New System Specs Question

[Carob 2]

Hello.

 

I'm hoping a few of you can let me know your opinions on something.

 

My father is looking at having a new system put together that he uses pretty much only for FS.  He got a quote from someone near him but I'm not so sure on a couple of the items.  I'll hold off on my opinion just yet as I would like your input.

 

Intel Core i5-4430 Haswell 3.0GHZ, LGA 1150

16GB RAM (PC3-12600)

2x 1TB Hard Drives, 7200RPM, 64MB Buffer

DVD +/-RW Drive

EVGA GeForce GTX-760 w/ 2GB GDDR5, Has 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort

Intel Z87 HDMI Motherboard (NO SLI SUPPORT)

750W Power Supply (CoolMaster GXII 80 PLUS Bronze)

5-Port PCI USB 2.0 Expansion Card

Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM

Standard Mid-Tower Case (Black)

 

Thanks!

[z06z33 638]

Hello.

 

I'm hoping a few of you can let me know your opinions on something.

 

My father is looking at having a new system put together that he uses pretty much only for FS.  He got a quote from someone near him but I'm not so sure on a couple of the items.  I'll hold off on my opinion just yet as I would like your input.

 

Intel Core i5-4430 Haswell 3.0GHZ, LGA 1150

16GB RAM (PC3-12600)

2x 1TB Hard Drives, 7200RPM, 64MB Buffer

DVD +/-RW Drive

EVGA GeForce GTX-760 w/ 2GB GDDR5, Has 2x DVI, HDMI, DisplayPort

Intel Z87 HDMI Motherboard (NO SLI SUPPORT)

750W Power Supply (CoolMaster GXII 80 PLUS Bronze)

5-Port PCI USB 2.0 Expansion Card

Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit OEM

Standard Mid-Tower Case (Black)

 

Thanks!

Get a Z97 Board as the Z87 is a dead end for future CPU upgrades

a 4790k or 4690K CPU as they can be Overclocked and have higher clock speeds and the 4690K is only $40 more

GTX 770 4GB if you can as its faster and has more Vram

If you want to save him some money I'll be happy to talk you or he through the build process its pretty easy.

If you don't mind how much was he quoted for this build?

[TheNerd 12]

Well, if he's using it just for FSX and not many other games, here are my suggestions to save you money and get more performance B) .

 

1.) Get one of the i5/i7 "K" processors. You can't OC the i5-4430 and 3.0GHz just won't cut it for FSX. For example, I have an i5-3330 at 3.2GHz and a GTX 750ti, and I only get about 20 fps at JFK with the NGX. The most important thing in FSX is your CPU!

 

2.) Save some money by getting a cheaper GPU and use that money to get a better CPU. If i were you , go for either a GTX 750ti (even a non-ti would be fine as well) or  a GTX 660. Don't forget... FSX is more CPU reliant than GPU reliant. For example, I upgraded from a GT 630 to the 750ti and got maybe 1 or 2 more FPS. It's not worth getting an expensive GPU just for FSX.

 

3.) Get *LESS* RAM. FSX is a 32-bit program, so it can only use so much RAM. 16GB really isn't ideal for gaming in general. It's only useful if you run really complex programs. 6 or 8GB of 1600/1866 RAM would be more than enough.

 

4.) Depending on how many addons and other programs you use, 2 - 1TB HDDs isn't ideal. 1 will suffice (use the extra $$ to get a better CPU) or if you can afford it get an SSD! SSDs will make the game, texures, etc. load substantially faster.

 

5.) Now let's talk about the PSU. I'm honestly not a fan of Cool Master PSUs (had a bad experience with one), but that's all up to you.

 

Hope this helps and saves you some money 

 

-Phil

[Carob 2]

Get a Z97 Board as the Z87 is a dead end for future CPU upgrades

a 4790k or 4690K CPU as they can be Overclocked and have higher clock speeds and the 4690K is only $40 more

GTX 770 4GB if you can as its faster and has more Vram

If you want to save him some money I'll be happy to talk you or he through the build process its pretty easy.

If you don't mind how much was he quoted for this build?

Overclocking won't be happening so not worred about that ability.

 

Quote was $1,580.

 

Thanks for the reply.

Well, if he's using it just for FSX and not many other games, here are my suggestions to save you money and get more performance B) .

 

1.) Get one of the i5/i7 "K" processors. You can't OC the i5-4430 and 3.0GHz just won't cut it for FSX. For example, I have an i5-3330 at 3.2GHz and a GTX 750ti, and I only get about 20 fps at JFK with the NGX. The most important thing in FSX is your CPU!

 

2.) Save some money by getting a cheaper GPU and use that money to get a better CPU. If i were you , go for either a GTX 750ti (even a non-ti would be fine as well) or  a GTX 660. Don't forget... FSX is more CPU reliant than GPU reliant. For example, I upgraded from a GT 630 to the 750ti and got maybe 1 or 2 more FPS. It's not worth getting an expensive GPU just for FSX.

 

3.) Get *LESS* RAM. FSX is a 32-bit program, so it can only use so much RAM. 16GB really isn't ideal for gaming in general. It's only useful if you run really complex programs. 6 or 8GB of 1600/1866 RAM would be more than enough.

 

4.) Depending on how many addons and other programs you use, 2 - 1TB HDDs isn't ideal. 1 will suffice (use the extra $$ to get a better CPU) or if you can afford it get an SSD! SSDs will make the game, texures, etc. load substantially faster.

 

5.) Now let's talk about the PSU. I'm honestly not a fan of Cool Master PSUs (had a bad experience with one), but that's all up to you.

 

Hope this helps and saves you some money 

 

-Phil

I agree about the RAM.  That will be one of my suggestions for sure.

 

The orig quote was to make the system a RAID 1 which I don't want him to do.  He has two drives in his current system and uses the 2nd as a backup.  But not a RAID.  I won't be able to talk him out of a 2nd drive but thanks.

 

What PSU would you recommend?  Whatever it is, one that's 750W seems overkill to me.

[z06z33 638]

Get a Z97 Board as the Z87 is a dead end for future CPU upgrades

a 4790k or 4690K CPU as they can be Overclocked and have higher clock speeds and the 4690K is only $40 more

GTX 770 4GB if you can as its faster and has more Vram

If you want to save him some money I'll be happy to talk you or he through the build process its pretty easy.

If you don't mind how much was he quoted for this build?

If you built that exact system yourself It'd cost about $1050 a Savings of $530 for about an 2 hours worth of work.

If you built it yourself a system like mine would cost about $1400-$1500, I get 30-40 FPS on the ground in the PMDG 777 at payware airports in bad weather with pretty high settings. Overclocking isn't hard nor dangerous it litterly takes maybe 5-10 minutes. and like I said I'd be happy to talk you or your father through the build and OC. You can also look on youtube for how to video's there are a ton PC/ OC videos on there

[Carob 2]

If you built that exact system yourself It'd cost about $1050 a Savings of $530 for about an 2 hours worth of work.

If you built it yourself a system like mine would cost about $1400-$1500, I get 30-40 FPS on the ground in the PMDG 777 at payware airports in bad weather with pretty high settings. Overclocking isn't hard nor dangerous it litterly takes maybe 5-10 minutes. and like I said I'd be happy to talk you or your father through the build and OC.

The OC won't happen for personal reasons.  Nothing else.

[z06z33 638]

The OC won't happen for personal reasons.  Nothing else.

Got ya.

[DChockey08 245]

If you're not overclocking, then I seriously recommend investing $40 extra and getting the i7-4790k on a Z97. It's base speed is 4.0 GHz and has a turbo of 4.4. Even without overclocking it would be a very good CPU for FSX, and certainly miles above any i5.

 

Just my two cents.

[Carob 2]

If you're not overclocking, then I seriously recommend investing $40 extra and getting the i7-4790k on a Z97. It's base speed is 4.0 GHz and has a turbo of 4.4. Even without overclocking it would be a very good CPU for FSX, and certainly miles above any i5.

 

Just my two cents.

Good info.  Thanks.

[Charlatan 68]

 

Quote was $1,580.

 

They are having a laugh

[Carob 2]

They are having a laugh

I guess there had to be one hater...

[Charlatan 68]

Excuse me? You asked for help and opinions?

 

Whoever quoted that price for that system is pulling a fast one. Don't like my opinion? Fine, let your father buy that system at that price and be completely underwhelmed, no skin off my nose.

 

Where am I hating? I'm trying to help u.

[Carob 2]

Excuse me? You asked for help and opinions?

 

Whoever quoted that price for that system is pulling a fast one. Don't like my opinion? Fine, let your father buy that system at that price and be completely underwhelmed, no skin off my nose.

 

Where am I hating? I'm trying to help u.

Because there was no opinion.  It was just hate.  If you had some kind of explanation (like the previous posters) behind your statement at least it could have been understandable.

[Charlatan 68]

Are you for real?  My opinion was that they were ripping you off (as z06z63 already pointed out).

 

There wasn't an awful lot left to add that hadn't already been said, Z97 board instead of Z87, 4790k instead of the i5 and a GTX 770 instead of the 760 if you could stretch to it.  A good quality 550-600w PSU would also be a better buy than the Coolermaster.

 

You said yourself that you had your opinions on what had been quoted but didn't want to comment yet, so I believe you probably had an inkling that what he had been quoted was WAY over the odds.

[Carob 2]

Are you for real?  My opinion was that they were ripping you off (as z06z63 already pointed out).

 

There wasn't an awful lot left to add that hadn't already been said, Z97 board instead of Z87, 4790k instead of the i5 and a GTX 770 instead of the 760 if you could stretch to it.  A good quality 550-600w PSU would also be a better buy than the Coolermaster.

 

You said yourself that you had your opinions on what had been quoted but didn't want to comment yet, so I believe you probably had an inkling that what he had been quoted was WAY over the odds.

You're still missing the point but thanks for trying to clarify a little better.

 

I still don't understand why the 770 over the 760 if GPU isn't as important as CPU though.  Especially at approx $100 more.