Some thoughts on a potential build...

[ThinkingManNeil]

Hi All;

I posted a few weeks ago that it appeared that the graphics card on my 5 (possibly six) year old Dell Studio XPS PC had died, leaving me unable to run my sims (FSX/FS9), IL-2 Sturmovik: 1946, or even Google Earth. I've given a lot of thought to replacing the old graphics card, but with some other issues cropping up (random crashes and shutdowns). I'm beginning to get the feeling that merely swapping out the old card for new is only patching a rapidly wearing, old tire that I'm going to have to replace in its entirety in a year or two anyways. Besides, I miss simming...

So I think it's time for a new machine built for the demands of FSX.

I read Nick N.'s FSX bible - or rather, I tried to; after forty-five minutes or so my head was swimming with specs and technical jargon (I have to confess I'm not savvy when it comes to PC technical issues), but I did take away that it is possible to put together a well performing machine without a huge cash outlay. I also learned that by and large that store bought (eg. Best Buy) or factory built (Dell, HP) really aren't built to perform in the way that FSX needs to really shine. I also learned that laptops should not be considered as FSX compatible machines.

Then I came across this YouTube video that more or less seemed to follow Nick N.'s recommendations, so I'm thinking that I may go that way with a few small variations. What I'd like to know are there items I'll need for this build that I haven't considered or are unaware of that are critical to such a build. I'll be retaining my existing 22" flatscreen monitor, Logitech joystick, and Dell speakers.

Here's my proposed component list:

Tower Case/Chassis - Corsair Obsidian Series 750D

Motherboard - ASUS MAXIMUS VII HERO Socket 1150 Intel Z97 Chipset

CPU - Intel i7 - 4790K Quad-Core Processor - Socket LGA1150, 4.0Ghz, 8MB L3 Cache, 22nm

RAM Memory - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 2133MHz CL9 (The video recommends 8GB RAM at 2400MHz CL9, but I prefer to have an extra margin)

Graphics GPU - EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Superclocked 4GB GDDR5 ACX 2.0 Cooler

Two (2) Intel 730 Series 480GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Drive (the video suggests one 240GB drive, but I want to install two SSD's: one for the PC's operating system, and the other for my sim files excluding large, add-on scenery files - they'll go on a standard, mechanical hard drive)

Hard Drive - WD Black 2TB 3.5" SATA 7200RPM 64MB Hard Drive (for large scenery files and normal PC usage)

DVD/Blu-Ray/RW Optical Drive - ASUS (DRW-24B3ST) Internal 24x DVD Writer (for burning back-up copies of aftermarket FS aircraft and scenery add-ons...and for watching movies)

Liquid CPU Cooler - Corsair Hydro Series H110i GT 280mm Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler

Power supply - Corsair AX860 High Performance 80PLUS Platinum Certified Fully Modular 860 Watt Power Supply

Sound Card - Asus Xonar DSX - 7.1 Channel (GX2.5 Audio Engine) - PCI-E Audio Card

Operating System - Windows 7 Premium Home Edition

Now there's a lot I don't know here such as do I need an internal DSL modem/ethernet card? My sister, who's moving to the Maritimes, want's me to get a WiFi setup so she can chat with my mom (I'm her caregiver 24/7) via laptop and Skype, so what do I need there as a part of this build? What of internal cables and getting HDTV quality video from my system? Are there any components I've missed?

I'm figuring that I can do this for less than $3,000 CDN.

I look forward to your thoughts.

N.

[Daveroo]

listen N,
you go ahead and purchase this new system,then ill take it off your hands,i mean what yer build'n is gonna be a dinosaur yanno?....so ill just trade ya strait across...i mean i really had to put out alot of time ect on this one soooo.........you'll be the winner in the long run..big i mean BIG sacrifice for me... ...

'smirks'


Dave...........also known as Pinocchio.............hehehehe

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

You can do that or close for well under $3k. More like $2k probably.

Ten days ago my power supply shorted out (zzzt electrical smell and all) on this 11 year-old computer. I been pondering what to do but meanwhile I did spend $50 on a power supply so I am back up and running. meanwhile I been looking real hard at other options and I'm thinking laptop. The new alienwares have quad core (bout 3 gighz - more if you spend more), 2, 3 or more gigs ddr5 nvidia video cards, terrabyte drives (7200 rpm) and places for 2 msata ssds and 16 gig ram. Alienware also sells a desktop video card addon with it's own power supply so the laptop processor can run likely 4k video tv through it. Sager laptops have as much or more power and eurocomm's are better yet. All in Canada where I am. I can't see justifying a desktop anymore when portability is so valuable for other purposes like photography. There is a reason why purpose built desktops are becoming rarer and harder to find. They are fast becoming old-school.

I'll be going to a laptop within a month two.

-Ed-

[Jafo]

Not bad for a budget computer...

Actually not a heck of a lot 'inferior' to mine, really....and that set me back 7.2K in Aussie dollars [maybe 6k USD then] in December.

'Fun' part is...no matter how much money you throw at FSX it'll still laugh at you...

You should be fine with that for quite a few years to come...


Re the old one.....I hear some people don't like using Harleys as boat anchors...so there's a use for it....
...you'll just maybe need to budget for the boat too.

[Hdguy]

That motherboard has 7-1 sound built in. IMO the sound card is not needed. But certainly not bad to have..

My build is just about the same as yours. Except I went with all AMD and OCed my CPU from 4.0 to 4.5.

I have two tweeks in the config and lock frames at 35. I run GEX FEX REX UTX ASN with live weather on and rarely do my frames drop below 30. I also use WOAI ..

I think you will love that set up..

I read all this about Nvidia Inspector. My MSI card needs nothing. Not a fanboy of eighter. Just happy with my set up .

I don't know that case you picked. Just make sure it has lots of airflow...

THOR case. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16811147053

[Dimus]

I have recently assembled a very similar system, my main difference is the GFX, I have a 970 instead of 980. Price difference was too much to justify the performance margin. FSX with all the trimmings will run great on it. The same goes for P3D. I am extremely happy with this system, and followed Nick's guide in setting up Windows and FSX. You can set up the 4970K in the Bios to run on turbo boost and give you 4.4 Ghz when needed with no problems and no special OC settings. It is a very hot chip though so liquid cooling is a good option. I had a Zalman Rezerator on it and it worked well but made much noise on full load but kept it cool. I think the Corsair set is better in that respect. I have now replaced it with a relatively cheap Zalman Performa cooler on air, which does not have the same cooling capacity but is much quieter.

[Hdguy]

I must say that I was shocked at the price of that GPU you choose that it only has a 256 Bit Interface. That is plenty for running 1080P, but lags behind any 384 Bit for gaming IMO.

That said. EXAMPLE only. My MSI Card. Radion R9 280 is GDDR5 , 384 Bit with 3 gigs onboard. Retail @ 180.

No.. The motherboard has built in Ethernet conections...

To get her WiFi all you need is to have your ISP install you a wireless-modem.. From that you can hard wire your comp and she can run her lappie wireless.

Your power supply is very good pushing 71 Amps on a single rail. Modular can be a p[lus when cabeling in a smaller case too.

Keep in mind. When you purchase Windows 7, it will come with a free upgrade to win10. That said, from what i gather to do that its going to be an upgrade only. Once that is done you can install it again as a stand alone Win 10. BUT. That means a complete reinstall of everything... So. If you plan to go that route to Win 10, its sorta mute to load FSX then have to redo it all once Win 10 hits, which will be very soon.

[vortex]

Here's my proposed component list:

Tower Case/Chassis - Corsair Obsidian Series 750D...

N.

Sounds like a great system. However, I looked at the 750 case for my recent build but finally settled on a Phanteks Enthoo Pro. It's a lot cheaper than the Obsidian but considered by many to be a better, more flexible alternative - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cBhmn21ylkc. I found it very easy to work in with plenty of space for big water cooling rads. I used the same cooler that you're proposing (very quiet with excellent cooling) and it fits with room to spare.

As far as the GPU is concerned, I'd stick with Nvidia. They're generally considered to be the better option for FSX. In a direct comparison between the 980 and a Radeon R9 290X (http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinio...radeon-r9-290x) they reached the following conclusion: "The R9 290X is a superb card if you want to play 1080p or 1440p games, it’s not as expensive as the GTX 970, and adding a second card is a potential upgrade to 4K. The GTX 980 costs more, but it’s markedly more powerful and much more efficient, which means it’s the current leader when it comes to single-GPU PC gaming".

[Hdguy]

Sounds like a great system. However, I looked at the 750 case for my recent build but finally settled on a Phanteks Enthoo Pro. It's a lot cheaper than the Obsidian but considered by many to be a better, more flexible alternative - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cBhmn21ylkc. I found it very easy to work in with plenty of space for big water cooling rads. I used the same cooler that you're proposing (very quiet with excellent cooling) and it fits with room to spare.

As far as the GPU is concerned, I'd stick with Nvidia. They're generally considered to be the better option for FSX. In a direct comparison between the 980 and a Radeon R9 290X (http://www.trustedreviews.com/opinio...radeon-r9-290x) they reached the following conclusion: "The R9 290X is a superb card if you want to play 1080p or 1440p games, it’s not as expensive as the GTX 970, and adding a second card is a potential upgrade to 4K. The GTX 980 costs more, but it’s markedly more powerful and much more efficient, which means it’s the current leader when it comes to single-GPU PC gaming".

I don't ever read into all that hype.

384 bits is a faster language than 256. Period....

[vortex]

I don't ever read into all that hype.

384 bits is a faster language than 256. Period....

You would think so but, sadly, that doesn't seem to be the case. There are lots of well respected independent review sites that have made direct comparisons between the 980 and the 290 and I have yet to find one which concludes that the 290 is the better card (other than by simply being better value for money). It's not just hype; the reputations of these sites rely on the accuracy of their results. Unless you've tested the cards in the same machine under the same conditions, as they have, it's hard to argue with the results. Whilst the bus width is important, the 980 just seems to be more efficient at getting data through it. Incidentally, I don't have either of the cards (which both look good) so I'm not biased in any particular direction.

[Hdguy]

Since you have done the Google research, just how many have actually used FSX as a test bed?

After all, we are talking about an entirely different beast here ...

[Daveroo]

my humor is waisted here in SOH.....sheeesh....hehehe...i wonder if there is a brain update that would make you people laugh at my jokes...and i mean the upgrade is for yall..not me..cause im puuuurfect in everyway....

[wombat666]

My current build project is coming along nicely, hampered by the usual cash flow niggles (I don't believe in 'Budget' systems), and the GPU choice has been made, Galax GeForce GTX 980 Ti Hall of Fame, 2 in SLI.
No idea WTF the 'Hall of Fame' means, but the build quality and specs are worth the outlay.
Decided that I deserve something special to house everything in and CaseLabs Magnum TH10 is now available in white ..........

[Hdguy]

My current build project is coming along nicely, hampered by the usual cash flow niggles (I don't believe in 'Budget' systems), and the GPU choice has been made, Galax GeForce GTX 980 Ti Hall of Fame, 2 in SLI.
No idea WTF the 'Hall of Fame' means, but the build quality and specs are worth the outlay.
Decided that I deserve something special to house everything in and CaseLabs Magnum TH10 is now available in white ..........

You using Boxed FSX ? With a SLI setup? Please let us know how it works out. I had a CrossfireX set up a few years back and FSX HATED it !

[Bradburger]

I recently built myself a brand new (and long overdue!) system mainly for simulation & audio work.

All bits were bought from Overclockers.co.uk.

Here are the components I used (Not the Haribos!) : -

Corsair Obsidian 550D Quiet Midi Tower Case Black


"ReAct Gigabyte Z97" Intel Core i7 4790K @ 4.6GHz Configurable Pro
Gaming Bundle -

Kingston HyperX 16GB (2x8GB) PC317100C11
2133MHz Dual Channel Kit
Intel i7 4790K Binned(OC'd to 4.6Ghz)
Asetek 570LXL 240mm High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler 1150

EVGA GeForce GTX 980Ti Superclocked "Reference Design" 6144MB
GDDR5 PCI Express Graphics Card

Asus Xonar Essence STX II Sound Card

BenQ BL3200PT 32" Widescreen LED Professional/Gaming Slim Bezel
Flicker FREE Monitor Black
Samsung 500GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D VNAND
Solid State Drive (x2)

Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache OEM HDD

LG 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) OEM

Akasa BayMaster Card & Drive Reader

The total cost was £2516.36 including delivery & VAT.

Overall, very impressed with the system, and the service by Overclockers UK.

FSX looks and runs fantastic (using the Steam Edition), and the 32" monitor makes a big difference to the image quality, but immersion factor too!

Cheers

Paul

[Jafo]

My recent one needed a decent case....so I got this. It's No.221 [they're numbered].

Nothing was spared with regards to component options....other than how many graphic cards.....always preferred just one. [it's a 980].

[vortex]

Since you have done the Google research, just how many have actually used FSX as a test bed?

After all, we are talking about an entirely different beast here ...

Exactly. FSX is an old game played by a relatively tiny number of people compared to most modern games - why would review sites want to include it? Because FSX is so CPU-intensive, there's not much performance difference between most recent GPUs (although DX10 tends to use more of the GPU's power). However, outside of FSX the difference is much more noticeable (with DX11, for example). I recently upgraded from an old GTX 275 to a GTX 970 and whilst there was definitely a difference it was more in the quality of the image that was achievable than any great improvement in performance. Overclocking my CPU made a much more noticeable difference to FPS.

[wombat666]

You using Boxed FSX ? With a SLI setup? Please let us know how it works out. I had a Crossfire X set up a few years back and FSX HATED it !

Sure am, never had any problems with either Crossfire or SLI, but as I prefer Nvidia I've used their SLI setup for some time now.
Even though my paired GTX690's are reaching their replacement time they turn out some good rates, bearing in mind that as dual core cards in SLI the system sees them as Quad SLI ........
Decided to go for broke and ordered another Galax GeForce GTX 980 Ti HoF after reading the O/C numbers, we'll see how triple SLI runs FSX.
I'm getting 144Hz at 2560x1440 and the triple SLI will bring the resolution and refresh rate up higher.

[EasyEd]

Hey All,

As I said I been thinking on highend laptop but now am thinking maybe I'll build another dang box to go with the 3 or 4 boxes downstairs gathering dust. So i started looking at parts and the first question I have is:

Why build an z97 system instead of an x99 system?

Using Newegg.ca (no price hunting) the I7 5820k about $90 more than 4790k. RAM for the same amount of DDR4 instead of DDR3 (same specs) is only bout $20 or so more. You can buy cheaper x99 boards with some better features for less than the one listed above. Why z97 and not x99? Rest of the components above work I think.

Seems to me spending maybe $50 or $60 bucks (or even $100) more on processor/ram/mobo gives you a lot more future proofing options and you can buy cheaper other parts and add better video cards etc as prices come down.

Yet when I look at peoples builds - those who list em - I can't recall an x99 system instead of z97.

If fsx is core intensive why not 6 instead of 4 cores?

Just wondering what I am missing...

-Ed-

[Bjoern]

I'm not familiar with anything beyond the current, late generation DDR3 stuff, so I base my recommendations on that. But if it's just 100 quid for the jump from DDR3 to DDR4, go for it (and educate me along the way for somedays I might want to build a DDR4 system on my own).

[Stefano Zibell]

Hey All,

If fsx is core intensive why not 6 instead of 4 cores?

Just wondering what I am missing...

-Ed-

FSX probably (almost surely) uses one single core. Adding cores/threads does nothing at all, fsx wise.

[Bjoern]

FSX probably (almost surely) uses one single core. Adding cores/threads does nothing at all, fsx wise.

Additional cores help with scenery loading in FSX. Whether a hexa core CPU will produce a notable difference as compared to a quad core CPU, however, is another subject.