Flight sim spec (once again!!!)

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Sorry if this sounds deja vú but my mate is certain now he wants a comp for flight sims, mainly Microsoft Flight Simulator.
Any chance of a critique of this build:

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7970 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £379.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £167.99
1 x Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache - OEM (WD1002FAEX) £119.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £99.95
1 x Corsair Enthusiast Series TX750M High Performance 750W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020003-UK) £96.98
1 x Samsung Green 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual Channel Kit (MV-3V4G3D/US) £49.99
1 x Antec One Gaming Case
- Black
£44.99
Total : £959.88 (includes shipping : FREE).


Budget is £1000 but can move a little over, say £200.

NOTES
*He already has a monitor
*OS is being sourced elsewhere
*CPU cooler is being sourced from me (Akasa Venom cos I've gone watercooled)
*Also needs stick, mouse keyboard but he's also sourcing them from other places
 
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I'd go for the 2500k for the 2 more years of warranty, and, more importantly, overclocking ability.

I think you'll find cheaper 8GB RAM, about £20 cheaper.

Also, I don't know much about them, but flight sim specs usually have SSDs recommended for loading textures quickly on the fly...
 
Soldato
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Also, the Antec case you specced takes GPUs upto 10.5", whereas the 7970 is 11"

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7970 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £379.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £173.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) £119.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £101.99
1 x Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (0F10383) £74.99
1 x XFX 650W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £72.98
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) £39.95
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £34.99
Total : £998.87 (includes shipping : FREE).



  • Overclockable i5 2500K
  • Decent motherboard, with SLI/crossfire support
  • SSD for fast load/boot times
  • 1TB for storage
  • Decent 650W modular PSU
  • Cheapish case, might want to change this. Plenty to choose from just make sure the GPU will fit!
 
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Ha whoops thought I did click the 'K' version lol. Few drinks later.....
Amended accordingly, but kept with Corsair PSU. Always used them in my builds and see no reason to change
YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7970 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £379.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £173.99
1 x Asus P8Z77-V LX Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £99.95
1 x Corsair Enthusiast Series TX750M High Performance 750W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020003-UK) £96.98
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 64GB 2.5 SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT064M4SSD2) £69.95
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) £63.98
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) £39.95
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £34.99
Total : £959.78 (includes shipping : FREE).



1TB is a tad much - this build is JUST for flight sims he says. (hell I have a TB drive and don't fill that with all my games/music/photos & vids)
 
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Soldato
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Fair enough on storage, I only included 1TB as you had that originally
Just a though also, I presume the cooler (Akasa Venom) will fit the Z77 models. It's branded as socket 1155....

Yeah that will be fine if its got a 1155/1156 bracket :)

If its just for flight sim (at what res?) Maybe a 7970 is overkill? I don't know how demanding they are. Also if he's unlikely to CF perhaps a cheaper Z77 board? Eg:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-391-GI&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=2261
Or
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-202-MS&groupid=701&catid=5&subcat=2261
 
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Amended basket taking into account the above:

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7970 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £379.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £173.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) £119.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £84.98
1 x XFX 650W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £72.98
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) £63.98
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) £39.95
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £34.99
Total : £970.86 (includes shipping : FREE).


I'd imagine he's playing @1920 x 1080 but can't remember size of monitor. May aim for 7950 maybe? I have no idea myself how demanding they are hence this 'spec me' thread
 
Soldato
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If it is 1080p a 7950 should be plenty, then maybe get a nicer case instead with the money saved?

Of course if he wants the best a 7970 will run anything ;)
(Based on an earlier thread it seems flight sims tend to be quite CPU intensive, so the i5 will really shine! Be sure to overclock it)
But, that spec looks good to me!
 
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OK just found out its a 27" screen, but its a TV so no idea what res it will do. Think i'll keep the 7970 in case he wants BF3 and/or MW3.
Above build is £970 and we STILL need peripherals and OS so keep as is

Cheers guys
 
Soldato
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YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI HD 7970 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £379.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £173.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) £119.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £84.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.98
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £62.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £58.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) £39.95
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £34.99
1 x Microsoft SideWinder X4 Gaming Keyboard - Retail (JQD-00006) £29.99
1 x Logitech G400 3600DPI Gaming Mouse (910-002279) £24.98
1 x Speedlink Black Widow USB Flightstick - PC £23.48
Total : £1,130.81 (includes shipping : £13.75).



That includes OS/keyboard/mouse/joystick (which I know nothing about tbh :p)
Why not get it all from one place :)

Slightly cheaper PSU there too, review here:
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=134

A 7950 makes it a fair bit cheaper, and if its a TV it'll be 1080p or less, so a 7950 will still perform very well!

YOUR BASKET
1 x HIS HD 7950 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £299.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £173.99
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CT128M4SSD2) £119.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £84.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-02050) £79.98
1 x Cooler Master Silent Pro Modular 600W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £62.99
1 x Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (ST500DM002) £58.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) £39.95
1 x Xigmatek Asgard Pro Gaming Case - Black £34.99
1 x Microsoft SideWinder X4 Gaming Keyboard - Retail (JQD-00006) £29.99
1 x Logitech G400 3600DPI Gaming Mouse (910-002279) £24.98
1 x Speedlink Black Widow USB Flightstick - PC £23.48
Total : £1,050.80 (includes shipping : £13.75).

 
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OEM o/s is just to that mobo, right? So if he changes the board he needs to buy it again?
Always bought retail software personally.
Also for the sake of £5 ill stick with WD - Seagate have plummeted in my books. All my friends and myself had them and with my excepting all failed. Never had probs with WD.
 
Soldato
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OEM o/s is just to that mobo, right? So if he changes the board he needs to buy it again?
Always bought retail software personally.
Also for the sake of £5 ill stick with WD - Seagate have plummeted in my books. All my friends and myself had them and with my excepting all failed. Never had probs with WD.

There's been a few threads about it, I think it's usually okay to re-use even with a different motherboard. Bit of a grey area! The retail is a fair bit more too.

Fair enough, everyone has different experiences with companies and there's only a few pounds in it!
 
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