Delta Virtual Airlines Water Cooler | PC Support |
building an FSX system |
DVA8594
Captain, MD-11
Joined on May 07 2010
50 State Club
Globetrotter
Million Mile Club
Millennium Club
Everett 500 Club
US Coastal Club
US Mountaineer Club
DVA Ten-Year Anniversary
Ann Arbor Charter Township, MI USA
1,281 legs, 3,424.3 hours
8 legs,
12.8 hours online 1,264 legs,
3,400.8 hours ACARS
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Posted onPost created on
June 19 2010 20:29 ET by Mark Brown
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I've been wanting to build a dedicated FSX system for a while, but I dont know a lot about computers or how to build them. I have some friends, family and contacts that can help me build it once I get the parts but I thought I'd ask the resident tech experts here about my build.
Here is the parts list I've compiled:
Intel i5 750 with p55 motherboard
Corsair ddr3 4gb ram
2 - GeoForce 9500 FT 1 GB DDR2 video cards. The mother board is SLI ready as are the cards. My goal is to have a master/slave set up.
Samsung SH-S223C DVDR
Windows 7 Home Premium 64
Ultra LSP 750 watt power supply
Ethernet Card
Do any major issues jump out or possible compatibility problems?
I already have an extra key board and mouse and I'll be using the TV in my office as the monitor. (40'' Samsung LED LCD)
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DVA6920
Senior Captain, MD-11
E-MAIL
Joined on January 24 2009
Century Club
"Another day in the office..." Parker, CO USA
163 legs, 828.1 hours
28 legs,
44.1 hours online 162 legs,
816.9 hours ACARS 5 legs,
9.0 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
June 19 2010 20:39 ET by Tom Sanders
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I would dump the second GFX and just look at taking that money and investing in a more powerful card and maybe an i7 CPU. With the DDR3 ram, its better to run it in either 3GB or 6GB configurations, and bumping up another 2GB probably wouldn't costs that much. Who is the power supply manufacturer and who is the motherboard manufacturer? The motherboard will most likely have a NIC on board.
Tom SandersSenior Captain, MD-11
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DVA8594
Captain, MD-11
Joined on May 07 2010
50 State Club
Globetrotter
Million Mile Club
Millennium Club
Everett 500 Club
US Coastal Club
US Mountaineer Club
DVA Ten-Year Anniversary
Ann Arbor Charter Township, MI USA
1,281 legs, 3,424.3 hours
8 legs,
12.8 hours online 1,264 legs,
3,400.8 hours ACARS
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Posted onPost created on
June 19 2010 20:59 ET by Mark Brown
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Tom Sanders wrote:
I would dump the second GFX and just look at taking that money and investing in a more powerful card and maybe an i7 CPU. With the DDR3 ram, its better to run it in either 3GB or 6GB configurations, and bumping up another 2GB probably wouldn't costs that much. Who is the power supply manufacturer and who is the motherboard manufacturer? The motherboard will most likely have a NIC on board.
I'm not sure what an NIC is, could you explain?
The power supply is made by ultra.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3276567&sku=ULT-LSP750
The board is made by EVGA I think. Its an i5 mobo bundle.
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=5687604&sku=B69-4163
The specs say the board cant take more than 4gb 32bit and 16gb 64bit. I'm not sure what that means.
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DVA2099
Captain, B757-200
Joined on January 19 2005
Century Club
Online Century Club
Toluca de Lerdo, MEX Mexico
142 legs, 282.0 hours
105 legs,
206.0 hours online 58 legs,
104.0 hours ACARS 21 legs,
45.3 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
June 19 2010 21:13 ET by Felix Madrazo
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NIC (Network Interface Card) , I agree with Toms recomendations
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DVA6920
Senior Captain, MD-11
E-MAIL
Joined on January 24 2009
Century Club
"Another day in the office..." Parker, CO USA
163 legs, 828.1 hours
28 legs,
44.1 hours online 162 legs,
816.9 hours ACARS 5 legs,
9.0 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
June 19 2010 21:19 ET by Tom Sanders
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Ultra is a GREAT power supply company. On my last build, I researched PSU's for about 2 weeks to make sure exactly what I got. Personally I think the PSU is the most important piece in the puzzle. I have their 1KW power supply and really enjoy it. The only problem with that one is that is it not modular, which means all the cables are attached and cannot be removed. Thats not a bad thing, but can be tough for cable management because you have to stuff all the extra ones somewhere in your case.
EVGA makes a great product, I only use the graphics cards, never tried one of their motherboards though.
You can find different package deals and I would look for one that came with an i7. 32bit operating systems can only accept 4GB of ram due to their architecture, but since your installing a 64bit operating system, if you got 6GB of ram, that wouldn't be an issue.
Tom SandersSenior Captain, MD-11
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DVA8594
Captain, MD-11
Joined on May 07 2010
50 State Club
Globetrotter
Million Mile Club
Millennium Club
Everett 500 Club
US Coastal Club
US Mountaineer Club
DVA Ten-Year Anniversary
Ann Arbor Charter Township, MI USA
1,281 legs, 3,424.3 hours
8 legs,
12.8 hours online 1,264 legs,
3,400.8 hours ACARS
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Posted onPost created on
June 19 2010 21:24 ET by Mark Brown
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do you think the 750 watt power supply is over kill? Could I get away with a 400w?
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DVA1933
Senior Captain, B727-200
Joined on September 19 2004
Triple Century Club
Monterrey, NL Mexico
357 legs, 860.4 hours
72 legs,
132.3 hours online 255 legs,
668.3 hours ACARS 1 legs,
1.9 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
June 19 2010 21:32 ET by David Eugenio Gomez
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No, get 750.
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DVA7896
First Officer, MD-88
Joined on October 26 2009
Colorado Springs, CO
5 legs, 7.7 hours
5 legs,
7.7 hours ACARS
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Posted onPost created on
June 19 2010 21:58 ET by James Olson
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Just my 2 cents. I had my system optimized by FS-GS and that was one of his biggest gripes about my system was it was SLI with 2 GTX280 1gig cards. FSX doesnt gain any benefit from SLI unfortunatly. Also dont fill up all of your memory slots as it can cause memory saturation on your system causing a loss in Frame Rates, I did tets that myself and its true. I would get an i7 and drop the 2nd card if its for FSX primarily.
James OlsonFirst Officer, MD-88
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DVA8158
Captain, B767-300
OLP
Joined on December 31 2009
Century Club
Online Century Club
50 State Club
"Eight hours bottle to throttle." Newnan, GA USA
197 legs, 437.5 hours
161 legs,
329.8 hours online 196 legs,
435.9 hours ACARS 5 legs,
17.1 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
June 23 2010 03:49 ET by Peter Bagrationoff
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This is what I got and have been extremely happy with my performance in FSX. I am selling my 680i system to a friend and planning to buy an ATI 5850. At around $300 I think this will outperform two 9500's in SLI. Your PSU is overkill IMO unless you have more than two hard drives and plan to overclock. The new ATI cards (5830,5850,5870) use half the wattage of the nVidia cards at idle and full load. On a P55 board it is dual channel only so 4GB is fine and you can always upgrade to 8 later. As Tom said, use the integrated NIC...less power consumption than a PCI NIC and more space in your case.
eVGA P55 LE 123-LF-E653-KR LGA1156 P55 Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188054
Cooler Master Hyper 212
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065
Corsair HX Series 620 Watt Modular PSU
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139002
Cooler Master Elite 335 Black SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119161
I7 860 Lynnfield 2.8 GHz 1156 - 95w with HT
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115214
eVGA 8800 GTS 640MB PCI Express
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130071
Creative Labs X-Fi Extreme Gamer PCI Sound card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102006
OCZ Vertex LE 100GB SATA II SSD w/TRIM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227508
WD Caviar 640GB 7200 RPM SATA HD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136218
Plextor 24x DVD/CD Writer Black SATA w/LightScribe
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827249054
4 GB Corsair XMS3 4GB DDR3 1600
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145260
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116754
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DVA6920
Senior Captain, MD-11
E-MAIL
Joined on January 24 2009
Century Club
"Another day in the office..." Parker, CO USA
163 legs, 828.1 hours
28 legs,
44.1 hours online 162 legs,
816.9 hours ACARS 5 legs,
9.0 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
June 23 2010 06:25 ET by Tom Sanders
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I would go with the i7-930 rather than the i7-860. The i7 runs on the newer socket type which will give you greater upgrade headroom in the future. You can also find the 930 for 200 bucks at microcenter if you live near one, if not its only 10 bucks more online than the 860. It will also give you triple channel memory. If you go with it, make sure to get a correct motherboard for it.
The number of PCI Express 2.0 lanes with full bandwidth:
- LGA 1366: 36 lanes
- LGA 1156: 16 lanes
I have been using the 930 now for a few months with it over clocked and its been a great processor.
For hard drives I would go with two 640GB or 1TB western digital black drives with the 6GB/s SATA. They are screamin fast with good times and will save you a ton over an SSD. And apples for apples, with FSX I don't think you will see any difference between a pricey SSD and the WD black drives.
Tom SandersSenior Captain, MD-11
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DVA5656
Captain, B757-200
Joined on February 08 2008
Everett 500 Club
Million Mile Club
Online Six Century Club
Millennium Club
DVA Fifteen-Year Anniversary
"||||" Atlanta, GA USA
1,382 legs, 4,606.1 hours
629 legs,
2,134.7 hours online 1,270 legs,
4,282.2 hours ACARS 13 legs,
27.6 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
June 30 2010 12:13 ET by Alex Vanover
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This is my 2 cents.
-As for the PSU, i would either go with Antec or Corsair. (the better brands)
-Just like Peter said, the ATI5850 is a great card, and would blow two 9500GT's out of the water. I have it, and i have no problems. (you also have the advantage of not having to use NHancer)
-For the CPU, i would go with the i7-930. Although i get all my computer parts from Newegg, i would get the i7 from Microcenter, because it is $100 cheaper. (brand new)
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0331303
Alex
Alex VanoverCaptain, B757-200
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DVA7373
Captain, B757-200
OLP
Joined on May 31 2009
"Howdy" Southeastern United States
72 legs, 187.6 hours
32 legs,
85.4 hours online 67 legs,
153.2 hours ACARS 2 legs,
3.1 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
June 30 2010 22:21 ET by Nicholas Taylor
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DO NOT USE 2 GPU'S! FSX does not benefit AT ALL from 2 cards. Use that saved money to get an i7, 2 more GB of RAM, and a higher quality GPU. And or any combination of the three.
Nicholas TaylorCaptain, B757-200
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AFV149
Senior Captain, B777-300
Joined on February 21 2007
International Tourist
98 legs, 439.7 hours
97 legs,
428.2 hours online 95 legs,
433.5 hours ACARS 268 legs, 1,196.8 hours total 4 legs dispatched, 27.0
hours
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Posted onPost created on
June 30 2010 22:26 ET by Aggrey Ellis
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Get some good cooling. I have the Corsair H50 and it works great.
Aggrey EllisSenior Captain, B777-300
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DVA2541
Captain, B737-800
E-MAIL
Joined on August 17 2005
Century Club
"What's that button for? OOPs" Erwin, TN USA
122 legs, 206.7 hours
1 legs,
1.1 hours online 1 legs,
1.2 hours ACARS
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Posted onPost created on
July 01 2010 03:03 ET by John Swisher
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Yes Definitely dont go the 2 GPU route. 1 Gpu and as much processor as you can afford.
John SwisherCaptain, B737-800
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DVA8315
Captain, CRJ-200
Joined on January 22 2010
50 State Club
Century Club
Everett Century Club
DVA Five-Year Anniversary
Fuquay-Varina, NC USA
187 legs, 207.5 hours
48 legs,
61.5 hours online 185 legs,
203.8 hours ACARS 1 legs,
1.7 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
July 02 2010 18:03 ET by Ed Taylor
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I just posted this on another similar thread. And, I'd compare the Tiger prices vs Newegg. I've bought stuff and returned stuff from Newegg for many years now, and I'm one satisfied customer. Here goes:
EVGA E758-A1 3-Way SLI (x16/x16/x8) LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard
Model #:132-BL-E758-A1 $299.99
EVGA 01G-P3-1158-TR GeForce GTS 250 1GB 256-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Model #:01G-P3-1158-TR $154.99
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power ...
Model #:CMPSU-750TX $109.99
Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield 2.8GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80601930
Model #:BX80601930 $289.99
CORSAIR XMS3 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10666) Triple Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model
TR3X6G1333C9 $159.99
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1001FALS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Model #:WD1001FALS $89.99
LG DVD Burner - Bulk Black SATA Model GH24LS50 LightScribe Support
Model #:GH24LS50 R $49.99
Total $1153.93
Ed TaylorCaptain, CRJ-200
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DVA2541
Captain, B737-800
E-MAIL
Joined on August 17 2005
Century Club
"What's that button for? OOPs" Erwin, TN USA
122 legs, 206.7 hours
1 legs,
1.1 hours online 1 legs,
1.2 hours ACARS
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Posted onPost created on
July 05 2010 18:53 ET by John Swisher
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Yes, Newegg Rocks. Very satisfied customer for many years.
John SwisherCaptain, B737-800
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DVA8158
Captain, B767-300
OLP
Joined on December 31 2009
Century Club
Online Century Club
50 State Club
"Eight hours bottle to throttle." Newnan, GA USA
197 legs, 437.5 hours
161 legs,
329.8 hours online 196 legs,
435.9 hours ACARS 5 legs,
17.1 hours event
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Posted onPost created on
July 08 2010 07:36 ET by Peter Bagrationoff
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I built the system posted above in this thread a few weeks ago and it screams in FSX. Sold my 680i rig to a friend and upgraded to an ATI 5850. Haven't loaded any payware yet but getting 60 to 70 FPS on takeoff and landing in KATL with sliders at 75%. The SSD doesn't have a huge effect on FSX but its super fast and well worth the expense with many other applications like Dreamweaver and Photoshop. From the time I turn on the PC until I am working in Windows its 11 seconds and only 8 seconds to shut down.
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