Ok, so I am looking to build a pc for fsx, but I want it to hold up on other sims such as xplane, prepar3d, or other games like arma 3, battlefield 4, etc. . This is what I came up with https://pcpartpicker.com/user/littleferrhis/saved/#savedbuild_1979789...Now I do understand that in games like fsx, intel seems to be the way to go, but I am also going to be using this for other games, and the 4 cores may be more beneficial in that aspect, as well as amd having cheap , but powerful hardware. I tried to go as cheap as possible, since my budget is around $500, and I am going to need to wheel and deal to even reach this goal. I wanted to hear opinions, and I want to see if there are parts that are better for at the same price or cheaper. Thanks...

For FSX your CPU limitation is in single-threaded performance;  I'd be hesitant about going with that processor.   I think if you're really pinned in that price bracket you should follow the advice at Logical Increments and go for the Intel G3220.  It has a lower "raw" clock speed, but you can't compare those directly between AMD and Intel.   A better general comparison is here.  You do lose some multi-threaded potential, but not many games right now take proper advantage of having 4-8 cores available, anyway.

 

(Generally speaking, I find Logical Increments to be a very good site for useful guidelines on 'what sort of PC should I build for $XXX' if you're not up to the latest performance numbers on... everything...)

 

4GB of RAM is a bit slight, too.  You're not even going to be able to give FSX it's own small maximum amount to use because your OS will take a good chunk out of that.  I'd actually be inclined to shave a few bucks on the video card and buy more RAM instead -- the difference that $30 of video card money will make on performance isn't going to be nearly what you'll benefit from by throwing that same money at another 4GB of RAM.  You'd have to go up to a 3GB or 4GB video card to see notable improvements.

 

Aside from that this looks fine.  I'd do the math on your PSU to make sure it's sufficiently specced, but eyeballing it it looks OK to me.

Ok, so I am looking to build a pc for fsx, but I want it to hold up on other sims such as xplane, prepar3d, or other games like arma 3, battlefield 4, etc. . This is what I came up with https://pcpartpicker.com/user/littleferrhis/saved/#savedbuild_1979789...Now I do understand that in games like fsx, intel seems to be the way to go, but I am also going to be using this for other games, and the 4 cores may be more beneficial in that aspect, as well as amd having cheap , but powerful hardware. I tried to go as cheap as possible, since my budget is around $500, and I am going to need to wheel and deal to even reach this goal. I wanted to hear opinions, and I want to see if there are parts that are better for at the same price or cheaper. Thanks...

 

 My professional opinion. Wait till you have more money to dedicate. You would barely be able to play anything with that (with decent frame rates).  I am not trying to insult you in any way. I just know you will be disappointed with it. My PC can't even run ARMA 3 maxed out and I have SLI 780's, a 4790K at 4.8GHz and 24GB of RAM. 

 My professional opinion. Wait till you have more money to dedicate. You would barely be able to play anything with that.  I am not trying to insult you in any way. I just know you will be disappointed with it. My PC can't even run ARMA 3 maxed out and I have SLI 780's, a 4790K at 4.8GHz and 24GB of RAM. 

 

I think that might be a little extreme, but yeah, perhaps I should have put a caveat on what I said:   your build looks fine for what it is.   It's not going to be a barnstormer by any means, but as long as you go in with very modest expectations you should get some use out of it.

 

The nice thing about biting the bullet on something that's not phenomenal now is that you can at least use it while saving for better parts.  One of the good things about going with that Intel CPU, for example, is it uses the exact same socket as much better CPUs.  Should you stumble across $350 or so a little down the road you can drop an i7-4790K in there directly and have a major upgrade.  I'm not positive, but I don't think that's the case with the AMD piece you're looking at. 

 

(I'm not much of an expert on AMD CPUs any more, as they've been a lot less interesting to anyone but the most budget-conscious than they were 10 years ago.)

 

In the long run it's lest cost-effective than just ponying up for the good stuff up front, but you at least have a PC to play with in the meantime, instead of starting at the walls while you fill up your piggy bank. :}

Oh, one other thing.... unless you're planning on overclocking, I would save the $30 on the Hyper 212.  That's a very good air cooler, but I'd consider it a luxury you don't need if you're already on a tight budget.   Deal with the stock cooler you get with the CPU and put that money somewhere else.

Pentium G3258 and an Asus H81-Plus.  Should be able to get it to 4.2ghz on that, and will wipe the floor with any AMD system

Pentium G3258 and an Asus H81-Plus.  Should be able to get it to 4.2ghz on that, and will wipe the floor with any AMD system

 

I do not think you can overclock on the H platforms 

I do not think you can overclock on the H platforms 

 

So Intel would like you to believe.  Take a look here:

 

http://forum.avsim.net/topic/329116-fsxmark11/page-48

 

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18611462