Hello everyone, I've been lurking for a little while the flight sim bug takes hold. So I'm thinking about building my own home cockpit, but here's the thing. I would like to fly various big jets and prop planes so I don't think that physical controls other than rudder pedals, yoke and thottle quadrant would be needed.Here's what I was thinking, please tell me if this is possible.3 or 4 32" screens for the outside view and 3 or 4 smaller touchscreens for panels, overhead, radio, etc...I have no problem running the panels/gauges off other PCs, as I am very familiar with networking and computers (16 year IT background in networks and servers)It looks like it's possible (ie. simsamurai.com) but the you tube video I've seen of his touchscreen setup only depicts the bigger jets. I would need something that I can switch around depending on what I'm flying. I believe with FSUIPC I can create "presets"Here's the system I'm thinking of purchasing for the FSX computer. I chose an ATI video card, but am open to switch to nVidia. I would purchase the touchscreen and monitor through another source.Case 1 x CoolerMaster HAF 932 Advanced Full Tower Gaming Case-Black Case Lighting 0 x None- iBUYPOWER Labs - Noise Reduction 0 x None- iBUYPOWER Labs - Internal Expansion 1 x [6-Port] NZXT Internal USB Expansion System- Processor 1 x Intel® Core™ i7 3930K Processor (6x 3.20GHz/12MB L3 Cache)- iBUYPOWER PowerDrive 0 x None- Processor Cooling 1 x Asetek 550LC Liquid CPU Cooling System (Intel)-Standard 120mm Fan Memory 1 x 8 GB [2 GB X4] DDR3-1600 Memory Module-Corsair or Major Brand Video Card 1 x AMD Radeon HD 7970 - 3GB-Single Card Video Card Brand 1 x Major Brand Powered by AMD or NVIDIA- Free Stuff 1 x [Free Game Download] - Battlefield 3-Free with purchase of Intel 2500K, 2600K, 2700K, 3930K, or 3960X processor Free Stuff 1 x [Free] Thermaltake eSPORTS CHALLENGER Gaming Keyboard-Free with any desktop purchase over $1499 Motherboard 1 x [3-Way SLI] ASROCK Extreme9 -- 5x PCI-E x16, 8x SATA 6Gb/s, 4x USB 3.0- Power Supply 1 x 1000 Watt - Extreme Gaming Series- Primary Hard Drive 1 x 120 GB ADATA S510 SSD-Single Drive Data Hard Drive 0 x None- Optical Drive 1 x 24X Sony Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Drive-Black 2nd Optical Drive 0 x None- Flash Media Reader / Writer 0 x None- Meter Display 0 x None- USB Expansion 0 x None- Sound Card 1 x Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro- Network Card 1 x Onboard LAN Network (Gb or 10/100)- Operating System 1 x None- Pre-formatted Hard Drive Only- Keyboard 1 x iBUYPOWER USB Keyboard- Mouse 1 x iBUYPOWER Internet Mouse- Monitor 0 x None- 2nd Monitor 0 x None- Speaker System 1 x Logitech Z506 5.1 Surround 3D Sound Speakers + Subwoofer-Black Video Camera 0 x None- Case Engraving Service 1 x Custom Graphics-War Warranty 1 x 3 Year Standard Warranty Service- Rush Service 1 x Rush Service Fee (not shipping fee)-No Rush Service, Estimate Ship Out in 5~10 Business Days Let me know your thoughts. I am open to making changes hardware and software wise.Thanks for reading all this :)

I'm honestly not all that familiar with the 7970 and it's performance in FSX. The general consensus around here is that Nvidia has the best FSX performance. The 7970 is something that hasn't been benchmarked in FSX for these forums. Personally I'd go for the GTX 570 or 580.As far as hard drives go, you'll need more. I would go for a 1TB Caviar Black or Spinpoint F3 for my FSX drive. You'll find 120GB goes rather fast.May I ask what your current selection's cost is? What is your budget?Multi-monitor setups are usually very limited. I'll let someone more versed in this area to comment.

Edited February 10, 201214 yr by ZachLW

I'm honestly not all that familiar with the 7970 and it's performance in FSX. The general consensus around here is that Nvidia has the best FSX performance. The 7970 is something that hasn't been benchmarked in FSX for these forums. Personally I'd go for the GTX 570 or 580.As far as hard drives go, you'll need more. I would go for a 1TB Caviar Black or Spinpoint F3 for my FSX drive. You'll find 120GB goes rather fast.May I ask what your current selection's cost is? What is your budget?Multi-monitor setups are usually very limited. I'll let someone more versed in this area to comment.

That config is $2525 but it doesn't include the screens, and in terms of budget...ummm I guess I would like to keep the whole project under $8k but I can stretch to 10 if need be. It would just take a me a few months longer.