New Computer for FSx

surlybonds · December 24th, 2009, 19:39

Greetings Simmers!
Merry Christmas -
I'm finally purchasing a new computer to run fsx and upgrading from fs9.

I'm looking at the following:
Processor: Intel Core i7 920/2.66 o/c to 3.6
Mbord: X58 EVGA
Memory: 6Gb <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com

ffice:smarttags" /><st1:stockticker>DDR</st1:stockticker>3, 1600Mhz
Power: 1000W
HD: 1.5TB Seagate/WD 7200rpm 32Mb Cashe
Optical: <st1:stockticker>DVD</st1:stockticker> R/RW/CD-R/RW
Video: 1-NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285 2GB]
Sound: Razer Barracuda AC-1
Cooling: H2O Stage 2 Asetek liquid CPU Cooler 120mm Radiator
Chassis Airflow: Upgrade Chassis with LED performance fans (6 fans)
LCD Temp display and fan controller
Speakers: Logitech 5.1 System model X540

Looking at Digital Storm

Anything i need to Rethink? Any problems with Digital Storm?

I'd build my own, but i just don't have the time.

Thanks in advance for your advice!!

Donn

harleyman · December 24th, 2009, 19:54

As soon as I read your config it was a digital Storm machine..

I personally owned three...

All were junk and returned..

No overclocking abality at all..

Dig back through their posts ..i was harleyman there too.

What was the price ???

surlybonds · December 25th, 2009, 20:55

Hi, Yeah, i saw your posts on their forum. The price for the above was in the neighborhood of $2,600. They're really bad eh?

harleyman · December 26th, 2009, 09:06

Originally Posted by surlybonds

Hi, Yeah, i saw your posts on their forum. The price for the above was in the neighborhood of $2,600. They're really bad eh?

Well...heres the thing...

I had several that would constantly fail..Many times right out of the box..My wifes mobo died in 2 months..It came back and would not boot again, plus had no video drivers installed...How was it performance tested then????

Mt two went back and forth across country twice each..

Now then..Consider this...

If it failes, it goes back to Calif..Thats a week out..then there at least a week, then back to you, Another week...

thats 3 - 3 1/2 weeks gone each time...

We did that deal with them a total of 5 times on two computers....

My advice...have a closer builder do your config, or build it yourself with our help...

Every time it fails, they blamb it on shiipping..I mean, brand new out the box it boots to black scree, Lost MBR...HUH????

They blambed it on shipping..

Uh Sorry..Shipping does not corrupt software ...

surlybonds · December 29th, 2009, 22:16

thanks a lot for your comments!

Since the post, I've changed a few things on the build:

COOLER MASTER Sniper - with lots of big fans
Corsair CMPSU-850TX 850W
Intel Core i7 Processor i7-920 3.8GHz 8MB
Corsair H50 Water CPU Cooler - instead of the stage 2 system
Asus P6X58D Premium
Corsair Dominator DDR3-1600 6GB (3 x 2GB ) CL7
Western Digital WD6401AALS 1TB SATA 7200 rpm 32MB (for OS)
Western Digital Velociraptor 300GB (for FS)
Samsung SH-S223L LightScribe 22X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW SATA Drive
Sony Optiarc DDU1681S-0B 18X SATA DVD-ROM
EVGA GeForce GTX 285 2GB
Creative Labs Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit

right now the build includes the 920, o/c to 3.8 - wondering if it would be worth the cost of $300 to change to a 950 o/c to 4.0. Is the improvement in FSX worth the $300?

Now leaning toward MaxForcePC here in Michigan. Great reviews and great warranty and great price.

thanks again - you guys are so smart!!

harleyman · December 30th, 2009, 01:04

Hey there.

I feel its smarter to buy closer to home...

The 920 chip is perfect for FSX and FS9..

Overclocked to 3.4 -3.8 is all you will ever need for FSX..

But that chip OCed to those Mhz will rock all other games out the park...

Unless you are a complete Audiophile the sound card is an unneeded expence...Motherboards today have great sound, all with surrround and mmany with 6,7,8 channel surround.

Also the V-Raptor @ 10,000 PRMs is not any noticably faster than the WD Black with 32MB Cache for under half the price...

**stansdds** · December 30th, 2009, 02:54

Strong in the FSX force is Harleyman. Listen to him, you would do well.

surlybonds · December 30th, 2009, 23:16

Harleyman,

would you recommend staying with a dedicated WD Black drive for the FS program and files or just a single larger drive for everything?

thanks again!
Donn

harleyman · December 30th, 2009, 23:54

I have always used two 32MB Cache drives in my FSX builds..Typically two WS Black ones...One for the OS and applications , and one just for FSX....

BUT..lately I have built a few with one WD 500 Gig Black drives , and split them into two partitions, effectially giving you two 230 gig drives, one for the OS and the second 230 Gig partition just for FSX....

I have one of mine at home set like this...

Its just one WD Black 500 gig drive... This might be an olde WD 360 gig drive..i forget..The math doen not add up to 500 or 360..So who knows...most harddrives today do not have the full capisity that they are susposed to have...Like a 500 gig may only show 470 gigs avaible to you?????Goofey yes..but they are partitioned for the drives software too...

.

**stansdds** · December 31st, 2009, 05:20

In theory, placing the OS on one physical drive and FSX on another physical drive should be better. The idea being that the OS can access it's own data whenever it wants to without interrupting the FSX drive's ability to access FSX data when it wants to do so. Partitioning one drive into two virtual drives certainly aids when it comes to defraging, but if the OS decides it needs to access the drive in the middle of FSX loading textures, then FSX will pause while the OS does its thing. At least that's the theory.

**langshan** · March 16th, 2010, 14:26

Ok, took the upgrade plunge......Here it is my computer:
Rosewell Windknight RT Case
Bought additional: 2 120mm and 3 240mm case fans.
PSU: ANTEC|EA650WATTS
CPU INTEL|C2D E8400 dual core processor
DVD/CD/RW 24X SONY
MEM 4: GIGS 2Gx2|CORSAIR EXTREME TWIN2X4096-6400C5
WIN PROFESSIONAL 7 64-BIT OEM.
MB GIGABYTE GA-G31M-ES2L 775 G31
HD 320G|WD 7K 16M SATA.

I have an unopened GTX 220 1 gig video card already here. Yes took the plunge over to Intell. Should arrive this weekend. I should see better FPS on FX10 now compared to what I struggle with now(AMD 64 3800 single core machine).

I

harleyman · March 16th, 2010, 14:38

Nice one...That E8400 on the G31M motherboard will also overclock nicely...

I can run that same motherboard with a E5200 OCed to 3.4 at 40 frames locked and DX10 checked, and get average of 28 to 35 frames in clouds over GEX and UTX areas...... I stay away from big airports.

I also use aggressive settings on my graphice...I only run an ATI 3850 card...

**kilo delta** · March 16th, 2010, 14:59

I've run FSX @ 4.4Ghz on an overclocked E8500 with the frames locked at 25-30fps....the E8400 should hit 4Ghz without issue. Only thing I'd change in your build would be the memory....I'd prefer 1066mhz PC8500 at a minimum.

harleyman · March 16th, 2010, 15:23

Originally Posted by kilo delta

I've run FSX @ 4.4Ghz on an overclocked E8500 with the frames locked at 25-30fps....the E8400 should hit 4Ghz without issue. Only thing I'd change in your build would be the memory....I'd prefer 1066mhz PC8500 at a minimum.

I don't think that G31M mobo can run faster that PC6400 Kilo Delta...

**kilo delta** · March 16th, 2010, 15:29

Ahh right...sorry Harley I'm not familiar with the G31M

...this'll be where the bottleneck will be as regards future upgrades.

**OleBoy** · March 16th, 2010, 15:42

I'm about to open a can of worms here that have been crawling on most flightsim forums out there. I've been contemplating this for a long...long time.

I'll start another thread

**langshan** · March 17th, 2010, 13:58

Originally Posted by harleyman

Nice one...That E8400 on the G31M motherboard will also overclock nicely...

I can run that same motherboard with a E5200 OCed to 3.4 at 40 frames locked and DX10 checked, and get average of 28 to 35 frames in clouds over GEX and UTX areas...... I stay away from big airports.

I also use aggressive settings on my graphice...I only run an ATI 3850 card...

Thanks Harley man. Cool. Looking forward to it. Got home and new box, and goodies where there. Building time is around the corner. lol

harleyman · March 17th, 2010, 15:39

Originally Posted by kilo delta

Ahh right...sorry Harley I'm not familiar with the G31M

...this'll be where the bottleneck will be as regards future upgrades.

That is 100% correct...But on a budget build, needing a good overclocking board for 60 bucks you really cant go wrong..Then you can save, save, save for that BIG DDR3 Tripple Channel Board....LOL

I use that board all the time for builds., and if they are on a tight budget, and its not a gaming machine, then the G41 M board with onboard graphics is a great choice for 10 more bucks....