OK guys, I need some advice. I am seriously thinking of replacing my somewhat dated PC for a new one since I switched last year exclusively to X-Plane. Now, I could tell you a fib and say I don't care about the eye-candy in X-Plane, just the great physics of flying. Being a real world pilot - (entirely GA) - I really enjoy the feel of X-Plane and YES- I want the eye-candy! Here's my dilemma...I could buy all the parts and put it all together, but big-boy responsibilities (work) doesn't allow for that. So, I have be looking and learning, and I found a company (no endorsement here) that builds PC's based on the demands of X-Plane. XForce PC is based in SC and I spoke with the owner today and was impressed with the truthfulness of his comments. My questions:

1. Has anyone had any experience with this company?
2. Does anyone have any suggestions for custom builds or maybe a different brand?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions!

I'm sure others will weigh in, but at first glance, the prices seem reasonable, but I would suggest the 7700K and better cooler than the one they show, if planning to overclock.Still, building your own is a lot of fun, and won't take you more than a day, tops.

 

Thanks for the quick reply....I agree on the "upgrade"...I have built PC's before and still might, but, I am currently leaning towards a purchase of a new custom rig...thanks again for the input.

I am about to have Digital Storm build me a water cooled i7 7700k monster machine and will be paying for the 5.0ghz Overclock service.   I already have a ASUS 1080ti I just bought and I am using to prop up my old i7 3930k system that is struggling to let me turn everything on full blast.    It will go into the Hailstorm II I'll have DS build for me once it is delivered..   Hopefully this 5 grand monster will be able to handle anything I throw at it, whether it be Simulation or other video games, YouTube Streaming or video production.   

I have an Alienware aurora r6 from Dell. Its my 3rd Alienware in 10 years. I live in a remote part of Canada ( Yukon ) and in that time I've had a motherboard fail after 3 years and a Video card fail on another Alienware also after 3 years. Both times dell had the replacement part shipped to a local Dell authorized repairer and I was back in action in 2-3 working days from the day I contacted Dell support. There warranty is worth every penny.

 

The exact system I have and it runs XP11 great! US$1600.  http://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/productdetails/alienware-aurora-r6-desktop/dpcwxt04s

 

This thread came just in the right slot for me :-)

Funnily enough I just replied to jcomm's i5 or i7 post and linked in a video to the very person you were taking to.  See below

cheers

Peter

 

 

For Whatever it is worth. I have been using a Digital Storm Machine which is entering its 6th year now. Definitely not state of the art in today's terms, but not a single issue in all these years. P3D still runs with acceptable expectations and I could not recommend them more if you are looking for a Branded machine.

If the OP is still open to suggestions, Origin is a decent company to work with.  Built from the ashes of the original Alienware team, they build some pretty beefy rigs.  I cannot vouch for the desktops, but they build solid laptops.  Customer Service though is where they shine, and I haven't had a single bad experience with them.

As for XForce PC, one good way to tell how good or bad a company is, is to sneak in through the backdoor and check out their customer support forums (if they have any) to see what their current customers have to say.  You can get a pretty good feel for a company you've never dealt with, through the word of mouth from the customers, also looking for issues pertaining to certain aspects of the build process as well as how quickly (and efficiently) the support team addresses the issues.