Hello there,

 

I am planning to buy a new rig and after hours of looking for a compromise between price and performance, I've found a computer for 750 pounds, that I think is reliable for FSX. However, I'd like to ask whether anything should be changed in the setup:

 

• Intel Core i5 2500k Quad Core,

• Asrock H61M-VS Motherboard,

• 8GB DDR3 Corsair 1600 (2 x 4Gb),

• Creative OEM SB Audigy SE,

• Corsair Hydro H80 High-Performance Liquid CPU Cooler,

• DVD+/- RW - 24X (Pioneer DVR-S19LBK),

• 1000Gb SATA Hard Drive SATA 3,

• 120Gb SSD SATA Solid state hard drive,

• 52-In-1 Internal Card Reader,

• ATI HD 6850 1024MB,

• CiT 2206 Black Midi Case with 500W PSU,

• Powercool 650W High Efficiency Black PSU,

• TP-link wireless PCIE adaptor TL-WN781ND,

• 12 Months Warranty

 

Although, I do have a certain dilemma. The company doesn't offer NVIDIA cards. As you can tell from the list above, I've chosen an ATI HD 6850 1024MB. The description on the website is very v a g ue (never knew that this word would get censored), but I assume the card is by Sapphire. Question is, will that card run ATI on good enough details? Another option I was contemplating was 2 x ATI HD 6670 1024MB or alternatively a very cheaper option, ATI Radeon HD 4870x2 2048MB.

 

Obviously, I am buying this "rig" if you can call it that, in mind with overclocking. Would this setup be suitable for overclocking and could I push the magical 4.5GhZ or around out of it? I'm sure it's capable of doing that, after seeing hundreds of videos and asking people whether it can be done, and apparently the results were higher than satisfactory. And could this set up be quiet at all? In all fairness, I don't want my machine to sound like AN225. :Hypnotized:

 

Looking forward to your advice. Thank you, kind regards.

I have built rigs using ATI cards and NVidia cards, and while I loved the ATI cards for other games, I would never use them in an FSX rig again. If I was you I would wait until I could affort a computer from a company offering an NVidia card, or perhaps look at building one myself so that I could select the ideal components. If you're decided you will definitely going to buy from this company, perhaps go with one of the cheaper GPU options, and plan on replacing it with an NVidia card later.

 

The components of this rig look like they should be good for overclocking. The 2500k is one of the best bang for buck processors for FSX out there. The noise shouldn't be too bad from the H80, and you can make it quieter by lowering the speed of the fans, or replacing them with quieter ones at a later date.

Thanks for your advice. I've been reading that ATI's aren't ideal for FSX before, but I kind of passed this fact as I was looking for a compromise between price and quality, and after browsing the website in a bit of detail, I eventually found they do sell Nvidia cards, their website was just a bit weird to browse around. Eventually, I reached the conclusion that Nvidia 550Ti is affordable, and I've been contemplating whether I can achieve good results with this card in FSX? The 560Ti is much more expensive sadly. That would be the best of options I suppose...

There will always be some option or configuration out there that would work better, no matter what you put in the computer. Get the best NVidia card you can afford. Going with an ATI card isn't a compromise between price and quality (when it comes to FSX), it's giving up on quality all together. I've used ATI cards, and they become complete slideshows if there are any clouds whatsoever. They're great for other games, I personally find their drivers easier to use, and I prefer Eyefinity to Surround, but for FSX, they just don't cut the mustard.

I see, I have an ATI right now, can't really complain, but a vast majority I've seen say that ATI is not ideal for FSX, so they must be right. So then, overall is 550Ti a good card for FSX? It is possibly the maximum that I can afford, I could go for the 560Ti, but I'm not sure whether I can spend additional 100 pounds. The 550Ti is a much responsible option for me right now when it comes to cash.

I'm not personally familiar with how the 550ti runs FSX, and there aren't any FSMark11 results with it, so I don't know exactly how it will run. I would imagine that it would do a good job though, and that it would handily beat a comparably priced ATI card.

GTX 550 is a mid-range card. It will run FSX alright, but don't expect to run high levels of AA with it. Could you get the PC with no graphics card pre-installed and just get your own graphics card and put it in yourself? It would likely be cheaper and give you a better system all around.

I know GTX card are better in FSX . But i do have to say that AMD HD RADEON are not bad at all . I herd all kind of thing that these card don't like fsx cloud but i run AMD HD card an i get great performance from clouds an graphic . But i do admit GTX are the best for FSX but AMD works like a charm to .