Hi all,I've been flightsiming for the last 6 yrs now but always on high street purchased machines. I cant afford to buy a decent off the shelf machine but am in dyer need of a new dedicated FSX machine.I have set a budget of £800 to buy everything i need to build a new tower. I am ready to purchase now but don't know where's best to buy or what to buy for that matter. I was hoping if I said what i wanted to achieve someone with experience would be able to tell me what i needed.I want to run a 3 monitor system with FSX settings on high achieving a good stable frame rate. the machine will be FSX dedicated. Ready to purchase now within the UK (need to buy from UK suppliers / world wide but UK Shipping). I need to have WiFi. I would like to have a decent sound card to support surround sound (that i will purchase at a later date). I would like it to be easy to upgrade E.g. Buy a new graphics card next year and it fit straight in. I would like to overclock at a safe limit so want really good cooling but not water cooling. I'm not fussed on having a glammy looking case, I would like something slightly nicer than a call centre office machine but aesthetic looks is the lowest priority. I would like a full size case though not a really small one. Hopefully this is achievable with the 800 pounds. if i have missed anything please let me know. Many thanksMark

This site is pretty good for UK I believe... I'm from the US but I've seen this link posted a bunch of times:http://www.overclockers.co.uk/As far as components:Motherboard - Z68-based, example:http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-457-ASCPU - i5 2500K (if you end up using different games get the i7 2600K - but make sure there's a "K" at the end of the model - this is the unlocked multiplier)RAM - 4GB DDR3 12800 at a minimum, with lowest possible timings, example (I prefer 8GB):http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MY-061-GS&groupid=701&catid=8&subcat=1517a note about the ram heatsinks - Depending on what type of CPU cooler you purchase you may need to buy RAM with smaller heatsinks - some won't clear the fins on a huge CPU coolerVideo card (GPU) - GTX 560ti, 570, or GTX 580 (I might go with a 580 if you run 3 monitors... you might need to purchase TH2Go... not sure about that)http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-081-GI&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1812Hard drives self explanatory... I have an SSD and while it was pricey it's worth it to ME for the decreased load times. (Load time of about 20 seconds initially with payware addons from Win7 boot).CPU Cooler - Check out Corsair liquid cooler line (H60/70/80/100 will help solve the RAM heatsink issue):http://www.corsair.com/cooling/hydro-series.htmlOR try the Noctua DH14 (careful about tall ram heatsinks):http://www.noctua.at/main.php?show=productview&products_id=34&lng=enMOST IMPORTANT - Power Supply - Major brands are best, Seasonic, Corsair, OCZ, You want at least 600w with that system, I'd go 700 myself (I use 750 seasonic x)http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817151102&cm_re=seasonic-_-17-151-102-_-Product

thats an excellent start appreciate the input. Big help :D i would prob stay clear of liquid cooling but this is great :Dany other suggestions would also be appreciated too :)

No prob...RE: the water cooling... Don't be afraid of Corsair's line, they're not what you'd think of as water cooling or liquid cooling units. They don't have all the fancy hoses and required maintenance. They are all closed loop no maintenance.Also for a good case look at the Corsair 650D, Coolermaster HAF932, etchttp://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-237-CM&groupid=701&catid=7&subcat=29

What are ppls opinions on this...System Specification- Power Supply: OCZ StealthXStream II 600w will change to 750w- CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K 3.30GHz overclocked to 4.40GHz- Motherboard: Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard- Cooler: Xigmatek Dark Knight CPU Cooler- RAM: 4GB DDR3 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit will change to 8GB- Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6GB/s- Graphics Card: GeForce GTX 560 1024MB GDDR5- Sound: Realtek 7.1 Channel Sound (On-Board)- Optical Drive: LG DVD+/-RW SATA Driveand thanks for the liquid cooling post... i didnt no that, i thought it was all liquid changes and hoses lol.... shows how much i know

Yeah it's really a neat little unit... the larger rad sits on one of your fans... here's my H60. The newer H100 (just came out) uses two fans at affixes to the top of your case so you'd need holes up there. I'm not sure if it mounts to the rear if you have two fans...System looks good but I might get a better video card if you want to run FSX at a large resolution of 3 screens...

looks awesome! Yeah i forgot to mention will upgrade the card too

I second every bit of Ryan's advice... except the OCZ PSU recommendation. Personally, I wouldn't buy anything made by OCZ except an SSD. I haven't had a bad experience personally with OCZ, but that's probably because I've read enough bad reports on OCZ products to steer clear of them....dons flamesuitRegarding the 650D - I have one as well and aside from a couple very minor complaints, it's a work of art! I love it. But yeah, it's going to put a good dent in your 800 budget.It's very hard for me to resist the urge to tell you to get the H100. Especially when the H60 is plenty sufficient... but if your budget magically grows, that's going to become the cooler to beat.Anyway. Looks like you have most of your priorities right. I would save the sound card for when you actually get your surround sound setup. Onboard sound is just fine these days... but then again I don't think I'm an audiophile.

I had an OCZ PSU in my AMD rig for 5 years, no issues. Seemed stable enough. But that was then, this is now. Also I noticed at the OC UK site they didnt even list Seasonic or the nicer Corsair units like the AX850... which is sorta why I default to OCZ recommendation hehe... I would definitely get a Seasonic or Corsair unit before OCZ.PC Power and Cooling is another decent manufacturer - I see they have one unit @ OC UKEDIT: DoH! Nevermind, they have all the nice Corsair units... check out this one OP:http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-027-CS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1084OR this lesser one (without modular cables)http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-038-CS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1084

Mark,Can we get a bigger allowance??? I have made a few compromises but I'm still way over budget. Here's what I have looking only at overclockers.co.uk (this is including vat):

Oh yeah, the budget lol! I forgot about that part!

I'd look at a GPU with more VRAM than the 1GB 560. I am running 3 Monitors right now, and using about 2.2 GB of VRAM. Maybe get one of the new 2GB models of the 560, like this one.

I spoke to Sunny at Overclockers. Guy knows his stuff! Anyway, We spoke about what i wanted to do and how much i had to spend. I also told him everyones comments from this topic and we made alterations based on his experience and your comments and post to do with your system and ive purchased a system for £899.01p. its the same spec as the system i posted earlier but with the 8GB of Ram, The 570 Gfx card and a 700W power supply. The system will be here friday. I originally wanted to build it my self but as i have waited two yrs to get a new system and finally got a small bonus from work i wont be able to have a new one for a few more yrs and at the risk of 'balls-ing it up' i decided to let them build it and overclock it for me. If they do it, it still has a 12 month warranty. Im sure i may get mixed opionions on this outcome but hey ho!PS thanks for everyones input's. they did contribute to the alterations and spec. Really appreciate the great response.

899 and they're building it for you? And it includes the 570?! I don't know my £ from my $ too well, but it sounds like you have done very well, Mark. Congratulations! Do you void the warranty if you overclock it further?

Based on today's rate £899.01 = $1436.83All built for me by OCUK. Overclocked and tested by themToo. sunny really new his stuff! I'm very happy with the purchase. They did say that further overclocking would void the warranty. They said they really don't recommend it either, if it's clocked to what they recommend it's generally at that limit for a reason. Includes the 570 card which is 1.5gb of ram and overclocked equiv to the next 40-50 pound card up. Upgraded psu to a 700w and upgraded to 8gb of ram (2x4gb sticks)He said it will be a genuinely ripping tower for fsx = big smile and hours of simming! Plus moaning from the fiancé haha!