System Hardware: PC | MOBO | RAM | CPU | HDD | SSD | PSU etc

Hello, I am considering an upgrade to my PC this spring. I would be going from a I7 930 (o/c at 4.2ghz) to either a Ivy or Sandy Bridge system. I would only be changing the following parts on my PC: CPU Motherboard Memory CPU Cooler GPU I have 3 hard drives, all 7200 old fashioned platter HDDs, dedicated to the OS, FSX, and Storage respectively. I hate installing from scratch, I even avoided an upgrade this past year (missing my every 2 year upgrade schedule) because I had FSX running just fine and it takes forever to install all my addons, and FPS/performance seems ok. However, last month I had a virus infection, and was forced to rebuild the OS and F…

Hello all, I recently encountered this phenomenon and I would like to know if anyone else has seen it as well: I have a SB 2700K and I initially OC it to 4.8 GHz with Vcore set to 1.35 with running OCCT suite stable at 2 Hr. Then when I start using FSX, I began seeing some random crashes, so I decided to increase the time I run OCCT. Lo and behold, OCCT start crashing after 2 hours, so I bumped up the Vcore to 1.36 and OCCT run fine for 5 Hrs. I then start noticing FSX crashes on exit, and or random report about not being to load the add-on DLLs. So I reset my system to the defaults, then no crashes on exit no crashes whatsoever. Using the no crash on exi…

Hi all, This is my first post here mainly because I've become so frustrated with trying to figure out what to do with my system. I'm nowhere near being a techie, i know the basics, but I dont understand all the little details of upgrading GPU, memory, CPU, dedicated graphics, etc. I have an old system, the Dell Dimension 8400: WindowsXP, 1GB RAM, Pentium4 3.4ghz, 145GB HDD, and im pretty sure no dedicated hard drive. About 2 years ago, FSX was running decently, with a mediocre frame rate when the settings were relatively low. then about a year ago i got a virus and it completely screwed up the file system of my computer and FSX has been a 10fps stuttering…

If you are waiting for Intel's new crop of desktop CPUs for 2013 (expected to be released March-June), sadly reports so far on engineering samples appear to show about a 10% improvement ... the focus of these CPUs appears to be more around on-board graphics and the mobile sector (less power consumption) with only minor improvements to CPU raw performance (which is what FSX likes). So if you're getting 30 fps now in FSX, moving to Haswell-DT may get you 33 fps. Haswell-DT should overclock well also and hit the same 4.6-5GHz that current 3960X and 3970X can reach without much effort (and remain stable). But Haswell is 4 core (no 6 or 8 versions). For flight sim…

IT "Hardware Guru-in-Chief" to head revitalized Avsim Hardware Department His name is Paul Johnson, or Paul J for short or PJ and he is the new AVSIM Hardware and Operating Systems Discussions Forum Manager, including: -Win8 OS Forum -The Win7 OS Forum -MOBO, RAM, CPU's & Other Hardware -Monitors, Video Cards and Drivers -Hardware Controllers & Drivers -WIFI, Routers, Ethernet, I/O Boards, etc Paul has had a remarkably distinguished career in the Information Technology industry. He has been part of crucial planning and implementation stages of some of the more important and constantly evolving platforms and operating systems that have c…

Hey all, Ok I'm on a I7 2700k @ 5.0ghz with the big Noctua air cooler. I have quite a bit of experience in the past with vapor phase change coolers, TEC's, and basic water loops. I'm curious what I might be able to push my chip to with either a water chiller or VPC unit, but am wondering if its even worth the time and money for FSX. Anyone here doing extreme cooling running FSX, and if so what have been your performance gains? Im pretty much just doing FSX right now and don't want to start stuffing sockets with dielectric grease, spraying mobo's with non conformal coating, and fabricating gaskets only to end up with non noticeable frames and smoothness increases. …

I'm considering adding a water chiller to help with overclocking the rig I have now as well as whatever components I might pick up over the next 2 - 3 years. Reading through the threads this weekend, I noticed that several posters have mentioned that they are using water chillers or have tried them. I'd really like to hear specifically what systems you have tried and any tips you could give concerning them. I'm leaning toward going with a Hailea chiller, along the lines as described in this article http://www.bit-tech....hiller-review/4 (If it matters: Currently I have an i7-2600K at 4.0GHz & 1.30V, and I'd like to try to move up to 5.0GHz territory. It's …

Hey folks, I decided i am going to get the 3570k, but with this rig going to have to last me at least 5 years, and with p3d, is the 3770k going to be a better cpu than the 3570k? I am saying this because i am assuming within the next 5 years everyone else will possibly be using p3d. At the moment, i only have UTX and the md11 for fsx, and if i cant migrate them then there isnt such a big loss, after all even going from fs9.1 - fsx you still had to purchase most things again anyway. So is the 3770k going to be more suited for p3d and a better cpu if i was to make the switch? Regards

My current specs are: i7 920 9 GM RAM Asus P6T mbb WD 300GB Raptor Nvidia 560 Ti However when I fly into Heathrow using PMDG 737 and scenery add on the fps goes down to about 5-10. I am running with all the settings to high. I'm pretty sure my PC is good enough?

Went from the stock 3.06 GHz to 4.02 GHz for $70! Cheaper then buying a new processor. My stock HSF started going bad a few weeks ago. Noticed temps creeping into the high 50's / low 60's at idle (ouch!). Decided to go for an aftermarket HSF and did research. In the end I decided on the Noctua NH-U12P for $70 plus tax. It was tough fitting it in my Antec 900 case with all the cables running everywhere, but I managed it and the results were spectacular. At stock settings, my idle temps were 35-38. I ran a Prime95 test for an hour and the max temp was 53. What an improvement. Went for a 3.5 GHz OC test with a max temp of 60. Finally went for a 4.0 GHz OC and a…

I've purchased a new rig: i7 3770 3.4GHZ 3rd Gen, 16GB RAM, NVidia GTX 660 1.5GB, 1TB 3GB/s 7200rpm. Currently a i7 920 2.67GHz, 6GB RAM, NVidia GTX 460. Getting anywhere from 6-40 FPS now with VRS SuperBug, CLS 767 & PMDG 747 on FSX. What kind of performance upgrades might I get? Also, any tips for migrating files, aircraft, and scenery to the new computer would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

Using an Asus P8Z77 V Pro and 3770k chip, getting 4.5mhz @ 1.330 volts. Just looking around on the web, it looks like many people hit that speed with much less than 1.3 volts. I know each system/part is different, but mine seems so power hungry. I'd like to push the system to at least 4.7 but can only imagine that would happen if the voltage was pushed to 1.4 or so. Prime seems stable and temps are in the low 60's. Are my voltage settings too high? Thanks!!

Hi - This is the second time I've tried cloning a drive, but with much less success than the first time. The first time I cloned I used EZ GIG IV to go from a 320GB HDD to a 256GB SSD. Everything working fine as I was only using about 40GB of the 320GB on the HDD, and I didn't have to resize partitions as the software did it for me. This time I'm using the same software to go from a 640GB HDD (again only about 40GB used) to a 256GB SSD. No matter what I do the HDD keeps showing the full 640GB being used instead of the 40GB. I have tried turning of the paging file, hibernation and defragged to make sure all files are at the beginning of the partition Why …

Hi guys, I'm finally making the plundge to FSX and am getting new hardware for it.I currently have this in mind,but i would like some feedback/hints/tips. Corsair CX600 Builder series - 600W ATX12V 2.3 Corsair Vengeance - 8GB 1600MHz PC3-12800 DDR3 - 240 pin - 1.5V - CL8 - 2x 4GB Kit Intel Core i5 3570K 3.4GHz 6MB LGA1155 Quad-core Cooler Master Hyper 412 Slim - 120mm AM2,2+,3,3+, FM1, Socket 1155, 1156, 1366, 775, R Intel 520 Series 120GB 2,5" SATA600 ASUS P8Z77-V LX2 - Socket 1155 - ATX Intel Z77 - 4 x DDR3 - SATA600/USB3.0 Asus GeForce GTX660 TI-DC2-2GD5 - 2 GB - PCIe HDMI/DVI-I/DVI-D/Displayport 1.2 Corsair Carbide Series 300R - Midi tower ATX - USB/Aud…

How can I check my cpu temperature I cant seem to find much on google

Of I finally ordered my FSX dedicated new Rig. Please write your opinion: :rolleyes: 1. Intel Ivy Bridge Core I7 3770K Socket 1155MB 3.5Ghz. 2. Gygabite Z77X-UP7. 3. Crossair H100 Cooler. 4. G-skill 16GB 4X4GB RipJAW Z 2133MHZ. 5. GTX 680 GTX SuperClocked Signature 2GB 6. HDD: A-DATA Premier Pro 128GB SSD SATA3 For Win7 64bit. ScanDisk 480GB SSD SATA3 6 - FSX only. 7. Coolmaster HAF X case. 8. SeaSonic P-860 860 Watt. (Platinum)

Trying to remove some processes to reduce OOM issues. NVidia Driver Helper Service NVidia User Experience Driver Component. igfxpers.exe - persistence module (also NVidia related I believe) Are these ok to shutdown? I think the help is ok to shutdown but not sure about the user experience. thanks,

Hi folks and happy new year to you all! Question? As I understand it, when running FSX, I should have the BIOS set to NO hyperthreading? What about all my other games? Of which there are now many? They're all quite recent FPS games. Is it worth turning HT back on for those?

Hey everyone! I've been wanting to build a computer for a little over three years now, however I have never had the money and i've always had something come up which stopped me. After about a year of putting money aside I now have about $1,000 saved up for a computer and i'm going to treat myself finally. I plan on using my PC for mainly FSX with heavy addon use such as REX, AI Traffic, Fly tampa, and PMDG and I want to be able to run this game on high settings and have the game run smoothly. I also plan on playing other games such as Rail sim, take on helicopters, Assassins creed III(comes free with my 660), and other high performing games. This will be my first …

I was planning to get a new pc and I have a very low budget and this is what I have, I really don't know much about computers so I thought it was a good idea to know what you guys' thoughts are on this before I make a decision to buy it or not. i7 3820 @ 3.6Ghz 10MB Cache Asus P9 8GB SDRAM 1333Mhz 1GB Hard Drive <--- Not a big deal ( I can buy a bigger one I guess) Nvidia 560 1G DDR5 What I really want here is a constant 25 and above FPS while I fly PMDGs, Superbugs, and If I have to sacrifice the scenery, it doesn't really matter , all I want is a smooth cockpit experience, anything more is just a bonus! Thanks, Andrew

i did a little upgrade with my computer and was hoping it would make a little less noise however it still humms like a dont no what when playing fsx, i have figured out that it is the fan that cools my cpu, how can i check the temp of my cpu ? its amd 965 3.4ghz i ask this because everything as been running really well but just 10 mins ago had fsx freeze on me just as i was on decent after a 3.5hr flight also what would you recoment for cpu cooling with out spending loads of money

Hi All, I did plan to post a similar thread a few weeks ago, but have since re-considered many of the components. I am wondering if, being fellow simmers!, anyone could give any advice as to, with various .cfg tweaks of course, this setup would be able to run FSX smoothly? I am planning on using addons such as the PMDG 737NGX, various add-on scenery airports (such as UK2000 EGCC and FSDT LSGG etc.), REX Essentials + , and possibly UTX and GEX. Here are the core components I'm considering: MOBO: ASUS P8Z77-V LX CPU: Intel Ivy Bridge Core i5-3570 8GB 1600MHz RAM GPU: nVidia GTX 660 Ti I have noticed that some people have had to make alot of changes to vari…

Hey guys, I am wanting to upgrade my computer to run FSX with pretty high settings. Haven't really thought about a price limit at the moment, but I'd like to keep it reasonable. I am currently running FS9 with tons of scenery, REX, ActiveSky Evolution, GEPro, iFly 737, etc. I am also using 3 monitors with Eyefinity. If I upgrade to FSX I want to run the same addons but with the PMDG 737. My current setup: -i5-750 Lynnfield 2.67GHz CPU. -Foxconn P55MX motherboard -Sapphire 6950 Flex Edition Vid Card with Eyefinity(3 24" monitors) -2GB ram This is what I am looking at upgrading: -Ram: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820233240 -Motherboard: http://www.newegg.co.…

Hi chaps, After another recent thread unfortunately made me NEED an EVGA GTX 680 FTW...I now find myself also needing the rest of the computer to go with it. Obviously lots of advice and info about FSX builds around here, but I've got a couple of things I haven't been able to work out. Build will be for FSX...and X-plane. Yes, I finally bought X-plane, some planes and some scenery yesterday- I'm going to give it a decent go, but expect FSX will be 80% of my flying time. 90% of my FSX flying time will be using photoscenery - so performance has to be as good as possible for that. So this is going to be an Ivy build with the i7 3770K. Question one: memory…

Hello, I'm going to uni next year to study engineering/sci and I need to get myself a decent laptop. The only thing I would really be using it for would be internet surfing, watching movies/videos etc, uni stuff (there is a compulsary comptuer programming course), maybe some casual gaming and of course FSX. Now I'm not looking at getting a budget system, I want to be able to fly in FSX with ORBX sceneries and carenado planes with medium high graphic settings. That being said I need to keep spending to a min - anything above $3000 needs to be seriously worth it. I've had my eye on these systems for a while and I need some help on decinding which one is best for FSX, an…