Hi all,

 

I'm not sure if I have placed this thread at the right place, as my question is a cross between HW and SW.

 

Anyway, since I'm looking to build a system with 2x 256GB SSDs and a 1x 2TB HDD, should the building order be:

1. Plug one SSD into the MB first, have windows and related drivers installed on it first
   
2. OC the system and get it stable
   
3. Install the 2nd SSD and put FS on and addons (excl. textures like clouds and FSGlobal etc. (?)) on it
   
4. Install the HDD and install textures and meshes on that(?)
   
5. Tweak the system and FS
   

If I made a mistake in any of the steps, or there are better alternatives, please let me know.

 

Thanks in advanced.

You're on the right track with starting with just the one SSD with your OS.

 

I hope you plan to get your system up and stable at stock speed before you delid or overclock your cpu. Walk then run!

Hi, Brendan: I would suggest building the complete pc first, hardware-wise including both SSD's. Once you're happy with the build - over two or three days, add Windows, and create a folder somewhere, as, say "System Drivers", with the Chipset, LAN, BIOS, BIOS Utilities, Sound folders, etc., under it - then download and install all the latest respective drivers for the system - and then let Windows Update run it's course until it's done.

After this you can add your normal user software, like MS Office, PhotoShop, a couple of games, maybe, plus your overclocking tools and documents.

After this is done, I would then consolidate the read up on the overclocking process, planning the overclock - what voltages, where the changes will be done, and setting tagets and expected temperatures that you are looking to monitor - and then do a moderate overclock - perhaps 4.2 GHz, running the system for a couple of days, testing with Prime95, Aida64, or whatever the recommended tools are for that processor, as it now turns out the the IvyBridge procs do not take kindly to IBT , LinX or OCCT. These tools are fine with the SandyBridge. Document all of the apporopriate BIOS settings, using a template such as one of those here.

 

Once this hurdle is done, you can install your FSX system on the second SSD, running it and the system for another couple of weeks, doing some more study, evaluating your cooling system, and planning for the last phase of the overclock.

Then go for the 4.6, 7, 8, or 9 with the SB, or 4.6 with the IB.

 

Hope this helps,

 

All the Best,

Thanks all for the reply. Simon, what you said makes a good point; I didn't exactly plan to do that lol, I thought I was going to delid it straight off. Now I have couple of question regarding this

1. I already have a good air cooler (NH-D14), when I do the stock test (pre-delid), should I use the cooling system that I will use in the final thing, that is my planned WC system? Or it's ok to go with the D14, then after delid, I'll whack on the WC loop?
   
2. I did plan to run it on stock clock AFTER delid (not before), but now you said that, as I have planned this build well (I think at least), there's not hurrying for anything, so my second question is, do I want to run the stock first before installing any other programs (office, photoshop, pdf viewer etc.)?
   

Paul, thanks for the extensive suggestion. Just want to clarify though; do I want to add my HDD in the final step AFTER FSX is installed and OC'd successfully? Or do I want to connect it when I do my program installation (ie. before I install FSX)?

 

Cheers,

Build the complete pc first, so you're sure that you have a system which works, period, doing the OS and drivers once it's up and running. Run it for a few days, then do the mild/medium overclock, run for a few days, then load in the FS on the second SSD, run it again for a few days, then do the final oc when you think you and it are ready. Put all of your storage, licensing, applications, downloads, etc., on the HDD - OK?

Build the complete pc first, so you're sure that you have a system which works, period, doing the OS and drivers once it's up and running. Run it for a few days, then do the mild/medium overclock, run for a few days, then load in the FS on the second SSD, run it again for a few days, then do the final oc when you think you and it are ready. Put all of your storage, licensing, applications, downloads, etc., on the HDD - OK?

 

Complete I got it Thanks. It's just that I've read some people say install only SSD first so that we can be sure not to install the OS on the wrong drive. But I guess it won't make much difference as we can read the size anyway.

You're definately heading on the right way. What I did:

 

Build your whole system including all drives, and just connect your primary SSD to your computer. Then, install Windows selecting the partition of that SSD. Install all updates and software you want on that SSD, make sure your Windows is fully updated first. Then connect one drive at a time (while your PC is off of course) starting with your secondary (FSX dedicated) SSD. Please note that any secondary SSD's or HDD's will not appear by default as a secondary drive. You have to go to disk management and assign the available space to a partition. Just search on Google on how to do that. Then do the same with your HDD. Install FSX and get it stable with all the tweaks and THEN start overclocking.

.,. and then come back here to ask about how to fix fsx when the pc bluescreens, CTD's or simply reboots in the middle of a flight... Thanks, Arjen.

 

That's exactly why I get a stable overclock first.

I heard that too, about instability in OC, thus OC before installing FSX.

 

Regarding removing of the hibernate drive (if you know what I mean), when should that be done? Once the windows is installec and updated?

For water cooling I can recommend Corsair H100i, but mod the radiator with four silent but deadly fans in push-pull. There's a lot going on in the out-of-the-box water cooling market, you should read some reviews.

For water cooling I can recommend Corsair H100i, but mod the radiator with four silent but deadly fans in push-pull. There's a lot going on in the out-of-the-box water cooling market, you should read some reviews.

 

I'm curious as to why do u say this? I have spent a very large portion of time, possibly 40% of the total research time for this system is on cooling.

 

I say this not because I doubt you, but because I am concerned with regardless how much time I spend, I may have missed something crucial.

 

From what I found, a custom loop will be lots better than AIO, and if I have this custom loop on push pull, naturally, wouldn't it be a lot better than AIO on push pull?

I know it´s time consuming to plan a build. I meant you could read the different reviews on the new WCs, coming out probably as we speak, so you could have more than just my opinion on which WC would suit you.

Custom built WC would probably always be better than the closed loops, but like I said, there´s some new players coming on the market with bigger copper rad.s, so one would have to either do a comparison on a system or find a review that does comparisons.

Yea, I can totally understand what you mean. I would still like to go for the kit loop though, get something more out of it. And probably even run the loop through grphics card as well after seeing how filthy my card is right now :S

lol I see you´re about to get the build fever, be carefull, one ends up doing more building, tweaking and clocking than flying (been there, done that )

And yes, my rig too is the most expensive vacuum cleaner we have in the house. My wife complains it doesn´t move around, then it would sort of pull it´s own weight in the house hold. All it does is suck power out of the walls, make noise, and heat the room it stands in lol

lol I see you´re about to get the build fever, be carefull, one ends up doing more building, tweaking and clocking than flying (been there, done that )

And yes, my rig too is the most expensive vacuum cleaner we have in the house. My wife complains it doesn´t move around, then it would sort of pull it´s own weight in the house hold. All it does is suck power out of the walls, make noise, and heat the room it stands in lol

 

Hmm... bit concerned about that last part there. Looks like I need my own cooler Not only building the most expensive vacuum cleaner, need to find all the furnatures to go with it! Just looking at a new table at the moment :S