Hi Everyone,

 

Since my main PC crashed a while back, I've been running FSX on a secondary PC. I have only been able to fly with the basics since FPS is not that great with clouds, detailed airports and full AI etc. With that said, it's time to build a system that will not only run FSX to it's full potential but I can also use it with other applications\games\media as well.

 

I have been doing my research for a while now and finally came up with the follow system specs:

 

Corsair Carbide Series 500R Arctic White Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Gaming Case

CORSAIR HX Series HX850 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI CrossFire 80 Power Supply

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) 16GB

ASUS MAXIMUS VII FORMULA/WATCH DOGS LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Intel Core i7-4790K Haswell Quad-Core 4.0GHz LGA 1150 Desktop Processor BX80646I74790K

Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 64-bit - OEM

CORSAIR Hydro Series H50 Quiet Edition Water / Liquid CPU Cooler. 120mm

SAMSUNG 840 EVO MZ-7TE500BW 2.5" 500GB SATA III TLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

EVGA 04G-2983-KR GeForce GTX 980 Superclocked 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 ACX 2.0 PCI Express 3.0

SAMSUNG SATA DVD-ROM Drive Model SH-118CB/BEBE

 

Now my question is: Would there be any other beneficial item that I should add to this list? I have been waiting a long time to get a proper system. If any of you have any recommendations, it would be much appreciated! Also, The CPU will be overclocked between 4.4 and 4.8 Ghz depending on cooling and stability. Has anyone else had any issues with this CPU in FSX\P3D? How did it handle performance wise? 

 

Cheers,

 

Tino-

I would go with a AIO loop that has a larger radiator. If you are shooting for 4.8, thats going to produce a lot of heat. 

 

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835214058

 

That is getting pretty good reviews and isn't too much more cost wise. I believe it's expandable too.

 

I have the Maximus VI formula. Amazing motherboard. As well as the 4970K

I would go with a AIO loop that has a larger radiator. If you are shooting for 4.8, thats going to produce a lot of heat. 

 

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835214058

 

That is getting pretty good reviews and isn't too much more cost wise. I believe it's expandable too.

 

I have the Maximus VI formula. Amazing motherboard. As well as the 4970K

Thanks for your suggestion! I'll check that out. 

 

How is your sim performing with that CPU\Motherboard setup?

 

Cheers,

It runs phenomenally. You can check out my rig in my profile.

I would check out the new Haswell-E chips.  I heard the mid-range one is priced about the same as the older chips.  New x99 motherboards a bit pricey though.  You do get the benefit of ddr4 ram (but your going to pay for that also).  If nothing else, I'd wait a bit, then spring for the "newest".  Just a thought!!!

 

Gary 

I would check out the new Haswell-E chips.  I heard the mid-range one is priced about the same as the older chips.  New x99 motherboards a bit pricey though.  You do get the benefit of ddr4 ram (but your going to pay for that also).  If nothing else, I'd wait a bit, then spring for the "newest".  Just a thought!!!

 

Gary 

 

I agree, although Iv'e been waiting for over 4 years for the proper results. If I wait longer, sure, the hardware always gets better with time. I think the current specs I selected should do wonders for quite some time. My price point is much higher now since iv'e been waiting this long. So I don't mind getting DDR4. 

 

Thanks.

It runs phenomenally. You can check out my rig in my profile.

 

Thats great news! 

 

Thanks for the information.

The only thing I would change is the H50... Get an H100i, the difference in price is not that great, and the h100i is amazing.

 

The only thing I would change is the H50... Get an H100i, the difference in price is not that great, and the h100i is amazing.

 

 

Or you could do it yourself and slay the H50.

 

My rig  :ph34r:

 

 

Nice rig, Old pic you not run dual channel ? The mems in slot A1-A2 single channel.

Dual channel = A1-B1 or A2-B2

Nice rig, Old pic you not run dual channel ? The mems in slot A1-A2 single channel.

Dual channel = A1-B1 or A2-B2

 

Got a small piece of thermal compound in the slot. Needed to get a can of air to blow it out. Maximus VI formula mobo. Normally 32GB in there. 

 

 

 

 

Or you could do it yourself and slay the H50.

 

My rig  :ph34r:

 

 

 

Thats one crazy setup! Very nice. I don't think I will be doing anything to that extent. 

 

Cheers,

I'd recommend going with a 2x8GB instead of 4x4GB setup on your RAM.  You'll thank yourself if you start trying to seriously overclock things.  I had 4 sticks in my last rig and I know my OC potential took a hit.  You end up needing more voltage on the memory controller to keep it stable which = more heat etc.  I just rebuilt my system with that board, cpu, and this kit which will offer much higher memory bandwidth than the DDR3-1600 kit you were looking at. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231755  Oh and my 4790K runs at 4.4Ghz under load all cores loaded up just fine basically out of the box with that motherboard.  

 

The only spots I get rough performance are dense metro/city areas due to using ORBX Global and Global Vector and their PNW and NorCal regions.  If I'm not in a dense area like KLAX or KSFO or KSEA or (for some weird reason) the Sacramento area around KSMF/KSAC (something with the tiles of city/urban autogen) and trying to use a payware aircraft  I'm locked at 30 all the time.  With those aircraft I might dip into the mid-20's a bit.

 

 

I would check out the new Haswell-E chips.  I heard the mid-range one is priced about the same as the older chips.  New x99 motherboards a bit pricey though.  You do get the benefit of ddr4 ram (but your going to pay for that also).  If nothing else, I'd wait a bit, then spring for the "newest".  Just a thought!!!

 

Gary 

 

Actually the 4790K is really the best cpu out currently for FSX.  Since single thread performance is hugely important.  A stock 4790K is almost 25% faster than a 5930K http://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html

I'm running Prepar3d v2 on a 4790k @ 4.4 with two 970's.

I run ftx global vector (highest settings), Water at medium setting, REX textures   (highest resolution), 25% road traffic, carenado tbm850 or carenado cirrus sr22

Pretty heavy load. Most places it flops around between 40-60, around SFO, LAX, SEA (any city around water) I'll have occasional dips in the low 20's never below 20 though. 

 

I am using the H55 to cool. It's a dog an wouldn't recommend it to anyone overclocking. My case runs hot but even in a cool case 4.6 would be a reach with that cooler. 

 

The stock 4790k is the best out there right now. Broadwell is supposed to have very little single performance gain so I would say you are making a good computer. If you use Prepar3d, the extra graphics card does help about 5-7 fps, I guess thats about $40 a frame so may not be worth it to your budget. 

I'd recommend going with a 2x8GB instead of 4x4GB setup on your RAM.  You'll thank yourself if you start trying to seriously overclock things.  I had 4 sticks in my last rig and I know my OC potential took a hit.  You end up needing more voltage on the memory controller to keep it stable which = more heat etc.  I just rebuilt my system with that board, cpu, and this kit which will offer much higher memory bandwidth than the DDR3-1600 kit you were looking at. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231755  Oh and my 4790K runs at 4.4Ghz under load all cores loaded up just fine basically out of the box with that motherboard.  

 

The only spots I get rough performance are dense metro/city areas due to using ORBX Global and Global Vector and their PNW and NorCal regions.  If I'm not in a dense area like KLAX or KSFO or KSEA or (for some weird reason) the Sacramento area around KSMF/KSAC (something with the tiles of city/urban autogen) and trying to use a payware aircraft  I'm locked at 30 all the time.  With those aircraft I might dip into the mid-20's a bit.

 

 

 

Actually the 4790K is really the best cpu out currently for FSX.  Since single thread performance is hugely important.  A stock 4790K is almost 25% faster than a 5930K http://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html

Thanks for the reply! 

 

I will read over it later tonight.

 

Cheers,