Wow! FSX Smooth at Last...

[jackcnd 0]

I had given up on FSX a couple months back, but decided to give it another go. This time with the Intel price drops, and PC price drops in general I decided to upgrade my system.Now its near PERFECT, here's the spec if your thinking of building a new machine:Intel E6750 CPU o/c to 400x8 3.2GhzAsus P5K Deluxe2GB Memory 4-4-4-12 @ 1:1 400Antec Sonata III case and included PSSeagate 500GB SATA driveeVGA 8800GTS 640MBVista 32FSX w/SP1I had wanted the Q6600 or E6850 but they were not in stock. I have an option to upgrade when stock arrives, but I think I'll just leave it as is. Lowest cost PC I ever built, yet now FSX runs smooth as could be with most settings turned up.

[Snowfalcon 18]

I just put a X2 64 600+ into my system and had the same result.

[Guest RWRik]

May I ask what your total cost turned out to be? I'm thinking of upgrading to a better system soon myself but I hope to keep the bill under $1500.

[Guest unitedpilot36]

Ah, no screenshots?:( Are you experiencing blurries at all?That's a fantastic build btw, hope you have fun with that system.:)

[jackcnd 0]

>May I ask what your total cost turned out to be? I'm thinking>of upgrading to a better system soon myself but I hope to keep>the bill under $1500.Sure, you should be fine, as I recall and these are Canadian prices:E6750 $2192GB (2x1) Crucial 4-4-4-12 Memory $119Sonata III Case with Power Supply $119500GB HD $129eVGA 8800 GTS 640MB $429Asus P5K Deluxe/Wifi $229So for the hardware $1244CND or about $1150US.I already ready had Vista. All purchased from a local store, with a 7 day full upgrade/return policy and they installed the CPU and memory on the board too. If one shopped around in the US you might save even more, and the cost could be cut more using a different MB.Some comment on the parts...Nothing special needed for the 3.2Ghz overclock, just simply set the FSB to 400, everything else on auto. I noticed on auto the ram was defaulting at 5-5-5-18 so I set it to its rated 4-4-4-12. A low cost CPU upgrade might be if you find a e6850. It doesn't cost much more but would have a higher multipler and might get 3.6Ghz at FSB400. The Q6600's are reported to get to 3Ghz pretty easy and that's with 4 cores, another option too. Impressed with the Sonata III case and its included power supply. The case looks great, nice gloss black finish, and runs quiet. I have the fan on medium, I can hear it but its just a low pitched rushing air sound. For $119 to get a nice case AND decent power supply is great.Memory, so many options, I just took the dealers advice, said its his best selling RAM.On the video card, it looked like for FSX the 8800GTS and GTX get very similar results, so I saved $300 on the GTS 640MB model, eVGA was recommended.Also picked up a Saitek Avaitor flight stick recently, nice price about $50, lots of switches, dual throttle, seems to work well.My goal was a low cost upgrade that would run FSX smooth. My first test, I turned up most settings and went to KSEA in a c172. KSEA used to bring my old system to a crawl, I was floored when I seen the smooth results with autogen on, traffic on, etc. Also being able to pan 360 degrees without any delays is something new. It's really night and day to my old setup. Sorry for the long answer just excited with this :)

[jackcnd 0]

>Ah, no screenshots?:( >Are you experiencing blurries at all?>That's a fantastic build btw, hope you have fun with that>system.:) Thanks Chris, yeah I should post some screens, I was doing some dusk and night flying over cities, the FSX developers really did some amazing stuff. Hardly need any addons this time, it looks great as is.Didn't notice any blurries, was using a 1650px wide window with task manager next to it. After I installed FSX sp1, was great to see both CPUs working away, noticed about 1.6GB of ram was being used.Going to install the Vancouver+ for FSX package later, see how the system can handle it.

[Paul J 349]

Nice summary, Jack! Welcome to the club. All it takes is horsepower, (eh?) - and to all the "FSX is a disaster" folks - this is what you need to do, and it doesn't take $3000 US. :)

[jackcnd 0]

>Nice summary, Jack! Welcome to the club.>> All it takes is horsepower, (eh?) - and to all the "FSX is a>disaster" folks - this is what you need to do, and it doesn't>take $3000 US. :)Thanks! Your right indeed.snowfalcon - glad to hear yours is running well too.

[Guest jshyluk]

Just a quick comment on power supplies and fans. Sometimes, when people upgrade their graphics cards and/or motherboards, they fail to take into consideration their power supply. That can cause all kinds of nastiness in the future.I have to admit, though, that I am really impressed with some of the newer power supplies and fans on the market. Whisper quiet, like you say. A friend of mine has a top of the line computer from a year and a half ago. I ended up staying overnight on a visit with his family, and I slept on the couch. He had to do some work on his computer, which was in the next room, while I slept in for the morning. Honestly, the thing was making so much noise, I was dreaming that I was riding around in one of those old Vokswagen minivans. Only when I woke up did I realize I was hearing the cooling fan, which was operating normally, i.e., it wasn't clogged with dust or had a fouled bearing or anything like that. Jeff ShylukSenior Staff Reviewer, Avsim

[Trey34 0]

Hi,I just bit the bullet and did almost the same.Velocity systemIntel 6700Asus P5NSLI Mboard2 gig ram400 gig sata driveNvidia 8800gtsVista Ultimate.Frames don't go below mid to high 20's in dense areas. I've even gotten triple digits in the Amazon mission.I too can now fly and really enjoy FSX.

[Guest Redvan]

I'm lovin the looks of that price :) so next year, august ish when I build a new one, I'm gonna be lookin at... $900ish for a system that'll run FSX well? hmmm... I think I can handle that...

[jackcnd 0]

>Hi,>>I just bit the bullet and did almost the same.>...>Frames don't go below mid to high 20's in dense areas. I've>even gotten triple digits in the Amazon mission.>>I too can now fly and really enjoy FSX.It's a nice change.I set my FPS to lock at 25, and it seems to stay locked, leaving overheard for other things. 25fps sounds low compared to fs9, but the Aces team really seem have FSX down right, as 25 fps is very smooth even with quick pans etc.Decided to keep the 6750 instead swapping for the quad Q6600, just too much hassle to remove, return and reinstall the CPU when its all running fine now.Good flying with your new setup!

[Trey34 0]

You're absolutely right. 25 fps is very fluid. I was surprised when setting FSX up that even the lower 20's seemed as fluid as mid to upper 30's in FS9. For now I've turned off the frame counter. I've found myself fixated to it too much! Almost whacked an Airbus on the ramp watching it to see what it would do at Hartfield. :)

[jackcnd 0]

> For now I've turned off>the frame counter. I've found myself fixated to it too much!You know your right. Just for fun I directly compared my old P4 3.5Ghz Northwood install to the new system. I set all the sliders the same and put a c172 at Seattle KSEA...Old System 3.5GHz P4, ATI x850, 3GB: 3-5 fpsNew System 3.2GHz E6750, 8800GTS, 2GB: Locked firm at 25fps :-walksmileWhat a difference! Now I'm trying to get some others that I fly FS9 with to upgrade so we all can be on FSX. They like many others gave up on FSX months ago and are surprised to hear my results with the new fair priced setup.

[Guest liebowa]

Well, I should probably add my experieince to the thread, too..!I have been simming since way back in the Commodore days, and had never missed a beat - until FSX. I installed FSX and was so put off by the poor performance that I decided to put aside the entire hobby for awhile until I could justify a new PC.Well, that time has come. I had ordering pieces for my new rig for the last month or so, and have been waiting for the July Intel price cuts to get that last component.My CPU arrived last evening, and the first software I installed was FSX. HOLY COW - WHAT A DIFFERENCE! It's smooth as silk (took the 737 for a flight out of KSYR to KROC in terrible weather) and now a joy to fly. Here's what I ended up buying: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Processor Gigabyte GA-P35=DSR3 Motherboard Corsair HX520 520 Watt Modular Power Supply 2GB Crucial Ballistix DDR2 800 Memory 320 GB Maxtor SATA II Hard Drive XFX GeForce 8800GTS 320MB GDDR3 Video Card Samsung 18X SATA II LightScribe DVD Burner Rosewill R5717-P SL 120mm Fan ATX Mid Tower Computer CaseI figure I spent (after a few rebates) around $925.00.Now, off to flying again...