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sluggy

Building a new FS9 machine; suggestions, jeers, and plain old advice?

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Hi everybody

 

One last build for FS9, holding out as long as I can. I've settled on the following :

 

I5-3570k cpu

GA-Z77M-D3H MB

240GB SSD for Win 7 x64

8GB of 1600MHz DDR3 RAM

 

I'm going to keep my olde 500GB SATA drive for FS9.

 

The main thing I would like advice on is the graphics card. Currently got a 460GTX driving 2 CRT (remember those?) monitors at 1280x1024. I want to keep these monitors, they might be old but they're good 'uns! Seems the present thinking for Nvidia cards would lead me to the GTX660TI. Is this overkill for me (I dabble in Crysis, but only for fun; FS9 is what the machine's being built for)? Happy to save a few dollars if I can. Thanks for your upcoming wisdom, peoples. :lol:

 

Cheers, SLuggy

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Currently got a 460GTX driving 2 CRT (remember those?) monitors at 1280x1024. I want to keep these monitors, ..... Happy to save a few dollars if I can.

 

If your 460GTX is already good enough for what you need then I'd question replacing it if you are on a budget. In your shoes I would replace the components listed and then see if I felt a GPU upgrade was required, which I don't think likely if FS9 is your main criteria. Have you factored in the cost of a cooler (assuming you want to overclock the 3570k).

 

I would just throw into the mix that the next generation of Intel CPUs (Haswell) are due for release in just over 3 months (early June), if you can hold off your upgrade you may be able to get a better processor or a cheaper Ivy Bridge (3570k).

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Hi PieEater

 

Well, I usually only upgrade every 4-5 years or so, so I'd like this machine to last a fair while if possible. Whilst I don't plan on overclocking (been an electronics tech for 25 years now and have developed a certain amount of mechanical sympathy, so to speak), I certainly don't rule it out at some point in the future.

 

I do get some stuttering now with a nearly maxed out FS9 with addons to the hilt at busy airports (90% AI), but my main drama is the blurries when flying heavy iron (PMDG, iFly etc). Presently got an E8600 with 4GB. You think maybe the new CPU might get rid of 'em, eh?

 

Cheers, SLuggy

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If you realy don't plan on overclcking then you can save yourself some money by not getting the "K" version of the 3570, the K denotes the CPU is multiplier unlocked and so is designed to be overclocked. The difference in price is a not unsubstantial (~£25). Having said that I would certainly advise overclocking as going from a dual core CPU running at 3.3Ghz to a quad core running at 3.4Ghz is in no way going to have as great an effect as running your CPU at 4.5Ghz which it will easily be capable of. Sure you will have the benefit of some faster RAM and a SSD, but the the 2 extra cores and 100Mhz faster CPU is not going to have much effect on FS9.

 

Personally I suspect the speed of your CPU is the reason why you run into issues in FS9 but to prove this for yourself download and install GPUz or MSI Afterburner (works on non MSI cards) both have the ability to record GPU and video RAM useage. Run FS9 in a window and fly to where you normally have glitches, monitor CPU useage with Task Manager and GPU / video memory usage with your chosen utility. You should then be able to draw your own conclusions regarding what upgrades you need bearing in mind that only a faster (overclcoked) CPU is going to help if your graphics card still has resources to spare.

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