A Little help with new system?

[MisterKleen]

I am looking at either building or buying a new system. I have a tax return paying for my new TOY!!! I just need a little help to get the best and biggest bang for my money. Looking to keep it between $1800-$2500, do not need new speakers or monitors. Just looking to build a FS rig that will keep me happy for the for seeable future. I have loads of add-ons - Planes, textures, scenery, you name it. Just want to finally be able run all of it in its glory! Thanks for the help.

[Meshman]

While there are a lot of good options available today, in what seems to be always the case, there are new options due before summer time (+-). So the big question would be if you wanted to do something NOW or wait to see what Intel and nVidia bring out in a few months?

[MisterKleen]

Now, I can always look to upgrade a part or two later! My current system is too old to upgrade any further. Need to start again!

[wombat666]

Here's what you might aim for as a finished 'FSX Capable' unit.
All prices are in Australian $$$.
This is roughly the way I'm planning on finishing off my system, as you can see I'm underwhelmed by the Sniper Mobo, and I'll upgrade the SSD drives in the next couple of months.
I build my systems with ongoing upgrades in mind, the Cosmos II case will hold the biggest format Mobo and Graphic card(s) in the near future, I doubt I'll need a higher powered PSU for some time, the only 'unknown' will be what format Intel decides to adopt for the next generation CPU........:kilroy:


CASE:
Cooler Master Cosmos II - $369.00
Cooler Master Cosmos II, Black, mATX/ATX/eATX/XL-ATX/SSI CEB,/SSI EEB , No PSU, USB3.0, 1x eSATA

PSU:
Corsair AX-1200i Digital ATX Power Supply - $399.00
Corsair AX-1200i Digital ATX Power Supply, 1200w, 80 PLUS Platinum, Modular, 6x 6+2Pin PCIE, 16x SATA, 12x 4Pin Molex, Corsair Link Compatible

MOBO:
GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UP7 Motherboard - $439.00
GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UP7 MB, Intel Z77, 4x DDR3, 3x PCI-E 3.0, 6x SATA III, 6x USB 3.0, HDMI, D-Sub, DVI, 7.1CH, 2x GBLAN, xfireX, SLI, EATX
or
ASUS MAXIMUSV-EXTREME Motherboard - $439.00
ASUS MAXIMUSV-EXTREME MB, Intel Z77, 4x DDR3, 5x PCI-E 3.0, 6x SATA III, 4x USB 3.0, HDMI, DP, THUNDERBOLT, 7.1 CH, GBLAN, RAID, BT,Extended ATX

RAM:
G.Skill F3-12800CL10Q-32GBZL 32GB (4x8GB) 1600Mhz DDR3 - $225.00
G.Skill 32GB Kit (4x8GB), PC-12800 (1600Mhz), RipjawsZ, 10-10-10-30-2N, Dual Quad Channel Kit

CPU:
Intel Core i7 3770K - $339.00
Intel Core i7 3770K (3.50Ghz / 8MB / LGA1155 / Quad Core / Overclocking Enabled)

COOLING:
Corsair Hydro Series H100i Liquid CPU Cooler - $155.00
Corsair Hydro Series H100i Extreme Performance CPU Cooler with Built-In Corsair Link Functionality

PRIMARY HARD DRIVES:
OCZ Vertex 4 512GB SSD - $459.00
OCZ 512GB SSD, Vertex 4, SATA III, Read up to 560MB/s, Write up to 510MB/s

SECONDARY HARD DRIVES:
Western Digital WD VelociRaptor 1TB, WD1000DHTZ - $265.00
Western Digital 1TB WD VelociRaptor, SATA III, 10000RPM, 64MB

GRAPHIC CARDS:
Gigabyte GeForce GTX690, 4GB - $1,299.00
Gigabyte GeForce GTX690 (915Mhz), 4096MB (6008Mhz) GDDR5, Powered by Dual Geforce GTX680, PCI-E 3.0, Triple DVI, Displayport.

SOUND CARD:
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD - $219.00
Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium HD PCIe, 122Db SNR, 24-bit/192kHz Digital-to-Analog, Swappable OPAmp, 0.001% distortion, EAX® 5.0, Dolby.

You could get away with running the two SSD drives (OS on one and FSX on the other, or even a 250GB drive for the OS) but you will certainly find a VelociRaptor (or two) very useful in the future, and yes, I know you could opt for a 2TB drive but I prefer them smaller, the big ones take forever to de-frag, even the 1TB drives take more time than I like.
A single GTX690 is pretty hot stuff, a pair in SLI are really fast but one is a good starting point, and not such a shock in the wallet.
Liquid cooling is a must IMHO, efficient, quiet and space saving.
The Intel Core i7 3770K overclocks quite happily, and 32GB of DDR3 RAM is cheap, so if you are running W7/64bit (another must have IMHO) you can use all of that memory.
Either of the Motherboards noted have plenty of SATA III and USB 3 ports, another big plus.
A sound card???
Not really a necessity but nice to have.

The complete package I've outlined (or even my own system noted below) are well over your stated budget, but as you mention, adding the extras shouldn't be impossible over 12 months, which is my philosophy.
Hope this helps.
:icon29: