Good evening to those in the US and regards to everyone else,

 

I am in the market for a new rig. I will not mention the current specs of my system for fear of humiliation and distraction from the point of this post, which is, how would the NGX and other PMDG aircraft perform using the rig with the following specs:

 

• Windows 8 64
• 3rd Generation Intel® Core i7-3770 quad-core processor [3.4GHz, 8MB Shared Cache]
• 1.5GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 660 [Dual Bracket; 2x DVI, HDMI, DP, VGA via adapter]
• FREE Upgrade to 10GB DDR3-1600MHz SDRAM [2 DIMMs]
• 1TB 7200 rpm SATA hard drive
• No secondary hard drive
• $20 Off Microsoft® Office Home and Student 2013
• $20 Off Norton Internet Security 2013 - 15 month
• SuperMulti DVD Burner
• 15-in-1 memory card reader, 4 USB 2.0 (front), 2 USB 3.0 (top)
• No TV Tuner
• Beats Audio -- integrated studio quality sound
• HP USB keyboard and optical mouse with volume control
• Premium Wireless-N LAN card and Bluetooth®(1x1)
• 460W Power supply
• Adobe Photoshop Elements & Premiere Elements 11

It is important to remember that this model, the HP Envy H8-1520-t, does not have the option to select Windows 7, which was a disappointment because I have heard of problems with windows 8. I do not overclock although the processor can be purchased as a 3770K. I do not run crazy Orbx or even Aerosoft scenary, amazing no doubt. If the machine is what I think it is, that may very well change. I am looking for comments, suggestions, and feedback, preferably constructive (not my first post here  ). The rig is a little over $1000 out the door with tax and shipping, which I think is not a bad deal compared to Dell. Building one is not an option for me.

 

Morgan Wiley 

Hi,

 

I am also a user of the i7-3770K, and I am running it at 4.5GHz. I would suggest, that you buy a decent cooler even without planning to overlclock, as that processor can get pretty warm and I expect the stabdard fan to get pretty loud then.

 

I think the power supply is a little bit too weak. I would reccomend 750W+ but thats your decision.

 

One final question: Why are you not going for the i7-4770K?

 

Best regards,

 

Jonathan

I think you can probably do a lot better than a mass market brand like HP. Look into some of the companies that cater to gamers - they're going to be building machines with better parts than an HP or Dell. Why is building your own not an option? It isn't hard to do and you end up with a way better machine usually.

HP and Dell come with enormous amounts of bloatware. And you have to choose Windows 8. bleh I'd take take tabs' advice and have one of the gaming pc builders do one for you. cyberpower, jetline systems, digitalstorm are good options. Building yourself is the better way though. Cheaper and you get exactly what you want. There is an enormous amount of information online about building a pc. They're all over youtube. You can even buy pcgamer's build a pc issue.

 

I like this article http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/02/28/gaming-pcs-to-build-or-buy

Edited June 8, 201313 yr by dcgator29

Simply make sure to not touch the board with the transistors etc. and to not be electric loaded from the carpet etc. Hold parts on the side and touch a metal, radiator whatever to unload any electricity before assembling.

Is even fun..feels like unpacking a birthday present.

if you can avoid windows 8 that might save some hassle as well

Jeez, if I had a $1000 for a new PC, I would just build my own.  Save your money, build your own rig.  You can probably salvage parts from your current setup and integrate into a do-it yourself rig.   I just recently built a media PC for my living room, with just random computer parts I had laying around the house.  The only thing I had to spring for was a new case ($30 Micro center) and a wireless keyboard/mouse ($29). 

I forgot to mention that antivirus and Home and Student 2013 were included in the price, so the rig itself is then only around $900. Still a lot of money, no doubt, but HP allows greater customization than Dell and is much cheaper. I don't want to build because, inspite of my computer knowledge, I would be afraid of making a mistake like putting the mobo on the plastic wrap or forgetting to ground myself and then end up breaking something. That's even if you get all of the parts shipped in working order. I have respect for those who can build it themselves, it is just not for me. And I currently run a 4.5 year old laptop, so salvaging for a tower is also not an option.

Dont let the mass market pre built JUNK force you into crappy W8 (IMHO).

 

Get a custom built rig with W7/64 bit or build your own.

 

IMHO.

Would anyone have a suggestion for a pre built from any other companies with an I7 and upper end NVIDIA card? The ones I see are well over $1000.

Like Ryan suggested, you can do a lot better than HP--or Dull (including their ripoff Alienware PCs). You're in for nothing but frustration and inconvenience with those guys, like not being able to choose Windows 7. What's that about??

 

Take a look at Cyberpower. I bought a Zeus Thunder 2500 from them a couple of months ago and couldn't be happier. 3770K at 4.6 with a closed loop water cooler. GTX 680 and 16GB of RAM at 1866. It eats the NGX, Orbx, Active Sky, Ultimate Traffic 2, and addon airports like candy.

 

If you go with Cyberpower, I'd also let them overclock it for you (since it sounds like you're not an overclocker). I also think your PSU is a bit weak--not surprising for a mass-market PC.

And looking around, I am not finding many problems with flight simulator on windows 8. I know it has a lot of other interface issues, but if flight simulator works fine on it I can live with it.

Would anyone have a suggestion for a pre built from any other companies with an I7 and upper end NVIDIA card? The ones I see are well over $1000.

Look at Cyberpower. They have the entire range of budgets covered.

Morgan, ask around some local shops if they were willing to build for you. They might even do it for free if you buy parts from them.

 

That, or get some neighborhood kid to set it up for you. Maybe there is a computer club or something at your local highschool, that might be a good place to ask.

Regarding these other companies (Cyperpower, Jetline, etc)....how is their customer service, warranties, etc?  I have had good experiences with Dell, but those other companies seem to have more powerful systems for a very decent price. However, if anything were to go wrong, I want to be sure they will back me up if the need arises.