Hi Everyone

 

I'm a long term lurker around these parts!

 

After several years of happy FS2004 simming, the time has come to step up to FSX. But before a software change can happen, a big hardware refresh is required.

 

I've been reading many threads and guides about this for some time, but a lot of this is very unfamiliar territory to me!

 

I set myself a budget of £1,000 that I really cannot exceed, and that has to be for absolutely everything.

 

So, I've come up with a shopping list! And I would really appreciate those who know more about this than me casting an eye over it and letting me know your thoughts, any room for potential improvement within budget, and any other thoughts you may have about the parts I've chosen.

 

I know full well that I'm not going to be able to run everything at max - neither do I want to. What I do want, is a massive increase in visual eye-candy over FS9 as well as playable frame rates which make it enjoyable and smooth most of the time! I want to be able to use add on airports, aircraft and things like REX to fly in challenging weather without the system grinding to a stutter!

 

Anyway, enough of my ramblings! Here is my shopping list:

 

CPU

Intel i5 2500K (to be overclocked once I know what I'm doing!)

 

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/intel-core-i5-2500k-unlocked-s1155-sandy-bridge-quad-33ghz-hd3000-igp-850mhz-6mb-cache-95w-retail

 

£167

 

MOBO

Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3-B3

 

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/gigabyte-ga-p67a-ud3-b3-intel-p67-s-1155-ddr3-sata-iii-6gb-s-raid-sata-pcie-20-(x16)-atx

 

£96

 

RAM

8GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1866MHz

 

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/8gb-(2x4gb)-corsair-ddr3-vengeance-jet-black-pc3-14900-(1866)-non-ecc-cas-9-10-9-27-xmp-150v

 

£39

 

GPU

Gigabyte GeForce GTX660Ti (comes with free "Borderlands 2" - nice little bonus!)

 

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/16-08-2gb-gigabyte-gv-n66toc-2gd-geforce-gtx-660ti-2gb-w-borderlands

 

£250

 

HDD

1TB Western Digital 7,200RPM

 

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1tb-western-digital-wd1003fbyx-re4-enterprise-24x7-35-hdd-sata-ii-3gb-s-7200rpm-64mb-cache-ncq

 

£78

 

PSU

Corsair TX750

 

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/750w-corsair-enthusiast-series-tx750m-modular-85-eff-80-plus-bronze-sli-crossfire-eps-12v-quiet-fan-

 

£89

 

CPU Cooler

Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO

 

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/cooler-master-hyper-212-evo-4-heat-pipes-direct-contact-with-120mm-quiet-fan-lga775-1155-1156-1366-a

 

£27

 

Case

Corsair Carbide 300R

 

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/corsair-carbide-series-300r-black-mid-tower-gaming-performance-case-with-usb-30-w-o-psu

 

£59

 

OS

Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

 

£73

 

 

So, all in all, coming in at £878, leaving just over £100 for extras, and paying my friend in whiskey who will build the thing for me!

 

I don't need a monitor as I have a 26" HD TV which is not being used, which I plan to use for FSX. Does anyone else use an actual LCD TV for gaming? Any thoughts or potential problems with this? It's full HD and only a couple of years old.

 

Also, the case can accommodate 6 120mm fans and comes with 2 included. Will I need to buy any extra fans to put in the case with a dedicated CPU cooler as well?

 

I think that's about it! As I said I'd really appreciate some input from you guys about whether I've got the best I can get for my budget with this set up. I'm open to new ideas and suggestions.

 

Cheers

Martin

£167

 

MOBO

Gigabyte GA-P67A-UD3-B3

 

I've never been a fan of Junkabyte due to past experiences with them. I reccomend something the Asus P8Z77-V.

OK thanks Ben. Seems about the same price as the Gigabyte - what are the differences? Motherboards mean nothing to me!

 

What are your thoughts on the rest of the shopping list? Anything inherently wrong with the other components I've chosen? Anything you can do better for the money?

 

Cheers

Martin

It just means Ben prefers Asus. Gigabyte is a fine product. Been using them for years.

 

Just pick a top gaming brand with features you want and you will be fine. ASRock, Asus, Gigabyte, even MSI.

 

I do recommend you NOT buy newly released motherboards however. Get a motherboard that has been out with some revisions and bios updates to iron out all the kinks.

Thanks for your input also.

 

Martin

Martin

 

I'm not going to advise you on what hardware to get but I will give you one tip ... I see your in the UK so try PC Specialist (http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/) for your PC, I could not build a system for the price they do it for and you can design what you want yourself via their web site or give them a ring.

 

My last PC came from them after a tip from a friend ... there good ... very good, shame I dont get any commission LOL.

 

What ever you get happy flying.

 

Rich

what are the differences?

 

The Asus motherboard has an easy to use UEFI BIOS. - This greatly simplifies the process of overclocking and gives the user a much more presentable user interface to manipulate.

 

Also, Asus provides AI Suite software that can allow you to manipulate BIOS settings from within Windows. Asus also has good technical support for RMAs etc.

 

Trust me, you will be very happy if you get the Asus P8Z77-V.

Martin

 

I'm not going to advise you on what hardware to get but I will give you one tip ... I see your in the UK so try PC Specialist (http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/) for your PC, I could not build a system for the price they do it for and you can design what you want yourself via their web site or give them a ring.

 

My last PC came from them after a tip from a friend ... there good ... very good, shame I dont get any commission LOL.

 

What ever you get happy flying.

 

Rich

 

Hi Rich

 

Thanks for your input - I do actually have some experience with this company from years ago.

 

I've just configured the exact same system with them and it comes in at £975 which is about £100 more. I know it's not a lot but I'm fully confident in my friend's ability to put the PC together and I can use that £100 to better effect elsewhere.

 

What are your thoughts in general on the sort of performance I can expect from what I've suggested?

 

Would it be worth doubling the RAM?

What Ben said + this

 

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/29-4intel-core-i5-3570k-s-1155-ivy-bridge-quad-core-34ghz-5-gt-s-dmi-650mhz-gpu-6mb-smart-cache-34x-

I see on the same website that i5 3570k IB is only 10 quid more. Why not that?

 

Get a motherboard with a Z77 chipset.

I've never been a fan of Junkabyte due to past experiences with them. I reccomend something the Asus P8Z77-V.

 

It can be problems with ASUS to,

I think Gigabyte MoBo:s work as good as ASUS, they have not so much bells and wistlers like ASUS but if you know what you do no prolems.

GA Bios ar straight forward and the cards clock very good.

I run a Gigabyte Z77 MoBo, GA-Z77X-UD5H no problem at all Clocks good with Sandy Bridge and IVY aint seen any ASUS that clock much better.

 

Hasse

OK, will take a look at the 3570K - will I need to do this "de-lidding" thing on it? The thought of taking a razor blade to a £200 processor fills me with dread!

 

Looking at reviews on pc building forums etc, it seems the 2500K has better overclocking potential than the 3570K as well as running cooler.

 

Anyone have any experience on these two cpus?

 

Also could anyone answer whether or not it would be worth upping the RAM to 16GB?

 

Thanks!

No you don't have to de-lid, it just offers better cooling with possible higher oc'ing ability. My 3570k is stock with a Corsair water cooler and it runs <77C at 4.79GHz with 95% stability in FSX.

 

Personally I see no need for 16Gigs. FSX only uses 4Gig max.

 

Spend the extra money on an SSD drive instead, SSD is a very worthy upgrade.

If you are looking for better performance for the flight sim and you are on a budget - forget the SSD. The benefit you will get in the sim vs the cost/gb isn't worth it. Your system will load faster but that's really about it. Now, if you have $$ to burn and want every little bit of ooomph you can get, an SSD is a cool way to go.

 

A word of caution - you MAY lose a friend over this. *IF* all is well with the build, great but if there's a problem at some point, your friend might not have the time or the expertise to fix it. A company like the PC Specialists mentioned has a reputation to uphold and would be more inclined to work really hard to make sure everything is 100%. I build all my own but I would never build one for a friend - that I wanted to keep as a friend.

 

Just MHO,

 

Vic

No de-lidding required on the IB i5-3570K to OC it to 4.4-4.5Ghz