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Building my own PC for FSX - going to overclock, need lots of advice :)

davidv

By davidv
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davidv Senior Member

davidv

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Hello again. After nearly clicking the buy button on an Alienware system I backed off and realized how much cheaper I can make my own system lol. Plus it's about time I grow up and build my own PC lol. This seems to be the best place for FSX hardware talk so here goes...

I have done some searching and reading through threads here - if there's any you instantly know would answer some of my questions please link, the more I read the better. I've added new hard drives, video cards, ram etc. I'm familiar with all the internals of the PC just haven't installed power supply, motherboard or CPU before.

My aim is a good system within a non crazy budget lol. Basics:

i7 processor that overclocks to at least 4ghz well, under $500 Canadian ideally $300 range - 980x has to wait lol

Good quality motherboard that is easy to overclock with, and is futureproof as much as possible

good quality ram that works well for overclocking

nvidia GTX 480 - seems to be king of the hill for now so I'll go for it - any preferred builder (I've always liked EVGA in the past, they still good?)

fast hard drives, with a dedicated separate drive for FSX - big space isn't a big requirement, just enough to get by - I do all my media on my mac anyways

The main reason for this PC will be FSX - I also play WoW, Starcraft 2 and will play Diablo 3 whenever Blizz decides to release, but anything that runs FSX well should run those good too anyways.

So specific questions...

What are the best i7's to look at? The 930 seems to be a good price right now, what's the fastest speeds it can be OC'd to with air cool and water cool. How hard is it to set a watercool up for a first time builder (I fear leaving one fitting loose having liquid go all over my PC and ruining it lol - is this a real threat?). Is watercool necessary. From what I read FSX likes 4ghz at least so that's what I'm aiming for.

What's the best brands for RAM and what should I be looking for on it? I read something about 9-9-9-24 being bad - could someone explain what the number represent and what I should look for? I heard 6gb is good for FSX should I get more as a buffer or is 6 more than enough?

Hard drives. My thoughts are either western digital velociraptors or SSD's. Are SSD's that good? How big of a drive should I look at for OS and for FSX? Any overall thoughts are welcome on HD's

Oh and is built on sound from the motherboard fine for all games when using surround speakers or would a sound card help performance?

Finally any specific motherboard / cpu / ram combos that lend themselves to easy overclocking? (A buy this then set everything this way build would be great but seems not realistic lol)

Sorry for 101 questions but I really want to research everything very well before I even buy the first component. I've generally been disappointed with past PC's when it came to FS and don't want that this time. (Though my current Dell XPS was pretty nice when I first got it it took 6 months before addons could bring it to its knees lol).

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alainneedle1 Life Member

alainneedle1

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Here is where you can start with without breaking the bank....I don't have the time to write the why of each of these components right now but maybe somebody else can....I will follow up tomorrow....this is from newegg Canada..

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131614

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115211

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226121

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127502

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136555    for FSX

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341028

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133053

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davidv Senior Member

davidv

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Thanks :) $1891 Canadian too - didn't expect it to be that good. (prob will add a OS hard drive to that yet).

With that fan / CPU / case setup can I expect to hit the 4 ghz level overclocking? higher?

Also would there be an advantage to going to an SSD drive for FSX over the velociraptor? I read an article here -> http://www.overclockers.com/hdd-vs-ssd/  that says they smoke the traditional ones. Obviously big sizes cost big but looking at my current FSX install it's only 32 Gigs (I only fly in Canada and a bit of the US so I don't go nuts on worldwide scenery). Looking at that would a 120GB SSD work? (Comparable price to the WD drive). Figure run a small SSD for my OS and other games ( 80GB? ) and a bigger one for FSX? Or should I stay with the WD Velociraptors?

Figure I'll look for a cheap larger capacity drive for my other files (downloaded FS installer files, backups etc.) - would a cheaper drive for this affect my OS and FSX when running those?

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alainneedle1 Life Member

alainneedle1

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Always depend on how much money you are welling to spend.....tell me how much $$$ you are welling to spend and I'll hook you up with the best for your money...

This cooler is the bomb...the best air cooler money can buy....you will hit 4.00GHz 4.2GHz easy with this CPU and cooler, higher number and you'll need the 980x...is SSD better than HDD.....yes

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227521  for FSX

https://www.ewiz.com/detail.php?name=WB200UX6G8&title=Super-Talent-Chrome-Series-DDR3-2000-6GB-3x2GB-CL8-Triple-Channel-Memory-Kit 

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alainneedle1 Life Member

alainneedle1

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Right now it's at $1900 - I'd be able to go up to maybe 2200/2300 to put SSDs in? Thinking maybe a 256gb SATAII SSD for FSX and an 80gb for the OS and other games?

What I gave you is VERY good for FSX.....it's not the best money can buy but the best for your money.....you can add the SSD for FSX and your OS no problems...you'll be up at around $2,300.00

Now there is one golden rule I have about overclocking and it is......if you can't afford to overclock don't.....but if you know what you are doing you should be OK...there is a lot of good overclockers here who can help you with it....

OK time to go to bed.....good luck.

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Spirit Flyer_old Life Member

Spirit Flyer_old

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Hi David,

Alain has given you some really good advice. I suggest you also consider this G.Skill hard drive as it is excellent in my machine, running FSX faster than you would believe possible, entirely eliminating all the long loading times, stutters and hiccups.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231378

Two of these 120 GBs would be great, one for your OS and one for FSX, but one will do just fine for FSX, along with a velociraptor, using low cost 7200 rpmers for storage and backup. In my humble opinion there is no compelling need to spend thousands of dollars on SSDs if you don't have the cash.

If you have it and want to spend it, well then, that is a different story. However, all around 1st class FSX performance (and I mean second to none) can be had for a whole lot less. I am looking at the solid proof of this sitting on my desk as I write this.

Kind regards,

PS: Both Alain and I (and others) contributed to this linked thread. Maybe it will help you.

http://orbxsystems.com/forums/index.php?topic=25656.0

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davidv Senior Member

davidv

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Ya the more I read the more Alain's build looks like exactly what I want and a great setup. Price wise I'm looking to keep around 2200/2300 CDN max and with the two SSDs looks like that's about where I'll be.

That looks like the perfect SSD too - and it's cheaper than the 600gb velociraptor, size seems plenty to me - looks like a good FSX drive.

In the interest of saving money are there any 60 or 80 GB SSD's you'd recommend for my OS drive? (going to guess just get the Gskill's of those size)

Now how do I physically hook the SSD's up to the motherboard, will it just go direct like any other hard drive, or should I get a separate controller or something. Not looking to raid anything. Also is it complicated software wise to set them up from scratch, put windows on etc.? I've redone partitions etc. but how do you initially set up an SSD? Any different from an IDE drive? Anything you need to install first etc?

Also if I just get a cheap 7200 hard drive for data is that going to slow anything down when I'm just running OS + FSX (ie just by being there would it slow the system down?). My friend bought a 1tb drive for his work computer it turned out he doesn't need so I can prob get that for cheap.

For the video card is there any advantage going to the EVGA superclocked? http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130551  - it's $40 more and factory overclocked. Either way do I get the high air flow bracket and backplate for the card you show in that other link?

Thanks both of you for all the help so far.

Thanks for that link too, was going to ask what misc supplies I should get. Also in the intro to that thread you mention that at this point a high end OC machine like this is pretty futureproof for FSX, is that still basically true? If I can spend the money now and be happy for years that would be great, does anyone see addons pushing further limits that could put these machines redundant in 6 months? Obviously building myself with a setup like this would make upgrading in the future much easier though.

If i get my financials in order I may be looking at ordering tomorrow or Friday.

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Spirit Flyer_old Life Member

Spirit Flyer_old

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Hi David,

We seem to run into each other everywhere today!  ;D Two GSkills 120s would do wonders and are set up on the motherboard exactly as any other drive is. Anyone here can walk you through it in 5 minutes, and I would be glad to help you (teamspeak, skype, phone, whatever) when the time comes. Low cost 7200 hard drives will not hurt you sitting there for storage or backup, and will have no bearing on your OC or speed of FSX (with 2 separate SSDs for these).

As far as your 480 GTX goes, I highly recommend EVGA as they back up everything by personal service that is even better than they promise. They even sent me free goodies when I asked! Lifetime warranty, and if you want to step up to something new that might arrive within 3 months of you buying, all you have to do is pay the difference and they will ship you the new card! I exchanged my 470 GTX for a 480 GTX.

I recommend just getting the regular 480 GTX (with bracket and backplate) and use EVGA Precision and MSI Afterburner to OC it from there. I run mine 100mhz over (850mhz) the highest factory OC available, with perfect performance. There are a few of us in the Back Country Prop Club that can walk you through that in 5 minutes flat. There is incredible talent and experience in some of those guys. I learn a lot just listening to them!

Just to encourage you to do this, I have to tell you, I have FSX set for 60FPS, have just about every addon under the sun, with everything maxed out, and seldom fall very far below that. Well tuned FSX simulation software is pretty much entirely conquered by today's integrated technologies. The invitation I gave in another thread stands, so if you live anywhere close, come and fly my machine to find out for yourself. Many local FSMS simmers already have.

Tomorrow afternoon a guy with a new i7940 is coming over (for a second time) to test out my new 40 inch LCD monitor. Fun, Fun, Fun!

Kind regards,

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davidv Senior Member

davidv

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I think I'll do two Gskills though I'll prob just do a 60 or 80 for my OS Drive. All I'll ever have on it is windows, World of Warcraft, Starcraft 2 and Diablo 3 on that one - and FSX on the other. All my other computer stuff is done on my Mac. I assume running different drive sizes won't be any issue.

If I'm going to OC the card myself what base card do you recommend for the 480? I've liked EVGA in the past so if there's no real difference between them and MSI I'll stick EVGA just out of personal preference.

I'm rather excited at the idea of 60 fps - I gave up on flightsim for a while in may after yet another 15 fps approach just drove me to the brink lol. I do want to use flightsim to help supplement my r/w flight training (got PPL in March, hope to get CPL within a year) so having it run properly will certainly help that.

I'd take you up on your offer to drop by but Ontario isn't quite within driving distance for that lol. I may do an actual flight out your way though for my 300nm flight for my commercial - where abouts in Atlantic Canada are you?

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Spirit Flyer_old Life Member

Spirit Flyer_old

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I don't see any reason the smaller G.Skill SSDs would not be the same except for memory size for the ones with exact read/write specifications. I would get the lowest cost EVGA 480 GTX I could find and order the backplate and high flow bracket directly from EVGA itself.

Newegg Canada has it for $499.99 with a $30.00 rebate (credit from EVGA) bringing the card down to $469.99 (CAD) here:

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130552&cm_re=480_gtx-_-14-130-552-_-Product

The plate and bracket can be bought here for just under $30.00USD combined so you can spend your credit (make sure you select ordinary post for delivery to save a bundle in shipping):

http://www.evga.com/products/prodlist.asp?switch=4

Those 2 items really help lower my 480 GTX temperatures which seldom reach  70-75c in FSX. However my case is extremely well vented with a total of 7 fans altogether.

If you ever fly into New Brunswick, let me know.  :)

Kind regards,

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davidv Senior Member

davidv

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Ok making my build so far....

ASUS P6X58D Premium LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131614

Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor BX80601950

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115211

Noctua NH-D14 120mm & 140mm SSO CPU Cooler

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018

Mushkin Enhanced Redline 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820226121

Thermaltake Xaser VI VG4000SNA Silver / Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133053

OCZ Z Series Gold OCZZ1000M 1000W ATX12V 2.3/ EPS12V 2.91 SLI Certified

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341028

EVGA 015-P3-1480-AR GeForce GTX 480 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130552

2x G.SKILL Phoenix Pro Series FM-25S2S-120GBP2 2.5" 120GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231378

Misc supplies (so far)

Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound - OEM

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007

-do I need the thermal material remover you list in your other thread? http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100010

The case itself comes with these fans

1 x 120mm rear fan

1 x 140mm front fan

1 x 140mm VGA fan

1 x 140mm top fan

I assume the fans are included? Do I need more fans (other than the CPU fan)?

Any cables etc. I need to buy?

Oh any preferred brand for DVD burner? I see piles for $20 (I remember when they were $999), just a matter of LG vs Sony vs Samsung etc.

Plus add the bracket and plate for the GTX 480 from EVGA (I swear I saw them on newegg earlier but can't find them back).

Decided to just go with the twin SSD drives - I always found a lot of my stutters esp with FTX and other high density scenery was from the hard drive so I'll just go for it from the start. After looking at my windows install + the blizzard games looks like I want at least 120gigs for that drive too anyways.

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NZ255 Senior Member

NZ255

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That case is huge...but is a great case. Cold too.

Whats the difference between the 950 and the 930 apart from the price and the slightly higher speed?

If he's going to OC might as well save $20 where you can. it all adds up

Also should he be looking at SATA 6Gb/s SSD's instead

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davidv Senior Member

davidv

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few reviews said the thermaltake was a bit hard to work with for a first time builder while the coolermaster reviews went on how easy it is, plus those fans look pretty cool.

for the 6gb/s SSD's these are what newegg lists http://www.newegg.ca/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100008119%20600038519&IsNodeId=1&name=SATA%20III  - the read speeds are a bit faster but write speeds are all lower on them, I'll prob just stick with the Sata2 G skills.

Other than the thermal compound and cleaner are there any other accessories I should buy - cables, fans, etc.? Between the power supply and components will there be enough power cables or do you generally buy extras?

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davidv Senior Member

davidv

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Ok the system has been ordered  ;D

Final build...

Cooler Master HAF 932 full tower

Corsair HX 1000W PSU

Asus P6X58D Premium motherboard

Intel Core i7-950

Mushkin 6GB Enhanced Redline ram

Evga Geforce GTX 480 1.5gb video card

2 Gskill Phoenix Pro SSD hard drives

Noctua D14 CPU cooler

ASUS DVD burner

Windows 7 pro 64 bit

impatiently waiting for it to be shipped now lol, thanks to everyone who's given their advice!

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