Hi everybody. First of all, I assume that this would be the most asked question in thr forum, but please bear with me. I am looking to buy a new desktop for FSX, and I dont know where to turn. I have looked at the Alienware offerings, but I think that $3,000 on a new computer is a bit much :P . Does anyone have good suggestions for a Desktop that will run FSX at a solid 30 FPS at a large airport and will not break the bank? Thanks!hamoody

Get an i7-2600k CPU. They´re somehow cheap and give you 4,5-4,8 GHz. But you have to wait till Intel rereleases them.

Get an i7-2600k CPU. They´re somehow cheap and give you 4,5-4,8 GHz. But you have to wait till Intel rereleases them.

When will they release it?

When will they release it?

Well, everything is ok with the CPU´s, but the respective MOBO´s are faulty. They have problems with the SATA ports and HDD´s getting slower after time. AFAIK the new revised MOBO´s will be launched in april, but no guarantee on that.

Hi. Thanks for the reply. I found this one on HP and coustomized it a bit. Do you think this will work ( with components avaliable now). As I said, I am looking for around 25 FPS at large airports. Thanks! Also, please minimize the Tech lingo. Im not as computer-savvy as some people! Operating systemGenuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-biteditProcessorAMD Phenom X4 970 quad-core processor [3.5GHz, 2MB L2 + 6MB L3 shared, up to 4000MHz]editMemoryFREE UPGRADE! 6GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM [3 DIMMs] from 4GBeditHard driveFREE UPGRADE! 1TB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive from 750GBeditOffice softwareNo additional office softwareeditSecurity softwareNorton Internet Security 2011 - 15 montheditGraphics card1GB DDR3 AMD Radeon HD 6450 [DVI, HDMI. VGA adapter]editPrimary optical driveLightScribe 16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti driveeditNetworkingIntegrated Ethernet port, No wireless LANeditFront Productivity Port15-in-1 memory card reader, 1 USB, 1394, audioeditTV & entertainment experienceNo TV TunereditSound CardIntegrated soundeditKeyboard and MouseHP USB keyboard and optical mouseedit

Hi. Thanks for the reply. I found this one on HP and coustomized it a bit. Do you think this will work ( with components avaliable now). As I said, I am looking for around 25 FPS at large airports. Thanks! Also, please minimize the Tech lingo. Im not as computer-savvy as some people! Operating systemGenuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-biteditProcessorAMD Phenom™ X4 970 quad-core processor [3.5GHz, 2MB L2 + 6MB L3 shared, up to 4000MHz]editMemoryFREE UPGRADE! 6GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM [3 DIMMs] from 4GBeditHard driveFREE UPGRADE! 1TB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive from 750GBeditOffice softwareNo additional office softwareeditSecurity softwareNorton Internet Security™ 2011 - 15 montheditGraphics card1GB DDR3 AMD Radeon HD 6450 [DVI, HDMI. VGA adapter]editPrimary optical driveLightScribe 16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti driveeditNetworkingIntegrated Ethernet port, No wireless LANeditFront Productivity Port15-in-1 memory card reader, 1 USB, 1394, audioeditTV & entertainment experienceNo TV TunereditSound CardIntegrated soundeditKeyboard and MouseHP USB keyboard and optical mouseedit

It looks pritty good, but I can´t really guess what the performance on big airports with this CPU will be. This will be dfferent to scenery and plane used. Another tip might be that if this goes, change to an Black edition CPU, cause it has a open multiplier, so it´s easy to overclock. A little question: Why don´t you get an Intel CPU? It will be a bit faster even on 4 GHz due to the different way Intel CPU´s work. But nervertheless on 4 GHz it will be good. Or maybe you wait some months to bet the new revised Intel Sandy Bridges or the AMD Bulldozer.I forgot: Get a nVidia grafic card, it´s better than every ATI will be in regarding to AA:

Why don't you build your own computer? Cheapest and best bang for the buck. And forget AMD and everything else right now for FSX: i7-2600K is the way to go for FSX.If you want, people will give you enough suggestions what to buy, components-wise.Concerning mainboard problems, true, they are here, but will get your mainboard replaced whenever it comes out, and there are unaffected ports you can use.Prebuilt systems, like the one you suggested will suck on FSX, primarily for the CPU and GPU that are in there. No 25fps achievable with this.

It looks pritty good, but I can´t really guess what the performance on big airports with this CPU will be. This will be dfferent to scenery and plane used. Another tip might be that if this goes, change to an Black edition CPU, cause it has a open multiplier, so it´s easy to overclock. A little question: Why don´t you get an Intel CPU? It will be a bit faster even on 4 GHz due to the different way Intel CPU´s work. But nervertheless on 4 GHz it will be good. Or maybe you wait some months to bet the new revised Intel Sandy Bridges or the AMD Bulldozer.I forgot: Get a nVidia grafic card, it´s better than every ATI will be in regarding to AA:

Hi. thanks for the help. I seems than an Intel CPU is not avaliable with this comouter on the HP website (where you configure it). Also, what do you mean by 'Black Edition?' By the way, all this is under $900, so not bad at all!

Why don't you build your own computer? Cheapest and best bang for the buck. And forget AMD and everything else right now for FSX: i7-2600K is the way to go for FSX.If you want, people will give you enough suggestions what to buy, components-wise.Concerning mainboard problems, true, they are here, but will get your mainboard replaced whenever it comes out, and there are unaffected ports you can use.Prebuilt systems, like the one you suggested will suck on FSX, primarily for the CPU and GPU that are in there. No 25fps achievable with this.

Hey. Thanks for the reply, but I dont have the skill to build my own computer, and I am afraid I will mess something up. I do, however, have a Computer 'Wiz' here who has his own store/ pc repair shop, so I think that he could do that for me. Any hardware reccomendations would be appreciated! Also, what kind of FPS are you getting with your system (noted in your signature) and how much did you pay for it?

ASUS is supposedly already shipping new motherboards. Of course, how long it will take them to trickle down into a store near you, I don't know...

I like to buy all my components from Newegg!My linkThe system in my sig cost me around $1,300 and was built for the sole purpose of overclocking my cpu. Knowing which components to get might be a bit confusing at first. Basically you wanna make sure the cpu and motherboard are compatible. For example, for a 1366 socket cpu you wanna make sure you have a 1366 socket Motherbaord. You would want ddr3 ram (240 pin). Nvidia's 500 series are the best vid cards at the moment. The 400 series would be the next best. Of course you would need a power supply to power all your new components(I would recommend atleast a 750 watt power supply for one vid card. 850 if you plan to overclock, and put a butch of fans and stuff in your case) And ofcourse you need all your drives etc. Its best to have a drive solely dedicated to FSX! Oh and dont forget the after market cpu cooler! I use the CoolerMaster V8, and it does a good job of keeping my temps down, even @4.00ghzAfter you get your new rig built, here is an excelent guide on getting the most out of your new system:My linkAlso Here's a good guide on overclocking the Intel Core I7's, and there is also a link on overclocking the Sandybridge in case you decide to wait for the new motherboards:My linkBest of luck in getting your new system.Chris,

Thanks again for the response guys. Upon giving it some thought, I have decided not to opt for building a computer. I do not want to ask someone else to do it or me (with pay, of course, but It wouldnt feel right) and I personally dont have the time or skill to do it myself. So, what I am asking is, what would be a computer on the market today that will give my good FSX performance and not cost $3000. Thanks

I do not want to ask someone else to do it or me (with pay, of course, but It wouldnt feel right) and I personally dont have the time or skill to do it myself.

You live in the US?You can have a shop build it for you and its not very expensive. I have the time, but frankly didn't have the interest to build my rig, so I just bought all the components and had MicroCenter in Dallas put it together for me. The built it in a day and installed Windows while they were at it and it only cost like $85 or somewhere around that price for them to do it. There a few fellows on Avsim that swear by Jetline systems for FSX rigs that are aready built for the sim specifically. I'd stay clear of HP and the likes for a sim computer though.

Hey. Thanks for the reply, but I dont have the skill to build my own computer, and I am afraid I will mess something up. I do, however, have a Computer 'Wiz' here who has his own store/ pc repair shop, so I think that he could do that for me. Any hardware reccomendations would be appreciated! Also, what kind of FPS are you getting with your system (noted in your signature) and how much did you pay for it?

I don't know where you are from, and I can hardly tell you how much I paid for mine: since I only buy relevant components when it comes to an upgrade. And I have watercooling which I always keep, sometimes change a cooler or a holder.I can only tell you that this system, motherboard, CPU, GPU and RAM last time cost me around 1000€.But as for the basic components, it's really easy: Asus P6P67 or similar, 2600K + GTX580, RAM you can pick up on forum, which brand and speed... rest, you just ask, or just take biggest and nastiest cooler :Big Grin: Btw. Noctua are really good...

I don't know where you are from, and I can hardly tell you how much I paid for mine: since I only buy relevant components when it comes to an upgrade. And I have watercooling which I always keep, sometimes change a cooler or a holder.I can only tell you that this system, motherboard, CPU, GPU and RAM last time cost me around 1000€.But as for the basic components, it's really easy: Asus P6P67 or similar, 2600K + GTX580, RAM you can pick up on forum, which brand and speed... rest, you just ask, or just take biggest and nastiest cooler :Big Grin: Btw. Noctua are really good...

Thanks for the info. AHHHHH! I dont know what to do! Build a computer, or buy a prebuilt. I would like to have my computer built, but my family (I am 15, everything has to filter through them) says that paying someone to build you a computer is 'unacceptable'. My parents have compared it to saying that you are going to get a real, Homebuilt light aircraft kit, then hiring someone else to build it for you. I am new-ish to the in depth tech world, and is this the case? Is having someone else build you a computer a thing that people do? Pardon my ignorance! hamoody

Hi. thanks for the help. I seems than an Intel CPU is not avaliable with this comouter on the HP website (where you configure it). Also, what do you mean by 'Black Edition?' By the way, all this is under $900, so not bad at all!

"Black Edition" means that this CPU´s are made for easy overclocking via an open multiplier.In general the speed of a CPU comes from 2 things: Firstly the base clock speed of the CPU core, mine was default at 333,33MHz and the multiplier, which multipiles this speed to the final CPU seed. My CPU had a base clock of 333,33 MHz and an multiplier ranging from 6 to 7,5. so the default CPU speed I can archive is 333,33MHz *7,5 = 2500MHz or 2,5 GHz. Overclocked I have a base clock of 400MHz, so I can get 400MHz*7,5 = 3000GHz. So an open multipiler lets you to set the value with which the base clock gets multipiled, so it´s easy to overclock and you can get better overclocking results. Check out this http://en.wikipedia....microprocessors