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

I've got a 10-year-old PC, a P5 1.4. It's a large desktop - actually a big tower. I use it mostly for home office things and web surfing. Recently, I re-installed FS2002 and I just got a copy of FS9 for it last night. They run fine without a lot of add-ons, and some freeware scenery I put on didn't seem to hurt the frame rates. I'm not trying to duplicate the real world, so this is OK with me.But, the MOB has started to act up. I have a lot of trouble restarting after a power failure. I realize that this situation can't go on forever, so I'm thinking about a replacement. My wife supports this, "because the old one is noisy." OK, it needs a fan replacement.If it w…

Hi guys,Sorry if i have posted this in the wrong spot...but i have a little project in mind, i want to mount to my desk several USB powered LED lights...At the moment i have 3 lights i want to wire up, but don't want to be unplugging them from computer to turn on/off.. nor do i want to be reaching around to all the lights to turn on and off..here is what i had in mind.. a usb cable from computer to 4 or 6 way hub.. from there usb cable from each running to a little hub with 4 or 6 switches on it (push buttons preferred) then the usb to run to each light.firstly is there anything out there remotely close that i can buy to save the time of making?If not, does anyone have an…

so, I woke up this morning and the New Nvidia 580 is now for sale...humm... I wonder how much will it benefit FSX.And, Just a couple of days a go I ordered an Nvidia 480... I wonder if I should return it as soon as it arrives and get the 580...What do you guys think?John

I am considering buying a gaming PC and then overclocking the CPU. Most of the gaming PC suppliers recommend liquid cooling systems for overclocked CPUs to ensure stable performance. I have no experience with a liquid cooling system and have some real concerns about safety, leakage and maintenance. Are my concerns justified or are the modern systems today safe and reliable? Most suppliers seem to praise Asetek and Corsair as the leaders in cooling systems. Anyone using their systems? Thanks for your help!Airbus

I've finally decided to start saving up for a new laptop and I'm trying to find one that will run FSX well. My current dell e1505 simply cannot handle the flight simulator and I havent been able to fly in months. I am by no means intelligent in terms of computer hardware so I was hoping some of you guys could help me out. The laptop that I am currently most interested in is a Sony VAIO EB series, Intel Core i5-460M processor (2.53 GHz with turbo-boost up to 2.80 GHz), Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, 4GB memory, and an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650 CPU (1GB VRAM). Can this handle FSX with modest visual settings? I really dont want to spend too much money on this.

Hi.before i take it to the highly trained monkeys at the local PC shop to get it looked at, ill post here to see if there is an easy solution to this.ive been getting the Blue screen more frequently, so today, i took the case off and had a look...The Power Supply Unit fan doesnt turn, it shows no signs of trying, the CPU Heatsink fan hardly turns, its running at a really low RPM than usual, then, it stops turning after about 30 seconds, and 'pulses'...like tries to turn but with no success.Every thing works apart from those two fans, the system runs fine, it just shuts itself down when the PSU/CPU temperature gets criticalAnyone have any idea on whats going on here?any co…

I've had my PC for 18 months now and was thinking about updating my BIOS.I'm wondering if there is any benefit to it, whether it is a relatively simple task and most importantly if I will be required to redo the settings that are currently in place.Also, is there a way to make a backup of my current installation in case anything gets messed up?Thanks in advance for your replies,

Hello, my dear friends,So, after several years my computer "broke" and I do not plan on fixing it but I plan on.....you guessed right-- build a new one... ooooh !And, I am thnking about giving FSX a try. I have always been against FSX due to the bad experiecne I had when it came out and due to the alomost 9 out of 10 (I may be dramatizing) :Thinking: bad experiences FSX users say about the performance.But, why not?... things have changed and we now have better hardware/sofware.QUESTION: Do I need 2 hard drives or 1 hard-drive? I am thinking about still using FS9 with Windows XP and FSX with Windows 7, but again, what's the best way to go? One or 2 hard-drives. And, since …

Ok team - I have a great opportunity to do things right here, so let's hear some feedback.HW:Asus M4A78T-E MoboAMD 965 QC 3.4ghz CPU w/ Standard CoolerSapphire ATI HD5770 1GB Video Card8GB DDR3 1600 RAMC: Windows 7 x64 w/ - WD 1.5TB Avg 67.7 mb/sec 15.0ms Access TimeD: Empty 250gb Maxtor Avg 51.3 mb/sec 14.8ms Access TimeE: Empty 500gb WD 66.5 mb/sec 13.4ms Access TimeAll drives are empty except for Disk 0 (C: Drive)Software RIght Now on C:Windows 7 Pro 64-BitOffice 2010 ProIE9ESAT Smart SecurityWIndows Live 11 (Messenger, Writer, Live Mesh)Have not added ATI Catalyst 10.10 yet.Have not added any mobo drivers other than what W7 has setup.Want to Add:FSX w/ AccelerationREX…

Post benchmarks for FSX here. State your system specs, clocks, voltages and any other info etc.Here is a basic list of CPUs we want to compare:Intel:i3 series stock & OCdi5 6xx stock & OCdi5 7xx Stock & OCdi7 8xx Stock & OCdi7 930 stock & OCd i7 950 stock & OCdi7 970 Stock & OCdi7 975 Extreme Stock & OCdi7 980x Stock & OCd. K model core iX CPUs stock & OCd.AMD:Phenom X2 seriesPhenom X4 seriesPhenom X6 series all including black & standard editions & OCd & stock. H55 & P55 also requested. Please use FSXmark and fraps. I believe this can be found on avsim. Please disable all addons scenery etc for benchmark. Set all d…

HiI switched my pc on today and it failed to post. So I restarted and got the message saying my over clock had failed. I've had my pc running for just under twelve months and it's been stable all the time. My pc is as followsI7 920 @4ghzAsus P6TDv26gb ddr3Gtx 285I ran occt and the clock was over heating pretty much instantly. I tried stepping the clock down to 3.80ghz but it was just as unstable. I have now returned the CPU back to it's stock settings and was just wandering what the next logical step would be? I have been debating on upgrading to the 980x but it's a lot of money and with the sandy bridge processors due out soon I don't know whether to hold out and get the…

I've explored the SAS route but would like to know if anyone currently has a Raid 0 setup with SSD drives for OS and FS9/X and a secondary mechanical drive for storage and everything else? Looking at recent benchmarks even from a mediocre SSD in raid 0 on sata 3gbs shows very impressive results as opposed to the same drive running as a standalone....roughly twice the speed gains.My intention is to wait for Sandybridge running on a sata 6gbs board. Throw a couple of SSD's with the new sandforce announced controller in raid 0 and I hope to see some real speed out of Win7-64. Anybody.......???

Hey guys, how's it going. I recently upgraded my system from (Specs Below) to an Intel 875K Quad Processor http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...6-368-_-Productand a Corsair H50 liquid cooler for the CPU. But now my question is, I googled CPU-Z pictures of the 875K in the "CPU" Tab and in the bottom right it shows "4 Cores / 8 Threads" and now I have the exact same processor and my CPU-Z shows this:Is this right? I hit Load Setup Defaults in the BIOS and cross checked everything so, did I miss something?Thanks guys.Here's what the one on Google looked like.

Multiple Monitors & Multiple PCs running FSX in Harmony IF you have the room and the spare parts you can get the ride of your life with this style setup, but get ready for a headache of questions and endless possiblities. I’m here to help and ask questions of my own, hoping for thoughts or solutions too. So here we go, first a quick summary of my old setup, then my new upgrades filled with my questions to you, and finally my hardware and software list. Please ask me about anything I will try to help! Hopefully, I will get pointed in the right direction and help others at the same time. OLD SETUP Computer A (will be identified as PC1 from now on) ran my three 22…

Hi fellow simmers!I have a strange issue sine approx. a month.PC has GoFlight Airliner Configuration, TrackIR, TrackClip Pro, Saitek's Yoke, X52pro, Rudder Peddals, Th2Go and keyboard/mouse connected via USB ports.Every time I disconnect PC from power source and boot the OS I have to unplug and plug again Yoke and GF-166 panel. I tried to switch it to different port but without success. According to Everest, +5V has 5,24V output (no matter how many devices are plugged), my PSU is Corsair 850W, according to online PSU calculator, I need at least 730W (20 USB devices used for calculations).Sometimes, when I unplug/plug my devices in order to get them to work, my Th2Go recei…

This is for my laptop, not my FSX rig that is running Win 7/64.My laptop runs XP Home/32, and recently was updated to SP3. However, since then I have had no connectivity to the internet. It appears as though the DNS is not working somehow. I have 3 other computers connected to the same router with no problems at all, and this issue seems to be consistent with the installation of SP3.I have searched the internet on another computer and found many references to an issue where SP3 causes issues with the DNS function, however even on the MS Support site I find very little, and no references to a specific fix where I have searched on the internet. If this was an issue with…

How much faster/better would flight sim run if installed on a dedicated 120 gig SSD drive along with a 2 drive raid(1) mirror setup for all other programs? Or would it be better to do I raid(10) mirror + stripe with 4 hard drives? I want raid mainly for redundancy/backup for other software. Thanks in advance.

I'm new to flight sims and am just getting to grips with MSFS2004 which runs fine on my current laptops. However it's difficult not to look ahead and contemplate using FSX. I'm aware of the hardware requirements to ensure a 'good' FSX experience, with emphasis being placed on CPU+Video+RAM, roughly in that order.Most commentators talk about overclocking their components particularly the CPU. Now, I'm not particularly hardware savvy and wouldn't want to risk screwing up a bunch of expensive hardware components by messing with overclocking (with the additional side effects of enhanced cooling and power supply.)So my question is: can I get a 'good' FSX experience with 'stock…

Just thought I'd give everybody out there a heads up, you can now upgrade to socket 1156 for only ~$300Some deals at Newegg right now:i3-530Asus P7D55D-EMushkin Blackline 2x2GB DDR3So anybody who's been waiting to upgrade to 1156... I think now's a pretty darn good time.

Ok here is my current setup:Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300 (2.5GHz)3GB DDR2-800MHz dual channel SDRAM768MB Nvidia GeForce 9600GS500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3GB/s hard driveIf you need to know anything else about the current setup just let me know.I have 1000-1500 dollars to spend and am wondering if I should upgrade the current computer or build a completely new one. Please list specific components that you feel will give me the best bang for my buck. Thank you!

hi everyone,im planning to improve my computer just a bit but im not really sure what to improve...this is my current setup:intel core i5 750 qaud core 2.67 Ghz8GB RAMNvidia geforce 9600 GSOim thinking to buy a better video card cuz the one i have now isnt good enough but im not sure(thats why im posting here :P)so what do you guys think?Rik.

I already have the Dominator kit, but what do you guys think of the G.-Skill kit or Kingston kit? Would you take 4 or 8 gigs? Thanks for any help given.G-Skill 4gb- http://www.alternate.de/html/product/Speicher/G.Skill/DIMM_4_GB_DDR3-1333_Kit/137820/?tn=HARDWARE&l1=Arbeitsspeicher&l2=DDR3&l3=DDR3-1333G-Skill 8gb- http://www.alternate.de/html/product/Speicher/G.Skill/DIMM_8_GB_DDR3-1333_Kit/671930/?tab=3&page=1#tabberBoxKingston HyperX 4gb- http://www.alternate.de/html/product/Speicher/Kingston_HyperX/DIMM_4_GB_DDR3-1333_Kit/136758/?tn=HARDWARE&l1=Arbeitsspeicher&l2=DDR3&l3=DDR3-1333Sorry Headline is wrong ;)

A question into the crowd: is there a reason why we don't see anyone using such solutions? I see them being relatively inexpensive compared to SSD when it comes to €/Gb and very low access times (2ms and such), very high transfer rates and so on...Is there a reason why are they not being used for simming? They must kill in performance...

Hi all,I have a lower end system (by todays standards) and staying with fs9 for now. It seems that my pc should run Fs9 fairly well. I run all the addons, REX, GEPro, ASE, UT and aircraft from the IFLY 737, DA Fokker, PMDG MD11, etc.. etc.. Should I get better than the low 20's as far as frames go. I also get alot of stuttering and am still trying to pinpoint what could be causing that. I run FS9 with every unneeded background program stopped. Could my GPU be causing a bottleneck? Thanks in advance.Win XPAMD Phenom II X2 555 Black Edition (overclocked to 3.6 GHZ)Nvidia Geforce 9800 GTCorsair Twin 2x4096 DDR 2 1066 5,5,5,15 TimingsSoundBlaster X-FI Xtreme Audio

Hi guysI have a 750W power supply with my new rig.I have the following connected:1 x SSD2 x HDD (1 of my VRaps taken from my previous machine)1 x External driveI would like to connect my previous HDD from the previous PC too. Is their any issue with connecting 5 drives.Also, if I connect my previous HDD (which also housed the Vista 64 OS) can I access the data on the HDD. This is the point of connecting it as their are some files I had not transferred to my external drive prior to the new PC arriving) I need access to them. Many thankserich