Brand new - looking for setup help!!

[samuelp63 1]

Good afternoon all. 

I'm a 100 hour private pilot and avid gamer as well. I'm about to start my instrument training and would like to set up a simulator both for fun and training. I'd also like to set up the PC for iracing (or similar racing platform). Please keep in mind i'm brand new to this. I'd like to have a complete set for 2k or less ideally... including 3 monitors, PC, wheel/yoke, pedals/controls, etc. It may be far fetched, again i'm new to this and a little out of touch. I don't mind building my own PVC rig if need be... although purchasing a complete setup would definitely be an added bonus. I did go on to Bestbuy and find a few CPU's that seem to meet all the specs required for under $750... HP, IBUYPOWER, Cyberpowerpc... etc. 

 

Again, any and all insight would be appreciated. 

Thank you,
Sam

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

Welcome to Avsim!  I'm sure you will get more help than you can handle here..

Have you decided on FSX vs P3D as your flightsim platform?

With FSX you do not need a powerful video card, but if you are willing to invest in better hardware, P3D is a more current platform..

Do you have any particular airplane and avionics suite in mind for your IFR training?  And where in the world do you do your flying?  There is a fair selection of scenery available for many regions..

Give us a better understanding of your requirements, and we can hopefully help you further..

BTW... you will want to spend more than $750 on your PC for fluid flight..

Edited July 6, 2019 by Bert Pieke

[samuelp63 1]

Thank you Bert. I'm a GA pilot and will stay as such.... now don't get me wrong, i'd love to simulate some 747 and citation flights as well for fun... but as far as training goes, All GA 172/182/Mooney. 6 pack with a G430, engine monitoring, glide slope, etc. No G1000 experience as of yet and not anticipated in the near future. 

I apologize, i'm not family with FSX vs P3D. 

Furthermore, I'm open to spending more. I've had my eye on the Gleim complete set, but would have to add the racing controls in addition to the already, or atleast what i thought was, steep asking price. I assumed i could piece it together more cost effectively and hopefully with better hardware.

Thank you again,

Sam

 

Edited July 6, 2019 by samuelp63

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

Prepar3D is the further development of FSX by Lockheed Martin.

It is more of a "professional product" and is fully 64 bit which solves memory limitations. 

But you can have a perfectly good sim experience with FSX.. in today's world you should consider the Steam version of FSX which is more robust than the original MS "Boxed" version.

I cannot help you with your racing sim, but can definitely assist with getting a quality flight sim experience in place, including a functional Garmin GNS430.

Have a look at:

https://a2asimulations.com/product/accu-sim-c182-skylane-fsx/

http://reality-xp.com/store/index.html

Also sent you a PM..

[ailchim 206]

System requirements for P3D are set out here.  It's V4 you'd be looking at and you'd be wise to treat "recommended" as your target (at least).   Most people here are probably running their CPU at 4.5 gHz + !

https://www.prepar3d.com/system-requirements/

 

[samuelp63 1]

This is kind of what i had in mind...

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-pavilion-desktop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-128gb-solid-state-drive-natural-silver-brushed-hairline-pattern/6221038.p?skuId=6221038

 

[krazyk 157]

2 hours ago, samuelp63 said:

This is kind of what i had in mind...

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-pavilion-desktop-intel-core-i7-16gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-128gb-solid-state-drive-natural-silver-brushed-hairline-pattern/6221038.p?skuId=6221038

 

I wouldn't go for a prebuilt machine for your use; at least not the one you've linked. A couple of issues with your system:

1. CPU: While the i7 8700 is great, it does limit your potential to extract the most performance out of it. This is especially necessary for the sim but also pretty relevant for whatever modern race title you plan on using. Ideally, you'd want a 'K' model of the CPU. For example, 'i7 8700K'. Such models allow the flexibility to push hardware performance giving you better usability in the years to come unless you plan on rebuilding another system fairly soon.

2. RAM: The link does mention 16GB at 2166Mhz but that speed is generally towards the lower end of what is currently available and to maximize your enjoyment in both the sim and racing, you'd want to get much faster RAM. Somewhere around the 3000Mhz is good enough to keep you content presently and give you a similar experience for the next few years as titles get more and more demanding. Most RAM modules will even allow you to overclock them a few 100Mhz so you can always push the performance should you so wish.

3. GPU: There isn't a dedicated GPU in that system, only an onboard graphics system by Intel which is just enough to power a second monitor but not at all built for gaming use, so you will have to buy a dedicated GPU anyway.

4. SSD/HDD: While these are relatively decent in the system, you'd do much better with a bigger SSD specifically for your OS and maybe another SSD solely dedicated to your sim and racing titles allowing for shorter load times.

5. Case/Chassis: This is something I didn't allow much attention to with my previous systems but the lack of a good case was soon made apparent when there wasn't enough airflow resulting in heating & consequently performance issues. With this HP system, I don't see anything that would suggest it had fans in it that circulated adequate airflow and with the kind of system you're looking for, you're going to want a decent cooling system.

I'm in no way an expert on PC building and have only built 3 systems so far (spaced apart by about 5 years on average) with just my first system that was a prebuilt machine. Thinking I'd made a clever decision by picking up a prebuilt machine, I'd be fine for years to come but the above pointers soon proved otherwise. Since then I decided to invest a little extra and build a custom system with hardware of my choosing. It also allowed me to invest smartly in areas that were more important to the intent of my system.

I would suggest you visit a website like PCPartPicker where you can choose specific hardware for your specific use. Such websites also have build guides to help you pick up a system but more importantly, they also check whether the parts you're selecting are compatible with each other which can be a big headache for those that aren't completely aware of the present day hardware. 

Additionally, if the budget isn't a constraint, you can also visit the Jetline system's website where they have a variety of systems made specifically for simulators and since the simulator titles are more demanding, picking up any of those systems will also guarantee that you have a smooth racing experience. The advantage here is that the system is not just built according to your budget, it is also extensively tested for your simulator of choice and overclocked to extract the maximum available performance without causing any instability so when you get the system, it's ready to be plugged in and enjoyed saving you time from things such as installing an OS, hardware drivers, software to control said hardware and of course your simulator.

Edited July 6, 2019 by krazyk

[lownslo 592]

Nicely done, krazyk! 🥂

As an example of krayzk's point about the CPU, an 8700K overclocked to 4.8 GHz (easy to do with a good cooling solution) offers a 50% increase in performance over the 8700.  And overclocking the "K" is easy to do with a good motherboard... while trying to overclock the 8700 will bring grey hair!

A concern about the HP system is the lack of info on the motherboard and power supply.  That doesn't bode well...

Since you seem willing to build your own, you can at this time take advantage of low storage prices (both SSD's and spinners) and low memory prices.  krazyk's suggestion of visiting PCPartPicker is a great idea!

Good luck,

Greg

[samuelp63 1]

That is killer info. Thank you so much. 

Sam

[samuelp63 1]

Here's what i've come up with... please let me know your thoughts. 

3x https://www.bestbuy.com/site/acer-ka271-27-led-fhd-monitor-black/6233410.p?skuId=6233410

PC:

Alienware AURORA R8

Alienware Aurora R8

Processor

9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5 9600K (6-Core/6-Thread, 9MB Cache, Overclocked up to 4.4GHz on all cores)

Operating System

Windows 10 Home 64bit English

Video Card

NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 2060 6GB GDDR6

Memory

16GB Dual Channel DDR4 at 2666MHz; up to 64GB (additional memory sold separately)

Hard Drive

256GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD (Boot) + 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s (Storage)

Chassis Options

Alienware™ 460 Watt Power Supply with High Performance Liquid Cooling

CD ROM/DVD ROM

No Optical Drive

Wireless

Killer™ AX1650 (2x2) built on Intel WiFi 6 + Bluetooth 5.0

Keyboard

Multi-Media Keyboard

Mouse

Optical Mouse

Cable

US Power Cord

Driver

Wireless Driver for Killer 1650X

Diagnostic CD / Diskette

No Resource DVD

Miscellaneous

$200 Promo Visa® Prepaid Card Included*

Optical Software

No Optical Software Required

Label

Regulatory Label

Documentation/Disks

Safety/Environment and Regulatory Guide (English/French Multi-language)

Placemat

Quick Start Guide

Retail Software

Dell.com Order

Retail Packing Label

Dell.com Order

Packaging

Shipping Material

Processor Branding

Intel® Core ™ i5 Processor Label

Additional Software

Additional Software

FGA

No FGA

Item Total:

$1,444.99

[micstatic 4,315]

I think that power supply is not going to cut it.  

[Bert Pieke 7,584]

For FSX, that is a good system.. for P3D, just up the GPU to a 2070 and you are OK.

Agree that a 600-750W power supply would be a better option (and not a lot of $$).

[krazyk 157]

6 hours ago, samuelp63 said:

PC:

Alienware AURORA R8

Alienware Aurora R8

Sam, I agree with the rest. A slightly upgraded GPU would benefit you given how demanding simulators are and how many monitors you intend on running. You'd be better off with at least an 8GB or better yet, an 11GB variant. That will also safeguard you for the years to come.

The PSU seems alright (your hardware is estimated around 390W) but I don't know what peripherals you intend on plugging in and depending on whether they come with their own supply or not, you'd want to make sure your system PSU has the adequate wattage to deliver adequate power to all of them and if you upgrade your GPU, you'd definitely want a beefier PSU to go with it so your system isn't choking.

The Alienware system you've described is a decent option but plugging the information into PCPartPicker, I was able to arrive at a total cost of US$1,1154.90 (excluding the cost of the monitors). It's sufficiently low enough to definitely warrant my attention compared to what you quoted and the difference in price is likely due to labour, testing and of course the brandname cost as the Alienware system will arrive at your door completely built & hopefully with no leaks in the liquid cooling (It's one of my biggest fears which is why I continue my marriage with air cooling solutions). I, personally, am both fearful yet delighted to build my own system but that may not be necessary in your case so the additional cost to have a working system delivered to your doorstep is a good enough reason to justify the asking price from Dell. However, if you do go for the 'buy parts separately' route, you could reroute the money you save from Alienware into an upgraded GPU and PSU.

If you were running just a single monitor set up, the Alienware system would likely do just fine but your intent is to run 3x monitors, so you'd definitely want to reconsider the Alienware.

Incidentally, have you experienced either a flight or a racing simulator in VR? As you're looking for an immersive experience, it would be a good idea to do some research on the subject. P3D (maybe XP11?) and almost all modern racing titles support VR and in my personal opinion, it beats staring at a screen or screen(s) in your case.

Karan

[Mace 1,902]

You may want to look into a flight-sim oriented builder like JetLine Systems.

If I were into pre-built rigs I would definitely consider them before the options you presented here.  

[samuelp63 1]

So if i've understood everyone correctly this should get me by...

Alienware AURORA R8

Alienware Aurora R8

Processor

9th Gen Intel® Core™ i5 9600K (6-Core/6-Thread, 9MB Cache, Overclocked up to 4.4GHz on all cores)

Operating System

Windows 10 Home 64bit English

Video Card

NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 2070 8GB GDDR6 (OC Ready)

Memory

16GB Dual Channel DDR4 at 2666MHz; up to 64GB (additional memory sold separately)

Hard Drive

256GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD (Boot) + 2TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s (Storage)

Chassis Options

Alienware 850 Watt Power Supply with High Performance Liquid Cooling

CD ROM/DVD ROM

No Optical Drive

Wireless

Killer™ AX1650 2x2 802.11ax Wi-Fi Wireless + Bluetooth 5.0

Keyboard

Multi-Media Keyboard

Mouse

Optical Mouse

Cable

US Power Cord

Driver

Wireless Driver for Killer 1650X

Diagnostic CD / Diskette

No Resource DVD

Miscellaneous

$200 Promo Visa® Prepaid Card Included*

Optical Software

No Optical Software Required

Label

Regulatory Label

Documentation/Disks

Safety/Environment and Regulatory Guide (English/French Multi-language)

Placemat

Quick Start Guide

Retail Software

Dell.com Order

Retail Packing Label

Dell.com Order

Packaging

Shipping Material

Processor Branding

Intel® Core ™ i5 Processor Label

Additional Software

Additional Software

FGA

No FGA

Games

Thank you for Choosing Dell

Service

1 Year Hardware Warranty with Onsite/In-Home Service After Remote Diagnosis

Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed)

Microsoft Office 30 Day Trial

McAfee Live Safe

No Anti-virus Requested

 

I've also got three 27" Acer gaming monitors, Logitech mouse and keyboard for $600. I'll need yoke, rudder controls for flying, as well as Wheel and pedals for racing. Any way to have them both set up at the same time and just move out of the way for different simulators? 

I also do find a lot of extra value to having a completed unit show up at my front door. I'm terrified to mess this up the first time around and would rather pay the additional cost for a little closer to a guarantee. 

thank you for everyones help. 

Edited July 9, 2019 by samuelp63