$900-$1200 to spend on new Desktop

[Guest sean86]

Hey guys, I've been a longgggg time FS'er and I'm ready to try to take on FSX, I've been due for a new desktop for a couple years now, so I figure it's time. From what I gather it seems that FSX really preforms well with an Intel/Nvidia combo. For the last several days I've been searching Newegg for something. I'm NOT trying to build my own, so will be looking for a pre-built rig. I have about $1200 to spend MAX. Any help is much appreciated. The best deals I can find so far is something along the lines of the following.Desktop 1Desktop 2Thanks again,Sean

[Guest WarpAir]

However What you need to run fsx well generally does not seem to be what you find in all those off the shelf desktop PC's.That is why i always use a custom builder to build PC based on system that i spec.With your budget of $1100, you should really be going for D0 i7920 not any of those two cpu in your options above.Reason being that every simmer in your budget range is going for D0 i720 cause it OC's very well, and its slightly cheaper than the i7860 (i think)As for GPU i use nvidia, dont know about ATi, and youll get better support on avsim for nvidia card cause it what most folks are using. The video card forum here on avsim is more or less an NVidia forum. If i ws you i would start a thread or ask for to help you spec what you need for best result for fsx in your budget range , then get some custom pc builder to do the labour.some key things that youll need0 - CPU = D0 stepping i79201 - minimum of 750 watt power supply, helps when you start to OC2 - 64 bit OS like Win7 and not 32bit - 64bit OS means you can access more memory for FSX3 - 6gig memory4 - I recomend any nvidia card like the 275 in your spec above5 - One hard disk for your OS , and a seperate hard disk for FSX say 250 gig would do. Generally helps to make loading textures faster when fsx is on its own disk. To make the most of this get a good defragger like Ultimate defrag.6 - As for cooling Noctua14 is being called the best air cooler, think its about $897 - Mother Board, i recomend Gigabyte x58 , very easy to OC chips with the tools they provide with gigbyte mother boards.To avoid stutters and low fps you need a rig you can OC when you have the time, the above spec gives you that option.All you need to do find a cutom pc builder and fine tune your spec by asking around for ideas.

[Guest sean86]

All you need to do find a cutom pc builder and fine tune your spec by asking around for ideas.

Thanks for the quick reply, I went onto CyberPower and built the following for just under $1200

• [*]CPU: Intel

[Guest WarpAir]

Thanks for the quick reply, I went onto CyberPower and built the following for just under $1200

• [*]CPU: Intel

[Guest sean86]

Would love to hear some more opinions. It looks like I'll go with the i7920 and OC to 4.0. I'm really wondering if the 2 extra threads are worth the money over the i5 though, which I read can OC just as easy.

[Guest WarpAir]

Would love to hear some more opinions. It looks like I'll go with the i7920 and OC to 4.0. I'm really wondering if the 2 extra threads are worth the money over the i5 though, which I read can OC just as easy.

Most people, myself included turn off the HyperThreading in i7 cuase FSX does not use it, and it reduces your OC limit cause Hyperthreading makes the cpu hotter. Turn it off, and you can OC higher.for more info on OC and CPU check here http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=59

[Guest sean86]

Most people, myself included turn off the HyperThreading in i7 cuase FSX does not use it, and it reduces your OC limit cause Hyperthreading makes the cpu hotter. Turn it off, and you can OC higher.for more info on OC and CPU check here http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=59

Thanks for the info. I will be looking for an easy OC guide when I get my rig in. Hopefully this can lead me there.

[Guest c0reym]

If you ever plan to upgrade your CPU to the new 6core i9 chips coming out this year , then i recomend you get an i7920 D0 stepper instead of the i5-750, cause they dont use same kind of mother board.As for raid i would not recomend it, you just need two seperate hard drives , one for OS and other for FSX. Then find out about Ultimatedefrag and how it can help you take advantage of gaving fsx on its own drive. If your raid disk crashes all data is lost. I dont use raid and my system is very smooth.For memory i recomend triple channel ddr3 the perfect size to get is 6gig. With fsx running the system often needs around 4gig (i checked) so you need to have 6 gig for best results. Also get the fastest ram you can afford, cause the faster your ram the more you can OC, 1600Mhz to 2000Mhz.Generally you want a $1200 system you can afford now, but that will allow you to upgrade to a $4000 system as time goes by.So 1 - Get the Mobo that supports the fastest series of intel chip, that is socket 1366 not socket 15662 - Get a case with big powerfull fans like 120mm to 140mm diameter fans , some even have 230mm fans, you gain from this as you start to OC3- And 64bit OS is a must for fsx good performance. like win7 644 - i think 700 watt psu is ok, am using 750 watt

This is good advice!