Hi, I am looking at replacing my three year old FSX gaming rig with something more modern. Building my own computer is out of the question, even though it will save hundreds of dollars. My pricing limit is $2800. I am going to buy the computer from IBUYPOWER, because they are a local shop near me. What sort of processor should I invest in, the i7 3930k, the i7 3770, thes i7 3960k, or the i7 3820? Also, should I only get liquid cooling for the processor, or for other parts also. So far the current specs are:

I7 3930k with 20% OC

Liquid cooling with triple radiator

16 GB 4 by 4 Ram

Nvidia GTX 660 2gb (graphics card is not that important, right? Does the graphics card need liquid cooling?)

mobo: asus sabertooth x79 (will this be good for future upgrades?)

1000W power

Dual 180 gb SSD's

1 tb 7200 rpm hard drive

Asus xonar dg sound card

 

 

How will these run FSX, and what can I improve. The customization site is http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Gamer_Paladin_F875.

i7 3770K

 

8 GB memory (not 16GB)..but faster memory..something like 2400

 

about 750-850Watt is more than sufficient if its cheaper

 

sabertooth Z77 MB

 

And with the money saved...get a 256G Samsung SSD for your FSX.

Thanks for the input. A few more questions: Should I invest in liquid cooling for any parts besides the processor? Can FSX take advantage of six cores? Is getting a Z77 chip not practical for future upgrades? Are there any FSX computer builders in the southern california area?

 

Thanks, Fred

I just bought an SYX SG-330 a few weeks ago. I am extremely pleased with it so far... $1499...

 

http://www.tigerdire...2827141&CatId=6

 

It has absolutely ZERO "bloatware" pre-installed. Simply has a squeaky clean, virgin OS installed.Intel Core i7 Quad-Core 3770 Processor featuring 8 threads

• Windows 7 Professional 64-Bit
  
• Liquid Cooling
  
• Assembled and Supported in the USA
  
• Dual Radeon 7770 Video Card in Crossfire Configuration
  
• 850-Watt 80+ Modular Power Supply
  
• 16GB of DDR3 Memory
  
• Intel® Turbo Boost Technology 2.0
  Provide even more performance when needed. Automatically allows processor cores to run faster than the base operating frequency if it's operating below power, current, and temperature specification limits to dynamically increasing performance. What's this mean? It's a built in feature by Intel that allows your computer to safely overclock itself allowing for even more performance.
  

If you want to get the very best that SystemMax has to offer, then the SG-200 at $2500 is right up your alley:

 

http://www.tigerdire...1743870&CatId=6

• Genuine Windows® 7 Professional 64-bit operating system
  
• Intel Core i7 3930k 3.2GHz processor (Turbo Boost to 3.8GHz)
  
• Dual 1GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 Ti video cards in SLI configuration
  
• 32GB DDR3 1600MHz Memory
  
• 256GB Crucial M4 SSD Drive
  
• 2TB 7200RPM Hard Drive for huge amounts of storage
  
• 12x Blu-Ray Reader/DVD Burner Combo Drive
  
• Coolermaster HAF 912 Advance case
  
• 1 Year Warranty
  

Oh, and you can add options to further customize it if you wish...

$2800 bones?

 

I built mine with very good FSX performance for exactly $1000 Canadian. I already had a monitor, speakers, and other peripherals though.

 

I saved money by working with an older graphics card, and focusing on cooling and CPU performance. The machine is mostly a strictly FSX machine.

 

EDIT: Ahh I read you are looking at a prebuilt unit. That will put an (in my opinion) unnecessary premium on things.

Building my own computer is out of the question, even though it will save hundreds of dollars.

 

Isn't there a computer shop like a Microcenter or something equivalent near where you live where you could just take all the parts and have them build it for you? Surely you could buy all the parts you need from newegg or something and then just take it all to a shop and have it put together for a small fee. I'm not into building either but for my last rig and the one I am gathering the parts for, I just buy everything I need, drop it off at the shop and a few days later its ready for pick up and I save more than 1/2 what I would pay buying a prebuilt.

(graphics card is not that important, right? Does the graphics card need liquid cooling?)

 

Graphics card *is* important. Who said it isn't? If you one day decide to get a really sweet antialiasing and clean pictures, yet get into cloudy situations, you'll feel what a good GPU means. If you can afford, put in 680, if not 670.

 

Concerning the CPU: if you want ALL prebuilt for you and the overclocking done for you and you DO NOT wish to do any changes yourself (which is stupid, but OK), then you can go 3770K.

 

RAM should be a fast one as someone mentioned, you can also go 16GB 2x8GB sticks, but see that you get something in the area of 2400Mhz and lowest latency possible.

I am not abject to overclocking the computer myself, I OC'd my I7-870 to 3.9 GHZ but had problems when my computer would go to sleep and not wake up. Isn't the i7-3820 better than the i7-3770k? Can FSX take advantage of 6 cores?

 

Thanks

Isn't the i7-3820 better than the i7-3770k?

In FSX I'd say that they are very similar with a slight advantage for the i7-3770k

That applies both at stock and at expected max overclock with the 3770K beeing simpler to overclock with its fully unlocked multiplier.

 

 

Can FSX take advantage of 6 cores?

For higher FPS? No, more the opposite

 

For faster load times and texture loading? Yes, as long as you have FSX on a velociraptor or SSD.

For future upgrades, shouldn't I get an X79 chip?

Well, s1155 wont offer any new improved architectures. Haswell will require a new socket.

s2011 will give us IvyBridge-E some time in the future after Haswell is released. But you have already seen what small improvements clock for clock you get when moving from SandyBridge to IvyBridge on s1155. It might be that IvyBridge-E will overclock a bit better then SandyBridge-E but bying a new CPU on s2011 will probably cost as much as bying a new Haswell+Mobo.

 

3820 should only interest you if you use other applications that make good use of quad channel memory or if you plan to use SLI (for other games). 3770K is better othervise.

 

3930K is a good option if you plan to use a lot of photo scenery and value shorter load times and crisper textures while flying low and fast more than absolute maximum FPS. Othervise a 3770K gives you better FPS for less money.

 

3960X im not gonna comment on that one. If you have the money and need to spend it, go ahead.

 

3570K is almost as good as the 3770K for even less money. But you loose HyperThreading, that's only valuable for FSX in the flying low and fast over photo scenery scenario, but there are many other programs that make good use of it.

 

I hope this helps

For that kind of money you might be able to get a super overclocked setup that uses a phase change cpu cooler.

Well, too bad you are in the states, otherwise I'd build you a computer for that money!! LOL

Does anyone know of any builders or build shops in SoCal?

 

 

Thanks