New system build question for FSX

[dc10boy]

Hi all,I'm finally going to get around to building a new system for FSX.I've budgeted about a grand and I think I'm going with this ,
Asus Z97 MB
I7 4790K 4.0GB....though I may overclock later.
8GB RAM either Corsair Vengeance 2133MHZ or 1866MHX Kingston Hyper X Fury depending on whether I buy components seperately or as part of a MB combo.
Will I see any real speed difference between the two?
for now I'm going with 2 1TB WD blue hard drives until the price of big SSD drives come down.
and Windows 7 64 bit with a free upgrade to W10.
I'm using my current 560TI video card and soundblaster as well as case and fans.
does this sound like a decent FSX rig? any caveats?
Thanks
Stan

[Dumonceau]

Hi all,I'm finally going to get around to building a new system for FSX.I've budgeted about a grand and I think I'm going with this ,
Asus Z97 MB
I7 4790K 4.0GB....though I may overclock later.
8GB RAM either Corsair Vengeance 2133MHZ or 1866MHX Kingston Hyper X Fury depending on whether I buy components seperately or as part of a MB combo.
Will I see any real speed difference between the two?
for now I'm going with 2 1TB WD blue hard drives until the price of big SSD drives come down.
and Windows 7 64 bit with a free upgrade to W10.
I'm using my current 560TI video card and soundblaster as well as case and fans.
does this sound like a decent FSX rig? any caveats?
Thanks
Stan

Honestly? Drop the GTX560ti. I had two of them, and they just didn't do the trick. The EVGA GTX790 isn't that expensive and it has 4 Gb's of its own RAM. It is also factory overclocked!

[napamule]

You sure you didn't mean a EVGA GTX 970 4GB GDDR5 ($352 at Amazon). That is the card I would bet for the i7 4790. This card is made for his CPU (well, it's a VERY GOOD match, better, and cheaper, uses less power=less heat, 2x6 pin verses 1x6 and 1x8 pin, etc, etc, etc).
Chuck B
Napamule

[Jafo]

You sure you didn't mean a EVGA GTX 970 4GB GDDR5 ($352 at Amazon). That is the card I would bet for the i7 4790. This card is made for his CPU (well, it's a VERY GOOD match, better, and cheaper, uses less power=less heat, 2x6 pin verses 1x6 and 1x8 pin, etc, etc, etc).
Chuck B
Napamule
The 970 has issues. Apparently you won't see 4gig...it's more 'accurately' 3.5.
Google will catch you the appropriate info...;)

[I'd already gone with the 980 prior to those reports]...;)

[dc10boy]

Would going to 16GB instead of 8GB of memory be much of a perf. increase?
And would 2133MHZ memory be much of an increase over 1866 memory visible in game?
I can't afford to upgrade my graphics card at this time (though I would love to).

[Jafo]

Would going to 16GB instead of 8GB of memory be much of a perf. increase?
And would 2133MHZ memory be much of an increase over 1866 memory visible in game?
I can't afford to upgrade my graphics card at this time (though I would love to).
FSX is a 32bit proggy so anything more than 4gig total is meaningless, unless you do things like running Virtual Machines at the same time as running FSX [as I do].
That being the case...generally speaking...faster ram is better than more ram...so 8gig is more than enough.

Between the 2 ram speeds...there 'should' be a difference in game...but whether it's patently obvious is doubtful. No matter how much money you throw at FSX it's still an ancient proggy that drags its heels....;)

[dc10boy]

Thanks Jafo.
Stan

[PHo17]

FSX is a 32bit proggy so anything more than 4gig total is meaningless, unless you do things like running Virtual Machines at the same time as running FSX [as I do].
That being the case...generally speaking...faster ram is better than more ram...so 8gig is more than enough.
...


I'd say that 8GB and 64bit OS are the minimum (and optimum). Thus the OS which can reserve for itself and other 64bit programs space above the 4GB limit can leave more for FSX below that limit. I have experienced that in practice myself. My FSX is now more than 240GB (lots of photo parts in sceneries) and OOMs are almost only problems (when total memory consumation goes near 5GB). If I had only 4GB RAM problems would appear much (about 1GB) earlier. However there is no need for 16GB of memory either, unless one uses much 64bit programs at the same time as FSX (unlikely).

Pekka

[Dumonceau]

You sure you didn't mean a EVGA GTX 970 4GB GDDR5 ($352 at Amazon). That is the card I would bet for the i7 4790. This card is made for his CPU (well, it's a VERY GOOD match, better, and cheaper, uses less power=less heat, 2x6 pin verses 1x6 and 1x8 pin, etc, etc, etc).
Chuck B
Napamule

Yes that is the one! I use it and am very happy with it.

And it does show the full 4GB of its own RAM in Nvidia Inspector!

Johan

[Jafo]

Yes that is the one! I use it and am very happy with it.

And it does show the full 4GB of its own RAM in Nvidia Inspector!

Johan
Ah yes...but it won't access all of it as it was supposed to...due to a 'bug'. It has been well documented...to the point of mutterings about a class action for miss-representation...;)

[Dumonceau]

We are talking about this one, right?

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/EVGA/GTX_970_SC_ACX_Cooler/

Johan

[Jafo]

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2875740/nvidia-explains-geforce-gtx-970s-memory-performance-issues-admits-error-in-specs.html
Here's one article...but there are lots...;)

[Jafo]

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2875740/nvidia-explains-geforce-gtx-970s-memory-performance-issues-admits-error-in-specs.html
Here's one article...but there are lots...;)

Nvidia recently addressed these complaints and admitted the performance issues weren't the result of overzealous imaginations, a firmware flaw, or a few bad units rolling off the production line. The problem was the way Nvidia designed the memory for the GTX 970. It also turns out that some of Nvidia's originally reported specs for the GTX 970 were wrong.

[dc10boy]

One more question,When using 2 1TB drives is it better to place FS on the same drive as the OS, or on its own drive?

[Hdguy]

One more question,When using 2 1TB drives is it better to place FS on the same drive as the OS, or on its own drive?

I would say same drive...

[Naismith]

But not in the default location, somewhere unique. like c:\fsx or c:\FSx or in my case g:\FSx

[dc10boy]

One more question....Is there any particular Nvidia driver series that works better then others with Win7 and FSX with a GTX560TI card?

[fxsttcb]

One more question,When using 2 1TB drives is it better to place FS on the same drive as the OS, or on its own drive?
Different drives. Especially when using spinners. When FSX is on the same drive as the OS, the mechanical head has to move between Windows and FSX file locations.
On a seperate drive, especially one that has been optimized to locate all of FSX on the fastest portion of the drive, seek times are minimized, giving better response.
Separately, the addressing response for both will be all but simultaneous(parallel) via the SATA controller.
One drive for both requires fully sequential(serial) response when addy requests are written by FSX and Windows, or, other background processes, at the same time. Flip-Flop, Flip-Flop!

[dc10boy]

All right, you guys talked me into it.......I'm going with a GTX970:applause:Is there any particular driver suite for W7 that is better then others for FSX?

[napamule]

The drivers come in '32 bit' or '64 bit' and usually cover Win 7, Win 8, etc. You need to read up, not just take advice or download 'whatever' drivers. First go nVidia site, by Google: 'nVidia 344.16 release notes' (which are for '900 family' of video cards-Win7/Win8/etc) and (look for '*.pdf and click, then 'save'). READ IT. Print out what you need. Then go to EVGA site (Google 'evga gtx-970 drivers') and look for 'WHQL' drivers. Take notes. Compare. Then download.

The PDF will tell you HOW to do uninstall of drivers you now have and how to CORRECTLY install the new drivers. A little bit of reading. Maybe print out the crucial part to refer to while doing changes. A little common sense (unplug 110 v cord form PC, open case, pull card, insert new one, plug 110 v cord back in, go to BIOS for temp use onboard video, etc) and you can do it all in a couple of hours (taking your time). FIRE IT IN.
Chuck B
Napamule

[dc10boy]

Another question, The ASUS board I chose has onboard Realtek ALC892 audio.Is this better to use then a separate Soundblaster Audigy card (older version)?