Hi folks,

 

I've been running FSX on a 27" iMac (2.93Ghz i7, 8GB RAM, Radeon HD 5750 1GB) in Bootcamp with Windows 7 for the past couple of years, and I'm looking at building a dedicated PC for FSX. I primarily fly the PMDG 737, along with the Level-D 767, RealAIr Duke, and Flight 1 Cessna 182 and Cessna Mustang. I also run a fair amount of add-on scenery, primarily OrbX.

 

I'd prefer to keep things under $1500 all in, with under $2000 as a stretch. Here's what I'm looking at. I'm looking at the i5-2500k to overclock it. Any thoughts before I pull the trigger?

 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.99 @ Newegg)

CPU Cooler: Antec KUHLER Flow CPU Cooler ($45.99 @ SuperBiiz)

Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Extreme4 ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Newegg)

Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($82.84 @ Amazon)

Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($74.93 @ NCIX US)

Storage: OCZ Agility 3 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($74.99 @ Microcenter)

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($369.99 @ Newegg)

Case: Cooler Master CM690 II Advanced ATX Mid Tower Case ($84.98 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Green 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($57.75 @ NCIX US)

Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS224-06 DVD/CD Writer ($27.98 @ Newegg)

Monitor: Asus VH236H 23.0" Monitor ($139.99 @ NCIX US)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (64-bit) ($99.99 @ Newegg)

Keyboard: Lite-On SK-1788/BS Wired Standard Keyboard ($14.97 @ Newegg)

Mouse: Microsoft D66-00036 Wired Optical Mouse

Total: $1374.38

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

Looks awesome to me and I think you will really like the ASRock & i2500K combo. I just wonder if slightly faster ram would be something to go for. Perhaps others can comment. I also can't comment on the cooler, I have the Noctchua cooler and have been very happy with it. Currently my i2500k is rock solid at 4.9GHz.

 

Here is the best overclocking guide I have found for that combo.

 

http://www.overclock...-asrock-edition

I recently replaced an LG monitor with conventional backlighting with a new Asus with LED backlighting and there was a noticable difference in the brightness, clarity, contrast and color. I noticed your Asus listed is not LED backlighting. The one I bought was 24-inch and $189 at Fry's with $10 rebate.

I also had to replace a motherboard which stopped working from an unknown Taiwanese company. In addition, the manual was poorly translated and not very helpful. I now use a motherboard from MSI and am happy with it. I don't know who ASRock is, but I prefer Asus, MSI or EVGA as they seem more reliable, with better driver support and user manuals.

 

Corsair and Seagate are recognizable brands for RAM and Hard Drives.

Looks awesome to me and I think you will really like the ASRock & i2500K combo. I just wonder if slightly faster ram would be something to go for. Perhaps others can comment. I also can't comment on the cooler, I have the Noctchua cooler and have been very happy with it. Currently my i2500k is rock solid at 4.9GHz.

 

Here is the best overclocking guide I have found for that combo.

 

http://www.overclock...-asrock-edition

 

Which model number of cooler are you using?

 

I think a SSD is of no use for FSX. I build my FSX-computer with almost the same components. And FSX and FS9 are at my SSD disk. However the startup of FSX take some time. And when running I can't see any better performance. But you should use one disk for OS and another for FSX/FS9.

 

Currently my i2500k is rock solid at 4.9GHz.

What is your OC settings?

 

My current settings are:

Bus speed = 103.0 MHz

Multiplier = 42

Core Voltage 1.300 V

 

Max temp is about 50-55 C. I am using watercooling.

Motherboard is ASUS P8Z77-V PRO, CPU i5-2500K

Core speed is 4326.02 MHz with current settings.