Budget FSX-SE pc components recommendation

[Maxthrust 0]

Hello fellow simmers,

 

I'm looking to get back to simming after a 10 year break. I've always followed up with the current flighsim news so I kinda know what I'll be running on my new rig.

 

I've used to be able to find my way around the hardware that's right for my needs and within my budget, however, I think the market is flooded with overpriced and low quality products, therefore I need a bit help.

 

I'm kinda old school, I value a fluid smooth flight experience than looking at the latest high res runway or tree textures. I don't use radar contact etc but I do fly online. I usually keep the mesh and cloud resolution at medium, but I'll be using active sky. I'll fly the pmdg and majestic planes, actually if I knew they wouldn't move my post to here I would have posted this to the pmdg forum..

 

I usually don't upgrade, but this will be a staged build; I'll use the stock cpu cooler and my existing hdd at this point. A better cooler for slight over cllocking and an ssd will be added later on. I'm leaning to stay with win7-64.

 

Now my intent is clear, here's what I'm thinking to build:

 

CPU

I5-6600K

 

I understand i5 is the best price/performance cpu for fsx. I'm not sure if I need this cpu though, it's still quite a bit $$, do I really need this? Or can I get away with an older haswell non K cpu?

 

Mobo

GIGABYTE GA-Z170-HD3 (rev. 1.0)

No frills, overclocks well, latest chipset.

 

GPU

Gf gtx-750ti, 2gb. PCI 3, 16x

Best $/performance card imo, I wish they had a 4gb version.. Or am I completely wrong with GF7 series? I've never been a GPU Expert. Which brand? Must be reliable and reasonably quiet.

 

RAM:

16 or 8 is enough?

I know I need ddr4 if I'm going with skylake, but I have no idea about what to look for. I don't care about its looks or color, however, reliability and overclock stability is important to me. Which brand is again an other question..

 

I think a 500w psu would be enough for this config

 

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Derin

[ryanbatc 12,770]

For FSX only budget build you could get away with a Pentium G3258 CPU , over clock it (need a cooler though - 20-50bucks)

 

8gb ram

 

750 is ok but a 760 is the lowest id go

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

Haswell K-series is a better bet than non-K..

 

If your budget allows it,  a 4790K + GTX970 is the way to go for FSX,  IMHO..

[Charlatan 68]

I'd be wanting a GTX960 at the least to go with that CPU, or as Bert says, a 970 is preferable.

[Maxthrust 0]

G3258 is very tempting, I'll be running FSX-SE exclusively 

[ryanbatc 12,770]

I'd be wanting a GTX960 at the least to go with that CPU, or as Bert says, a 970 is preferable.

Then a 960... If this truly is a budget build

[Maxthrust 0]

Well, after doing a bit research I decided to give G3258 a shot:

 

People seem to be able to overclock G3258 @ 4.2ghz on stock cooler. 1.2v, 70 C max temp on stress tests, seems a little too good to be true but I'll give it a shot before buying a better cooler. 89 CAD

 

Asrock Z97 anniversary edition board, built for, or marketed for g3258 89 CAD

 

G.SKILL DDR3 2400 memory, 2x4gig sticks 59 CAD

 

I went with the el cheapo 148 CAD Asus GT750TI. 2gb, not 16X. Spending 350$+ to a nice a card is against the purpose of this built.

 

I also bought an 250gb ssd to save some head ache later on, 250gb should be sufficient for the o/s and fsx

 

I've spent a bit more on the PSU and the case as the quality of these items are important for a stable overclock.

 

I'm hoping to get nice and fluid fps with medium/low settings.

 

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this topic, I'll report my findings later on..

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

Will be interesting to hear  :smile:

[PaulGR 168]

You can get a good air cooler for cheap.

Don't overclock on stock one. You are just asking for trouble.

 

I used this one on my previous build and 4.2 on a 3770 was no issue.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118099&cm_re=zalmann_cooler-_-35-118-099-_-Product

[westman 257]

This little one is quite strong, best bung for buck

Did a fsmark test when playing around with it .

 

http://www.avsim.com/topic/329116-fsxmark11/?p=3065349

[TurboKen 221]

That system will be just fine. Enjoy!