Building FSX PC

[FSX Wizard 1]

Hello,

I was thinking of building a PC but I have never done this before. Can anyone tell me some places where I could go to learn how to do this and what websites I should go to, to buy the products.

 

Thanks

[Jim Young 2,356]

There are a lot of websites that describe how to build a computer.  I did an Internet search for how do I build a computer and found thousands of websites.  Here's one - http://www.wikihow.com/Build-a-Computer.  Many motherboard manufacturers, like ASUS also provide detailed instructions.  It is not an easy task but a good learning experience.  Make sure you are knowledgeable and/or have a computer expert friend who can help you.  When I built my computer I used the Internet search engines to find the best deals for parts and got most on sale.

 

Best regards,

[FSX Wizard 1]

I plan on using many addons for example:

PMDG 737 NGX

PMDG 747

PMDG 777

Majestic Dash 8

Aerosoft Airbus X

UK2000 Scenery (various)

Quality Wings 757

Quality Wings Avro RJ 100/85/70

FTX Global

Active Sky Next

Rex 4 Texture Direct

Aerosoft Scenery (various)

FSDT Scenery (various)

Fly Tampa Scenery (various)

 

Would I need 16GB of RAM or could I manage with 8GB?

Also, to save some money does it matter if I get the NVIDIA GTX 760, 770, or 780?

Also, which mobo should i get? I seem to like the Gigabyte ones because of its easy to use BIOS but which one is good?

 

thanks

[Jim Young 2,356]

 

 

Would I need 16GB of RAM or could I manage with 8GB?

 

The max amount of RAM that FSX will use is about 6GB's.  Anything more than that will probably not be used.  FSX is restricted by Virtual Address Space (VAS) which the max is 4GB if you have a 64 bit OS.  When VAS is depleted, FSX will crash no matter how much memory you have installed.  I think 8 GB's is sufficient.

 

You will see very little difference between a GTX 760 and a GTX 780.  FSX does not use the GPU more than the CPU like back in the FS9 days. 

 

The MB is important.  Gigabyte is popular and a good choice.  I installed the ASUS board (see specs in My PC in the sidebar).  You can look around in this forum and look at other member's PC specs in their My PC profile and get an idea what to buy.  I recently built my current system and have it overclocked to 4.2GHz using ASUS's auto settings in the BIOS.  4.2GHz is equal to an i7 2600K system overclocked to 4.6GHz.  Do not skimp on the Power Supply especially if you are putting a GTX 7 series in your system and you plan to overclock.  I have an 800W PSU which has been adequate and I recommend at least 600W.  You can get less wattage but you might see unexplained crashes as you system suddenly shuts down.

 

Best regards,

[tsa737 6]

any opinion on single or dual graphics cards?

[Jim Young 2,356]

any opinion on single or dual graphics cards?

With the power of today's video cards, a single one should be sufficient.  I heard FSX does not gain any improvements in SLI mode.  SLI mode was good back in the days when video cards were not all that powerful.  When FSX was first released the 8800GTX video card was one of the best and I just saw where Nvidia is no longer providing support for these old cards.  Just a GTX 780 or the Titan would be sufficient as they double the performance that was provided 8 or 9 years ago.  You can save yourself $700 or $800 by using one card.  If FSX figures out how to use the GPU better, maybe SLI mode would be a good choice. 

 

Best regards,

[FSX Wizard 1]

So to save money if I got the GTX 760 instead of the 780 or 770 FSX would still run well?

[tsa737 6]

thanks. i appreciate the advice

 

rob

[Jim Young 2,356]

So to save money if I got the GTX 760 instead of the 780 or 770 FSX would still run well?

No.  Looks like I lied.  I went on the Internet and did a search for GTX 760 vs 780 and all the reviewers say the 780 is more powerful. Does better in regards to AA (well they have to sell the GTX 780's somehow.  They can't say its just as good or Nvidia would never send them new GPU's to test in the future).  Problem with these reviews, they never use FSX as the testing vehicle.  Of course the 780 is going to be more powerful but will you see the difference in FSX?  I doubt it.  I had a GTX 580 and upgraded to the GTX 780 and I have seen little or no difference in graphics.  FSX is most dependent on the CPU and not the GPU.  Going from an i7 2600K to an i7 4770K did it for me!  If FSX were more dependent on the GPU like it was in FS9, then I definitely would recommend the best GPU possible.  Here's a neat review of the 760 in SLI mode vs the 780 - http://www.ocaholic.ch/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=1168&page=17.  Hardly any difference in performance and it would still be cheaper to get two 760's instead of one 780.

 

Best regards,

[FSX Wizard 1]

Thx very much.

What water cooler should I get?

[outofphaze 4]

I run a GTX 770 and I am very happy with the result.

 

In my opinion its all a matter of budget. If you can afford a 780, go for it, but know in advance you will see, very very little improvement over a 770, if any at all. You will however be more future proof.

 

To clarify a bit more on SLI, FSX dislikes it and seems to perform worse on most if not all systems with SLI. However weird it sounds, 1 770 often performs better in FSX than 2 in SLI mode!

 

The single most important thing to get performance out of FSX, and I cannot stress this enough, is a very high clock on your CPU. 

 

Most if not all high end systems are limited by the 1st core in use by FSX. (Due to the FSX engine design) FSX is simply not good at distributing its tasks over several cores and threads and therefore it maxes out the 1st in use, and only uses the rest of the cores for autogen and rendering. So again, buy a mobo and cpu combo with a nice cooler to get u a high overclock.

 

I am not sure where you are located, but if you are in the US or Canada, this is a nice shop for components and a lot of reviews:

 

http://www.newegg.com

 

They also have a youtube channel and video page on the website with a lot of tutorials on how to build a computer:

 

http://video.newegg.com

https://www.youtube.com/user/newegg

 

Hope this helps.

[Jim Young 2,356]

Thx very much.

What water cooler should I get?

I have no input on water coolers.  I use the Noctua D14 - http://www.pcper.com/reviews/Cases-and-Cooling/Noctua-NH-D14-CPU-Cooler-Review which is considered the best.  Water cooling is for those who want to overclock to 4.4 and higher (which would be equal to a 4.8 GHz OC for those who run an i7 2600K).

 

Best regards,

[outofphaze 4]

I have had the noctua cooler and a 212plus, and I am now on a corsair H80i.

 

The temp difference was about 10c, so to me that makes a H80i or even a H100i if you can fit it in your case, very good bang for your buck.

[Bill Maher 1]

For a good walkthrough of building a PC from start to finish, go to YouTube and search for Carey Holzman's channel.  He has a variety of PC build videos that are the best that I have seen anywhere, especially if you are a visual learner.  PC building really isn't difficult (as you'll see) and these videos have given many folks the confidence to build PCs themselves.  Heck, I find it fun and would probably do it even if it cost more.

[FSX Wizard 1]

I'm pretty sure I'll be getting the following:

Intel Core i7 4770k processor

Nvidia GTX 760 DDR5 2GB graphics card

2 sticks of 4GB RAM

Corsair 750M PSU

Corsair 200 Case

All Write 24x SATA DVD Writer/Player

Intel Liquid Cooler BXTS13X

Gigabyte Z87M-D3H motherboard

Windows 7 Home Premium OS

I'm not sure what drive to get. I don't want 2 cuz those will probably cost more and I think 1 TB disk will do good but which one should I get?

 

Thanks for all the help