Ordered my new rig from Scorptec

[Hank]

Hi All,

That means Ken in Tassie and Maurice in the "snow country" as well as Wolter in Holland.

After much deliberation and seeking advice from members and looking at various forums, I think I should be happy with my new rig that should be here in a fortnight or so.

Maurice your trip down the Exeon server thing lost me completely and would have been too pricey. The latest GPU from nVidia has had too many bad reports on various forums, so I've decided to go with everyones favourite the eVGA GTX285 1GB Super Clocked Edition. I've also gone overboard and bought the Core i7 980X Extreme (6 core) CPU. To cool it I've been told the Noctua NH-U12P-SE2 is the best. I've also ordered the Corsair 6GB 2000Mhz DDR3 RAM.

For the primary hard disk I've gone for a 64 GB Corsair SSD. Then the FSX program is going to be on a 300GB Velociraptor. I've also gone for a second 300GB Velociraptor. My question is should I put ORBX and REX add ons on the second drive Would that speed things up even more? Or should I just put all the Flight Sim stuff on the one disc?

Further to that, I've also splurged out for the Samsung 22" 120Mhz 3D monitor and glasses;

can't wait to see how they work?  So all in all, I think the sliders should be pretty much to the right, and hopefully FPS will be up there. I'll keep you informed of the big day.

Cheers

Hank

( Getting back into it soon)

[Gurdy]

Nice Hank,

Looking forward to see how the 980x performs.. .. look foward to your screenies...

[Spirit Flyer_old]

How about that Hank! You made a quantum leap over all of us! Good for you!

[Ian Routley]

Good choice Hank.

FTX will need to go in your FSX install.

Put all your FSX stuff on one drive.

Enjoy.

BTW .. I have found Scorptec a very helpful and reliable supplier.

[Sniper31]

That sounds great indeed Hank! You should be quite happy once you it all setup and tweaked.  Happy for you!

[flyguy737]

whats the website for them and also  :'( i wanna cry hehehe!!!! good on you mate let us know how it goes especially the 3D bit

[Heiko Glatthorn]

Nice PC indeed - but by any means, spend FSX a SSD. You won't regret...

[Wolter van der Spoel]

Hi Hank,

That's looking a bloody rocket ship

Congrats and we'll all make sure you put the pedal to the metal with that contraption

[Condor]

Hi Hank,

That rig you're getting soon sounds pretty good. I'll  buying something very similar within the next month probably with a 2GB 5970

Paul

[Hank]

Thanks for the comments guys.... screenies I'm going to have to learn how to do yet.

Scorptec seem to be right on the ball. They have been communicating virtually on a daily basis with how they're progressing with the build. I needed an adaptor for the SSD drive, so they text me a message asking permission.

I have decided to go for the SSD for the OS and the Velociraptors for FSX and FTX. Couldn't quite go for the bigger SSD's as yet as they are a bit too pricey. For Paul, I noticed you're going for the 2GB GPU ATI card, because I'm going to try out the 3D glasses, I had to go with nVidia. From reports on the forum, nVidia seems to be a bit more FSX friendly.

The way these guys are going at Scorptec (just got an email Saturday PM : that's amazing) I might get the new rig this coming week...... Bring it on.

Will keep you all updated

Cheers

Hank

[Ian Routley]

My experience precisely with these guys, and I have ordered quite a bit of work stuff from them before.

The (other) advantage of a separate drive for FSX stuff, is that as technology improves/ becomes cheaper ... it is very easy to copy the contents of a drive to a new drive / array and reassign the drive letter and retire the old drive.

Smart  ... I bet you're counting down the days

[alainneedle1]

The 480 card will be a very good one for FSX, as time goes on the drivers will get better and better (480 driver are not mature yet).

Read this it will explain a little more about the 480 and FSX.

Quote from Jesus....pronounce "hey sus" on Avsim....

Quote"

One side note: ATI's 5870 vs nVidias GTX 285 they are both EXCELENT cards... but they have completely different architectures, the ATI's have LOTS of tiny 'slow running' shader processors, the nVidias have fewer shader processors (a lot less) but they are TWICE as fast... so, how does this affects the cards ability to 'process' and 'render' draw commands?

well.. its up to you to decide: the ATI's have 1600 small processors, they are called 'shader processors' the more processors you have, the better the card ability to 'multitask' and do parallel processing so, the ATI's are FANTASTIC reading the command buffer faster than ANY card on the planet (even the new nVidias GTX 480, also called by their codename Fermi) so with an ATI you could practically have FSX nirvana if FSX were to send all draw instructions to the command buffer bypassing the BufferPools.. however, THERE IS A CATCH. Since ATI's have more shader processors, they need to run 'slower' (they run at 700Mhz) same as the core clock. so, complex scenery, clouds, add-on aircraft will considerably LOWER your total average FPS. so, again, its up to you to decide... if you only fly default planes, and want EVERY SINGLE SLIDER MAXED out, vsync, nHancer, ENBSeries mode etc. then the ATI is for you, ITS IMPOSSIBLE TO CRASH IT! I could crash mine (I only owned it for like 2 days) no matter what I tried, but I lost 6FPS! to me thats unnaceptable.

Now.. the nVidias, particularly the GTX 285, have exactly 240 Shader processors, they run at 1476Mhz (and some can be overclocked even higher) this card, is a monster... and even though the ATI's (in raw speed) are faster, the nVidias can render 'complex' scenes much quicker (specially things that relay on shaders such as clouds, high water settings, buildings etc.), so the CPU doesn't have to wait for a particular scene to be rendered. Remember, the FASTER the card 'renders' a scene, the faster the 'frames' will be processed and the CPU will keep producing them! so, as you see, there needs to be 'BALANCE'. remember, that any complex system will be limited by the speed of the slowest running member on the system. Now, back to video card comparisons: The downside to the nVidias?? THEY SUCK at reading instructions from the command buffer fast enough, so they can be stalled by the CPU IF you are running high frame rates and using complex autogen (which is what fills the command buffer quicker, specially after SP2 where there is massive object batching per frame) so when using nVidias LIMITING your framerate to 25-30FPS and lowering autogen is paramaunt. (including the steps I have already mentioned) like vsync OFF, single monitor setup, No ENBSeries and application controlled AA and AF. but don't worry.. The GTX 480's will change all that they have 480 shader processors still much less than the ATI's but enough to give you Flightsim nirvana and turn FSX into a whole new ball game. So, IT IS completely possible to achieve what everyone though was a dream. FULL MAXED sliders and fluidity (I don't include car traffic) MAX 2.0 Water (which is a killer) or bloom (the other killer) but you can still have pretty descent AI traffic and easily achieve 20-25 FPS under the most demanding conceivable situation, thats quite good.

End quote"

So as you can see the 480 will be the card to beat in FSX......

http://forums1.avsim.net/index.php?showtopic=281538

[Spirit Flyer_old]

Yes, the GTX480 might just do the trick. We will find out soon enough after their delivery.

[Heiko Glatthorn]

I count on the 480 to run Bufferpools 0 without artifacts or flashing tiles. It's quiet o.k. with my 280 GTX at 740/2700, but not 100%...

[Hank]

Hi Allain,

Thanks for that definitive explanation on ATI v nVidia. That was a real eyeopener.

Now I sort of regret not going for the 480GTX.... still if in time they do prove to be the answer to all the FSX/ORBX/REX power requirements, I at least will have the right MOBO to upgrade when the prices come down somewhat. The CPU alone on my new rig costs what you can buy a whole mid range computer for these days. It will be a very interesting few days in the

den when it arrives.

I have just wiped all the flight sim files off the old flight sim computer and turned it into the home/office rig. At least it is running good for that purpose now. The old Pentium4 I'm about to hand on to my brother in law who is still getting by with a Celeron rig.

Cheers

Hank

[Wolter van der Spoel]

I'm maybe gonna sound "old fashioned" but the 480 cards are brand new fresh of the press and first need to prove the claims that have been made about it, the 285 has a track record that we all know, as you say wait till the prices for it come down and it has proven itself before tossing out your hard earned cash for it imho

[Ian Routley]

I tend to agree Wolter ....

Cutting Edge = price premium, and under-developed drivers for a few months.

The prospect of a fast single GPU is nice for FSX, but (as we have seen before) the initial phases are difficult.

The GTX280 was no better than my 9800 GTX with the first crop of drivers .... and I'd rather not say what I paid for it!

(Actually .. just checked ... I could order a 480 now for the same money ... the cost of early adoption)

Will be watching with interest ..... (Actually Hank .. could you buy one and let me know what its like, ok?)

[Hank]

Hi Ian,

Sorry for the late reply... I have decided to go for the 285 at this point, mainly because of the reports from the tech sites about the new 480 not really cutting it as yet.

I had hoped that the new rig was going to arrive Yesterday; but alas, living across the "ditch" has made the delivery take a bit longer. Scorptec told me they had despatched it on Thursday, so I wait with abated breath for a knock on the door on Monday.

The new Windows 7 64 bit should be loaded on the 64GB SSD. Question: Is there anything else I should load on that drive?

For instance, Adobe software or an  Anti virus software package?  Or should they also be put onto the 300GB Velociraptor? When I insert the FSX disk, it used to always default to the C:\ drive... how do I get it to load onto the next  Velociraptor drive?

I will also have a second 300GB Velociraptor drive, and was thinking of using that for the older FS2004... will that be enough of a seperation, being on the second Velociraptor drive?  Then all the stored add on programs, I'll be storing on an external 1 TB drive.  I'm hoping for a bit of assistance here?

Thanks in advance.

Cheers

Hank

[Wolter van der Spoel]

HI Hank,

keep the SSD for your OS with AV etc etc

use the other drive for your fsX install

DO NOT install fs9 and fsX on the same drive !!!!

[Ian Routley]

When FSX suggests C;/ etc etc for the install ...

Just change the C: part to D: or F: or whatever the SSD is.

With a clean install of SP1 and SP2 the FTX installers should find your FSX install automatically ... as should most good addons.

(Personally, I'd get FSX up and running .... and then consider FS9 install on a separate drive)

[TenBlade]

You will not regret the GTX 285 sc 1 GB. Initially i did fiddle about with the EVGA control panel but found it unnecessary to clock it further. I let nHancer run it. And I can recommend the Arctic Cooling tri-fan, quite a build, but it's very silent and cools very efficiently.

Regards

Bjorn

[DJSean]

Can't wait to hear how this PC is going to run FSX! 

I'm starting to wish I didn't have a GTX295 as I have to fun it in "Single GPU mode" to make FSX run properly.

However with the new drivers I'm not seeing a real drop in "Mix GPU mode" like before.. I wonder if I leave it on will it help with the UsePools=0 mod?

Cheers

S

[TenBlade]

Make haste, Sean, try it out! 

[Hank]

Hi Wolter, Ian,Bjorn and Sean,

Thanks for your replies... I will be concentrating on getting FSX up and running first, as suggested.

Wolter thanks for the HU on putting the Anti Virus on the C:\ drive as well as the operating system.

I'll put the FSX, ORBX, AussieX airfields, REX and other add ons on the Velociraptor drive. I'm thinking of leaving the other scenery programs I have bought off the drive for now. Try to not clutter things up too much. I mean there is nothing that compares with the ORBX products now is there? All the photo real stuff I had bought to cover England Wales and Scotland just pale into insignificance. Now that I have PNW (but haven't seen it yet) the Canada and USA scenery add ons will just get in the way I think.

For you who are waiting to see how my rig will run.... I'll try to get it all happening by Wednesday.

Stay tuned

Hank

[DJSean]

Thanks for the update Hank - looking forward too it.

I'm  just playing around with the latest Nvidia driver set and the GTX295's Multi and Single GPU options in FSX. It would appear something has changed in these drivers in relationship to how FSX works.

I'll keep working on it!

[Hank]

Well  it finally got here!!!!

Now the headache of re-installing everything. A few problems I have come up against and I hope that members who are running Windows 7  64bit can enlighten me?

1. The .NET Framework 3.5 that we have to have for most of the add on airports... at Microsoft there is no mention of it being compatible with Windows 7.  Is this right?

2. As I am only putting the operating system on my SSD 64GB along with my anti-virus.... The FSUIPC , Ultimate Defrag, Track IR, nHancer , 3D glasses software and any other add ons that aren't specificaly FSX; should they go on the Drive that I have FSX installed on, or the C:\ drive?

I will be installing FS9 on another seperate drive, so will those add ons that relate to FS9 go onto that drive?

Hope you can answer soon, as I have a few more days of loading software on before I calibrate everything and go flying again.

Cheers

Hank

[Ian Routley]

1. Windows 7 includes DotNet 3.5 so apart from updating it ... you do not need to download the installer.

2. Keeping FSX separate is the major priority .. that setup sounds fine ...

and 3.  Yes.

[Wolter van der Spoel]

Ian beat me to it

We'll be looking out for the screenies

[Hank]

1. Windows 7 includes DotNet 3.5 so apart from updating it ... you do not need to download the installer.

2. Keeping FSX separate is the major priority .. that setup sounds fine ...

and 3.  Yes.

Hi Ian,

OK you have me more confused now.... when you say "that set up sounds fine"  ... do you meen

put the FSUIPC , Defrag, etc on the C;\ drive... or on the FSX Drive?

Cheers

Hank

[Ian Routley]

I'm not sure there is a definitive answer here Hank (although I'm sure someone will still provide you with one)

You need to balance how much space you have on your drive with what your needs are ... I have to keep my SSD C: array fairly empty - because Photoshop CS4 uses it as a scratch disk ... (amazing how easily a 6Gb file will tie up a scratch volume)

FSUIPC isn;t that big ....

I would put FSX and all its components on the one drive .... and all other apps somewhere else ... unless that is going to clog up your drive.  In that case ... compromise.

[Hank]

Hi all followerers on this page,

A quick update before I go out and mow the lawns here in Devonport.

I have not overclocked the beast as yet...she is running at the stock standard 3.33 Ghz.

I have reloaded FSX and Accelerator and all the SP3 related add ons at this stage.

Defragged the hard drive and went for a flight last night. (REX2 isn't installed yet).

I was, for the first time able to take off from YMML, using the default Cessna 172. Flew all around the airfield and surrounds for the first time ever. Everything is maxed out except the water (still at Low 2 )

The FPS is set at 30 FPS. I had a smooth experience dipping occassionaly to 15FPS but mostly staying in the 20's.

Then tried BOB out at Tamworth... wow JV and the team; you're just amazing.  Loved the feature.

Went for a flight in my favourite plane, the Baron, and had consistant FPS in the mid 20's, smooth as anything.

So at this stage, untill I load REX2 and the remaining airfields, I think I'm very happy with my rig. I also think that I won't overclock until it becomes necessary.

Cheers

Hank

[Wolter van der Spoel]

Great to hear all is working there as planned Hank

keep us posted 

[Hank]

Well it's been a long time coming..... but I have finally got the rig up and running.

I have never overclocked anything before, but after Google-ing, I was sort of talked through it

on one of those uTube video's.  I must admit I was a little apprehensive, cause I guess you

could get some real gung-ho types on there who could  blow your rig up?

Still this guy seemed genuine.

After spending all day trying to use the Gigabyte Quick Boost tool, and the machine crashing

everytime I went for the 4ghz button; I was getting very frustrated.

So following the uTube instructions (which seemed to be very easy and straight forward)

I have now got the machine running at 4.5ghz. The core temperatures are all around the

50o mark. Took off from YMML for the first time with everything maxed out in the Bombardier

and am on my way across the "ditch" to Launceston. At YMML I was able to achieve a steady

16fps, setting the FPS to unlimited. Now up in the air I'm over 200FPS.

One thing I have noticed though, is that when I get out of FSX, the core speed drops to about 1.86 mhz

on idle. Is this normal? I thought that once you set it in the BIOS, it remained a 4.5ghz?

So all in all I'm very pleased with the upgrade; though looking at the other

threads, maybe I should have gone for the GTX480 after all?

Cheers

Hank

[stiletto2]

Hi Hank,

Thought I would respond since I have the same CPU that you do.  I found that you have to be using the right utility to show the true overclock speed.  Sounds like you might be using  CPU-Z which shows core speed but not final clock speed.  CPUspeed.exe is a little utility that runs immediately and just shows the overall speed.  I only have my system overclocked to 4 Ghz and the utility shows 3984 MHZ at idle which would be correct.  Just do a internet search on Cpuspeed and you will find it...

If you wan't the official speed you can use Intel's Processor ID Utility.  It runs a little slower but also shows 4 GHZ and gives a bit more info plus a warning about overclocking as you might expect from the chip maker .

The link for the Intel utility  is:  http://www.intel.com/support/processors/tools/piu/sb/cs-014921.htm

Hope this helps.

Stiletto2

 

[Ian Routley]

Sounds like the system is adjusting the multiplier at idle.  That's quite ok if its stable and you are getting good performance.

As you have discovered Gigabytes EasyTune tool is a dog.  It doesn;t do much for memory timings and 9 times out of ten creates BSODs.

Nice work ....  will have to seek out the U-tube vid.

[Wolter van der Spoel]

Hi Hank,

good to hear you got it sorted, as Ian I'm interrested in that uTube vid as well, could you paste a link for that

[Spirit Flyer_old]

Well it's been a long time coming..... but I have finally got the rig up and running.

So all in all I'm very pleased with the upgrade; though looking at the other

threads, maybe I should have gone for the GTX480 after all?

Cheers

Hank

Hank,

Since you just bought your EVGA card, and if you register it within 30 days, you should be able to enroll and benefit from the EVGA step-up program and upgrade to a 470 GTX or 480 GTX (go for the 480). The jump to the 400 series is very well worth it IMHO, especially considering the rest of your new set-up.