Hey guys I am going to build a new pc, to upgrade from my 400$ Laptop with integrated graphics and a crappy processor.  I am ready to stop playing games at 5 FPS.

Alright so i play a few games one being FSX and I am wondering if my setup will be good enough to run FSX Okay, what I want the most is to be able to run the PMDG 737 at at lease 18 frames? Hopefully.. I know how intensive but i want to fly it so bad, it's one of the big reasons why I am making a new PC, anyhow here are the specs:

 

 

Case: Cooler master 430 mid tower

 

 

Cpu: AMD FX-6300 six-Core 3.5 ghz

 

 

GPU: Radeon hd 7850 2gb

 

 

Power supply: CORSAIR builder series 500 wats

 

Motherboard: Asus m5a781

 

8 gigs ddr5 ram

 

1 tb hard drive 1700 rpm

 

 

 

1 tb hard drive 1700 rpm

 

That could be a bit of a problem!

Everyone seems to lean toward Intel/Nvidia. 

 

I haven't had an AMD/ATI based system since 2007, but it ran great with FS9. 

 

Just remember that FSX is CPU heavy, get something that you can OC to at least 4.2-4.5. I run my 3770 @ 4.7 and it's nice and smooth 95% of the time.

Not sure about the MB.  Believe it's the ASUS M5A78L (you have a one (1) at the end of yours in the OP instead of the L).  The MB is for the budget minded.  Nothing spectacular.  It has received some good reviews on Amazon though but not sure what the reviewers used the board for.

 

The 500W Power Supply might not be powerful enough.  It you are having problems getting enough fps, fsx freezes, BSOD's, stuttering, then it could be caused by a low power supply - http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=589708 .  If you are overclocking, I would install at least 700W.  I have the Corsair 850W power supply and it has worked great for me so far.

 

I agree with the others who have posted already too.  When looking for a new system to build, I look at the following guide -  http://www.techspot.com/guides/buying/.  The Enthusiast system is what I would recommend. 

 

You might also visit the AVSIM Hardware Forum where discussions about new system recommendations are made daily.

 

Best regards,

Jim

Consider an Intel/NVIDIA based platform. AMD's are a great value, except when it comes to FSX. Intels, while pricier, seem to have a better pipeline architecture for running single threaded apps like FSX.  ATI(Radeon) GPU's are known to have issues with opaque textures like clouds. Regards.

You must consider buying a SSD, I am planning to get one, it is truly a game changer.

 

From what I have read Samsung SSD's are the best....  ^_^

You must consider buying a SSD, I am planning to get one, it is truly a game changer.

 

From what I have read Samsung SSD's are the best....  ^_^

I have 2 Samsung 840 256gb SSD's and couldn't be happier. Just remember that an SSD won't help with frames, just load times ( including texture loading within the sim). Regards

I have 2 Samsung 840 256gb SSD's and couldn't be happier. Just remember that an SSD won't help with frames, just load times ( including texture loading within the sim). Regards

I am planning to get one in the near future, but I think for me it would actually improve FPS and definetly loading time as I have been running FSX and Windows  from the same HDD (WD Blue caviar) , from different partitions. Windows experience index gave it a 5.9 and it is the slowest piece of hardware on my system. Do you think it can improve the frames per second ?

I also firmly believe that Intel CPU's and Nvidia graphics cards are better for FSX.  And a 500 watt PSU?  No, I would not consider anything less than about 800 watts these days and also make sure it has more than enough 12V amps.  It is far better to have a PSU that can provide more power than needed than to need more power and have a PSU that cannot provide it.

I am planning to get one in the near future, but I think for me it would actually improve FPS and definetly loading time as I have been running FSX and Windows  from the same HDD (WD Blue caviar) , from different partitions. Windows experience index gave it a 5.9 and it is the slowest piece of hardware on my system. Do you think it can improve the frames per second ?

Going from a HDD to an SSD won't appreciably improve your FPS. With that said I would never go back to a spinner drive. FSX is almost unique in terms of its requirements. It won't take advantage of multiple cores. It won't utilize today's  monster GPU's to their full potential either. It requires above all else raw CPU clock speed and lots of it. To stay above 20 FPS in the most demanding situations requires 4.5 Ghz or more. I can't maintain 20 FPS at Fly Tampa's KMDW in my NGX at high settings. My PC specs are posted. I have FSX on its own dedicated SSD in its own folder created by myself, not the default one. Word Not Allowed's hardware and setup guide is invaluable in this regard. The result has been the most trouble free sim I've ever experienced. Not a single freeze or crash since instal (7+ months). Regards

And a 500 watt PSU?  No, I would not consider anything less than about 800 watts these days and also make sure it has more than enough 12V amps.

500W is more than enough to run todays systems. I could run my system off of one. 800W is only needed for high end SLI. People always seem to think that they need a huge psu, when they really don't.

500W is more than enough to run todays systems. I could run my system off of one. 800W is only needed for high end SLI. People always seem to think that they need a huge psu, when they really don't.

Agreed ... Everyone goes overboard on FSX pcs.

 

Your proposed corsair (quality brand) PSU has 38A on the 12v rail.... More than enough for a single 7850. If you plan on running two or more plus a lot of SATA connections I'd consider a larger one.

Going from a HDD to an SSD won't appreciably improve your FPS. With that said I would never go back to a spinner drive. FSX is almost unique in terms of its requirements. It won't take advantage of multiple cores. It won't utilize today's  monster GPU's to their full potential either. It requires above all else raw CPU clock speed and lots of it. To stay above 20 FPS in the most demanding situations requires 4.5 Ghz or more. I can't maintain 20 FPS at Fly Tampa's KMDW in my NGX at high settings. My PC specs are posted. I have FSX on its own dedicated SSD in its own folder created by myself, not the default one. Word Not Allowed's hardware and setup guide is invaluable in this regard. The result has been the most trouble free sim I've ever experienced. Not a single freeze or crash since instal (7+ months). Regards

 

Agreed. My specs are in my sig and there's times I even drop into the mid teens running at 4.7. With that being said, I learned that my GPU is my bottleneck. After overclocking it, I went from 18-19 in the VC of the PMDG to 25-30.