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

Hi, I live in Canada and wondering if it really is cheaper to build your own computer vs. buying based on your specs from one of the many sites online.I would like to build the following:i5 2500K (OC to 3.8 or 4 with fan cooling....sorry very bad experience with leaky water cooling on last machine)8 gig ram 1333 or 1600500 MB hard drive Thinking about 160 MB SSD for Flight sim (not sure if it really makes things faster though)1 Gig video card GTX 570 (unless you guys recommend cheaper card that works just as well for FSX - 470 perhaps)Windows 7 home, 64 bit27" screen.800 Watt powerNormal bland case, could care less about this.Standard CD Rom driveWhat do you guys thin…

This is what I am looking at based on recommendations in various threads on this board. The key elements I am interested in, is the 'overclockability' of such a specification (I want to get to 4.5GHz as a minimum), and also I am not sure about my choice of RAM. All comments welcomed. This will be running a Windows 7 Home Premium O/S, primary use will be FSX.Gainward GeForce GTX 580 "Phantom" 1536MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card- Core Clock: 783MHz (Fermi GF110)- Memory Clock: 4020MHz (Effective)Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor Asus P8P67 PRO Intel P67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard - (Sandybridge) ** B3 REVISION **- This seems to be…

I need to choose between an Intel 510 250GB, a Crucial Real C300 256GB or a Vertex 3 240GB SSD for FSX. Tabs recommends the Intel or Vertex. Which random reads affect FSX the most? The Anandtech link below shows the Crucial random reads in a good light, and it is a lot cheaper than the other two SSDs. For all other computer tasks I'm sure the Vertex and Intel win hands down but as I'm only interested in FSX performance, does anyone know which I should go for?If the Crucial isn't the quickest I'll probably go for the Intel as I don't have the computer skills to deal with all the problems I've been reading about with the Vertex 3, though I'd love to be persuaded otherwise.…

I've been having some problems with blurries at my addon airports (Flightbeam KSFO X and Flytampa KTPA) and flying around PNW. The airports look absolutely atrocious. From what I understand, blurry textures come from the textures not loading from the HD quickly enough. I currently have FSX on it's own 1 TB 7200RPM/ 3 GB/S HD. I am looking at upgrading the drive to a SSD or VRaptor, but the SATA III models cost twice as much as their SATA II counterparts. Do any of you computer guru's out there know if the speed difference will affect FSX? I'm willing to spend whatever it takes to get optimal performance, but don't want to spend twice as much if I won't even be able …

Hello, I am just curios how much FPS will I get in FS2004? Every slider to max, for example at Amsterdam EHAM Aerosoft airport, with iFly 737 in VC turned with nose direction to the buildings and a lot of clouds form REX, FS Global, online in Vatsim with at least 6-7 traffics on the ground. Now, with my pressent pc i am getting ~18-20 FPS. The new pc will be: i5 2500k @ 4.0 GHz, 4GB 1600 DDR3 ram, GTS 250 @ 720, HDD 750GB 64mb, 550W PSU, 22" LG 1680x1050.

I recently replaced my CH Yoke (it was well used) & throttle quadrant with Saitek Pro Flight Yoke two throttle quadrants as well as a Multi Panel & Radio PanelI have not been able to use the system.When I load FSX in virtual cockpit the view goes to the top, after panning down it goes backward again.I have searched various forums to no avail.Also when booting up FSX I get a green screen which dissapears once I have pressed Alt-TabShould I re-install FSX? (Something I am very reluctant to do because of all the third pary add-ons I have)Any guidance would be highly appreciatedHans Brokke

I want to pay an expert to do something that they can better than I can: build a pc and install and tune a fsx system, and, if possible, also install and calibrate the hardware and add-ons etc. The only two places I've been able to find are: http://www.jetlinesy...s.com/home.htmland http://www.flightsim...t.com/home.htmlBoth offer overclocked i7s with fsx installed. (Not clear that they are selling Sandy Bridge yet, but I would certainly insist on it.)Most importantly, Flightsimexperts also offers:"All the best 3rd Party Add-on softwareincluded: •FSGenesis Terrain Mesh X (Satellite USGS Elevation Data) •Ultimate Terrain X Scenery (Accurate airports, roads, water and more…

hello,Last weekend I assembled a new system dedicated to Fs (both 9 ands 10).Specs:Asrock P67 Pro3 (Bios 1.9)Intel i7 2600K8 Gb Corsair XMS 2000 MHZ 9 10 9 27ASUS GTX-480 (because the new EVGA GTX 580 was still in backorder I kept, for the time being, my 'old' card).Zalman ZM850-HP powersupplySo far I have neen able to overclock this system up to a respectable 4.5 GhzNot bad if I say so myself but I keep on reading that I should be able to reach a safe 4.8 Ghz.Unfortunately, I can't find detailed instructions that apply to this MB.Is there anybody who can help me?ThanksLuc Brusselmans

I recently had to rebuild my computer because I changed the psu and the motherboard because it had died. Now after reinstalling FSX, when I go to press SHIFT+Z to view my fps, I get the initial red text, but when I press the combination to get the text to show me my fps, new windows start popping up as if I had pressed SHIFT+1, then SHIFT+2, then SHIFT+3, etc. I went into the control settings and reset default and verified the SHIFT+Z command was set to show coordinates and FPS. As an example of what is happening, when I click to change the key for any action, when I first press SHIFT+Z, the input bar shows I have pressed SHIFT+Z. When I press it again, it shows I have pr…

I'm finishing a new build with an Asus P8P67 Deluxe, 2600K processor and 4 GB Mushkin Redline 996805 RAM. I'm unable to install WIN 7. Getting a "Setup was unable to create a new system partition or locate an existing partition..." I'm trying to install on a new, formatted WD Caviar Black drive. I have the 1502 BIOS set to defaults and reduced the RAM to a single 2 GB stick. I've tried different drives and SATA ports but get the same message. I've tried a Microsoft upgrade DVD and an DVD with an iso obtained from Microsoft. Do I need a driver? How could I get or install one? I've Googled the error message. It shows up, mostly in relation to Vista installs and I haven't …

I'm looking to build a new FSX machine to replace my 4 year old PC. My current PC was home-built, but I don't consider myself an expert at this stuff whatsoever. I don't mind taking the time to install/tweak everything properly, but I want to get a machine where I don't have to spend countless hours trying to squeeze every last drop of performance out of it so that it can run FSX well.I looked at Jetline Systems, but it seems the markup is pretty high (all of the main components for their HellFire GTX purchased on NewEgg would run near $3k, as opposed to their $5k price).Trying to go the somewhat pre-built route, I came across this: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicatio…

Now that summer has rolled around and its over 100 degrees Fahrenheit every day my computer is having poor performance. Im not sure if these temps are normal for my cpu and videocard. but it is concerning me about these temps. my cpu is the intel core 2 duo e8400 and the core temps are 59 celcius and 55 celcius. my ati radeon 5750 is running at 62 celcius. this came from pc wizard. Are these temps normal or is something wrong. Here in AZ it gets very hot in the summer!

Hi guys. I build PCs for a living. As you imagine, I build quite a lot, and it's not very often that there is something that I don't know how to fix. However, this appears to be the exception. I know that there are people in here who are smarter than me, and I'm hoping that they can give me a hand. Basically, I'm building a SB system for a client. I'm using the Sabertooth mobo for this build. My problem is that nearly every time I try to cold boot, the power switch doesn't do anything. Absolutely nothing. Okay, I turn the PSU off/on, same thing. Unplug/replug, same thing. Finally, I moved the cord to a different outlet alltogether, and it starts immediately. Weird right? …

I hate to spam the forums with stupid questions, but I have to ask, will oc'ing to 4.8 make a noticeable difference? Thanks.

This ago just flys through NY like butter, and his system is lower than mine. How do your systems handle NY? Mine is a stuttery mess, I'm assuming because I run MyTraffic 5.3b on 80%http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjmL_ZrrSwo

Hi all,About a month ago my computer restarted for no apparent reason. It was sitting idle, and it just restarted. No BSOD, no warning at all. A couple of days later it happened again while I was searching the web. A month passed and it didn't happen again, so I forgot about it. But last night, it happened again while I was in the forums. I don't know how to diagnose things like that, so any help is much appreciated. I took it to CompUSA this morning, but they were of no help. I then took it to AEM Computer Repair, but they couldn't figure it out either.

Hi all,I've been perusing the threads on hardware stuff now for some time and have come to the the conclusion that FSX (in particular) needs some fairly specific hardware tweaks to get it to run efficiently. Not least is overclocking chipsets.What would it take for us to set up a thread that lists/defines or outlines the best combinations of Motherboard, CPU, Graphics, Memory, Powersupply (and to a certain extent Case) that people either prefer or have found works best.That would then (in theory or hopefully) assist people asking what is the best xxxx to buy? Most of us have pretty much identified what are the better performing combos out there.I for one would love to s…

I'm writing this on a fresh install of Win7. Now I have a new problem, BIOS sees my Mushkin SSD while Win7 does not. ACHI mode enabled in bios, Intel RST driver installed (and the SSD is shown in the RST monitoring program). But when I go to Windows explorer (right click explore), there is no SSD drive. I also deleted all partitions using the Win setup program.I did wiggle the cables but that didn't do anything. It's clearly a Win7 issue...What a great way to start things out!Any ideas?

I'm thinking about upgrading my system for fsx by installing a Intel i72600k processor along with an appropriate motherboard, DDR3 memory and cooler. My question is, will this be only a change of hardware, with no other actions required? In other words, will I be able to just plug in the new hardware and go? Or will I also have to make software changes or adjustments, like uninstalling and installing programs, or whatever?Thanks,JimPresent system:Intel ®Core 2 Quad Q9300 (2.5 GHz)Nvidia GTX 280 GPU 1 GB4 GB DDR2500 GB 7200 SATA hard drive850 w PSUVista Home Premium 64

Hi Guys,I find your posts/threads fantastic for getting the most out of FSX.I also have an Asus P8P67 Deluxe coupled with an i7-2600K and 8GB of Corsair Vengeance RAM 8-8-8-24-2T.I have easily o/c to 4.8Ghz using the guides mentioned on here by either setting by using the offset method for CPU voltage (ie +0.07 etc). I was wondering whether either of you could guide me on what setting you would use in the ASUS bios to attempt a 5.0Ghz overclock as I just can't seem to find a guide that I am comfortable with to use. Also could you let me know approx what temperatures you may expect to see using Prime 25.11 (I think) just so I know if I am on the right track.I have a good C…

Would anybody be interested in posting screen shots of their BIOS settings? Things are done a bit differently with Asus than Gigabyte and I'm reading through a couple guides to get started. I would be interested to see what settings you guys are actually using, though. All I need is the "AI Tweaker" menu and sub-menu settings.I'm still trying to get my head around this offset mode...

OK. 2500K for $214, PZ68 for $189 and jumped on NewEgg one day sale of 8GB of Mushkin 2133. Unfortunately, UPS sent the memory to KATL instead of KSEA. Will report on performance when it gets here...

Hello All,My 5+ year old FS2004 rig finally bit the dust yesterday. MoBo getting power but no life. Either way, I'm done putting it back together with glue and prayer so it's time to upgrade. I'm have to keep it under $1500 US. Here's my list of components so far:CPU: Intel i7 2600KMoBo: ASRock P67 Extreme4 1155SSD: Crucial Real SSD, 64GB (For OS and FSX only...I already have a SATA II 500GB for storage/programs that don't need the fast response)Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB DDR3 1600Vid Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD6870, 1GB, 256-bitOptical: Cheap ASUS DVD BurnerPSU: Corsair CMPSU-650WCase: Rosewill Challenger OS: Win7 Pro x64 SP1Any advice?? I'm just looking to get decent p…

Thought I would throw this out to you simmers that are also involved with sound.I've got my "simpit" sound coming from my amp which I split the preamp output into two lines - one to my amp for my room speakers and one for my headset. I don't use the headphone jack as the amp is in another room. I have the outputs connected to a simple, little Radio Shack audio switch box so I can go back and forth and that works good. Issue is the volume difference is horrendous. I have to crank up all the way for the headset but when I switch to room speakers it will blow me out of the room! Want to get their volumes equal if possible. Is there a piece of hardware you've come acros…

Can someone with my bios or a similar bios tell me which option it is? Is it called turbo as I don't see anything that says hyperthreading. thanks.