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I'm gonna do it!

Started by Guest_βцziεł-411_* , Aug 24 2009 04:42 PM

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#1 Guest_βцziεł-411_*

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Posted 24 August 2009 - 04:42 PM

Hey guys, after looking over several prebuilt options I finally decided matching up the right parts was a hassle, so I'm going down the self built route.

The most difficult thing I've ever done is clean out some dust in my case, so I have no idea where to start. :hrmm: Pwn247 suggested a system, but I'm going to look into several options.

Simulator

Up to this point, I've used Fs9, but I've decided I want to go for FSX (after asking a few questions). I'm not sure if anyone here would know, but I'll go ahead and put them in here before resorting to another thread in the FSX section. I would assume you guys are sick of my weekly "new system" threads. :hrmm:

I've seen programs that are designed to convert Fs9 scenery and aircraft addons to run on FSX. Do these work, and will there be a massive performance drop because they weren't made specifically for FSX? The main addons I want to convert are Flytampa KSFO, Flytampa LOWW, and Flytampa KBOS, none of which have FSX versions. Everything else I can simply rebuy, and my FSDT's license are valid for FSX and Fs9.

I'm looking to run it at around 25-30 FPS, with various payware addons ranging from the before mentioned FSDT, Carenado, and Overland (I do believe I can download an update so they work in FSX). In the following months I'll be moving up to the Level-D 767 and other complex addons.

Also, I fly a lot on the FSW Server (like... almost exclusively). I'm aware of FsHostClient and have only used it once before on a system that couldn't run FSX half decently, but will running in windowed mode so I can utilize the chat box affect performance, and what are the chances of being able to directly connect to the FsHost server from within FSX?

Specs

I'm not tech-savvy compared to people like Toby Werner and Mul, but I was thinking of CPU's such as (with OC'ing on all of them, something else I would have to learn):

E8400 (Dual Core, 3.0GHz)
i7 620 (Quad Core, 2.66GHz)
Phenom II 945 (Quad Core, 3.0GHz)
Core 2 Quad Q9950 (Quad Core, 2.83GHz)

For the HD, 320GB is fine. I already own an OCZ 600W PSU, so I won't need one (I assume that will be enough wattage). I was thinking about either 4GB or 6GB of RAM. For the graphics card, I'm not sure. If my 8800 GTS 512 is powerful enough for FSX, I'll keep it. Otherwise, I'll sell it and buy a new graphics card, in the GTX2** series perhaps. My monitor is only 17" (1440x900), but someday I expect to move up to either 20" or 22". And the cooling/motherboard... I have no idea, I guess it will depend on the CPU. For the OS, Vista Home Premium 64bit. (Will probably be replaced by Windows 7 very soon.)

Budget

Tell me if this isn't realistic, but I was looking to keep it under $800. I won't need a new keyboard, mouse, PSU, monitor, or speakers, so I hoped that would help. If I can't achieve the FPS I want in FSX under almost all conditions, then I will raise the budget accordingly, but I'm not trying to max everything in FSX out.

Other Stuff

What is a "static blanket" (I assume it's a blanket that doesn't attract static electricity and I build the PC on top of it), and do I need one?

I'll also be reading up on Mul's overclocking and building tutorials.

-------------------

Thanks for any help, guys. :P

#2 Soap

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Posted 24 August 2009 - 04:46 PM

I use FSX. :hrmm:

And good for you mate!

Edited by B773ER, 24 August 2009 - 04:45 PM.

#3 fighter25

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Posted 24 August 2009 - 04:59 PM

If you go i7 or Core 2 for $800 you won't get a very good bang for your buck.
If I were you I would go with a Phenom X2 545 Callisto 3.0GHz Dual core. And build up from there.  
I don't know anything about AMD mobo's but I can tell you go for an AM3/DDR3 mobo from either Gigabyte or ASUS.

#4 Mul.

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Posted 24 August 2009 - 05:15 PM

I suspect that it will be above your budget but I would wait a couple of weeks for the new mainstream socket, LGA1156 and it's Core i5 and i7 processors to appear. It is expected to be quicker than Core 2 Quad clock for clock and the pricing should be pretty good.

For now however, these would be my pieces of advice

- Don't bother with LGA775. Solid performance but it's a dead end platform. It's pricing is also quite dated and doesn't represent good value for money compared to AMD's range. For example, a CPU that I'm reviewing at the moment is only about 10% slower than the E8400 on average yet it costs half.

- If you opt for AMD Phenom II, buy a black edition CPU. This includes the X2 550, X3 720, X4 955 and X4 965 Black Edition. Overclocking these will be much simpler and there will be a lesser dependance on the motherboard (you'll still need a respectable board with the SB710 or SB750 southbridges ideally). Non black edition CPU's will strain the motherboard and often it's hit and miss as to whether your motherboard will even overclock particularly well.

- Take DDR3 over DDR2. The performance difference isn't particularly noticeable but DDR3 has become a lot cheaper these days and it's simply worth getting it over DDR2 for the sake of system longevity.

Edited by Mul., 24 August 2009 - 05:17 PM.

#5 Guest_βцziεł-411_*

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Posted 24 August 2009 - 05:25 PM

It's a long story how, but my budget grew some, so whatever you guys think will run FSX smoothly, I'll go for it. I don't want to get a system that will run it *almost* well enough, and then have to end up spending more later on down the road to upgrade it.

Thanks for the suggestions so far.  :hrmm:

Fighter25: Now that my budget grew, I think I could squeeze in some i7 if it's any better than the Phenom.

Mul: I'll be more than happy to wait a few weeks, but won't they come out extremely expensive? Look at the E8600, only a slight clockspeed difference then the E8400 but much more expensive, and the current i7 CPU's are also very expensive.

EDIT: Forget that, the budget doesn't matter. I'll wait as long as I need to for the money, I just want something that will run FSX smoothly, even while using addon scenery (if that's possible :hrmm:).

Edited by βцziεł-411 ŖЀĐ, 24 August 2009 - 05:30 PM.

#6 Soap

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Posted 24 August 2009 - 05:29 PM

I use the HP Pavilion Slimline and it runs FSX smoothly.
Well, maybe a bit off on somethings but it is fine after you wait till it loads for 3 seconds.

#7 franthree

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Posted 24 August 2009 - 05:46 PM

Just remember there is no warrenty if you make it and/or break it! :hrmm: Good luck! :hrmm:

#8 Guest_βцziεł-411_*

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Posted 24 August 2009 - 05:51 PM

View PostB773ER, on Aug 24 2009, 05:29 PM, said:

I use the HP Pavilion Slimline and it runs FSX smoothly.
Well, maybe a bit off on somethings but it is fine after you wait till it loads for 3 seconds.

I'm going custom built, and isn't the Pavillion line a line of notebooks?

So, I was thinking about these parts:

HD: 320GB Seagate http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822148469
CPU: i7 920, or Phenom X4 945
Motherboard: Will depend on CPU
GPU: Need suggestions
PSU: My current 600W OCZ
CD Drive: No earthly idea. :hrmm:
RAM: DDR3 4GB or DDR3 6GB (not sure about the company), would 6GB be needed?

Edited by βцziεł-411 ŖЀĐ, 24 August 2009 - 05:52 PM.

#9 Soap

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Posted 24 August 2009 - 06:03 PM

View Postβцziεł-411, on Aug 24 2009, 05:51 PM, said:

View PostB773ER, on Aug 24 2009, 05:29 PM, said:

I use the HP Pavilion Slimline and it runs FSX smoothly.
Well, maybe a bit off on somethings but it is fine after you wait till it loads for 3 seconds.

I'm going custom built, and isn't the Pavillion line a line of notebooks?

So, I was thinking about these parts:

HD: 320GB Seagate http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822148469
CPU: i7 920, or Phenom X4 945
Motherboard: Will depend on CPU
GPU: Need suggestions
PSU: My current 600W OCZ
CD Drive: No earthly idea. :hrmm:
RAM: DDR3 4GB or DDR3 6GB (not sure about the company), would 6GB be needed?

The HP Pavilion Slimline and a couple others are also desktops.
Here: http://www.walmart.c...alue=184359_All
Here: http://www.walmart.c...alue=184359_All
Here: http://www.walmart.c...372036854775808

And also, good luck on your custom build PC!

#10 tropicalfish

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Posted 24 August 2009 - 06:07 PM

4GB of RAM should be sufficient.

For 6GB, I'd think you would need 2 2GB sticks and 2 1GB sticks to keep with the dual channel. Otherwise (if you went i7, which is triple channel), you could go with 3 2GB sticks. -- Not sure on that though.

For RAM, I'd probably use something from OCZ or G.Skill or Corsair.

Since you're looking to keep your price under 800 dollars, perhaps a GTX 260 core 216 or a GTX 275.

Here's a pretty decent optical drive: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16827136153

Edited by tropicalfish, 24 August 2009 - 06:09 PM.

#11 Soap

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Posted 24 August 2009 - 06:14 PM

FSX System Requirements:

Microsoft® Windows® XP SP2 / Vista
PC with 1 GHz equivalent or higher processor
256 MB of system RAM for Windows XP SP2 / 512 MB Vista
14 GB available hard disk space
DVD-ROM drive
32 MB DirectX 9 compatible video card required
Sound card, speakers or headphones required for audio
Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device
56.6 Kbps or better modem for online play

FSX Gold Edition System Requirements:

Processor
2GHz equivalent or faster processor
Memory
1GB of RAM

Video card
DirectX 9 or higher compatible video card; 128MB video RAM or higher, Shader Model 1.1 or higher
Input device
Required:Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device
Recommended:Joystick or yoke
Operating system
Windows Vista or Windows XP SP2
Hard disk
Flight Simulator X Deluxe Requires 32GB of hard drive space for installation, 15GB thereafter. Acceleration requires 12GB of hard drive space for installation, 6GB thereafter.

Sound card
Sound card, speakers or headphones required for audio.
Connectivity
56.6 kbps or better modem for online play

Edited by B773ER, 24 August 2009 - 06:21 PM.

#12 Guest_βцziεł-411_*

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Posted 24 August 2009 - 06:20 PM

View Posttropicalfish, on Aug 24 2009, 06:07 PM, said:

4GB of RAM should be sufficient.

For 6GB, I'd think you would need 2 2GB sticks and 2 1GB sticks to keep with the dual channel. Otherwise (if you went i7, which is triple channel), you could go with 3 2GB sticks. -- Not sure on that though.

For RAM, I'd probably use something from OCZ or G.Skill or Corsair.

Since you're looking to keep your price under 800 dollars, perhaps a GTX 260 core 216 or a GTX 275.

Here's a pretty decent optical drive: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16827136153

Thanks Terry. :P How powerful is the GTX 275 compared to the 8800 GTS 512? I do notice a lot of FSX users have it (Flyhalf is one IIRC).

So:

Quote

HD: 320GB Seagate http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822148469
CPU: i7 920, or Phenom X4 945
Motherboard: Will depend on CPU
GPU: GTX 275
PSU: My current 600W OCZ
CD Drive: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16827136153
RAM: DDR3 4GB Corsair (I still don't understand the other aspects of the RAM, and which one would be better for OC'ing)



View PostB773ER, on Aug 24 2009, 06:14 PM, said:

FSX System Requirements:

Microsoft® Windows® XP SP2 / Vista
PC with 1 GHz equivalent or higher processor
256 MB of system RAM for Windows XP SP2 / 512 MB Vista
14 GB available hard disk space
DVD-ROM drive
32 MB DirectX 9 compatible video card required
Sound card, speakers or headphones required for audio
Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device
56.6 Kbps or better modem for online play

Good luck again!!! :hrmm:

Yeah, but if I got a system like that I might as well watch a slideshow in Windows Photo Gallery. :hrmm:

I'm installing FSX onto my current PC at the moment, I want to look at the display settings and see if the FPS feel the same as Fs9 (25 FPS in FSX compared to 25 FPS in Fs9).

#13 Soap

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Posted 24 August 2009 - 06:24 PM

View Postβцziεł-411, on Aug 24 2009, 06:20 PM, said:

View Posttropicalfish, on Aug 24 2009, 06:07 PM, said:

4GB of RAM should be sufficient.

For 6GB, I'd think you would need 2 2GB sticks and 2 1GB sticks to keep with the dual channel. Otherwise (if you went i7, which is triple channel), you could go with 3 2GB sticks. -- Not sure on that though.

For RAM, I'd probably use something from OCZ or G.Skill or Corsair.

Since you're looking to keep your price under 800 dollars, perhaps a GTX 260 core 216 or a GTX 275.

Here's a pretty decent optical drive: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16827136153

Thanks Terry. ;) How powerful is the GTX 275 compared to the 8800 GTS 512? I do notice a lot of FSX users have it (Flyhalf is one IIRC).

So:

Quote

HD: 320GB Seagate http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822148469
CPU: i7 920, or Phenom X4 945
Motherboard: Will depend on CPU
GPU: GTX 275
PSU: My current 600W OCZ
CD Drive: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16827136153
RAM: DDR3 4GB Corsair (I still don't understand the other aspects of the RAM, and which one would be better for OC'ing)



View PostB773ER, on Aug 24 2009, 06:14 PM, said:

FSX System Requirements:

Microsoft® Windows® XP SP2 / Vista
PC with 1 GHz equivalent or higher processor
256 MB of system RAM for Windows XP SP2 / 512 MB Vista
14 GB available hard disk space
DVD-ROM drive
32 MB DirectX 9 compatible video card required
Sound card, speakers or headphones required for audio
Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device
56.6 Kbps or better modem for online play

Good luck again!!! :P

Yeah, but if I got a system like that I might as well watch a slideshow in Windows Photo Gallery. :hrmm:

I'm installing FSX onto my current PC at the moment, I want to look at the display settings and see if the FPS feel the same as Fs9 (25 FPS in FSX compared to 25 FPS in Fs9).

I was just listing the requirements see. :hrmm:

#14 Toyuko

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Posted 24 August 2009 - 06:35 PM

Good Luck!

#15 VFR_Pierre

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Posted 24 August 2009 - 07:16 PM

Honestly, I'd wait for Core i5 as a cheap and good alternative... and I'm willing to bet that it'll OC pretty well.

#16 fighter25

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Posted 24 August 2009 - 08:16 PM

View PostVFRDUDE123, on Aug 24 2009, 08:16 PM, said:

Honestly, I'd wait for Core i5 as a cheap and good alternative... and I'm willing to bet that it'll OC pretty well.
I'm waiting for LGA1156 to build a new comp. And it will be awesome. :hrmm: I'll probably go water, but I'll have to see how much I get out of my two systems.

#17 Guest_βцziεł-411_*

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Posted 24 August 2009 - 08:19 PM

View PostVFRDUDE123, on Aug 24 2009, 07:16 PM, said:

Honestly, I'd wait for Core i5 as a cheap and good alternative... and I'm willing to bet that it'll OC pretty well.

But will it be as good as i7? :hrmm:

Anyways, what would be the best RAM for OC'ing? I don't understand all the different factors.

#18 _TW_

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Posted 24 August 2009 - 08:30 PM

Honestly, Mul hit the nail on the head.  Wait until Intel releases their new LGA 1156 platform.  As he said, LGA 775 is a dead end platform & it will cost you much more later on when you decide to upgrade again.

Edited by Toby Werner, 24 August 2009 - 08:30 PM.

#19 VFR_Pierre

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Posted 24 August 2009 - 09:57 PM

Some could be better than Core i7, but it'll especially be more for your money, and possibly an excellent candidate at overclocking. :hrmm:

#20 Guest_caaront_*

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Posted 25 August 2009 - 05:11 AM

I'm flying with an i7 920 unclocked with boost enabled and I get all the frames I need with everything maxed in most places. If I do get a drop in frames (usualy over heavily wooded forests), I can simply back off a little on a couple of sliders.

I have been going into the BIOS to get a feel for the BIOS on my Gigabyte X 58 Mobo and when I have the right guide I may start tweaking a little and OC a little at a time, but for now I am enjoying performance and eye candy that I never experienced before.
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