CPU header. All is good there.

Ted, I'm in need of assistance because I have no idea what's going on. I did everything by the motherboard book, but it won't take off. It does, but the video signal is not recognized. I tried two different VC'ds and three cables trying to get it resolved. No dice. It keeps restarting too. I'm not sure what's going on. I even went through the troubleshooting in the back of the manual and nothing changes.

I gave up for the day as I had my fill of frustration. Tomorrow is another day. Not sure what to do, but I'll hit it again after coffee

There is a six or eight pin socket up near the CPU make sure you have powered that from the power supply. The HD4870 uses two six pin connectors which I am sure you have found. Let me know it that is the issue.

OleBoy
February 24th, 2011, 03:23
24 pin to the motherboard
8 pin for the cpu
two 6 pin connectors for the 4870

no go

it starts under full load, and is now beeping once. runs for about 10 seconds and then restarts. still no idea on the video signal. I've checked and triple checked all connections.
....I did a good amount of searching for others that have/had the same (no signal) issue. There's lots of posts in reference. What I make of all I read was that it may be my monitor? Not sure on that though. I tried connecting to another monitor (both are Dell) but nothing.

txnetcop
February 24th, 2011, 03:58
24 pin to the motherboard
8 pin for the cpu
two 6 pin connectors for the 4870

no go

it starts under full load, and is now beeping once. runs for about 10 seconds and then restarts. still no idea on the video signal. I've checked and triple checked all connections.
....I did a good amount of searching for others that have/had the same (no signal) issue. There's lots of posts in reference. What I make of all I read was that it may be my monitor? Not sure on that though. I tried connecting to another monitor (both are Dell) but nothing.

One short beep is good does the light on the board show up when you first turn the unit on?

txnetcop
February 24th, 2011, 03:59
I checked that video card thoroughly before sending it but if you have another video card to test it with try that

OleBoy
February 24th, 2011, 04:18
I also tried the 8800gt that Bob sent. That ones not detected either. I tried both PCIEx16 slots to see if that made any difference. No dice there either. I'm wondering if the issue is coming from the PSU?

update;
It's not the PSU, and it's not the VC. When it gets turned on it screams at me with a consistent count of fast beeps. Over 23 and then restarts. My guess is the motherboard is junk

Stratobat
February 24th, 2011, 05:49
Does it allow you into BIOS?

I had a problem with the CPU cooler that was installed on my Gigabyte motherboard. The guys who built the computer had to go into the BIOS and change something before it would boot into Windows.

Regards,
Stratobat

OleBoy
February 24th, 2011, 06:16
Got it sorted finally. It's a bad stick of ram. Once I took out that bad stick, it went into bios real fast! Whew, was I getting nervous when poor Frankie wouldn't open his eyes.
....Now to get hold of the guy I got the memory from to see if I can get a new stick. Or, should I go through Kingston for that?

An update; I got hold of the seller. he's emailing me the needed info so I can RMA the bad stick. One thing though, is it wise to send just one stick in, or should I send both to make sure of a matched pair? I'm thinking the latter.

OleBoy
March 4th, 2011, 06:49
A little update.

I'm still waiting on the memory to arrive. Hopefully today.

Good news for our furry friend. The past week has been hectic. Our dog had to go through a 2nd MRI and surgery immediately after that. I was camped out in the waiting room for more time than I care to think about. Bored, tired and unknowing what was going on behind the doors during all the procedures. Eleven hours later I went home. That was was Tuesday evening. Wednesday I got a call from the man who did the operation. The surgery was a success. The not seen fragments that were pushing into the spinal cord were successfully removed. Good news (smile)

Thursday my wife picked Pip (our dog) up from the facility and brought him home. It's good to have him home, and hopefully very soon (60 days) he will be back to his normal self.

OleBoy
March 9th, 2011, 09:21
New memory arrived yesterday. Both sticks working.

Microsoft Essentials installed, updated and scanned drive C
FSX with Acceleration installed and ready to go.

Latest drivers installed and tested. WOW The visuals are simply amazing!! :)

paulb
March 10th, 2011, 21:15
Good news all round! ;)

Cheers

Paul

OleBoy
March 17th, 2011, 19:34
I think It's time to venture into overclocking this erratic pacemaker to see if some of the stutters will go away. Just a little bit for now. This may sound funny to some, but I have never, ever overclocked. I slept in past the alarm going off on my alarm clock more than once. Does that count for overclocking?

Are there any tutorials on doing this so I can understand what I need to do. And why?

txnetcop
March 18th, 2011, 06:46
Don look at all 5 videos first and decide how far you want to go. There is really good info here even though he starts out like an idiot!

Overclocking Gigabyte EP45 UD3P
Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrZX9IScqGQ

Part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTLBLs2V0ng&feature=related

Part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJEbFtjFmR0&feature=related

Part 4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=liRb3bEcsJg&feature=related

Part 5
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRlgqgrlG40&feature=related

Ted

OleBoy
March 18th, 2011, 11:24
Very informative of this guy to do this. Thanks Ted.

Watching the videos is a darn good thing in my case. I see where you mean he started off wrong too. He doesn't mention changing the settings all to normal until after he got way beyond what he was tutorializing.
....Part three seems to go only about half way through and then just stops? I'm sure that leaves out a lot of need to know info. I'll keep trying. Although the other videos are working fine

txnetcop
March 18th, 2011, 11:46
I was going to do an overclocking video on the 775 socket system motherboards but I wrote a guide instead. It's in here somewhere, but danged if I know where...
Ted

OleBoy
March 18th, 2011, 12:04
The videos are nice for a virtual walk-through familiarization. Which helps me out immensely considering my knowledge of anything about it.

I'm going to hold off and maybe do some more reading. Your tutorial sounds like that's the ticket though

OleBoy
April 10th, 2011, 21:16
It's been a while. I haven't attempted any overclock as of yet. I've been trying to absorb NickN's list of FSX settings. As per his itemized guidance, I did a complete reformat/reinstall and have been trying to follow Nicks suggestions to the letter for best results. I gotta say, I'm overwhelmed with all he suggests while trying to keep my sanity. I had no clue. My mind is numb from all the reading and chasing around. I've asked myself more than once if it's really worth it :isadizzy: