Well it's got to happen

[Headwind]

Ok, Since my wife and I had our little girl we had to get a bigger house. My father was has always flown FS as well but his computer could barely fly FS9. So instead of putting my computer in storage I'm just going to give him my computer that I have now and build a new one. Don't worry I checked it out with the wife first so I'm not going to disappear after buying it... hehehe (just in case my # is) lol

I haven't really kept up with the new technology for a while, so I would like to know if you could build a new system for fsx what parts would you get? I would say I have about $2000-$3000 to spend (maybe).

[Butcherbird17]

Are you talking complete system including monitor, mouse, keyboard and speakers? Or are you talking just tower.

Joe

[Headwind]

Well I could use a new monitor so just monitor and tower

[Bjoern]

That's a lot of bucks you have avaiable, so expect a system that can eat FSX for breakfast. ;)


I'm gonna let Ted work out the details, but with a X-38 mainboard, a Penryn-based Core2Quad (9xxx range?), 4 Gigabytes of high quality RAM and (maybe) a HD3870X2 you should be the official SOH king of kick-butt hardware. :d

[txnetcop]

That's a lot of bucks you have avaiable, so expect a system that can eat FSX for breakfast. ;)


I'm gonna let Ted work out the details, but with a X-38 mainboard, a Penryn-based Core2Quad (9xxx range?), 4 Gigabytes of high quality RAM and (maybe) a HD3870X2 you should be the official SOH king of kick-butt hardware. :d

You're spot on Bjoern so I was gonna let you and Butcherbird work it out. You guys know me well enough so you add what you want as well. Heck for this kind of money, I'm surprised Hey Moe didn't jump in here and offer to build a QX9650 box...he's a wildman builder too ya know.

Questions for Headwind:
What games do you play?

Are you dead set on which brand of video card you use?

How big is current hard drive?

Do you use Autocad or CAD/CAM for anything?

What experience do you have in building your own computer?

Do you use surge protection? What kind?

New video and CPU technology is less than 4 months away and well within your scope of cash, would you rather wait if you know it will make a difference?

Do you intend to take advantage of DX10?

NOTE:

I have been asked to build units for several people in the forum. I have done so for a few, but I don't really like doing it. I only build for local people in Dallas-Fort Worth. I will not attempt to warranty a system long distance. Electronic parts can go bad in spite of the best of care. The stuff we are getting from China are not the same quality components we were getting from Taiwan, 4 years ago. The game life of most systems is about 2 years. (this not meant to be political so don't start)

Most important, there is nothing so tough about building your own system. My own 11 year old son has build his box with only a minimum of my help.

These questions above could apply to anyone considering building a system of their own. The answers will be for someone with $2500 to $3000 to spend. The answers will help determine whether someone should build and SLI or CROSSFIRE box, add a physics card, hard drive configuration, etc.

Those who know me know that I personally believe building one's own system is better than buying a pre-built box. Why?

You would know exactly what components are in your box.

You would understand how each part of your system depends on the other parts and you know when, how, or whether you need to overclock, or add additional components to acheive the results you want.

The last reason for building your own would be knowing just what parts will be needed for the next major upgrade without scrapping your initial expense. For instance, most store bought boxes are only upgradeable in part, either because of size limitations, or box configuration. You can't just stick any old motherboard inside of a Dell Case. Neither can you use just any power supply because of how that case is made. (This is not to bash Dell so stay calm Dell owners)
This applies to Compaq, HP etc.

Ted

OK Headwind I need some answers in order to help ya.

[Butcherbird17]

Thats the thing about all this new stuff, more new stuff is just around the corner:kilroy: Im waiting to see what Headwind wants to go with AMD/Intel and either Ati/nvidia then we can start looking.:d

Joe

[Headwind]

I could go either way on the CPU it doesn matter, however on the video card I would like to stay with nvidia. I have used them since they bought 3dfx a while back. I use to be an IT for about 12 years but after I changed fields the only thing I did was play with computers. I was so burnt out that I didn't keep track of any of the new upcoming technology and still don't to be honest.

The new one will be just a gaming computer really.

Myself and buddies play Il2, fsx, red orchestra, guildwars, ect.

I don't intend on doing anything with auto-cad.

This computer has 2 750g drives, however remember this computer will be staying with my father so he can fly as well.

Yes, I would like to use dx10.

So in short I don't have any problems building it myself I just haven't kept up with any of it... :d

[Lewis-A2A]

QX CPU, DDR3 1600 RAM, and some 8800 goodness, my I better stop or ill go on another dream pc build :jump:

[Bjoern]

You're spot on Bjoern so I was gonna let you and Butcherbird work it out.

Thanks, Ted. :)

Although I have to admit that I've slightly lost track of what's in or out in the hardware department at the moment.

Might be an indicator that I'm quite content with my slightly dusty rig. :d

[txnetcop]

Thanks, Ted. :)

Although I have to admit that I've slightly lost track of what's in or out in the hardware department at the moment.

Might be an indicator that I'm quite content with my slightly dusty rig. :d


Well when you build one right the first time ya really don't think about doing another anytime soon:costumes::applause:
Ted

[txnetcop]

I could go either way on the CPU it doesn matter, however on the video card I would like to stay with nvidia. I have used them since they bought 3dfx a while back. I use to be an IT for about 12 years but after I changed fields the only thing I did was play with computers. I was so burnt out that I didn't keep track of any of the new upcoming technology and still don't to be honest.

The new one will be just a gaming computer really.

Myself and buddies play Il2, fsx, red orchestra, guildwars, ect.

I don't intend on doing anything with auto-cad.

This computer has 2 750g drives, however remember this computer will be staying with my father so he can fly as well.

Yes, I would like to use dx10.

So in short I don't have any problems building it myself I just haven't kept up with any of it... :d

Follow this thread. Friday I will name parts for each catagory of builder
We will discuss everything about building from BIOS to Final
Ted

[David_L6]

Friday I will name parts for each catagory of builder

Ted

This is going to be interesting. I'm going to watch this thread.

I honestly don't know what I'd do if I were going to build a new computer without recycling any parts in the next couple of months...... NVIDIA has new stuff coming out.... Intel has new stuff coming out.... Both Intel and NVIDIA have some very good stuff out already. Tough choices right now.....

Buy a QX6850 or QX6800? Both are cheaper than a QX9650 but what about performance? I have a Q6600 running @ 3.2GHz that will just absolutely stomp my 3.8GHz P4 in World Community Grid output (and it's not due just to the number of cores. The difference is considerable greater than 4 to 1). The two computers in my sig will run circles around that P4 in FSX. The QX9650 just may offer enough additional performance to make it worth the extra money. I don't know. Haven't tried one.

Go with a dual core instead of a quad core (I have quads mainly because of World Community Grid)? I've seen some test results on the new dual cores (E8*** series) that looked very promising.

Or you could wait a little while for the next latest and greatest CPU to be released.......

Buy parts that are compatible with DDR2 (DDR2 is a lot cheaper than DDR3) or buy parts that are compatible with DDR3 because it's the future?

Video cards...... Whew! Tough choices here too. The 8800GTX is very good. The 8800 Ultra is supposed to be a little faster. There's a 9800GX2 coming soon and a 9800GTX a little later.....

I'm glad it ain't me trying to decide on what to buy! :isadizzy:

[txnetcop]

This is going to be interesting. I'm going to watch this thread.

I honestly don't know what I'd do if I were going to build a new computer without recycling any parts in the next couple of months...... NVIDIA has new stuff coming out.... Intel has new stuff coming out.... Both Intel and NVIDIA have some very good stuff out already. Tough choices right now.....

Buy a QX6850 or QX6800? Both are cheaper than a QX9650 but what about performance? I have a Q6600 running @ 3.2GHz that will just absolutely stomp my 3.8GHz P4 in World Community Grid output (and it's not due just to the number of cores. The difference is considerable greater than 4 to 1). The two computers in my sig will run circles around that P4 in FSX. The QX9650 just may offer enough additional performance to make it worth the extra money. I don't know. Haven't tried one.

Go with a dual core instead of a quad core (I have quads mainly because of World Community Grid)? I've seen some test results on the new dual cores (E8*** series) that looked very promising.

Or you could wait a little while for the next latest and greatest CPU to be released.......

Buy parts that are compatible with DDR2 (DDR2 is a lot cheaper than DDR3) or buy parts that are compatible with DDR3 because it's the future?

Video cards...... Whew! Tough choices here too. The 8800GTX is very good. The 8800 Ultra is supposed to be a little faster. There's a 9800GX2 coming soon and a 9800GTX a little later.....

I'm glad it ain't me trying to decide on what to buy! :isadizzy:


I struggle with the same thoughts too David, what I have come to realize is that we can never chase the technology. The target moves too fast and just as soon as you buy what you were aiming for you're system is now mostly obsolete.

However, what we should be aiming for is what makes us happy with what we have. Whether its making FSX run great or FSX run OK, but my shooting games are first in my gaming life I want them to run great...in other words Know you're gaming priorities? Work it out and then decide what you want the most.

This last weekend, I got my insurance money and I just built an E6850 core and now I'm going back to the Q6600 because it was a mad overclocker with board I'm using and I thought the performance was stellar. It takes the right board to make it sing. The E6850 was great with FSX, but I just had a preference because of two of my favorite games really came to life with the Quad running at 3.4 GHz with an ATI HD3870(no I didn't buy the ATI it was gift, but wow was I ever surprised).

My advice to anyone looking to build right now is build as high as you can afford, and pick the most future-proof parts as possible. If you're on a strict budget pick the parts that will give you the performance now that you can live with until your financial situation gets better, you won't be able to future-proof right now on a tight budget

More to come...
Ted

[Bjoern]

Well when you build one right the first time ya really don't think about doing another anytime soon:costumes::applause:
Ted

Well, if it's the building process itself, I could build one rig after another without problems. ;)

The only moment I'm regretting touching PC parts is when I cut my finger on a frakking sharp edge. :censored: :icon_lol: