Overclocking and upgrade advice

[Guest stabile007]

Ok so I have been perusing through the boards all weekend now in getting ready to build a new PC for myself. Basically its an all out gaming machine blitz. Not only for FSXthough though that is one thin I want to do is actually be able to play FSX.So my current machine:Athlon 64 3500+2gb of DDR3200 RamGeForce 7800 GTAsus A8N-SLI DeluxeWindows Vista Ultimate 64-bit17" Generic LCDSo far I managed to overclock my processor to about 2.34ghz but the ram is not very good (Only Corsair ValuSelect) and the Asus board has hardly any OC control.So anyways its starting to show its age I am not really happy with my performance in several games now so its time to upgrade. And by upgrade I mean a completely new build.So after reading a bit on the forum this is what I gathered: 1) Quad Core's are good and will future proof your machine however you need to OC them to get any real benefit in FSX2) 4gb of Ram is cheap and recommended DDR2 should be fine3) OC'ing a quad can be done with air cooling and should hit around 3-3.5ghz depending on the processor, ram etc.So here is what I would like to know:Should I go with DDR2 or DDR3 if I am OC'ingWhat motherboard will be best for OC'ingShould I get the Q6600 proc or since I can afford it get a Q9550?Which is better for FSX Radeon 4870 or GTX280?Thanks for the help I know its probably been answered but I have been reading all weekend and I can't just think anymore :-p

[Guest GabeThePilot]

Don't bother with DDR3 -wasted with the FSB speeds you are dealing with.Not much difference in the graphics cards you are considering from what I can tell looking at reviews - I'm considering both of those at the moment as well..although the 9800 GX2 has been added to the list as it's come down in price and anihalates the other 2 in most games - how it performs in FSX remains to be seen.Of course, many think that FSX 'prefers' nVidia....and it has the new physics chip onboard.Deffo get the fastest Quad you can afford. But once the Nehalems come out in Q4, it will probably drop a lot in price !You should check out Toms Hardware guide for reviews etc...and overclockers club or AnandTech.

[Guest Redvan]

do the 9800 GX2's still have a heat problem? or has that been solved?check this link: http://forums.avsim.net/dcboard.php?az=sho...42115&mode=fulljust what i've been looking into as i'm on the same quest as you :D Although I'm on a little tighter budget. For example, check out my old and new builds that i've had to create to cut down costs.

[Guest GabeThePilot]

Never mind that -with respect - check this out...in FSX the 9800GX2 outperforms every other card...it is literally the fastest "single" card - which it is in effect - on the planet....and it's around

[Guest stabile007]

All good advice: I haven't even considered the 9800X2's because of the relative un-impressiveness of the 9x00 line altogether. I mean it was out for like what? A few months before nVidia released a bigger better card. A SLi style card will do well with Oblivion though. As for the PSU I have my sites set on a PC Power and Cooling 750 Watt Silencer Quad unit. Hopefully that will do the trick. And my case I haven't settled yet but I am leaning towards the P180 from Antec just from past experience I liked the layout of it. If the 9800X2 cannot fit then I will just get a Cooler Master Cosmos.Also I have been looking at the 4870X2 which looks pretty promising and may be a bit faster the the 9800X2 in most games if thats the case I may spring for that especialyl with its 1gb of VRAM per core which is a huge benefit I think for FSX and the future FS 11 alll at a similar price I am sure to the 9800X2 if it is released at the $500 or less I may go for it.I was reading a lot of reviews but all kinda tell a little different. My favorite place is HardOCP though. I can't wait to Nehalem but the problem is everything I see is just that "We felt like its faster but intel won't let us tell you how fast" which is just dumb. Plus I am sure the initial costs will be high and I don't know if I want to settle for the slowest Nehalem chip whenever they come out at the probbably $500 price point. From what I read in the other thread the Q9550 is just not worth it either since the Q6600 seems to overclock well (And with my luck I will get one that cannot) though so now I am not sure on that. On the plus side if I did get a Q6600 my G/F won't be as ###### at me for outdoing her new PC she just finished building so decisions decisions...

[Guest GabeThePilot]

Yes, I think the HD 4870x2 will be the best 'single' card - but it will be expensive for a while. The 9800X2 is around

[Guest stabile007]

So here is my current build: It comes out to about $1500What do you all think!http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWi...tNumber=9068166

[Guest GabeThePilot]

>So here is my current build: It comes out to about $1500>>What do you all think!>http://secure.newegg.com/WishList/PublicWi...tNumber=9068166Looks nice to me....I'm going green already !One thing - make sure you like the colour of the gun-metal 182 case - I can tell you that the 180 - brushed aluminium is gorgeous....The x48 is pretty future-proofed too...can't go wrong.You may wanna check out an alternative cooler though - I 'think' there are better ones for similar prices - which the Q6600 will benefit from if you intend to o/c it. See here - http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/scythe_ninja2/5.htmOr: here - http://www.custompc.co.uk/labs/601007/univ...4/products.htmlMay be worth spending a few extra bucks just to get 'the best' air cooler...will be worth it IMO.