Newbie making major upgrade to FSX system. Looking for some experienced advice.

[Medic1030 0]

Hi all,

 

I'm pretty new to FSX and this forum. I'm currently running FSX on a pretty average-low end laptop, just learning to fly using the default aircraft and built-in lessons. I have no addons except UTX Canada (not installed yet) and the ORBX Iceland Demo (because it's free, and if it ruins performance I can choose not to fly there). I'm already somewhat addicted to this sim though and can envision throwing myself head-on into this hobby. With that in mind I'm planning my FSX system build and looking for some advice. I do have a budget though. Here's what I have so far from PC Part Picker Canada:

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core (hoping to overclock modestly to 4.2GHz)

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM

Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V ATX LGA1155

Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866

Storage1 (Windows and associated files only): Corsair Force Series GS 128GB 2.5" SSD

Storage2 (dedicated to FSX install): Crucial M500 240GB 2.5" SSD

Storage3 (for anything/everything else): Western Digital Caviar Blue 750GB 3.5" 7200RPM

Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 770 2GB

Case: Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 ATX Mid Tower

Power Supply: EVGA 750W ATX12V / EPS12V

Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 (OEM) (64-bit)

Sound Card: Creative Labs 70SB157000000

Case Fan: Arctic Cooling Arctic F14 PWM 77.3 CFM 140mm

 

How does that seem to the pros on here? Any envisioned issues? Any overkill in areas where I can save money? Is the sound card required or would the motherboard's built-in card be enough? And finally, I have an unused Samsung 22" TV new in its box. Would that work as an acceptable monitor?

 

Thanks!

 

Corey

[Flyer10 31]

I would definitely drop the sound card in favor of the build in sound. I think the Video card looks after the sound too since there are Nvidia audio drives. But I am not sure about that. Either way drop the sound card. I haven't had a sound card in a PC in years. Use a the 22' tv for sure. And use a DVI to HDMI cable. Other than that it looks pretty sound to me. If I was going to build a PC with those specs. I would be looking a used part and save a bundle. I would recommend you save a bit more money though and go with an i7 4770k and GTX 780 build but you are going to get a lot of different opinions here.

[outofphaze 4]

I would say that it's an excellent system.

 

On that cooler you will probably get the 3570K chip in the 4.3 Ghz area.

 

I'm not sure how much of a hurry you are on.

 

If you are planning to do this in a couple of months I would suggest to get a Z87 board with a 4690K which should be released in a couple of months for the sme price.

 

I have the same mobo you picked with a gtx 770 and with a 2600k and I couldn't be happier.

 

If you plan to ever go with p3d or xplane in the future, you might want to consider to spend an extra $60ish and get a GTX 770 with 4gb. I myself would never buy a 780 or Titan for fsx, as it barely uses 50% of my 770. FSX is really not heavy on the gpu.

 

Last suggestion: instead of getting a 128 gb ssd, get a 60gb one.

This is because z77 and z87 board have a feature which you can use to accelerate a hdd by using an ssd. In essence, it uses an ssd as cache for the mechenical drive. You can use an ssd up to 64 gb for this. So if you have a hdd of 759gb with your os and other stuff on it, and accelerate that drive, you will get the os performance of an ssd and see the same on the most used programs. Of you want to learn more on this: http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/architecture-and-technology/rapid-storage-technology.html

 

If you go with the acceleration option, don't forget to update your bios to the latest and then set your sata controller to raid BEFORE installing windows. It will save you a lot of time and frustration later on!

[Medic1030 0]

Thanks for all the advice!

 

I'll drop the sound card as per the suggestions, which should give me a few extra bucks to spend elsewhere. I don't need this set up tomorrow (was thinking not 'till the fall actually) so I may look at some of the newer technology by then if I can afford it. With regards to the hard drive set up using RAID, I was under the impression that RAID causes issues with FSX. Is that not the case? I'm not a big computer guy so my understanding of these things isn't fantastic. Good to know I can use the TV as a monitor. Is there a reason why it was suggested to use a DVI to HDMI when I could just use a straight HDMI cable? I also may eventually expand to a multiple monitor set up. Would my choice of GPU allow for that?

[Flyer10 31]

I prefer DVI to HDMI because it screws securely into the graphics card. I only wish that the TV I am using had a DVI in port then I would just use a DVI to DVI cable. The one with sound. High quality HDMI cables can be heavy and pull had on the small fragile ports. As well reading the materials here on AVSIM about building an FSX system, I would recommend you also read Nick Needhams system build guides on Simforums.com

You will get a ton on opinions on that too. I followed NickN's guides to build my system and what can I say its perfect :biggrin:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kt_fvEiiAy4

[outofphaze 4]

I have no problem with my HDMI to HDMI cable and in fact would even say it is better.

 

I have never had my dvi disconnect from my computer? Maybe Flyer10 moves his computer a lot? Im not sure, but I would certainly use the HDMI cable provided with most Gforce cards.

 

As for the RAID thing, don't worry about the specifics of it.

 

This is only a setting you need to do if you are going with the acceleration option I told you about, and it not actually a RAID config.