This is slightly off topic but please allow me a little latitude here. I want to build a new computer that will make PIC really rock on FS2002 as well as the new FS coming out this summer. This is my first time doing this so I am really weak on what I should be getting. I am ready to order the parts now.As I look through the vast number of websites listing equipment, I am left scratching my head as to what I really should be ordering. As most of you know, there are a lot of towers, power supplies, mother boards, CPUs, memory types, video cards, and hard drives out there and I have no idea what works best with what. If anyone has any ideas on what combinations tend to work best, please pass me an email with your recommendations. I am also interested in what components I should stay away from.I need the case and all of the stuff that gets packed into it. I do not need any of the external items such as monitors, mouse, flight controls, keyboard, modem, speakers. Here is an outline of what I think I need. I have about $1100 US to spend and of course I want to get the very most PIC-power for my money.TowerPower SupplyCooling Fan/FansMother Board

Mike, Important Advice: Get a CPU that supports Hyper Threading. The Intel P4 3.06Ghz support this.The New Sim will utilise Hyper Threading for areas such as rendering the clouds. Also allows other applications to load more quickly. I built my own rig nearly a year ago, for under

hi,try posting in this forum.....they are also discussing this..http://www.fsgateway.com/forum.asp?FORUM_I...ssions+and+HelpHIH

"Important Advice: Get a CPU that supports Hyper Threading. The Intel P4 3.06Ghz support this.The New Sim will utilise Hyper Threading for areas such as rendering the clouds. Also allows other applications to load more quickly." I really don't think that Microsoft will leave every user who owns AMD processors in the dark when it comes to "rendering". Here is a little read me about the P4 3.06 compared to the AMD XP 2800+. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,4149,703911,00.asp But anyways, if you can afford the P4 3 gig at 625.00 just for the cpu go for it! The AMD XP 2800+ goes for less than 400.00 running around 375.00. I also built my own Computer and would never spend 600.00 on a cpu when in 4-6 months it will cost you 400.00 + less!! One must not forget that the video card is it's own cpu and does most of the rendering itself. All the money you can save on buying an AMD will allow you to buy a fast video card such as the ATI Radeon 9700 PRO or a GF4 4600 Ti. Mike look at my specs, I run everything on high at 1024x768 32 bit color and get great frame rates, with this new setup of your's, will need to hold the speedbrake lever!Best Wishes,Randy J. [email protected]" A little learning is a dangerous thing"AMD XP 2100 |MUNCHKIN 512 DDR RAM |ECS[/b ] K7S5A MB |[b]GF3 64 MEG |WIN XP PRO |MITSUBISHI DIAMOND PLUS 91 19"

Mike a year ago here is what I built:Os- XP Protower -Coolermaster AtcPowerSupply- Pc power and cooling 400 watt( The best power supplies period)Cooling Fan/Fans -4 ys tech fans (come with coolermaster case)Mother Board- Asus p4b266CPU

Mike, could you post your current system specs?

Mike,I will face the same dilemma in a couple of month when I build my computer to replace my Duron 1.3 unit. Will see, but I am not sure I will try to best accomodate the new FS as what I am reading so far does not make me feel it will be a big improvement over FS2002 once you have PIC767, FSBuild, FSMeteo, RadarContact, etc..... So I will wait and see.For my last computer, I tried to work on the noise issue, to make my computer as quiet as possible. Still have to work on it, but the Enermax EG365P power supply (350W) is doing a pretty good job by maintening a rather low noise level by giving the capability of adjusting the fan speed. (Enermax sales also a 450W model).Same for the CPU fan: I got a Zalman CPU fan which adjustable fan speed keeps it quiet. Obviously, you need to closely monitor the case and CPU temperatures (most likely your motherboard comes with a software to do it) to set the fan speeds to as low as possible values and maintaining CPU and Case temperatures within an acceptable range.In term of CPU, I will not shoot for the latest released CPU: way too expensive. If I had to buy today, I would go for an AMD 2.6Mhz with a 333Mhz FSB or a Intel 2.53 Mhz with a 533 Mhz FSB for roughly the price price $260.For the Video card, I will not go again for the latest ones: too expensive. A GEFORCE-4 TI4600 even if from the previous generation (a couple of month ago only !) will do an excellent job. It is still a little bit expensive to me and I will go for it when its price goes below $150.Good luck in trying to get some clear ideas on such a subject from anybody else than yourself !!Bien amicalementMichelKSEA-AFR011

I guess Mike you will get a different slant from each of us that replies, in the end you will get punch-drunk and stay with what you've got :-lol Anyway here's my two penn'oth from across the pond where prices tend to be higher and, I suspect, disposable income lower.General Don't go for bleeding edge hardware, it's 'bang-for-buck' is lowCaseDefinitely a tower, there is more room for 'stuff' :-). If you can afford them there are exotic cases that are supposed to offer better cooling both by design and construction, usually made of aluminum not steel.PSU Go for a 350 - 400+ W one, modern gaming h/w needs quite a bit of power. Also try to get a PSU that has vents in the base rather than the end. If you match this to a case that has vent holes in PSU mounting ledge the PSU helps to suck heat from the case better than end vents.Fans.Case fans, really depends on how much heat the system generates I would go for at least an intake fan on the front of the tower. That pulls air in and the PSU fan pushes the air out.CPU fans are dictated by the CPU obviously. For more silent operation you may want to look at the Zalman flower heat sinks and fans. The heat sink is like an open book with its pages fanned out and the fan is seperate, mounted in a bracket attached to the ledge that fixes the expansion cards. This arrangement reduces noise transmitted through the heat sink/CPU/motherboard in the normal HSF arrangement.CPUAlmost a religion :-), pro Intel vs pro AMD. Generally AMD offers more 'bang-for-buck'MotherboardWhich CPU you choose determines, to some extent, your choice of motherboard. I would suggest trying to get one that offers some upgradability so if you wish to step up your CPU as prices fall for faster CPUs the boardw ill take it.If looking at Abit I understand that the new NVidia chipset mo/bos are better performing than the VIA ones. Video cardA bit like the CPU, devotees of NVidia and ATi, both have strengths and weaknesses but on balance I would think NVidia wins. GF4Ti4600 I guess. If you can afford to hold off a while the price of the GF4's should fall once NVidia have the new FX card out.The second video card would have to be PCI, I have no experience with them so duck out on that one.MemoryFastest and as much as you can afford, if you are not running Win98.I think the latest fast one is DDR333 (or may be DDR400), make sure it matches your mo/bo Front Side Bus (FSB). I would go for IGB initially but only 512 if running Win98.Hard Drives7,200 rpm spin speed and a good sized buffer ATA133. I am not in favour of the new serial drives and I don't think SCSI offers sufficient performance boost over IDE to warrant the extra cost.CD-RWTBH I don't think there is much to choose between the makes, just get the fastest you can, and for the burner get one that uses the 'smart-burn' technology, saves making coasters :-)Floppy driveAlways useful to have one, and for their cost - what the heck.Sound & network cardsA lot of mo/bos now have them on-board, personally I prefer not to have on-board stuff because they are usually inferior to an add-in card. having said that my current mo/bo (AbitKD7) has both sound & network card on board and they have not given any problems.....yet!I have not given specifics Mike because each of us will have our favourite manufacturers.The following sites may help your descision.http://www.tomshardware.com/http://www.anandtech.com/http://www.sharkyextreme.com/HTH And best of luck with your choice.

Just what I needed, "more to be confused about!" Just kidding really. I knew I was setting myself up for some differing views on what works best. I did learn a lot from your replys and I appreciate them very much. Bang for the buck is a primary concern for me. I have no bias toward anything right now and very much needed your input. I have had AMD processors on my last two computers and they have served me well so I certainly am not afraid to continue on with one but I am also completely open to going with a P4.The systems I have will have to remain intact so everything in the new one will have to be purchased new. For the record, I am currently using the following on my main computer.Athlon 900MHz bundled in a HP-Pavilion 8765CWinXP-Pro512 RamGF2-TI video card21 inch monitor1280x1024 resolutionSquawkbox,AIBridge, RW, running on a laptop through WideFS. Also running Servinfo and Trillian on the laptop.Mark,Sounds like good advice it the total price is within reach. From what I take out of your post, I need to be sure I go with at least a 400 watt power supply, a 333 board and the PC2700 RAM.Tom,Took your advice and through a post on that forum.Randy,Sounds like reasonable advice. I read the article also, hmmm more to think about.Wallace,I am glad you were specific with the vendors of your components. The DDR micron memory compared with PC2700 RAM has me scratching my head. I take it that those are compeating technologies. It looks like I have nothing to fear with on board sound and network.Michel,Anything I build will be quieter than what I have now since I have to keep a 10 inch fan blowing into the open side of the case to keep the beast from shutting down cold on me. I will keep your suggestions in mind. I am confused about "I would go for an AMD 2.6Mhz" because I just read something about AMD's latest "Athlon XP 2800+. Running at 2.25 GHz." Did you just mean the AMD 2600?Vulcan,"in the end you will get punch-drunk and stay with what you've got" - Classic!The case - ATC Tower looks like everyone agrees on that one. I priced the aluminun and found them expensive, will have to get down to the end and find out if that is possible for me but I doubt it.PSU - 400 sounds like the number. Will try my best to order it with the case and hope like hell it is a good match.Fans - The intake for sure so it sounds. The CPU fans and heat sinks scare me. I may opt for something sold as a unit there and hope for the best. Of special note though, I never (well almost) turn off my PC.CPU - As I said above, I have no bias here. This is completely bang for the buck so I may have just answered my own question. But I am really still undecided.Motherboard - Upgradability is certainly a requirement but how do I know? I fear that whatever I get will be tough to upgrade in 1 or 2 years anyway, perhaps not though.Video Card - I have had great luck with the GF family and want to go with the FG4Ti4600 but which vendor? For some silly reason I think I want the LeadTec but need to keep VisionTek in mind per Wallace's success with it.Memory - Back to the question of DDR micron vs PC2700 ??????Hard Drive - 7200 rpm and ATA133 will serve as a good benchmark for me and thanks for the warning about serial and SCSI.CD Drives - Sounds like 40/12/40 are the minimum numbers here for the writer. I hope I don't miss the DVD drive but I can always add it later I guess.Floppy - I think just about anything new will do here so I am going cheap as I can findSound and Network - On board is OK, and will save money for the CPU and Video card. Got that message.USB ports - I did not see anything regarding those. I know I need 4 and maybe 5. Can those be added easily?Thanks to everyone who posted. I will be ordering within the next 7 days and hope I do not make any $400 mistakes. Will keep you advised.

Yes, I meant AMD2600+. Sorry for the confusion.The key point I think, it is to go with mo/bo having a 333 Mhz Front Side Bus for AMD CPU's, as opposed to a 266 FSB. Same for Intel systems, I would better go for a 533 Mhz FSB and not 400 Mhz. Better performances and most likely better future CPU upgrade possibilities. Another comment on the PSU, you may want to consider PSUs having 2 fans: one blowing the air outside the case (on every PSU) and the other one sucking the air from inside the case, generally right above the CPU, and feeding the former fan thru the PSU (standard PSUs don't have this second fan). If heat is one of your concern, those PSU are to be considered, keeping in mind that the CPU fan is of utmost importance and comes first when keeping the temperature as low as possible.Bien amicalementMichelKSEA-AFR011

Memory-(micron is the brand name) -from crucial technology (very reliable) If you go DDR as opposed to RDRAM(p4 intel)your mobo will determine the type to use at specific speed range.Most newer mobo's come with usb 2.0, mine came with 2 usb 1 ports ,and 4 usb 2.0 ports(480mbs) compared with usb 1 at (12mbs) and if you need more just connect a usb hub.just a word of warning on case supplied psu's -they are usually not very good, unless they are enermax or antec . But to me the very best is from pc power and cooling (a bit pricey though but worth it for todays power hungry computers.)Also on visiontek I beleive they went under chapter 11 protection , I think they are still in business but you may want to research this. I have four different visiontek cards ,and they have been bulletproof.As far as sound goes some motherboards now have 5.1 dolby digital chipsets ,and they sound great. Try out the onboard sound before you by a soundcard.I have the intel 845 chipset on my asus mobo , extremly stable with the intel application accelerator drivers. Stay away from the 645 chipset though , and also via chipsets seem buggy and unstable on win xp pro for some reason(my opinion, others may vary).Mike just about anything you can build with todays technology is going to work great, its your choice.These are some ideas , that have worked for me. Good luck.

Hi Michael,in addition to the good advice you already got here, I thought maybe you'll find my recent upgrade experience of help...To start off, I had a store-bought Sony VAIO RX-450 with the following specs:AMD Athlon 1GHzAsus A7S-LE motherboard (one of those manufactured especially for Sony, with limited upgradeability)ATI Radeon 7200 64MBonboard sound (SiS 730, I think)256MB PC133 RAMJust before Christmas, a very good friend of mine got a Radeon 9700 Pro, which didn't run on his system. So he made me an offer I just couldn't refuse... (Basically, rather than the shop getting the restocking fee, I got an excellent deal).There wasn't much of an increase in frame rates as such, but the smoothness and picture quality was something else - a lot less stutters in dense scenery.To run the card properly, I needed a bigger power supply, and I found a local computer shop whose main business was designing computers for other businesses, they build their own cases with adequate power supplies and sell them at very reasonable prices. So I got one of those (the Sony is Micro ATX format, so I would have needed an ATX case for future upgrades anyway).Finally, a few weeks ago, I bought a new motherboard and RAM - I settled for the Asus A7N8X Deluxe with 512MB Samsung PC2700 RAM.That gave quite a huge performance boost - flying the 747 RFP (my most frame-rate unfriendly plane) into SimFlyers KLAX at dusk gives me about 20fps on final without stutters (scenery at very dense, autogen normal, clouds at 65%, everything else maxed).In a couple of months' time, I will upgrade my CPU, and maybe get some more RAM.So, from my experience, you may benefit greatly by not upgrading everything at once (of course, you can only do that if you decide to stick with AMD) - you can spread the cost over some time, but you won't get the immediate 'Wow!' effect, as your performance will increase in considerably smaller steps.Cheers,Gosta.http://hifi.avsim.net/activesky/images/wxrebeta.jpg

Hi Mike,>Motherboard - Upgradability is certainly a requirement but how do I know? I fear that whatever I get will be tough to upgrade in 1 or 2 years anyway, perhaps not though.Video Card - I have had great luck with the GF family and want to go with the FG4Ti4600 but which vendor? For some silly reason I think I want the LeadTec but need to keep VisionTek in mind per Wallace's success with it.Memory - Back to the question of DDR micron vs PC2700 ??????CD Drives - Sounds like 40/12/40 are the minimum numbers here for the writer. I hope I don't miss the DVD drive but I can always add it later I guess.

Mike here is a shot of my computer undressed :)

hey wallace, you say you don't use the audigy, well i recommend you DO use it.The advantage is that you can try and assign the RW sound to the 1 card and the FS 'background noises(incl eng sound)' to the other.this adds alot to the realism.I have a soundcard lying here but it's still with one of those very old sockets so i cannot use it.. :(cheers