drumsonly2002 Posted March 2, 2010 Share Posted March 2, 2010 Just bought a computer with Intel Quad Core Q9550 ( @ 3.2ghz, 12mb L2 cache, Freezer Pro 7 Cooler ) Windows 7 ultimate Asus Striker 2 Formula Mother Board 4gb Axe Ram DDR2 1000mhz 2gb Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR2 ( 800mhz running at 1000mhz ) 74gb WD Raptor ( 10,000rpm OS Drive ) 320 gb Seagate ( Storage Drive ) EVGA 512mb 9600 GT Superclocked ( With Accelero S1 Cooler ) Dual 80mm Variable Speed VGA Fan Cooler Card Thermaltake Butterfly Power Supply Cooler Master Elite Case ( Brand New ) Lite On Blu Ray Drive Media Card Reader Very clean wiring, the guy took pride with the build. $600.00 Canadian for the rig. Adding a 256 SSD. Swapping out the PS with a HX 750 Corsar. Saving for a ATI 5980 or one of them new fangled F Force 480 Nvidia Gizmoe's I keep reading about that should be released later this month. The nice thing about this rig, it's built. For me to build a computer would take forever, as I do not have the time. So many other projects my head is spinning. Can OC it to 3.8ghz easily. Just a i7 920 chip and mother board and ram would cost me over $600.00, plus at the rate I get things done, it would sit on my shelf for 6 months until I have the time to put the unit together. Wanted to get a new i7 930 but this seems more financially available and a good rig for FSX. I have been blabbing about building a computer for a while. Kinda of chest beating about I am going to do this and that, but doing nothing but buying stuff. Today I figured for $600.00 I can get my AUS Gold on the go. Buy a Piper Cub and PNW and go nuts flying beer runs this spring. The really positive thing is the addition of texture flow later this year. How are you finding your Q9550 units running FTX? Hopefully I can join you in flight after I learn the ropes in the Dodo later this year. Thanks for reading. Any and all comments welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penzoil3 Posted March 2, 2010 Share Posted March 2, 2010 I think you need more memory than 2 gig. Other than that nice rig, you shoud be quite happy with it. I'm running my Q at the stock 3ghz, with 8gig of ram. The only thing that I had any problem with is YMML. FPS are low there, not mind you, unflyable; but lower than I'd like. I have no problem with Vancouver, or Seattle. I run very dense on scenery, and dense on autogen, with 2x water and 3d clouds set at mid. Sue Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumsonly2002 Posted March 2, 2010 Author Share Posted March 2, 2010 Actually 6 gigs of ram, a mutt's breakfest, 2 different types of ram. 4gb Axe Ram DDR2 1000mhz 2gb Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR2 ( 800mhz running at 1000mhz ) I do not know much about ram, any recommendations? I do not mind throwing a few bucks at this rig if it improves performance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mozzy_06 Posted March 2, 2010 Share Posted March 2, 2010 Hi Drums, My specs below. The 9550 runs sweet at 3.8 but cooling can be an issue (for me in Summer, anyway ) Right now I've wound the clock back a bit to allow my ram to run at its specified speed of 1066. Not sure about the mixed ram. Others could chime in here. Since upgrading to a 1GB GPU, I've found a much better CPU/GPU match so that may be worth considering. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolter van der Spoel Posted March 2, 2010 Share Posted March 2, 2010 make darned sure all the RAM sticks are from the same vendor and type, and why DDR2 with a good DDR3 you can let that baby humm at 1600 MHz, make sure you set the FSB for the CPU to that as well and you'd be a happy camper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumsonly2002 Posted March 2, 2010 Author Share Posted March 2, 2010 Looking at the boards specs it states 4 x DIMM, Max. 8 GB, DDR2 1066/800/667 Non-ECC,Un-buffered Memory Dual Channel memory architecture Thus, DDR-3 still a go? Deal / No Deal? If it does not accept DDR3, I will at least get same ram. What ram would you recommend? Thinking of OC to 3.8ghz, and eventually add a better vid card. Got a Noctua NH D-14 CPU cooler. Getting a fan to cool the Northbridge. I really appreciate the replies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maurice_King Posted March 2, 2010 Share Posted March 2, 2010 A tip from the wise NEVER mix RAM the reason is mainly due to timings and cas latency , even though it may claim to be the same they often do not get along together. 4 Gb is plenty to be honest I have not seen any performance increase with any OS having more unless it is Photography and video editing simply because windows stores files in the Page file and temp location hence SSD is a far better option than RAM. I don't think that board supports DDR3 either The Q9550 is a far better chip than many give it credit for but I am curious why the EVGA 9600 ! this is very old tech nowadays but this would be the reason you came out well on the budget, I would have opted for a 1Gb GTX 285, that coupled with what you have listed here would smoke along nicely.. Oh get yourself something like a Coolmaster V8 Heat pipe cooler too, IMHO these are one of the best coolers around for the money you spend BUT make sure you have GOOD airflow both into and outof as well as AWAY from the PC location. Oh as for cooling the Northbridge Chipset why not do what I did grab an old fan from a dead P4 or similar and atach it to the top of the fins over the top of the NB, cost effective and it works. I actually have some PVC Plumbing taking all the hot air away outside under the floor a process which I reverse in winter drawing cold air in and exhaust the hot air into the room, I'm already running the PC why run a heater too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wolter van der Spoel Posted March 2, 2010 Share Posted March 2, 2010 ouch my bad didn't look at that MoBo, at least get identical RAM as Mozz allready mentioned never mix different brands could end in tears ......................... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumsonly2002 Posted March 2, 2010 Author Share Posted March 2, 2010 I am impressed with the replies, I can pull the 2gb Crucial Ballistix Tracer DDR2 out. I'll add an SSD also. The CPU fan on the Northbridge is great advise!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumsonly2002 Posted March 2, 2010 Author Share Posted March 2, 2010 Pulled these figures off the performance ratings, are figures OK? Processor, calculations per second 7.3 Ram CPS 7.3 Graphics 6.8 Base score 5.8 Overclocking to 3.6ghz or 3.8ghz, new video, SSD, better cooling will help. The video card I priced out was more than the computer! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumsonly2002 Posted March 3, 2010 Author Share Posted March 3, 2010 Not going to bother with the Noctua and getting the V-8 CPU cooler due to the Noctua's size. Getting a bit more excited about this computer. Originally wanted a Q9650 or QX9650 with a MB accepting DDR-3 ram, but this deal came along so that is it. The fact this Q9550 is built was a big plus as I stubbornly have to realize I do not have the time to build. With a little tweaking here and there this platform should be great. My big hope is Texture Flow coming into the frey. I feel that T/F will make the best difference. if I follow the suggestions above, the unit should perform very nicely. And who knows what the Orbx team will pull out of the hat in the future. It was a good money saver. To buy Win 7, 64 bit, approx $125.00, ram, $200.00, MB $250.00, CPU $200.00, HD's $200.00, case $100.00. Plus 6 months for me to get around to put it together. Should be flying Aus Gold soon, then buy Dodo and PNW. It is all good! I really enjoy being on this forum and appreciate the members here. Sometimes I think planning to fly and what is involved can be at times, more fun than flying itself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NaveenB Posted March 3, 2010 Share Posted March 3, 2010 Have you installed FSX yet? I always check the "proc Speed" in the cfg file, after I change a clock setting, it give some sort of indication of what FSX thinks of your processor. I overclocked to 4.2 ghz today and my proc speed hit about 15,500... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drumsonly2002 Posted March 3, 2010 Author Share Posted March 3, 2010 Did not install FSX yet. Unit not even plugged in yet. Hope to get to it by the weekend. Trying to find a 5970 for a reasonable price. The save / spend cycle never ends. Still cheaper than flying lessons and plane rentals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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