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

Hi all. I am thinking of upgrading in the near future. Here is my current specs:QX9650 (OC'ed to 3.6)8800 Ultra/7800 GTXGigabyte X38-DQ6Corsair 4 GB dominatorThis current hardware runs FS9 like there is no tomorrow. Like watching a movie. Sure the there will always be the occassional stutter for whatever reason Win XP is doing. Heres what I am looking at:i7 940 (not sure if i want to spend the extra $$ for the 965 EE. But if you know first hand the the 965 will give me 15 fps more than let me know plz)eVGA GTX 295 (i heard ati is coming out with the 4890. Let me know which might be better. Personally I used to like ATI better for FS but I dont know what they are like …

Could anyone tell me my best up-grade option with my current machine. I was wondering if it was possible to upgrade to a new mobo with new processer / memory etc but keep my existing harddrive / graphics card etc? Thanks for any help.

Anybody using a P5Q3 Motherboard from Asus along with a Q6600? If so, what is the easiest way to put a mild overclock on it. Memory is 2 sticks of DDR3-1800 mhz capacity for a total of 2gig.jack

Hi,I know this issue is discussed a lot on the different forums, and i have tried everything on these discussions, different settings, tweaking my FSX.cfg file etc but still no fps higher than aprox 10 till 15 fps. What am i missing. Maybe my system is not good enough or i'm just missing the ultimate tweak.Can someone give me some tips to get a better Frame rate?My system specs are:Intel dual core CPU 6600 2.40 Ghz2x 1GB SDRAM 533MhzGeforce 8800 GTS video card320GB SATA Hard driveMS XPMy settings in FSx.cfg are: (just mention them, but don't know if it has any added value)[sOUND]AmbientUIMusicVolume=-6.000000SOUND=1SOUND_QUALITY=2SOUND_LOD=0UISound=1AmbientUI=1[Display]Ch…

Hi there I am planning a new rig with the following HD configuration:1 x WD Caviar Black 32Mb cache 640Gb for Windows OS, programs and other apps1 x WD Velociraptor 150Gb (or maybe 300Gb) for FS9.I am trying to research the best defrag util around ideally suited to this task and to this end am testing out a free one (Defraggler) on my work laptop today (which will never run any games more than Solitaire so it's just a test of the interface/functionality) and have downloaded the trial of the x64 O&O Defrag 11 to try on my home laptop tonight (again is never going to run a game/sim). But I was wondering -- I have seen or heard of I'm sure, one of these which you can s…

Hi,I need to buy a new computer because I can't use my old laptop to fly in FS. I did some research and I found a computer within my budget and I think it's a good but I need some advice. I want to be able to use FS2004 and maybe FSX (not really important), low budget (under 500$ CDN taxes & shipping included) and I don't need a monitor. This is what I found on Canada Computers:Visionary VK-100-AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ 2,6 GHz Dual Core-2 GB DDR2 800 MHz (2 x 1 GB)-320 GB SATA-ATI Radeon HD 3200-Power Supply 450WPrice: 419.00$Shipping: 19.99$Taxes: 21.95$Final Total: 460.94$Finally, there is no OS included but I have Win XP Pro with my laptop, is there a problem using X…

[email protected] 6 gig triple channel ddr3nvidia 285vista64fsx on seperate raptor driveMother board gigabyte ex58-UD3R1 - If Hyperthreading is ON in bios, and affinitymask = 255 -- FSX uses all 8corers . Without Affinitymask fsx uses on 4 cores. Affinitymask is only tweak i have done to fsx.cfg2 - If you dont know how to OC and dont want to ness with bios, then get gigabyte mother board. Cause gigabyte have a nice tool called easytune version 6its a very good tool for ocing for the novice. using easytune, the tool does it all for you, CPU-voltages-dram etc. But once you select a setting from easytune check the temps and prime95 to be sure its stable. Getting my 192…

Is anyone here using a PCI Express 8x card vs. the 4x 3ware 9650se 4L? I asked over at Sim Forums.com but the only RAID card anyone has any experience with is the 4x PCI Express 9650se 4L that NickN recommended. I

Are there any fixes that I can do to cure this recurring problem? I have 2 GB RAM and as far as I know more RAM will not help as XP only recognises 2GB. Thanks in advance.

If I 'disable' a hard drive from the task manager, will it power down the drive?Thanks

Hello to all: Long time flight simmer, new to the systems side of my computer. I have an HP d5100t with an Intel Q9550 Processor [2.83 GHZ]. Attached is a screen capture from CPU-Z [first time I've used the program]. The specification line looks correct, but Bus Speed [333 MHZ] x the Multiplier [6.0] = Core Speed of 2000 MHZ. Is this an underclocked CPU, or am I seeing the Processor at a "resting heart rate," waiting for a higher demand from the computer?While watching CPU-Z I've noticed that from time to time the Multiplier will momentarily change to 8.5, resulting in a Core Speed of 2.83 MHZYour comments will be greatly appreciated. I'm considering overclocking th…

Okay, results on system below without major tinkering to FS9 ... still not done installing stuff. I'll be having it share the 1 TB drive with FSX while that one's still small.I didn't get ASA installed but got Global, Aerosoft Manhattan, and one PMDG 747 up. Results in Aerosoft Manhattan with frames locked all sliders at max..steady at 60. Online while locked at 25. Stayed at 25 in VC. But it's smoooooth. Baby bottom smooth. X will come in a few weeks.

Here is what I'm looking at. I know that either system will probably work just fine for FSX, but the prices and so close and I've never used AMD or ATI in a flight sim machine (it really is the only game (or sim) I play on the PC, so I don't need a full on gaming PC, just one that runs FSX pretty close to what my Q9550, 4 gig ram, GFX 260 would do)Here are the contenders:Processors AMD Phenom

Hi, I currently fly FS9/FS2004 exclusively, I am not always satisfied with the performance.So I started to look around for upgrade options.I currently have:CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ 2.6GHz Socket AM2 2MBMOBO: Gigabyte GA-M57SLI-S4 (rev 2.0)GPU: Sapphire Radeon X1950XT 512MB GDDR3MEM: Corsair Value S. PC4200 DDR2 2048MBHave looked at:AMD Phenom II X4 940 Black Edition 125W, AM2+, 8MB Cache, 3,0GhzCrucial DDR2 BallistiX TRACER PC6400 4096MB CL4 Kit, 240pin, 800mhzI also did a quick check at Gigabyte's homepage to see which CPU's my MOBO supported, however I also saw this:"*Note: If you install AMD AM2+ CPU on AM2 motherboard, the system bus speed will downgrade from HT3.0…

I had a local build my FSX computer. The hard drives at times take awhile to spin up and go active, especially the primary HD with FSX. I'm unsure whether that's normal and important, or not. All the HD's are WD and the primary is a WD Velociraptor about 2 months old. Thanks in advance for any answers.i7 940asus p6Tgtx 280the appropriate memory

My 36gb 15K rpm SCSI that FSX alone sits in is now almost full. I have a decision to make: clone this drive to another 73GB 15K SCSI I have, or dump it on a 250 gb SATA II 7200 rpm drive. It would appeare access time is about the only advantage with the 15K SCSI versus the 7200 drive has. Buffered read rate is actually much better with SATA II. So, I wonder, has anyone verified what benefits one can achieve with a better performing HDD, but more importantly, what HDD perf parameter is likely to be meaningful, if at all? I did clone my existing Vista 64 FSX installation to the 250gb SATA II, and don't think I'm noticing a difference. It's still quite fluid and I don…

I havent seen much from the board on this cpu, AMD phenom II 940. just wondering how good it is in comparision to intel. I know that the intel i7 cpu will walk away from it. would like to here from those that may be using it. I have a tighter than expected budget, just trying to get the best bang from my buck I have about 1,300. for a new system, my old is 6+ years old and i'm unable to upgrade. plan to use fs 9 with xp. would appreciate any feed back thanks matt

Hello! Below are the specs for my Desktop PC - I run them using an HP w2007v screen with 1680 x 1050 resolution. All my hardware drivers and Vista service packs and updates are installed - but I dont get great smooth graphics. What hardware updates would you recommend I make to get great graphics? Thanks for your recommendations! See below for specs:HP Pavilion Elite m9050.pt Processor: Core 2 Quad Q6600 (K) 2.4 GHz (95W) - 1066 MHz front side bus - Socket 775 Chipset: Intel G33 Express Motherboard: Asus IPIBL-LA Berkeley-GL8E Memory: 3GB - 240 pin, DDR2 SDRAM Hard Drive: 320 GB SATA 3G (3.0 Gb/sec) - 7200 rpm CD/DVD Drive: 16X DVD - 12X …

For a new system based on i7 940 I've more or less planned using Corsair XMS 1600. The builder however points out that only i7 965 will be able to fully utilise this rather expensive upgrade a (+150$) and suggest i stick with 1333 RAM.I expect - at some point - to to some moderate aircooledeOC'ing. (Scythe aftermarket cooler).Any advice or suggestions would be welcome.

Hi guys. Currently I have my FS9 on a couple 300GB (150X2) raided raptors. Can I partition these hdd's after the fact that fs9 is already installed so I can install FSX on a new partition or do I have to wipe out the whole thing, start over, then partition, reinstall fs9 and fsx on the new partitions. I don't want to have to reinstall FS9 is what I am trying to do. Thanks!

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EDITED BY ADMINTHREAD MOVED TO THE HARDWARE FORUMTHXDavid RochHello guys,I am well aware of the issues pointed out by NickN and RAID0 when it comes to FSX. But what about when your FSX PC is used SOLELY for FSX and nothing else? In other words, I currently have a FSX ONLY system which has three (3) WD 320GB SATA 3.0GB. The OS (Vista x64) is installed on the C: drive which is a two (2) drive RAID-0 and FSX is installed on the 3rd drive alone.I am in the process of installing the Windows 7 Beta 7000 and was thinking whether I should just go ahead and create a three drive RAID-0 and install FSX alongside with the OS. Like I said, this PC is FSX ONLY, so I will not be add/del…

Something happened to my computer yesterday, and I'm hoping that some of the fantastic "computer-minds" on this forum can help. I'm asking here because I really don't want to have to re-install FSX again with all of its addons and tweaks, etc. FSX is running very well, and I want to keep it that way.It all started when I saw this "Windows.Old" folder on my C drive that appeared, of course, after I re-installed VISTA a few months ago. I inquired on the internet about the SAFETY of deleting this Windows.Old file, and all advice said that it was safe. Well, to make a story short, I did delete all 71 gigs of that folder and I was looking forward to saving the hard disk sp…

Hi,I am putting together a new computer. I am looking at the performance difference between the Intel i7 920 and the i7 965 for FSX. The cost difference is substantial, is the performance?Thermaltake Toughpower W0133RU 1200W Power SupplyEVGA 132-BL-E758-A1 ATX Intel MotherboardEVGA GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 Superclocked Edition 896-P3-1257-AR Video CardCORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB DDR3 1600Thanks,Lynn

Hi i was wondering if getting the digital version is worth the extra hundred quid or so, did a quick search but couldnt see anything really on this . I dont play at super high resolution but of course adding a tripple head effectively gives you access to a much higher resolution, my monitors are just run of the mill TFT 17inch ones, anyway any info would be greatRegardsPaul