help with build specs

snadge

snadge

snadge

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11 Oct 2010
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551
Hi

i was on here last year asking same questions for my dad but the new build got side-tracked in favour of a new laptop for the missus as FSX meant she could hardly get on the PC hehe...

anyway Iam going up to visit him in scotland in 4 weeks and we are looking to spec up the build..

this PC is only for 1-2 hours of FSX per day and web browsing...thats it, but he loves FSx and its the only game that will get used..

he wants a desktop/media center type case, its going up on unit just above head height on his right so would need a long VGA cable - can you get USB extender cables? or would he have to get wireless mouse n keyboard? - this 'desktop/media-center' case would have to take the GFX card and CPU cooler etc

I was going to go with AMD 980 3.7Ghz for £138 and an ATi HD6870 for £123 which are both very good prices for decent power components.. the budget is £500 - we do not wish to overclock if possible, we would like decent performance at stock, OC is a bonus if we want to but not a necessity through buying cheaper slower CPU's specifically to OC - I have since been told that the Core-i5 2500k (3.3Ghz) will do much better than the AMD 980 (3.7Ghz) but they said overclocked which is not what we want to do if we can help it... so its the best CPU at stock speeds really... I was also told that nVidia cards perform better than ATi cards for FSX...is this true? or is it Intel/nVidia fan trying to sell them onto me... I know intel and nVidia are better in general but that comes at a cost...when its "bang for buck" you get nmore for your money with AMD ..or has all that changed?

so initially the setup was gunna be
Phenom 980 x4 (3.7Ghz)
1Gb HD 6870 (900mhz / 4200mhz / 256-bit / dx11)
4Gb (2x2Gb) DDR3 1600mhz Memory
Corsair PSU
1Tb Hard drive
unsure of mobo yet but probs a suitable Gigabyte or ASrock

any feedback would be great

thanks
 
thanks for all the replies...
we really do appreciate it

why the 2400k over the 2500k? is it much cheaper? - remember we only want to run stock speeds... and quite fancy the 2500k from what ive seen so far

which nVidia card? we were going to go with ATI HD 6870 for about £120... its a super spec but been told nVdia is best for FSX...? just how true is that and why? especially if FSX is more a CPU intensive app.

are those ANTEC PSU's any good? was going to go with corsair...

also i see on Intel website the core-i5 only works with upto 1333mhz DDR3 - does this mean I will have to overclock the memory speed in a sandybridge motherboard to suite 1600Mhz ram? - I did this on a friends core-i7 860 build not realising that 1600Mhz speed isnt supported without OCing on most boards - it overclocked just fine though..2 years on no phone calls yet - but if not then 1333mhz will do just fine

EDIT: weve been told elsehwere we would be stupid not to overclock the 2500k as it can go up to 4.4Ghz just on the multiplier alone... and disabling turbo... but, what if we were to overclock it only to 4Ghz with turbo on? so it qould idle at 4Ghz but 'ramp up' to 4.4Ghz when FSX kicks in? (or at least thats the theory, as it turbo's up .4Ghz)

thanks again
 
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we are gunna overclock after suggestions from many others.... however rather than the average max of 4.4Ghz constantly (with Turbo off) we'd like to OC to 4Ghz with turbo on so it kicks up to 4.4Ghz when he plays FSX and back to 4Ghz when hes not on it cos he only plays an hour or two most nights and no other games at all so be great if we could do that, I know the 2500k is capable of way much more with the right cooling but he would feel better knowing its not running 'maxxed out' (if you will)

thanks for the help and suggestions, Iam talking to him about budget - most other people seem to suggest the 560 too on other forums ive asked on... although that 460 OC is a good bet too - I had my eye on Gigabyte GTX 560 OC (with twin quiet coolers) for about £150 i think it was..

my dad says "he wants to see the rivets on the aircraft" hehe - he's currently playing it on laptop that has ATi Radeon HD 4200 os something like that... we got it setup, he gets nice reflections on the aircraft skin etc but theres almost nothing on the land hehe
 
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cant you can buy them at that price anyway?...just not Gigabyte ones...?
its a great deal for on Gigabye 560Ti OC like... very good

i think we cant exceed the £150 bracket for GFX so the GTX 560 (OC) for about £150 is what we will be going for I think

what is the difference between standard and Ti edition?
 
10% .. is that all? is it worth the massive price inscrease? you can get 560 or 560 OC for £150 yet the 560 Ti's seem to be £50 more
 
thanks for the info...

just out of our price range im afraid...

are their specific motherboards you have to buy for overclocking? or will any 1156 sandybridge MB do?
 
thanks for the info and specs etc... and listing up the parts...you have been very helpfull and we are very appreciative of that :)

he needs a desktop flat case...like a media center type case as its going up on his unit and will be just above head height on his right side.

thanks again
 
stulid said:
All those sort of cases are a M-ATX motherboard fitment.

Finding a P67 or Z68 motherboard thats M-ATX is a nightmare.

You sure you want to overclock? lol
Click to expand...

well originally we didnt want to overclock, but everyone was saying how stupid we would be not too so we agreed to it, but on the other FSX forums weve posted on ive stated (like I did on here) that he wanted a desktop/media-center type of case to go up on unit... I suppose it could be full size but thats what he wants to do with it like. - it appears they either havent read all of the first post or not realised

i will see what he says
 
i see the ASUS there , thanks for that... hiked the price up a bit all this P67 + mATX business... I was budgetting for £60 for mobo lol... now thats gunna be almost £100

the price is creeping up and up on this build since switching from AMD/ATi to Intel/nVidia (OC)

whats your thoughts on overclocking to 4Ghz in a mATX case? i mean its gunna have to be a big case either way with the cpu cooler and gfx card
 
stock cooler no good? we want decent cooler...only £17 or something arent they? quieter and cooler for overlcocking

I will show him the cases...he will turn his nose up them apart from the middle one which is way out of budget lol - I can see he scrapping all this 2500k busines and going for an AMD 980 @ 3.7Ghz just cos of the prices going up and up and problems with motherboard prices and sizes... lol ...im working with penny pinchers ye know hehe

edit: just seen your second post now
 
that case you suggested my dad liked originally other day but it has issues

1. the reviews are not good, including too small for full size card
2. the PSU inside of it is in the front (noise) but is connected to a female connectoer built into back of case...you would have to cut the cable and splice it into your own and tape it up and the PSU would be at the front.

just so your aware
 
sorry the OPera Media Case... we had eye on that...reviews on ******** say takes full size cards but one review on here says it touched his so you wouldnt get power cable in?

also the form factor the PSU is at the front and like i described
look at the internal picture
http://www.********.co.uk/********/prods/components/cases/cases/********/opera.html

edit - links blocked?

and cant be sure the PSU comes out either

nov a tec h website it was
 
yeah he fine with that if we can find a cheap enough one he likes...

ive been trying to workout heights... the GTX 560 is 130mm , an Arctic Pro 7 rev 2 is 126mm - how much do you think for mobo & risers? another 10mm? then add 5-10mm for safety as they case height will include the thickness of the metal 1-2mm top and bottom so that 2-4mm you would lose on the desktop case height

so really145-150mm height for desktop style case is mininum...possibly 140mm at a push but be risky...

I just want to say a BIG THANKY YOU for all your efforts in helping us tonight/this morning...lol 3am... we really appreciate all your help in finding parts... he is going to discuss it with his better half tomoz..hopefully we can find a cube or media center type of case (anything flat really thats 150mm or more) - i will have to get the dimensions of the unit from him ...if my memory servers me right its not very deep... so he could end up having to tower it on the floor which is already thinking about..I think he will go with that just too save spending a little extra on mATX boards and lose the struggle with cases...

again THANK YOU to stulid and everyone else... I will update you tomorrow night, iam not going up until end of next month so we have about 4 weeks to spec it up then order parts :)
 
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