Hi Guys, I have been playing FS9 for a very long time now and I think its time for me to upgrade my system and start to explore FSX.I have been looking at this system:- INTEL QUADCORE Q9550, 4x2.83GHZ, 12MB CACHE- (INTEL P43) EP43-DS3L (PCIEx16 V2.0)- 896MB DDR3 GEFORCE GTX260 (2X DIGITAL DVI) (PCIEx16 V2.0)- 500GB F1 SATAII HARDDISK, 7200RPM - 4GB PC8500, 1066MHZ, CL5, KINGSTON HYPER-X- THERMALTAKE SOPRANO RS, CABINET - 10 USB PORTS- 7.1 SURROUNDSOUND- 10/100/1000MBITWOuld this be just ok or would it be excellent?Alternatively I have been looking at this better for also more expensive system:* INTEL i7 920 (SOCKET 1366) 4.8GT/sec* 1GB DDR3 GEFORCE GTX285 (x16 EXPRESS 2.0)* GIGABYTE EX58-UD4P, (INTEL X58) (x16 EXPRESS 2.0)* 12GB DDR3 1333MHZ RAM *TRI-CHANNEL*, KINGSTON* 1000GB SAMSUNG HARDDISK, 7200RPM, 32MB CACHE (1TERABYTE)* COOLERMASTER 690 Also would you guys recommend Vista for playing FSX?Best RegardsSimon

Hi Guys, I have been playing FS9 for a very long time now and I think its time for me to upgrade my system and start to explore FSX.I have been looking at this system:- INTEL QUADCORE Q9550, 4x2.83GHZ, 12MB CACHE- (INTEL P43) EP43-DS3L (PCIEx16 V2.0)- 896MB DDR3 GEFORCE GTX260 (2X DIGITAL DVI) (PCIEx16 V2.0)- 500GB F1 SATAII HARDDISK, 7200RPM - 4GB PC8500, 1066MHZ, CL5, KINGSTON HYPER-X- THERMALTAKE SOPRANO RS, CABINET - 10 USB PORTS- 7.1 SURROUNDSOUND- 10/100/1000MBITWOuld this be just ok or would it be excellent?Alternatively I have been looking at this better for also more expensive system:* INTEL i7 920 (SOCKET 1366) 4.8GT/sec* 1GB DDR3 GEFORCE GTX285 (x16 EXPRESS 2.0)* GIGABYTE EX58-UD4P, (INTEL X58) (x16 EXPRESS 2.0)* 12GB DDR3 1333MHZ RAM *TRI-CHANNEL*, KINGSTON* 1000GB SAMSUNG HARDDISK, 7200RPM, 32MB CACHE (1TERABYTE)* COOLERMASTER 690 Also would you guys recommend Vista for playing FSX?Best RegardsSimon

SimonWithout overclocking, the Q9550 would be pretty middling using reasonable visual quality settings in FSX. Overclock it sufficiently (to 3.8GHz or 4.0GHz) and it would be OK at reasonable visual settings. If you mean to overclock then check that your chosen motherboard is suitable. The GTX 260 is a good choice for this setup.Without overclocking, the i7 920 would probably give slightly better performance than the non-overclocked Q9550. But you should find it easier to get the i7 920 to 4GHz - make sure you buy a 920 with the D0 stepping - where it will give very good performance with FSX. Again, check the motherboard. And don't bother with 12Gb of RAM: 6Gb is absolutely fine. Finally, a deluxe point: try to buy RAM with the lowest possible timings (I will be corrected if I'm wrong but for 1333MHz RAM I think ideally you would find RAM that will go down to 6-6-6-18 or lower). The GTX 285 is a good choice for an overclocked i7 920 and will be a worthwhile improvement on the GTX 260.If you mean to overclock, don't forget to add a suitable heatsink for your CPU and check that your case is suitable.Put shortly: without overclocking, both of these systems are likely to leave you feeling a bit disappointed (as is any other system without overclocking IMHO). If you are willing to overclock then between your two options you are least likely to be disappointed with the performance you get out of an i7 920 with the D0 stepping. And if you can get the i7 920 to 4GHz with the GTX 285 then you will have the comfort of knowing that you are pretty close to the outer limits of what can be achieved using current kit. So if it were my money, I'd go for your option 2 but with 6Gb (preferably at fast timings) and a decent CPU heatsink, and checking the suitability of the motherboard and case.As for the operating system: Vista is fine: make sure you use the 64-bit version. But why not just run Win7RC 64-bit for free for a while? Whether you use Vista or Win7, remember to install FSX into a directory on its own outside the default location (for example, "C:\FSX"): this is to avoid Vista's UAC quirks. Best also to run as an Administrator.Tim

If you want to build fastest system for the FSX, let me give you some suggestions:1. operating system and the FSX must be on the different physical hard disks2. for OS - install two quick HDD into RAID0 and use only one quarter of the whole RAID; remaining RAID volume leave unusable3. install the FSX on a fastest SSD; I think the SSD size must be 64GB at least

I hope you wont install to much addons for your FSX becaus my FSX installation exeeded allready 70GB. :( Have no other Programs on the FSX Partition.

Hi Guys, Thank you so much for all of your replies!@tfm: the i7 it is then. What should I except FPS wise? I am starting to acknowledge the fact that I can't possibly run the highest setting in FSX on any current system but would this system give me very good results?And a noob question: How do I overclock? Is it easy to di or does it require loads of knowledge?@crashmax: This computer will be used only for FSX:-)

Hi Guys, Thank you so much for all of your replies!@tfm: the i7 it is then. What should I except FPS wise? I am starting to acknowledge the fact that I can't possibly run the highest setting in FSX on any current system but would this system give me very good results?And a noob question: How do I overclock? Is it easy to di or does it require loads of knowledge?@crashmax: This computer will be used only for FSX:-)

SimonA lot of people seem to be getting good results with the i7 920 with the D0 stepping - but (a) it takes trial and error in your BIOS settings and (:( in the end not all these chips have the same overclocking potential.Basically with overclocking the i7 920 you will be trying to find the highest BCLK (baseclock) setting to go with your CPU's "multiplier" (fixed at 21, I think, in the case of the i7 920): baseclock x multiplier = clockspeed. So ideally you'll end up with 200 BCLK x 21 = ~4200MHz. To get there, you will need to change the voltages assigned to various components in your computer. Until you start overlocking, leave them on Auto. Once you start overclocking, you will have to set some of them manually.For general overclocking techniques you will need to do a little reading around. It's not difficult but you do need to prepare yourself sufficiently to avoid pumping too much electricity into your components. I would suggest that you start by spending a few hours Googling for reviews of various motherboards tested for their overclocking abilities, then choose one you like. My personal recommendation is the Asus Rampage II Extreme but that's just because it works for me. Then Google for a decent heatsink/fan combination. My personal recommendation is the Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 CPU Cooler but again that's just because it happens to be the one I've got and it seems to work OK with my i7 975. Make sure you're comfortable with the assembly process needed to install anything you order: for most of the decent modern coolers, you have to take the motherboard out of its case to install a backplate to take the weight. Once all your kit has arrived and you've assembled everything, install Windows. Get everything working nicely. Then - and only then - should you interrupt the boot process to go into the BIOS and start tweaking the settings. For overclocking BIOS settings for the 920, start with NickN's posts in this thread, where he gives a head start to people with i7 920s with some detailed suggested BIOS settings based on an Asus motherboard:http://www.simforums.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=30486Also try this thread, where crashmax has kindly posted his BIOS settings for a water-cooled PC, AND made some suggestions for an air cooled PC:http://forums1.avsim.net/index.php?showtopic=252696There are some software tools to help you check that you've found stable settings: a lot of people use OCCT v3.01 or whatever is the latest version. This will place your PC under stress for an hour (or other time of your choosing). Another good tool is Realtemp: this tells you how hot your CPU is getting. You will probably want to keep the temperatures below 85 degrees centigrade. In the end, however, there is nothing like FSX itself to flush out instabilities in an overclocked PC!If you have the time or inclination you will get the CPU stable at your chosen speed, and then turn your attention to the RAM. NickN's posts in the first thread I mentioned contains possible settings for you to consider. But I would leave that until later if I were you.As for what fps you can expect: this is an impossible question because it depends on what overclock you can achieve, how well you can fine-tune your RAM and so on; and on the software side it depends on where you like to fly, what planes you like to use, and what scenery and other add-ons you install and what settings you choose in FSX. Basically it doesn't matter: if you can get the 920 up to about 4GHz you should find you can get a good smooth display in all or almost all conditions. And if you still don't like it, then you will have the comfort of knowing that there's not a lot else you can do!Tim

SimonA lot of people seem to be getting good results with the i7 920 with the D0 stepping - but (a) it takes trial and error in your BIOS settings and ( :( in the end not all these chips have the same overclocking potential.Basically with overclocking the i7 920 you will be trying to find the highest BCLK (baseclock) setting to go with your CPU's "multiplier" (fixed at 21, I think, in the case of the i7 920): baseclock x multiplier = clockspeed. So ideally you'll end up with 200 BCLK x 21 = ~4200MHz. To get there, you will need to change the voltages assigned to various components in your computer. Until you start overlocking, leave them on Auto. Once you start overclocking, you will have to set some of them manually.For general overclocking techniques you will need to do a little reading around. It's not difficult but you do need to prepare yourself sufficiently to avoid pumping too much electricity into your components. I would suggest that you start by spending a few hours Googling for reviews of various motherboards tested for their overclocking abilities, then choose one you like. My personal recommendation is the Asus Rampage II Extreme but that's just because it works for me. Then Google for a decent heatsink/fan combination. My personal recommendation is the Noctua NH-U12P SE1366 CPU Cooler but again that's just because it happens to be the one I've got and it seems to work OK with my i7 975. Make sure you're comfortable with the assembly process needed to install anything you order: for most of the decent modern coolers, you have to take the motherboard out of its case to install a backplate to take the weight. Once all your kit has arrived and you've assembled everything, install Windows. Get everything working nicely. Then - and only then - should you interrupt the boot process to go into the BIOS and start tweaking the settings. For overclocking BIOS settings for the 920, start with NickN's posts in this thread, where he gives a head start to people with i7 920s with some detailed suggested BIOS settings based on an Asus motherboard:http://www.simforums.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=30486Also try this thread, where crashmax has kindly posted his BIOS settings for a water-cooled PC, AND made some suggestions for an air cooled PC:http://forums1.avsim.net/index.php?showtopic=252696There are some software tools to help you check that you've found stable settings: a lot of people use OCCT v3.01 or whatever is the latest version. This will place your PC under stress for an hour (or other time of your choosing). Another good tool is Realtemp: this tells you how hot your CPU is getting. You will probably want to keep the temperatures below 85 degrees centigrade. In the end, however, there is nothing like FSX itself to flush out instabilities in an overclocked PC!If you have the time or inclination you will get the CPU stable at your chosen speed, and then turn your attention to the RAM. NickN's posts in the first thread I mentioned contains possible settings for you to consider. But I would leave that until later if I were you.As for what fps you can expect: this is an impossible question because it depends on what overclock you can achieve, how well you can fine-tune your RAM and so on; and on the software side it depends on where you like to fly, what planes you like to use, and what scenery and other add-ons you install and what settings you choose in FSX. Basically it doesn't matter: if you can get the 920 up to about 4GHz you should find you can get a good smooth display in all or almost all conditions. And if you still don't like it, then you will have the comfort of knowing that there's not a lot else you can do!Tim

Hi Tim, thanks for your reply. I will def look into the overclocking.Best regardsSimon