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Building a PC - Tips wanted

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Hi!

I want to build a PC and I would like some tips. 
My budget is around £1000. I already have a screen, mouse and keyboard, so the buget is for the PC itself.
Anyone willing to give me a setup that will let me run all sorts of add-ons with the frames locked at 30?

Thank you in advance! I'm happy to hear from you :)

Regards,

Eric Lund

  • Author

Actually I am able to pay up to 1200£. So that would be my final budget :)

Hello Lune55076,

 

I let build exactly 1 year ago in my hometown in the Netherlands a PC for the price of EUR 999,00 (VAT Included) with the following specifications :

 

MS-Tech 750 Watt

ASUS P8H77 USB3 SKT 1155

CPU Intel I7 3770 3.4 GHZ

Memory DDR3 8 GB

VGA Nvidia GTX 650 1 GB

2 HDD 1 TB SATA 7200

NEC DVDRW ND3550

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium.

 

It runs very well FSX (Gold Edition) with many payware Sceneries and Aircraft and no problems whatsoever.

 

For instance : PMDG T7 at EHAM : 30 fps ; RA Duke at EGLL 40 fps; light Scenery and Aircraft +100 fps.

 

I also use hardware like CP-Flight MCP - EFIS and a lot of Saitek-gear with no problems.

 

I installed no Payware weather engines and global sceneries so I can not advise you in that direction.

 

If any problem accures I can advise you strongly to read carefully the AVSIM Basic FSX/P3D Configuration Guide !

 

I wish you a lot of succes.

 

Ben

Ben Rikken, The Netherlands

Have a look at Hardwareversand. Good prices I've found and then do a little research. If you really want best bang for buck, take your time, don't rush into a build based on the throwaway advice of a stranger. With a little patience and care you can get a really good system for what you have to spend.

I personally would start with a good case, I cool on air and really believe that with a beefy cooler air is sufficient. I run an overclock of 4.4ghz up from the stock 3.4ghz with no probs. So a case with plenty of fans. Then look at CPU's and cooler. Then board, GFX card and then PSU to match your power requirements. Then fast RAM with low timings, lower is better and drives if you need them but all of this is just what I do.

Remember, this advice is free because that's generally what advice is worth, it's no substitute for research.

With that budget you should be able to build a high end system.

 

I would get:

 

Processor: 4770k (or wait a month or so for its replacement which is slightly better: 4790k)

 

Mobo: any z87 or z97 mobo from a manufactor of you preference will do fine. Don't overspend on you mobo, should just get a normal atx board for about 100 pounds. This will be more than enough for a normal over clock.

 

Psu: 750w or more from your preferred brand.

 

Video card: gtx770 4gb

 

RAM: 2x4gb or 2x8gb get some ~2300mhz sticks or lower, as long as the timings are cl9 or better. A good 8gb kit should cost no more than 70ish pounds.

 

Cooler: corsair h80i or noctua air cooler.

 

Case: I usually find a nice and large case for the lowest price. Just make sure it will fit your video card which is probably going to be the deepest component. If you are on a budget, spend no more than 50 to 70 pounds on this.

 

Hdd/ssd. Depends on the storage room you need. A lot of people get a hdd of about 1tb for their os and a dedicated ssd for fsx. Like a 250gb ssd. This all depends on budget. If you have enough left over, you can get 2x 512gb ssd for example.

 

Hope this helps a bit.

 

Last point, make sure you install win7 64bit!

 

Cheers.

I would agree with the above. But should add...

 

EVGA GTX 770 4GB Duel Bios is great, I have one.

 

For PSU I would recommend Seasonic X, Gold. Mine is 1005 watt. Much higher than required, but the price was good, and I may have a bash at SLI in the future. [i do other things as well as FSX]

 

I would go for a case that would allow you to install a Corsair H110... if you intend to go for an AIO water cooler. If not, because you don't like the risk of leaks, I would go for the Thermalright Archon SB-E X2. It has no RAM clearance issues and cools very well indeed. If you intend to go for low profilee RAM, you could go for the legendary Noctua NH-D14. Unbelievably quiet and amazing cooling.

 

Where I would disagree with outofphazse, is in regard to motherboards. Don't just go for "any" MB. Go for a reliable manufacturer, and a motherboard that has proven itself to be stable and effective. My preference is Asus.

I concur with what Martin is recommending. Very sound advice.

 

I have just gone to a GTX 770 4GB that has vastly improved my rig that isn't even running on a CPU as powerful as the one you are looking at.

 

My motherboard is a plain basic, but tried and true ASUS that overclocks very easily.

 

As for the NH-D14, although I am not using one right now, I did in the past and was very satisfied both with the cooling it provided and the noise level. The only reason I switched to my present liquid cooling set up, is because of the much smaller footprint on my Motherboard.

 

Regards,

Rick Hobbs

Boeing777_Banner_Pilot.jpg

 

I should add...

 

Noctua have now released the NH-D15.

 

It's based on the NH-D14 but with a wider stack for more surface area and bigger fans.

 

I haven't checked out the reviews yet but it should offer even better cooling.

Here are my specs for what Im currently building.

 

I7 4790K 4.4ghz----------------------------$340

MSI Gaming 7 Motherboard----------------$189

MSI 770GTX 4GB---------------------------------$390

Gskill Sniper ram 8GB---------------------$80

1TB HDD-------------------------------------$64

Corsair 800Watt PSU---------------------$120

H110 Water cooler.-----------------------$99

Windows 7----------------------------------$96

Total in USD is $1270

My upgrade costs are a lot lower as I'm reusing a lot of parts from current build.

ATP MEL,CFI,CFII,MEI. Type Ratings B-737, ERJ-190,ERJ-170

 

Nice system David.

 

I have no experience with MSI cards and motherboards but I think you will be happy with that.

 

Would be nice if you could add an SSD.

 

RAM specs?

Nice system David.

 

I have no experience with MSI cards and motherboards but I think you will be happy with that.

 

Would be nice if you could add an SSD.

 

RAM specs?

I don't really see the benefit in SSD's as boot time ect aren't really a concern to me if they improved FPS I'd get one but they don't. I've been really happy with my MSI card which I'll be reusing from my current PC.

ATP MEL,CFI,CFII,MEI. Type Ratings B-737, ERJ-190,ERJ-170

 

 

 


I don't really see the benefit in SSD's as boot time ect aren't really a concern to me if they improved FPS I'd get one but they don't. I've been really happy with my MSI card which I'll be reusing from my current PC.

 

An SSD will not give you better frames, and you are right that the boot time is not important.

 

If, however, you install FSX on a dedicated SSD, you will see improved performance / smoothness. So less stutters, because the OS uses the other drive, and all the data that FSX needs to load, like scenery and autogen, can be loaded faster, thus improving smoothness. 

 

So there is a benefit to using a SSD.

Hi,
What size screen do you have? If you are planning on a 2560x1600, in combination with DX10 and HD REX clouds or similar, you should get a powerful GPU, and maybe go for an i5 in stead of an i7 CPU.

Here is what I'm planning for later this year:

Intel i5 4690k "devils canyon"
Inno3d Ichill GTX780
Asrock z97 Killer
2x4 gb G.Skill TridentX 2400/C10

 

Regarding OS, I think that Windows 7-64 bit is the safe choice. Opinions appears split regarding 8.1.

 

I'll keep my hard drives, cabinet, PSU and CPU cooler given in my signature. I can fully recommend them, have been working flawlessly for 3 years now.

BR
Anders
 

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