No..Back plate won't come with the MB.. I was actually talking about the metal cross thing that holds the cooler to the four female holes in the CPU corner. If your existing one is adjustable for the 1155MB Socket 1155 then you should be fine. If not you need to call the cooler vendor and ask them to mail you one.

 

If you are buying a new HD get the 6MB SATA III. There is no price difference between this and the earlier version so go the big number.. :)

 

But if you have your old HD use it for your OS. Not sure if its worth getting a new HD just for the SATA III. Although I did get a new 1TB HD for the extra photoscenery. I always have use for HDs. I have one of those USB docking stations which I use all the old SATA HD with for backup. I take C: drive OS image backup, I take my FSX backup, I even keep at least two copies of my photosceneries. For the c: drive image I keep atleast three generations... current (Child), father and grandfather. I am paranoid of virus hit. I have been burned before.... So I have Acronis backup system in place. Reinstalling FSX is a nightmare with so many addons. I am also into Photography....So I need HDs. :)

 

Ok, you are referring to the backing plate that goes underneath the motherboard and it's used to secure the CPU's heatsink to the motherboard? If that's it, then I don't know if my existing one is compatible. I wonder if buying an aftermarket cooler for the new CPU will bring that plate? If not, I guess I need to contact CoolerMaster ahead of time. Damn.

Thanks for the list. I was looking around for ~100 dollar cases- what do you think about the Antec P280? Any other recommendations besides the one that you listed?

 

Im kinda late but if you still want one... Corsair 400R Carbide. You'll see me recommending it everywhere, excellent quality and design.

Hey Manny, you think I could get away with a system that has a Samsung 64GB Sata III SSD for the OS and a Samsung 128GB Sata III SSD for FSX?

Also Manny, I think I will go with this memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=20-147-096

 

It's getting awesome reviews in places like HardForum and Overclockers.net...

Hey Manny, you think I could get away with a system that has a Samsung 64GB Sata III SSD for the OS and a Samsung 128GB Sata III SSD for FSX?

 

You are crowding yourself. Get one SSD 256 for your FSX and use any good old HD for your OS. or don't get any SSDs... Video card and SSD's can be upgraded at a later time. For now, if you want to keep your budget tight... just get the good CPU, MB and memory

 

And that memory is 1600. That extra $50 you may have to spend to get a 2400 memory like the GSKILL Trident 2400 (2 X 4Gg) could give you 3-5 extra FPS which IMO, is a low hanging fruit to pluck.

 

or if you old memory is dual channel and its compatiable with your MB use that for now...you can upgrade later. But don't buy any new 1600 memory for Ivy Bridge CPU.

 

this way your upgrade is limited for $400 for now..and all the other things you can slowly add over a time.. and who knows, that video card and SSD prices could drop further.. it has to. But thats financial planning which you are the best to do.

 

Manny

That RAM easily overclocks to 2133 in every reported case I have seen thus far, and 2400 with more voltage. It's definitely worth the cost.

You are crowding yourself. Get one SSD 256 for your FSX and use any good old HD for your OS. or don't get any SSDs... Video card and SSD's can be upgraded at a later time. For now, if you want to keep your budget tight... just get the good CPU, MB and memory

 

And that memory is 1600. That extra $50 you may have to spend to get a 2400 memory like the GSKILL Trident 2400 (2 X 4Gg) could give you 3-5 extra FPS which IMO, is a low hanging fruit to pluck.

 

or if you old memory is dual channel and its compatiable with your MB use that for now...you can upgrade later. But don't buy any new 1600 memory for Ivy Bridge CPU.

 

this way your upgrade is limited for $400 for now..and all the other things you can slowly add over a time.. and who knows, that video card and SSD prices could drop further.. it has to. But thats financial planning which you are the best to do.

 

Manny

 

What TechguyMaxC said below, Manny... Lots of places are raving on the overclocking capabilities of this memory set.

 

That RAM easily overclocks to 2133 in every reported case I have seen thus far, and 2400 with more voltage. It's definitely worth the cost.

 

Yup, plus being Samsung memory and the new 30nm technology, the OC overhead is amazing. Also, it does not come with those fancy heatsinks and sits extremely low on it's sockets, which helps a ton when installing big heatsinks on the CPU.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147096

 

Someone posted that he was able to run it stable at 2133MHz with timings of 9-10-10-27-1T @ 1.47v... Others have it running at 2400MHz @ 1.6v...

I considered getting some of that RAM, but in the end I decided to go for the sure thing and get the G.Skill Trident X 2800MHz 8GB kit that was recently in-stock at Newegg for all of an hour or two. I paid an arm and a leg for it but with as much as I have into my build already it really doesn't matter :lol:

I considered getting some of that RAM, but in the end I decided to go for the sure thing and get the G.Skill Trident X 2800MHz 8GB kit that was recently in-stock at Newegg for all of an hour or two. I paid an arm and a leg for it but with as much as I have into my build already it really doesn't matter :lol:

 

LOL Nice!!! I can always do the same thing down the road, since this memory only cost me $49 bucks...

I considered getting some of that RAM, but in the end I decided to go for the sure thing and get the G.Skill Trident X 2800MHz 8GB kit that was recently in-stock at Newegg for all of an hour or two. I paid an arm and a leg for it but with as much as I have into my build already it really doesn't matter :lol:

 

I still remember that thread of yours asking how would an AMD Llano perform in FSX haha. Whatever happened to your budget, I want some of that for my next upgrade

You Betcha. I see you have three 24" monitor? Are they all same make and model? In that case a GTX670 would justice to those three monitors and you don't need the tripletogo thingi. But the three monitor setup does pays a big FPS price. My setpup initially with one 24" had 30FPS locked and smooth as butter with many addons and AI aircrafts etc...but then when I added 2 more 24" which gives a spectaculr wide view, I had to cut down elsehwere to get reasonable FPS. Not sure if you use your triple to go with a lower resolution on 3 monitors if you can save on Frames.

 

 

Manny,

 

Tell me a little more about your 3 monitor setup. I have two Dell 2407WFP (which are excellent) and a side monitor, Dell 1800 ultrasharp, that I use for maps, and undocked windows that I slide over for reference. I also use the 18" for my Aivlasoft EFB display. I can find a 3rd used 2407WFP and have a killer matched 3 monitors. If so, what could I expect with your recommended system (i5 3750, 8GB 2400 memory) with a GTX 680 card.

 

I'm interested in which slider settings you use with your 3 Dell monitors, Is there any special setup for using the 3 DVI connected monitors with FSX?

 

Thanks,

 

Ray

 

I still remember that thread of yours asking how would an AMD Llano perform in FSX haha. Whatever happened to your budget, I want some of that for my next upgrade

 

Haha, I remember that thread as well. At the time, the budget didn't allow for anything more but let's just say getting married has some benefits aside from the obvious and leave it at that ;)

Any advice on selecting a 750w PSU for a new rig. I am looking at Amazon Prime and the Corsair Enthu Series TX750 V2 80 + and the CoolerMaster GX 750W seems to be in the same ballpark for price. Anyone got a tie breaker or reason to select one over the other - other than price? Is there a 3rd choice I should be looking at?

 

Ray

I'm interested in which slider settings you use with your 3 Dell monitors, Is there any special setup for using the 3 DVI connected monitors with FSX?

 

Yes..it will take a hit with three monitors.. I am hoping of all hopes that nvidia drivers would help with this eventually. The hit like someone else posted is around 25-30% of FPS over a single monitor setup

 

I had pretty much all settings to the right except cars and boats. I also had water 2.low and no Bloom. But I had good F1 UT 2 AI (maybe 70%), Orbx and other Airport addons and REX etc and got 30FPS locked in a single monitor. But now with three...it drops down to 22FPS sometime like in EHAM with 737NG, it drops down to 11FPS... But guess what... its still flyable.

 

So you still have to compromise somewhere with 3 monitor setup. I still haven't decided where I need to cut down. :)

 

Manny

Yes..it will take a hit with three monitors.. I am hoping of all hopes that nvidia drivers would help with this eventually. The hit like someone else posted is around 25-30% of FPS over a single monitor setup

 

I had pretty much all settings to the right except cars and boats. I also had water 2.low and no Bloom. But I had good F1 UT 2 AI (maybe 70%), Orbx and other Airport addons and REX etc and got 30FPS locked in a single monitor. But now with three...it drops down to 22FPS sometime like in EHAM with 737NG, it drops down to 11FPS... But guess what... its still flyable.

 

So you still have to compromise somewhere with 3 monitor setup. I still haven't decided where I need to cut down. :)

 

Manny

 

Thanks for the info. Is there anything special for setup for the 3 monitors other than identical, all DVI connections, and 'Extend these displays' w/multiple monitors selected?

 

New question: What is the preferred sequence to building a new rig. Like 1. Install PSU in Case, or 1. Install cooling fans, then PSU, then MB, then memory, etc.

 

Ray