FSX - Spec required

benzini

benzini

benzini

Associate
Joined
1 Oct 2012
Posts
19
Hi all,

I'm looking to build a PC primarily for running Microsoft Flight Simulator X with most of the settings at max, I'm planning to use plenty of add-ons too such as REX Essentials. Ideally as quiet running as possible due to the PC being located in the living room.

I already have a system that I'll be gutting, it's a mid-tower ATX case (Trendsonic Shinobi) I'll be re-using my current optical drive, SSD (OCZ-Agility3 120Gb) and HDD's including an eSATA external drive.

So I'm essentially just looking for the main guts: PSU, Mobo, CPU, Memory, Graphics Card (nVidia)

My budget is £800 - £1000

Many thanks in advance!

Benzini
 
Just a quick spec:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £349.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £107.99
1 x Corsair Enthusiast Series TX750M High Performance 750W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020003-UK) £94.99
1 x Samsung Green (MV-3V4G3D/US) 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual Channel Kit £41.99
Total : £786.95 (includes shipping : £10.00).



Good processor, I don't think FSX takes advantage of hyperthreading so I went for the i5. Solid PSU, will easily do another 670 if you wish. Solid mobo (I've got one so I would say that) which will do Sli. Good RAM, and I've heard FSX runs better on nVidia so I went with a 670.

How many screens do you play over, if it's quite a few then you might want to look at upgrading to a 4gb 670?
 
Hi Ozzymundo,

That looks like a bargain & confirms a few hardware ideas I'd already made from reading some of the other flight sim related builds on the forums yesterday.

SLI isn't something I'd be looking for at this stage, I'm led to believe it can actually have a negative impact on the frame rate in FSX but it's good to know I can put in a secondary card & SLI in the future if I change to another sim or game that can make good use of it.

Currently I only use a single 24" screen, but might add another once the build is complete, I think the card you've specified has DVI & HDMI so I'm assuming it can feed two displays rather than just clone? - EDIT: Ah, just spotted is has dual DVI!

Many thanks for taking the time to assist me!

Benzini
 
 
 
ozzymundo said:
Just a quick spec:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £349.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £107.99
1 x Corsair Enthusiast Series TX750M High Performance 750W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020003-UK) £94.99
1 x Samsung Green (MV-3V4G3D/US) 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz 30nm Dual Channel Kit £41.99
Total : £786.95 (includes shipping : £10.00).



Good processor, I don't think FSX takes advantage of hyperthreading so I went for the i5. Solid PSU, will easily do another 670 if you wish. Solid mobo (I've got one so I would say that) which will do Sli. Good RAM, and I've heard FSX runs better on nVidia so I went with a 670.

How many screens do you play over, if it's quite a few then you might want to look at upgrading to a 4gb 670?
Click to expand...

Looks good. As you've rightly pointed out hyperthreading in my experience is pretty useless with FSX. Remember to add a decent cpu cooler and overclock the i5-3570K. Also don't forget to tweak fsx when installed. I've followed NickN's guide followed by Kosta's and I'm quite happy with the performance I'm getting, sync'd at 30fps in NVIDIA inspector although still get drops to 20fps in dense payware scenery.
 
Wow!

Thanks everyone, there's plenty to pick and choose from there!

I think I'm going to go for an i5 (and possibly overclock) unless anyone can offer a compelling reason to consider an i7 ...

shadow_boxer, thanks for the tip-off regarding the NickN & Kosta guides, much appreciated ...

Right, I'll throw everything in to a basket tonight & let you know the final result!

Thanks again,

Benzini
 
YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £349.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £107.99
1 x XFX 850W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £94.99
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD316GB1600C11DC) **OcUK Exclusive** £49.98
Total : £782.94 (includes shipping : FREE).



As you like the sound of being SLI capable (athough FSX doesnt use it), I built the spec around that. The 16GB of RAM is on offer, 16 left at that price when i posted this. The 850W PSU is overkill but is cheaper than the 750W version.....i know it's crazy lol

or

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £349.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-UD3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard with FREE BOOGIE BUG XXL GAMING MOUSE MAT £129.98
1 x XFX 850W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £94.99
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD316GB1600C11DC) **OcUK Exclusive** £49.98
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 612S CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/1156/1155/775/AM3/AM2+/AM2) £32.99
Total : £850.52 (includes shipping : £10.50).



with aftermarket cooler and slightly better mobo
 
Last edited:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £349.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £107.99
1 x XFX 850W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £94.99
1 x GeIL Black Dragon 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (GD316GB1600C11DC) **OcUK Exclusive** £49.98
Total : £782.94 (includes shipping : FREE).



As you like the sound of being SLI capable (athough FSX doesnt use it), I built the spec around that. The 16GB of RAM is on offer, 16 left at that price when i posted this. The 850W PSU is overkill but is cheaper than the 750W version.....i know it's crazy lol
Click to expand...

I spec'd one up but came out pretty much same as Hono's above

and yeah the 750watt xfx confused the crap out of me, sat staring at both thinking why is the 850 cheaper there must be a reason! but no. it is just cheaper!

Only dif when i spec'd is i had below cpu cooler on for some nice OC'ing

YOUR BASKET
1 x Zalman CNPS12X Ultimate Performance Triple Fan CPU Cooler (Socket Intel LGA2011/1366/1156/1155/775 and AMD FM1/AM3+/AM3/AM2+/AM2) £69.98
Total : £78.68 (includes shipping : £7.25).

 
 
Ok, pretty much the build suggested by tamzzy aside from the motherboard as I needed eSATA.

Went with the majority of you for the graphics card & CPU, decided on the 550W PSU in an attempt to reduce my carbon footprint & save the planet ;)

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £349.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £107.99
1 x OCZ ZT 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply £63.98
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G160C9K) £23.99
Total : £737.94 (includes shipping : £10.00).



Thanks to all of you for your suggestions, very much appreciated ... can't wait to get building & flying!

Cheers,

Benzini
 
just to let you know before you hit buy,
the psu wont be able to run sli/xfire cards. you'd need to get a 750w to be safe
also the ram is out of stock

like this:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £349.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £107.99
1 x XFX 750W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £96.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £25.99
Total : £772.94 (includes shipping : £10.00).




with heatsink:
YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £349.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £107.99
1 x XFX 750W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Silver' Power Supply £96.98
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 612S CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/1156/1155/775/AM3/AM2+/AM2) £32.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £25.99
Total : £805.93 (includes shipping : £10.00).

 
Last edited:
Thanks tamzzy,

I've decided not to SLI for now, possibly for the life of the system, but if that should change I'll be sure to swap the PSU for one with a higher wattage.

Just noticed the Patriot Viper sticks were out of stock so thanks for the Kingston HyperX suggestion!

Cheers,

Ben
 
 
benzini said:
Ok, pretty much the build suggested by tamzzy aside from the motherboard as I needed eSATA.

Went with the majority of you for the graphics card & CPU, decided on the 550W PSU in an attempt to reduce my carbon footprint & save the planet ;)

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £349.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £107.99
1 x OCZ ZT 550W '80 Plus Bronze' Modular Power Supply £63.98
1 x Patriot Viper "Black Mamba" Generation 3 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PV38G160C9K) £23.99
Total : £737.94 (includes shipping : £10.00).



Thanks to all of you for your suggestions, very much appreciated ... can't wait to get building & flying!

Cheers,

Benzini
Click to expand...

550W is the amount of power the PSU can dish out to components not what it pulls from the wall socket all the time lol Actually my XFX PSU was silver rated which is more efficient than the OCZ ZT which is bronze.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 Windforce 3X 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £349.99
1 x Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40GHz (Ivybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor (77W) - Retail £179.99
1 x Gigabyte Z77X-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £107.99
1 x Seasonic G series 550w '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £76.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 612S CPU Cooler (Socket LGA1366/1156/1155/775/AM3/AM2+/AM2) £32.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £25.99
Total : £785.94 (includes shipping : £10.00).



Gold rated effieciency if you are that bothered about it ;)
 
FSX is all about CPU so as no need for a crazy GPU! If you have money to burn then fair enough. Also, I don't believe FSX likes SLI (I know you said you weren't going for it anyway).
 
Agreed you could get away with a weaker nvidia gpu but the 670 offers bags of performance for other games too. Just as a reference point with my overclocked GTX470 (not far off stock GTX480/570 performance) I very occasionally get GPU usage into the 90's but only for a short period of time and VRAM maxing at around 800-850MB.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom