PC Help

[Calum McGregor 1094665]

After the CTP in March and not even being able to get to the runway without my computer freezing I realised it's time to upgrade. I want a PC that is capable of running FSX and add ons like PMDG, LDS etc well. I don't have a large budget and it would be helpful if someone could go on www.pcspecialist.co.uk and post a link in this topic of what they would reccommend.

 

Thanks, Calum

[Charan Kumar]

The default configuration for the "The Vortex 1000 Gaming PC" looks good enuf to run FSX, actually safely sufficient. I run similar config, but slower processor and 8GB (but DDR2, this one uses 4GB DDR3) ram. Not knowing your budget, I am not sure how to answer the qn. I run PMDG, LDS, MADDOG, FSL Concorde all with above 15+ fps in payware airports and scenery.

[Calum McGregor 1094665]

A bit expensive to be honest. I know a guy who is big into computers though and would probably be able to build one so if even someone could post links to parts for as cheap as possible that would be really helpful.

[Garry Morris 920567]

If you have a guy that can build computers, why not just ask him to find cheap prices and recommend equipment. You'll want the highest end processor/board/video card you can get your grubby hands on.

[Calum McGregor 1094665]

Yeah but he doesn't know much about flight sim so if you guys could reccommend some hardware which would work best.

[Brad Littlejohn]

Yeah but he doesn't know much about flight sim so if you guys could reccommend some hardware which would work best.

 

Okay.. Seeing that you're in the UK, shipping is going to be the big pain, especially if you order from the US. With that, here's what would work great. Keep in mind, we're going to see a lot of biased posts here (read: welcome to the infernos of the eternal AMD/Intel and NVidia/ATI, flame wars. You've been warned. )

 

Case:

Antec Sonata III

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129024

 

I said before that the Sonata II case was the best case I have ever seen. I was wrong. Its big brother trumps it in a good way. I use this case, and absolutely love it. Quiet, has room for upgrading, comes with their just as quiet Earthwatts 500W PSU.. and did I mention Quiet? Reasonable alternates:

 

Antec Sonata Elite

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129057

 

Antec Sonata Proto

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129086

 

Motherboard:

 

Gigabyte GA-790XT-USB3

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128427

 

I know, I know, Intel is faster, yadda yadda. But since we're also looking at possibly having a budget here, you're going to want as much as you can get for as cheap as you can get it, and make it last as long as you can. With that, I'd suggest this board. I have the DDR2 version of it, and it works well. I currently run this with the Athlon II X2 245 processor (because it was also cheaper, and on sale), but with a BIOS flash (which this board should already be up to date), you'll be able to jump to...

 

Athlon II X4 635

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103702

 

Yes, yes, I know, Phenom II X6 is just screaming for this! That's where room for upgrading comes in, plus gives you some room to grow. And remember.. budget? Right now, the cheapest 6-core processor is $200. With this at $100, $50 per core isn't worth it... YET. Anyway, decent quad core, low overhead on the PSU, and a good solid CPU overall.

 

Memory:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260

 

TechBargains.com, CheapStingyBargains.com, and others (check Gizmodo at around 7 - 8pm GMT) will have some better deals, but this will give you a good start.

 

Hard Drive:

 

Once again, Techbargains, CheapStingyBargains, etc. will have some good deals on them. But for now:

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145287

 

Just for fun. No real preference to it, except that it is on sale.

 

Video Card:

 

I have to admit. I haven't looked at video cards lately to see what offers what. I've been happy with the one that I have that I wouldn't recommend anything but it or its bigger brother, the nVidia GeForce 8800GT or the 9800GT:

 

eVGA GeForce 9800GT:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130435

 

I went with the one above mainly from the form factor. In short, the less room I take up on the motherboard, the better. My 8800GT looks exactly like this, and if I didn't have it, I'd consider buying this one. I'm easily getting 60 - 70FPS locked with FS9, and I'm sure others are getting just as good with FSX.

 

Alternate:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130535

 

This 9800GT is just as good; the second slot rail just didn't appeal to me.

 

So.. with all of this in mind, let's do some math. I'll [Mod - Happy Thoughts]ume you go with the Sonata III.

 

Case: 100

Motherboard: 125

CPU: 100

Memory: 95

Video Card: 120

HD: 50.

 

Total: $590 USD.

 

Now.. notice how I did NOT include a PSU.. Well, let's take the specs over to the PSU Calculator.

 

Plugging in everything listed above (you have onboard sound, and the case comes with a 120mm fan), you'll find that you'll use all of 237W, with them recommending 287W. Pretty much, half of the Earthwatts 500W. You could always pull out the PSU and put in one bigger, but this, to be honest, just works.

 

Yes, the others may have all of the nice colours, see through windows to look at the board, lots of LED lights, etc... but you'll hear them all bloody night long, let alone see your house, your neighbour's house, and the entire block go dim, and sparks shoot out of the transformers at your local power plant every time they turn it on. This? not even a sliver of that, and no louder than leaves ruffling in the wind.

 

That should give you something to work on, and I'm sure others will chime in.

 

BL.

[Calum McGregor 1094665]

Thanks Brad! Great help Will that run FSX+add ons well?

[Brad Littlejohn]

Thanks Brad! Great help Will that run FSX+add ons well?

 

Absolutely. The motherboard supports up to 16GB of memory, which will be more than enough. Add to that a quad-core processor with the ability to jump up to a 6-core processor. Hard drive space won't be a problem, and the video card should handle it. If anything, the slowest piece of hardware you'd have with this would be the video card. But you would have to pump out some serious graphics to use all 512MB of that card.

 

In short, you'd be plenty fine with this.

 

BL.

[Erhan Atesoglu 1050499]

Get your hands on at least an i7 930 and a GTX460.... everything else is just obsolete at this point.

[Brad Littlejohn]

Get your hands on at least an i7 930 and a GTX460.... everything else is just obsolete at this point.

 

And here we go.

 

Video card, I could probably understand, as the 9800GT is roughly 2 years old. But you're saying that a 6-core processor, which was released a little under 2 months ago, is now obsolete by a quad-core processor that costs nearly double the price of the 6-core processor?

 

Okay.. let's do the math on that, and the GTX460, with comparable motherboard, same memory, case, and HD.

 

Intel Core i7-875K:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116368

 

GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128412&Tpk=Gigabyte%20P55A-UD3

 

eVGA GeForce GTX 465:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130555

 

Case: 100

Motherboard: 140

CPU: 330

Memory: 95

Video Card: 230

HD: 50

 

Total: $945 USD.

 

Let's also plug this into the PSU Calculator.... Minimum 360W, with recommended being 410W. Too close to blowing the 500W PSU for my taste, so you'd have to add in a new PSU... Newegg is showing $70 for the Earthwatts 650W, or $115 for the TruePower New 750W, both by Antec. Tack that onto the cost above, and you're at $1015 USD at the lowest, and $1060 at the most; double the price of the 9800GT and the X4 635. If the Vortex 1000 Gaming PC is too expensive for Calum, and that clocks in at 1500 to 1700 pounds without VAT, and that is too expensive, Something barely breaking $1000 USD is is going to be too much as well. That is why I suggested AMD, as you can get comparable performance for less than half the price.

 

Keep in mind that the Phenom II X6 is only $100 more than the X4 635. So you could bump that $590 price up to $690, gain 2 more processors than the Core i7, and still be almost $500 cheaper. Sometimes the fastest and best that Intel has to offer isn't what is needed, nor is best for the user and their budget.

 

BL.

[Wycliffe Barrett]

Hi

 

As your in the UK perhaps asking this question in the VATSIM UK forum would be more helpful interms of UK links. All the advice so far offered would be exactly what you wouldget on the UK forum so no diffrence there then.

 

But have a look at these

 

http://www.overclockers.co.uk

 

www.alpinesystems.co.uk

 

http://www.alienware.co.uk

 

http://www.wired2fly.co.uk

 

Then open up Google and do a UK specific search on peripherals.

 

Wycliffe

[Calum McGregor 1094665]

Brad would this work?

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125282&cm_re=9800_gt-_-14-125-282-_-Product

[Brad Littlejohn]

Brad would this work?

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125282&cm_re=9800_gt-_-14-125-282-_-Product

 

Absolutely. It has double the memory of the one I put up. Like I mentioned, The reason I went with something like that was because I am not sure what is new out there as far as video cards go, and that I'm quite happy with my 8800GT. I personally locked myself at 60FPS with it on FS9 (sliders maxed), and know it can go much higher. I'm sure FSX can handle it. If you find something better, by all means try it, but I know that the 8800GT and the 9800GT series work well (not GTX or GTS; besure it is GT).

 

Wycliffe has a good point as well. I'm showing what is available, but finding something located there will help too, especially with the shipping.

 

BL.

[Ivan Kovacevic 920456]

Brad, why would you compare a mediocre AMD CPU price with an enthusiast "Overclocker's Edition" Intel CPU price?

 

 

Also, the graphics card you used as an example shows that you aren't really familiar with the new line of nVidia cards, since the 465 is a much worse choice than the 460, given that the 460 uses a newer cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] chip.

 

I don't know why are you trying to give advice to someone when you aren't sure about what you're talking about.

[Brad Littlejohn]

Brad, why would you compare a mediocre AMD CPU price with an enthusiast "Overclocker's Edition" Intel CPU price?

 

A bit expensive to be honest. I know a guy who is big into computers though and would probably be able to build one so if even someone could post links to parts for as cheap as possible that would be really helpful.

 

That is why.

 

Also, the graphics card you used as an example shows that you aren't really familiar with the new line of nVidia cards, since the 465 is a much worse choice than the 460, given that the 460 uses a newer cl[Mod - Happy Thoughts] chip.

 

I have to admit. I haven't looked at video cards lately to see what offers what. I've been happy with the one that I have that I wouldn't recommend anything but it or its bigger brother

 

I also chose the 465, because when I checked last night, the 460 wasn't listed at the PSU Calculator.

 

I don't know why are you trying to give advice to someone when you aren't sure about what you're talking about.

 

And AMD over Intel? this is exactly what I was getting to when it came to the flame war. The key here is BUDGET. If Calum can't afford to pay the (IMHO) overly priced hardware, but wants similar performance, you can easily get comparable for less. That is my point.

 

And seeing that I advised you on your machine doesn't really give your claim that I don't know what I'm talking about any clout:

 

viewtopic.php?f=79&t=48324

 

BL.

[Ivan Kovacevic 920456]

Brad,

 

I wasn't asking why you suggested a cheap AMD processor, I'm asking why are you trying to prove your point against Intel with one of the most expensive 1156 processors . An i7-920 goes at around 200$ nowadays. That's a lot less than the $400 model you quoted.

 

The 'performance per dollar' isn't in AMD's favor when it comes to Flight Sim. For general gaming purposes, it's much cheaper to go for AMD, but spending $700 on a new AMD PC and not getting 30FPS in FSX is still wasted money. Then it becomes more expensive than the (in your opinion) overpriced Intel hardware, that - at least - gives you better performance.

 

If budget is the main thing, going for an Intel Core2Quad Q9xxx would probably cost less than any Quad Core AMD Phenom processor, but would outperform it by a notable margin.

[Calum McGregor 1094665]

So what would your reccommendation be Ivan?

[Ivan Kovacevic 920456]

I'd hold off my recommendation until I get the new graphics card in the day or two.

 

I've currently got an i5-750 @ 3800MHz, 4GB of DDR3 (1900MHz @ CL7) and a Radeon 5770 - which gives me about 30FPS in FSX unless I take the JS41 in Heathrow with UK2000 or Aerosoft scenery, in which case, the frames drop to about 23-28. I've primarily bought premium components and my PC is water cooled, so it cost me a good bit more than it had to, but you can get an i5-750 with an adequate motherboard quite cheap nowadays.

 

I'm hoping to gain those few FPS over the 30FPS limit with a new graphics card.

 

I'm contemplating on switching to an i7-920, but purely for the 'interest' sake to play with the 1366 platform a bit as well (overclocking, benching...).

[Erhan Atesoglu 1050499]

if you already got the 1156, why not wait until the next socket after 1366. Only a year away You're definitely already faster than a stock 920.

[Ivan Kovacevic 920456]

if you already got the 1156, why not wait until the next socket after 1366. Only a year away You're definitely already faster than a stock 920.

 

Too impatient.

[Calum McGregor 1094665]

OK, I found a website: www.microdirect.co.uk

 

Could someone find some good components on it and post them please for as little as possible as it is in pounds.

[Ivan Kovacevic 920456]

Ok, good luck Calum.

[Calum McGregor 1094665]

Could someone reccomend any components off that website?

[Calum McGregor 1094665]

What do you guys think about the i3 540?

[Ivan Kovacevic 920456]

Two cores, no hyperthreading, Socket 1156 (instead of 1366).

 

Really, all the 'wrongs' for buying an Intel CPU now.