Spec me....

999sharris · 21 Jan 2011 at 20:08

Hi everyone,

First things first, I am new to this web site so would like to say a big hello to all and hope I will be able to the advice I need from the guys/girls that have a greater knowledge than myself.

I am a avid flight sim user, (don't laugh) but am having problems with frame rates etc and general game play.
My current pc won't even run FSX, so I am only able to use FS9 and that isn't running to well now either.

I would like to get a system that can run FSX/FS9 with all the graphics maxed out with ultra high frame rates. I also use other payware to enhance the game.
I also use the internet a lot and play some other games, but all new games won't work on my pc.
I have an understanding of pc's but have lost touch the last couple of years with cards & processors etc.
I would pretty much like a future proof pc

Is there someone that can please give me advice and point me in the right direction. There may even be another flight simmer out there that has exactly what I am after.

I would say my budget would be up to £1400 MAX
Cheers Si

Cleeecooo · 21 Jan 2011 at 20:16

Love FSX!!!

My computer:
XFX 5850
i7 930
Scythe Ninja 3 CPU cooler
TJ07
6 GB DDR3

That played FSX on full settings at 25FPS

Do you have OS/ Monitor or do you need those aswell for your budget?

999sharris · 21 Jan 2011 at 20:23

Thanks for your quick responce.

I will probably look into geting windows 7 ultimate home and will also look into monitors etc as and when I know what I can get for my money.

Sounds like you have got a decent machine, did you build it yourself and is it cheaper to do so...???

Si

anuraj · 21 Jan 2011 at 20:25

Cleeecooo said:
Love FSX!!!

My computer:
XFX 5850
i7 930
Scythe Ninja 3 CPU cooler
TJ07
6 GB DDR3

That played FSX on full settings at 25FPS

Do you have OS/ Monitor or do you need those aswell for your budget?

FSX?

Cleeecooo · 21 Jan 2011 at 20:28

Cleeecooo · 21 Jan 2011 at 20:28

anuraj said:
FSX?

flight sim X (microsoft)

Cleeecooo · 21 Jan 2011 at 20:30

999sharris said:
Thanks for your quick responce.

I will probably look into geting windows 7 ultimate home and will also look into monitors etc as and when I know what I can get for my money.

Sounds like you have got a decent machine, did you build it yourself and is it cheaper to do so...???

Si

Built myself and it is MUCH cheaper to do.The spec i have recommended will superceed my system so will be much better. That is £400 under your budget so you can easily get monitors and OS for that money

999sharris · 21 Jan 2011 at 20:34

Hi Cleeecooo,

Thanks for your basket, I will defo look into what you have posted.

Yes its microsoft Flight Simulator X

Cleeecooo · 21 Jan 2011 at 20:39

I would go for a 60GB SSD instead of the 30GB i specced you. Make sure you actually do order 2 of those 4GB RAM kits so you have 8GB in total

shadow_boxer · 21 Jan 2011 at 20:49

Hi and welcome to the forum. Quite a few avid flight simmers here, me included. To start with are you looking for any peripherals, keyboard/monitor/operating system etc to fit into the £1400 budget?

As your probably aware fsx is an awfully coded game and essentially from the same code as FS9, which was developed now almost 10 years ago!

Before you jump and blow £1400 on pc I'd read around as many forums as you can about FSX and hardware. There are countless stories of people spending thousands on an fsx rig only to find its no way near the performance they were expecting. In particular try to find news on how the new Intel architecture and processors, "Sandy Bridge (Socket 1155)" fare with FSX. There are bound to be early fsx lovers who have opted for the new technology considering the higher clock speeds that can be achieved when overclocking these processors (which fsx performance is often proportional to).

There is a thread here for us fsx lovers. There are a lot of lovely images but also a lot of good information about how to set up fsx and peoples experiences.

I have a few issues with the build spec above.
1) FSX runs better on Nvidia cards. The 6800/6900 cards are better but if buying a new card I'd avoid the 5xxx series (although there are shader model fixes and tweaks)
2) Intel processors again generally run FSX smoother, particularly at high clock speeds.
3) Lack of storage drives for FSX. I have a number of addons and require in the region of 300GB. (conservative estimate). FSX should be installed on its own drive for maximum performance (ideally an SSD, but we're only human so a 500-1TB storage drive dedicated to fsx with half of the drive allowed to remain empty). Also very little gain in going for SATA 6GPS mechanical drive over a SATA 2 HDD.
4) Far to small SSD even for booting OS.

Cleeecooo · 21 Jan 2011 at 20:53

Isn't a new FS due this year?
That was an awesome and really helpful thread.
I recommended 6 core as MS would be idiots to not include 6 core support in their new FS and also the 5870 should provide really good graphics.

If you are comfortable OC'ing then get the sandybridge and OC like hell!!! Otherwise i think AMD will be best for you

stulid · 21 Jan 2011 at 20:55

Last flight sim i think i played was a microsoft one with WWII aircraft, cant remember the name.

Cleeecooo · 21 Jan 2011 at 20:56

Last flight sim i think i played was a microsoft one with WWII aircraft, cant remember the name.

combat flight sim?

999sharris · 21 Jan 2011 at 20:58

Thanks for your reply. I am not sure what what I will buy yet with regards to peripherals etc.
I am just seeing what I can get and get advice on where/what to get.
FSX has caused so many people problems with game play and graphics etc and thats why I have stayed using FS9.
I do know microsoft are currently putting together a new filght sim (FLIGHT) but believe that is still some way off from being finished.
I will have a look at your link and see what I can find out.

Thanks very much for your post shadow boxwe....

stulid · 21 Jan 2011 at 20:59

Cleeecooo said:
combat flight sim?

sounds familiar. think thats it.

stulid · 21 Jan 2011 at 21:01

999sharris said:
snip.

you still need to tell these guys exactly what you need for £1400?

tower unit? operating system? monitor? keyboard and mouse? speakers?

AceTK · 21 Jan 2011 at 21:02

haha ive not bothered with flight sims for ages. The last proper playthrough of flight sims I played were ms flight sim 5 on floppy disk, TFX on floppy disk and EF2000 on cd lol. Im curious about the new ms flight sim out later this year tho.

shadow_boxer · 21 Jan 2011 at 21:07

No problem. I can't stress enough that its important to take your time both building it and when installing it. I built my rig with almost the sole purpose of FSX and I'm enjoying a great experience on it with smooth flight. I would spend some time going through the thread I linked above there's a lot of info there, also links to other FSX forums. Yeah, MS Flight probably wont be release until 2012 but a system that can run FSX well today should be able to run Flight, assuming MS haven't gone down the same road. They have a tendency to release sims that require next years technology to run them at low settings! Its amazing how a game developed now 7/8 years ago still cant be run properly.

Looks like those who have taken to Sandy Bridge are quite happy.

Would you be looking to build the machine yourself. It can work out quite a bit cheaper and is much easier than you think and you can build it specifically to your needs.

999sharris · 21 Jan 2011 at 21:47

I will defo be giving it a go at self build. I've read quite a few books and looked at various forums on building pc's.
It looks pretty simple. he says... lol

I want to try and get a monitor within my budget and an operation system. With regards to keyboards and other external bits I will probably buy seperately if I can't get them in a bundle.

Thanks for all your advice people, you are all being a great help to me.

Si

stulid · 21 Jan 2011 at 21:51

so you want EVERYTHING for £1400, thats easy.

this was done for £1200 approx - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18231861

so essentially the same system with a different keyboard/mouse and a 2.1 speaker system,

Your basketProduct Name Qty Price Line Total
OcUK ATI Radeon 6950 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £234.98
(£195.82) £234.98
(£195.82)
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor £194.99
(£162.49) £194.99
(£162.49)
Samsung P2450H 24" Widescreen LCD Monitor - Glossy Black £179.99
(£149.99) £179.99
(£149.99)
Crucial RealSSD C300 64GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive (CTFDDAC064MAG-1G1) £101.99
(£84.99) £101.99
(£84.99)
Foxconn P67A-S Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) £99.98
(£83.32) £99.98
(£83.32)
Antec TruePower New Modular 650W Power Supply £94.99
(£79.16) £94.99
(£79.16)
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - OEM (GFC-00599) £81.98
(£68.32) £81.98
(£68.32)
Coolermaster CM-690 II Lite Dominator Case - Black £61.26
(£51.05) £61.26
(£51.05)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £44.99
(£37.49) £44.99
(£37.49)
Creative T3130 2.1 Speaker System (51MF0395AA003) £37.99
(£31.66) £37.99
(£31.66)
Microsoft SideWinder X4 Gaming Keyboard - Retail (JQD-00006) £36.76
(£30.63) £36.76
(£30.63)
Akasa AK-CCX-4002HP Venom CPU Cooler (Socket LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366/AM2/AM3) £35.74
(£29.78) £35.74
(£29.78)
GeIL 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz VALUE PLUS Dual Channel (GVP34GB1600C9DC) £33.98
(£28.32) £33.98
(£28.32)
Logitech G500 Gaming Mouse (910-001262) £28.98
(£24.15) £28.98
(£24.15)
Sony Optiarc AD-5260S 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £14.98
(£12.48) £14.98
(£12.48)
Sub Total : £1,069.65
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £20.10
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £217.95
Total : £1,307.70