Suggestions on a long awaited FS computer update

[744 driver 14]

Hello all,

 

I've been a lurker on the forums for many years and had a FS rig that was, well, pitiful at best. I've recently purchased the below listed components and ask for your constructive input:

 

I7-6700 4.0 Ghz processor, NH-D15 cooler, MSI GTX 970 twin frozr GPU, 2 Samsung SSD's( a 120 gig for W7 and a 250 gig for FS), a 2TB WD Black HDD for mass storage, 16 gigs of Kingston HyperX Fury 2400 DDR 4 memory, Gigabyte Z170X-UD5 MOBO, Corsaire RM850 gold PSU, Rosewill Blackhawk ATX case.

 

Let me know what you think please. I hesitated posting this because I see so many people already doing this but I felt like I needed to before I moved forward with this build. I purchased all the parts and they've arrived but I haven't opened them yet.

 

One of my nagging questions is which SSD to put the OS on and which to put FSX on. Your suggestions would be greatly appreciated. My initial thoughts were to put OS on the smaller and FS on the larger.

 

Thanks so much.

 

Mark

[ryanbatc 12,833]

Did you get a 6700K? That's the one you want - has the unlocked multiplier for easy overclocking

 

I'd just put the OS and FSX on the same drive.

[744 driver 14]

Ryan,

Thanks so much for your reply and yes, I did get the unlocked k version of the CPU. I am rethinking the dual SSD's now and returning them and getting (1) 500 GB Samsing EVO and putting both OS and FSX SE on that drive. My only question is whether or not 500GB is large enough for the OS and FSX SE and all the add-ons that I have. Specifically PMDG aircraft, Concorde X, quite a few A2A aircraft etc. Haven't gotten into add-on scenery like ORBX yet but now that I have a system hat could handle it I just may. I've read that people are putting scenery on another drive such as a HDD instead of the SSD so that it doesn't fill it up.

 

Another question I have is the reliability of the regular Samsung EVO vs. the much more expensive Pro version. Would rather not make this system upgrade more expensive than it already is.

Your thoughts?

Thanks in advance ,

Mark

[RamonB 449]

It looks fine.

 

I would:

 

Exchange  the 128 GB for a 500 GB EVO.

Put OS on C: using the 250 GB you already have, will have spare room for something else.

Put FSX plus its addons.on D: 500 GB

Use the 2TB for backups.

[744 driver 14]

Ramon,

 

Seems to me that  a 500GB SSD is overkill for FSX. I mean my FSX folder with the add-ons that I currently have is only about 27 GB. And that's 4 PMDG aircraft and 5 A2A aircraft and assorted other add-ons. I don't know. Seems like a pretty big drive to me for that. Even if I wanted to start purchasing ORBX scenery couldn't I just move this to the HDD to conserve space as I stated in my previous post?

 

Is there really any advantage to separating the OS and FSX anyways? I wanted to do this mainly to keep things clean and not clutter the FSX drive with a bunch of other stuff which presumably would slow it down. Is this sound thinking?

 

Thanks.

 

Mark 

[OmniAtlas 93]

Is there a significant difference in performance from a 6600k to 6700k? There is a big price difference...

Ramon,

 

Is there really any advantage to separating the OS and FSX anyways? I wanted to do this mainly to keep things clean and not clutter the FSX drive with a bunch of other stuff which presumably would slow it down. Is this sound thinking?

 

Thanks.

 

Mark 

 

You could try using a caching drive...or Intel Rapid Storage technology which I am doing now.

[744 driver 14]

Is there a significant difference in performance from a 6600k to 6700k? There is a big price difference...

 

 

You could try using a caching drive...or Intel Rapid Storage technology which I am doing now.

As far as a significant difference in performance between 6600K and 6700K, not a whole lot that's for sure but FSX being so CPU intensive I believed it was the way to go and sacrifice a step down in the GPU from a 980 to 970 for it. Do you think the price to performance ratio with regard to FSX is not significant enough to warrant spending the extra money on the i7-6700K? I really thought it was. I'd be interested in hearing your opinion on this.

 

Regarding a caching drive, I'll look into this a little more.

 

 

Thanks

 

Mark

[RamonB 449]

Seems to me that a 500GB SSD is overkill for FSX

 

Hello Mark

Problem is that FSX and in my case P3D just keep growing.

 

Currently my FSX folder is 142 GB (and I have stopped adding stuff to it), and my P3D folder is 120 GB, and I just started adding P3D V3 compatible addons,

add to that all other FSX/P3D common utilities in different folders. (Panel Designer, IS3, ADE, AFX, REX, ASN, dev projects, etc, etc.). At this moment I have 232 GB free in their 1 TB drive.

 

Maybe 500 GB sounds like an overkill now, but It wont be on the lung run.

 

 

Cheers.

[martin-w 3,235]

I went for the NH-D15S rather than the D15. Even better RAM compatibility and slightly offset so further away from the top PCIe slot. 

 

One fan rather than two... but two fans on the D15 compared to one fan on the 15S only makes two degrees  difference.

 

As for one drive for this, and one drive for that, sod it. All on one drive. This multiple drive fetish is out of date, not required in my view.

[ryanbatc 12,833]

If ALL you do is FSX, then I'd get a Samsung 850 Evo 500GB - they're quite affordable now

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-2-5-Inch-Internal-MZ-75E500B-AM/dp/B00OBRE5UE/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1458849793&sr=8-5&keywords=samsung+950

 

Or the M2 variant (the 950 Pro)

http://www.amazon.com/Samsung-950-512GB-PCIe-NVMe/dp/B01639694M/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458849980&sr=8-1&keywords=samsung+950

 

Put Windows and FSX on that and be done.

 

Me, I play other games, well, have a lot of sims installed, plus other games like Battlefield 4, Steam games etc...  I've got a lot of sata drives from old builds so I have Win7 on an older sataII ssd, and my sims/games on my 500GB.  Then I have a 1TB 7200 rpm for photos/videos/other apps I don't need quick loading on.

 

If I had to do it again, I'd just buy a 1TB SSD, stick the OS and all my software on that, then keep the 1TB for photos/videos.  I'd probably go M2 for the SSD.

 

totally OT and lol...but that's definitely a Citation X is your sig Kabronicus.... not a CJ2 if that was your intention.