Haven't tested it, but I guess Windows on a BSOD will only access your system drive.

 

I suppose that a dump file may be a source for experts to identify the cause of BSOD.

OK then there's my answer.  Since I really don't care wither or not experts have access to a dump file to evaluate I think I can ignore this one.  

 

 

Thanks Richard, that's encouraging although I would baulk at 32Gb.

 

Believe me--I don't think the fact I have 32Gb has much to do w/ the fact I never see OOM's.  It's overkill for THIS simulator, but hopefully not for a future simulator.   I can tell you I flew from Vancouver BC Canada to Anchorage Alaska yesterday in the NGX, in FTX hybrid mode for their PNW scenery w/ FTXG, using Dense autogen, LOD 5.5, clouds out to 110M, etc.   This is an 1100m flight.  By midway thru the flight I checked VAS and noted 1.4Gb free w/ a large single block of 1.28Gb or so.  By flight end this had not changed meaningfully which tells me it's quite likely I could fly that way for many more hours.  I'm sure it helps to have enough ram but 32Gb is more than FSX will ever be able to use.  Hopefully another simulator will be able to use more!  It's so cheap right now--in 1992 I put 8Mb of ram in my first box:  I think it was around $400!  32Gb (4x8Gb quad channel) were under $300, and runs at nearly 2,400Mhz.

Erghhh, PC Pro... Comic books.. Theres a good reason when I go into the datacentre, 75% of all the racks, including all of my racks are all Dell kit....

 

We clearly have VERY different opinions about PC Pro. :rolleyes:

 

Same goes for schools, offices, government, emergency services, retail etc. You dont see Dell kit everywhere for no good reason. Its dependable, and reliable.

 

I don't doubt it but using the same logic my home built PCs have been reliable. There's a world of difference between PCs for business and FSX.

 

Want to customise it, no problem, just swap out the systemboard and away you go (on most gaming PC's) and you can then overclock to your hearts content, but if you dont want to overclock, and want stability, rock solid stability, then for me, and thousands of customers, its Dell kit mate...

 

If you remove the motherboard then it's no longer a Dell PC is it? You're doing a good job trying to sell me one of these but I'm not interested. And it's off topic too.

 

If you want to build it yourself, then go with ASUS kit, but if your not confident to do that, then I'd pick Dell kit every time, its the same hardware as elsewhere, fraction of the cost, and covered for years... Scan wont be using any hardware you wont get in a Dell, only you will be paying a lot more for it..

 

I get the message. I'm still going with Scan.

 

Dell do get a hard time because of the indian call centres, and boy I hate those too, but I never use them... Never had to.. Just some food for thought...

 

I'll give you top marks for effort. Maybe someone else is interested.

 

 

What component of Paul's argument has you rethinking? I can attest I have unchanging solid high performance in my one-drive solution and I don't see that changing, really ever.

 

It is his argument about keeping the OS and FSX on separate drives. I do that now with XP and FS9. I just feel more comfortable that way. If there's no monetary difference and the space is the same why would it not be a reasonable alternative?

 

I don't doubt your system is fine Noel but most systems I've seen here and those of friends who run FSX have a minimum of 2 drives. Single drives seem to be in a minority.

 

 

Believe me--I don't think the fact I have 32Gb has much to do w/ the fact I never see OOM's. It's overkill for THIS simulator, but hopefully not for a future simulator.... I'm sure it helps to have enough ram but 32Gb is more than FSX will ever be able to use. Hopefully another simulator will be able to use more!

 

No, I don't either. It's all about what textures are being loaded and as we can monitor VAS I don't anticipate that being a problem. But unless a 64-bit version of P3D comes out I'll be staying with FSX and 16Gb is more than enough. Adding extra should it be necessary is a simple job.

lol, sorry mate, I have no interest in trying to sell you one, just when you mentioned SCAN, the alarm bells went off is all.. No worries, sorry I butted in.

Dell are NOT just corporate systems too, the gaming rigs they do are awesome, and of course, nobody said your own build rig is not reliable too :-)

This is the spec of the system I've more or less decided on...

• Corsair Carbide Series 500R Black Mid Tower Case
• Asus Z87-K, Intel Z87 motherboard
• Intel Core i7 4770K, Haswell, 3.5GHz, Quad Core with HT, 8MB Cache overclocked up to 4.4GHz
• Corsair H100i Hydro - High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler
• 16GB RAM (2x8GB) Corsair Vengeance Pro Silver, 2133MHz
• 3GB EVGA GTX 780 SC ACX, 967MHz GPU, 2304 Cores, 6008MHz GPU
• 650W Corsair Enthusiast Series, Modular, 80PLUS Bronze power supply.
• 2 x 256GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD.
• LiteOn IHAS124 24x DVD Reader and Writer
• Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit - OEM

• 3 Year Warranty - 1st Year on site, 2nd & 3rd Year Return to Base (Parts & Labour).

It looks fine, i don't like only that 650W power supply. I think you should get just a little bit over that, at least 750W. The rest is ok

What is wrong with Scan?

Just to throw another alternative into the fire ...

 

My MSI motherboard provides a RAMdisc having the ability to automatically save its content and to auto start on reboot.  If the pagefile was directed to the RAMdisc at least it would be much faster than writing to/reading from either a SSD or HDD.

Yeah i would go for a better PSU, the corsair is a good choice just up the power a little.

It looks fine, i don't like only that 650W power supply. I think you should get just a little bit over that, at least 750W. The rest is ok

 

Yes, I had reservations about that too given I have a 750 in my current PC. I think 750 would be wise - thanks. :smile:

Just to throw another alternative into the fire ...

 

My MSI motherboard provides a RAMdisc having the ability to automatically save its content and to auto start on reboot.  If the pagefile was directed to the RAMdisc at least it would be much faster than writing to/reading from either a SSD or HDD.

 

Scan custom build these PC using components they recommend. They offer the following board in addition to the one I've selected.

 

• Asus Z87-A, Intel Z87 Chipset - SLI and CrossFireX support
• Asus Maximus VI Hero, Intel Z87 Chipset, SLI and CrossFireX support
• Gigabyte GA-Z87-HD3, Intel Z87 Chipset
• Gigabyte GA-Z87X-D3H, Intel Z87 Chipset, SLI and CrossFireX support
• Gigabyte GA-Z87X-OC, Intel Z87 Chipset, SLI and CrossFireX support
• MSI Z87-G45 Gaming, Intel Z87 Chipset - SLI and Crossfire Support & Killer NIC

 

AS you can see all but one offer CrossFire support which is useless for FSX. The Gigabyte GA-Z87-HD3 is marginally more expensive than the Asus I've selected. I can't find any on Scan that offer RAMdisc. Do you have a model number?

 

Your PC Spec states you have a Asus P5N-E SLI.

I don't recommend Raid0  on SSD, it's not worth the risk. Yes your benchmarks may look better but real world it's barely noticable. I've had (2)SSD  Raid0 setups using pairs of Corsair and Muskin drives both fail , after the 2nd time I said forget it. I'm willing to go to 4 drives for the failover either so I just keep my purchases on a mechanical drive solely for storage.

 

2 drives would be ok if you just want 2 separate disks for say FSX and P3D or whatnot....I just wouldn't raid them.

Steve, not sure who that's directed at but I'm not considering RAID.

lol, sorry mate, I have no interest in trying to sell you one, just when you mentioned SCAN, the alarm bells went off is all.. No worries, sorry I butted in.

Dell are NOT just corporate systems too, the gaming rigs they do are awesome, and of course, nobody said your own build rig is not reliable too :-)

 

You did come over a bit strong Richard calling PC Pro a comic. I'm happy to listen to everyone but if you call a company's reputation into question I'd expect some evidence to back it up.  :wink:  Scan has a decent reputation just as Chillblast has and not just in PC Pro.

 

If we're honest building a PC is not rocket science providing you use common sense. The downside of building my own is I get no warranty except on the components and overclocking for a novice is outside my comfort zone. That is the only reason I'm going for a built one.

Hey, sorry bud, just wanted a fellow simmer to get a good deal, more money for sim stuff then right...

 

I didnt call PC Pro's reputation into question either, were all entitled to our opinions.. It was a very long standing joke in many I.T departments, at anybody caught reading PC Pro was said to be slacking off rewading comics during working hours... Never mind. Cant even have a joke here anymore... Enjoy your new rig..