Ok so I've been looking at getting a custom-built PC. I know a great builder who can build me one for a decent work charge. That was gonna be an i5 2500k with a GTX 560 ti. HOWEVER.He's got a PC at his place currently, which he could sell me for around £300 (he's a mate).Simple specs are:CPU - Intel Core2Quad q6600, hopefully overclocked to 3.5ghzGPU - Nvidia 8800 Ultra, may upgrade to GTX 560 tiMobo - Abit AB9-Pro4gb ram, upgrading to 6gigIf I get this I'll be getting REX2 GEX and UTX, UK2000 Heathrow and Gatwick, and some of Aerosoft's Mega Airports. Planes would be the NGX and PMDG 747, QW 757 (already have it).So how would this perform and look, with the addons? For the money I'm seriously tempted... but I could really do with some advice here. This is considering I currently have an awful (for FSX) Acer laptop... any improvement is gonna be significant.

Not well. I came from a Core 2 Quad to an i7 960 and was blown away at what I had been missing. later I upgraded to this Sandy Bridge system and was still impressed. The Core 2 there may do decently with FS9, but not FSX and add ons. Sliders would be left, and for £300 I'd save the money.Get the Sandy Bridge system if you can afford to.

Edited January 19, 201214 yr by ZachLW

Not well. I came from a Core 2 Quad to an i7 960 and was blown away at what I had been missing. later I upgraded to this Sandy Bridge system and was still impressed. The Core 2 there may do decently with FS9, but not FSX and add ons. Sliders would be left, and for £300 I'd save the money.Get the Sandy Bridge system if you can afford to.

Ah. Ok. I can afford to do it but this tempted me. How good is the 8800 Ultra? I don't know if I might be able to use the one he's got in that computer to use with the one I'm getting built.

The 8800 will definitely bottleneck that 2500k system.Tell you friend that you want:

• 2500k
• 560 ti
• 1600MHz RAM
• A good CPU cooler
• Two separate HDDs. One for the system, one for FSX. Preferably Caviar Blacks.

Is your friend going to help overclock?

Edited January 19, 201214 yr by ZachLW

The 8800 will definitely bottleneck that 2500k system.Tell you friend that you want:

• 2500k
• 560 ti
• 1600MHz RAM
• A good CPU cooler
• Two separate HDDs. One for the system, one for FSX. Preferably Caviar Blacks.

Is your friend going to help overclock?

That was pretty much what I was set on anyway. :)Z68 mobo?He's gonna do it all!

Z68 or P67. It's up to you and the features you want or will use. I'll get some eye rolls for saying this, but the Z68 is a more mature chipset. I'd go for that one.

That was pretty much what I was set on anyway. :)Z68 mobo?He's gonna do it all!

Z68 and get a corsair H60 for cooling the CPU. SB is very nice with FSX and frames are through the roof for me.

Thanks a lot for your help peeps. Will the Gigabyte GA-Z68X do?

Honestly I'm not familiar with the Gigabyte Z68 boards, but I hear good things. Factor in how many rear USB 2.0/3.0 ports you need. The SATA connectors are "flat" on this board, which makes SATA cable management nice. Plenty of SATA connectors and a cool all black finish.Will you keep the system for a while? If so, get a PCIe 3.0 capable Z68 board. They are becoming more common and will keep you covered for future GPU upgrades.

So I've decided on these as my final specs:Case - Novatech VulcanCPU - i5 2500k OC'ed to 4.5ghzGPU - Evga GTX 560 ti SuperclockedMobo - Gigabyte GA-Z68XPSU - Corsair Enthusiast TX650 650 WattCooler - Corsair H60Ram - 8GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600mhzHDD - 2x Caviar Black 500gig 600MBps 7200rpm, one for OS and one for FSXBlu Ray/DVD drive - Samsung SH-B123L

Honestly I'm not familiar with the Gigabyte Z68 boards, but I hear good things. Factor in how many rear USB 2.0/3.0 ports you need. The SATA connectors are "flat" on this board, which makes SATA cable management nice. Plenty of SATA connectors and a cool all black finish.Will you keep the system for a while? If so, get a PCIe 3.0 capable Z68 board. They are becoming more common and will keep you covered for future GPU upgrades.

2 USB 2.0 ports. Yeah, I plan to keep this for as long as I can! I just searched a PCle 3.0 and tbh they're probably out of my current price range. Thanks a lot for your help :)

Z68 or P67. It's up to you and the features you want or will use. I'll get some eye rolls for saying this, but the Z68 is a more mature chipset. I'd go for that one.

Z68 is alright. I just don't like all of the extra I/O shield connectors for the VGA and DVI ports.

Thanks a lot for your help peeps. Will the Gigabyte GA-Z68X do?

Honestly, I prefer the P67 due to the cleaness of the I/O shield. The other features that Z68 incorporates are useless for me. I also prefer name "P67"... As wierd as that may sound.

Edited January 19, 201214 yr by benorg

So I've decided on these as my final specs:Case - Novatech VulcanCPU - i5 2500k OC'ed to 4.5ghzGPU - Evga GTX 560 ti SuperclockedMobo - Gigabyte GA-Z68XPSU - Corsair Enthusiast TX650 650 WattCooler - Corsair H60Ram - 8GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600mhzHDD - 2x Caviar Black 500gig 600MBps 7200rpm, one for OS and one for FSXBlu Ray/DVD drive - Samsung SH-B123L2 USB 2.0 ports. Yeah, I plan to keep this for as long as I can! I just searched a PCle 3.0 and tbh they're probably out of my current price range. Thanks a lot for your help :)

Looking good. Though the case may leave you in want. Also, can I suggest a modular PSU for that case?Cable management is really going to be a bear in that chassis. Ironically enough, it becomes much more critical in that chassis as well. Airflow is going to be important, and fan options and space are limited. Just a thought!

Edited January 19, 201214 yr by ZachLW

Z68 is alright. I just don't like all of the extra I/O shield connectors for the VGA and DVI ports.Honestly, I prefer the P67 due to the cleaness of the I/O shield. The other features that Z68 incorporates are useless for me. I also prefer name "P67"... As wierd as that may sound.

I'm sure it'll do, I've only ever had this Acer laptop to run FSX so running it on this new PC and through an LG LCD as the monitor with REX GEX and UTX should hopefully be awesome!

Looking good. Though the case may leave you in want. Also, can I suggest a modular PSU for that case?Cable management is really going to be a bear in that case. Ironically enough, it becomes much more critical in this case as well. Airflow is going to be important, and fan options and space are limited. Just a thought!

Hmm. I'll send the chap another email just to see if he can find something better. Thanks. :)

There are plenty affordable Gen3 (PCIe 3.0) boardshttp://www.newegg.co...82E16813131792R EDIT: just noticed this one is open boxhttp://www.newegg.co...N82E16813157271http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813157265

Edited January 19, 201214 yr by dazz

There are plenty affordable Gen3 (PCIe 3.0) boardshttp://www.newegg.co...82E16813131792R EDIT: just noticed this one is open boxhttp://www.newegg.co...N82E16813157271http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813157265

There must be some kind of sale on there, I searched for a UK version of that and the Gen3 ones were £140-ish