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

I am about to install a new cooler to replace the stock one for my Q6600 CPU (G0). I have downloaded OCCT and Core Temp, and would like to baseline the CPU and stock cooling system prior to installing the new cooler. I assume that many here have done this before- do you just run the OCCT app for an hour or two and measure temps, or should I be a lot more scientific than that?The new cooler is a Thermalright Ultra-120. I also run the Q6 on a GA-X38T-DQ6, has anyone any good or bad experiences regarding removing the Crazy-Cool stuff from the back of the board?Thanks- Bruce.Q6600, Mushkin 4GB (2x2GB) XP3-12800 7-7-6-18, 8800GTX-768M, WinXP.

my new computer has a Intel Duel Core 3.2 GHz CPU but is supposed to be OVERCLOCKED to 4.0 GHz. When I look at the specs in the computer it list the CPU as being a 3.2 instead of a 4.0. How can I tell if it is really over clocked to 4.0 ?? jerrycwo4

New computer system ETA tomorrow. :( Just some first pictures I got today from my system builder.The system builder is in the Netherlands Freezing HardwareSo any dutch people or anyone else with some real money please have a good look.I created the specifications and Freezing Hardware made it come alive.I hope to have some first FSX flying results by the end of next week, so this is just a teaser.Some first picturesSystem specificationsComputerCase: Lian Li PC TYR PC-X2000PSU: Corsair HX1000 1000WCPU: Intel Core-i7 965 XE Extreme Edition 3.2GHz overclock 4.2GHzMotherboard: Asus ROG Rampage II ExtremeMemory 12GB: 2x OCZ OCZ3G1600LV6GK Gold 6GB(3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800 1600MHz…

I running all zillion stock services and wonder which services have meaningful negative impact on FSX smoothness that can be safelly disabled. Thank you in advance.Noel

Hey all. With my current system I am running 2GB of ram. With FS9 running and activesky I se on my windows task manager that I still have 1GB of available memory. WOuld increases to 4GB do anything for performance? I am assuming that if I have 1 GB of free memory that adding more wouldn't do anything at unless I was running out of memory. I am considering throwing FSX on some raptor drives in which I will probably go with IF I go with vista. Any advantage with going with vista over XP if its for FSX? I know u need vista for DX10 but I heard DX10 does crap for FSX. Also 32 bit or 64? Thanks all.Jack

Hi guys,Yesterday i installed a new system with a q6600 cpu and a maximus 2 formula mainboard.In the extreme tweaker section of the bios i disabled the speedstep function and hoped the multiplier stayed at 9 but when the cpu is at idle it reversed back to 6.Is there a way so that it is staying at 9.Thanks in advance,Best regards,G

Hi,Just curious, I always at least try new video drivers, but was not sure about chipset drivers. Do they or can they react negatively depending on the video drivers you have installed? RegardsBob G

Hello Captains,Recently bought a new rib for FsX..for a ok priice...come to find out the mobo is a little outdated n the powersupply aint all that..but Just wanted to find out in the interim If it would be better to get the Ati 4870 1gig GPU with my setup OR the GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bitQ8200 @ 2.33, 4GB ddr2800, Vista premium 64, a 500 GB HDD dedicated to FsX only, a 22 inch flatpanel..TV, and a SUNteC 680wt Powersupply (As a back up i also have a 19inch Monitor if the tv setup aint thee best)...oh yea n the mobo is a P5n73-Am..with the Nvidia Geforce 7050/nForce 610i chipset...which uses only Pci Express X16 and X1.....Thanks in advance for all yourhelp n input!Gi…

I just ordered the parts for my long-overdue upgrade/replacement. Alot of you out there are using i7 systems and I am curious what the i7/285GTX setup is like for FSX. Here is what I bought....feel free to tell me if I made a mistake on something as its been awhile since ordering parts.Antec Twelve Hundred CaseASUS P6T Deluxe V2 X85 MotherboardIntel Core i7 920 Nehalem12GB CORSAIR XMS3 DDR3 PC3 10600EVGA 285GTXAntec Signature Series 850W PSUZalman CNPS 9900 LED CoolerTwo WD 640GB HD in RAID 0

I'm looking to upgrade my CPU, but not the mainboard just yet.I find the vast array of 775 Intel chips mind boggling. According to the Asus website, my board (P5K-E Wi-Fi) will support the 45's with a BIOS update.What is the best cpu for FSX i could use in my board, considering i almost allways overclock?I'm also upping the RAM to 4Gb (2x2Gb) of PC10000mhz 4-4-4-18 (instead of 4x1Gb of PC800)Thanks

Hi there,Many of you are discussing the best gaming setups for FSX, which is very interesting, BUT... I am an avid FS9 user, and I am looking to build a new system. The reason I have not gone to FSX yet is because I have spent years (and a lot of cash) building up an arsenal of add-on aircraft (PMDG 737/747, Level-D 767, Wilco Airbus Series 1/E-Jets, PSS 757/777/A330/A340pro, etc), as well as add-on sceneries such as Mega Airport Heathrow, Frankfurt, the FlyTampa! series, Aerosoft, and many many more... Of all of my addons only a very few are FSX compatible... And as all of my flying is commercial to and from add-on airports, FS9 with these addons serves my purposes qu…

Hi,someone brought up the point that FSB and ram speed need to match. Ok, I bought my system and the first thing I did was OC using AI Overclock built into the bios. The original bios I was using would only OC to 5%. When a new bios was released and installed I was able to OC to 15%.Now I am running 3.45 or so and it is stable with FSX. I am not a guru but I would assume that when I did the AI overclock the ram had to be adjusted as well. Since AI Overclock adjusts speed based on load, I ran Prime95 to load up the system then ran CPU-Z to see the details. My issue is I dont understand the numbers to know if everything is right. Memory is: pc2-6400 - 400 mhz x 4gigProcess…

Hi guys,Yesterday i installed a new system with a q6600 cpu and a maximus 2 formula mainboard.In the extreme tweaker section of the bios i disabled the speedstep function and hoped the multiplier stayed at 9 but when the cpu is at idle it reversed back to 6.Is there a way so that it is staying at 9.Thanks in advance,Best regards,G

Hi all :( I have a dilema. I`m getting

Would there be a big difference going from an e8500 to an i7 920 or 940 in FSX? I currently run:e8500 OC'ed to 3.8ASUS P5Q4GB G-skill DDR3 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual ChannelEVGA 9800x2500GB WD Caviar (Vista64 & FS9)300GB WD Raptor (FSX)500GB WD MyBook (Storage)*Sound max - onboardI was thinking:i7 920 or 940 (Possible OC?)EVGA X58 1366CORSAIR DOMINATOR DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Triple Channel EVGA 9800x2300GB WD Caviar (Vista64 & FS9)*300GB WD Raptor (FSX)500GB WD Caviar (Storage)OnboardIs it worth it? or is there something I should do different within reason of course :( *The drive change is because my external (MyBook) has passed on, I have a Caviar 300 sitting around wa…

Wow, its been a while since I ran FS9, but tried my old install on the i7 today,sure this is old news but...Could not believe the performance, you can max every setting,set AF to 16x, AA to Combined 16xS, and put VSync on, and lock at 60fps full refresh rate everywhere.But its the smoothness that is just amazing after running FSX for months.FS9 on the new system is perfectly smooth in every city and area I try it with.Flying high, or low, it just works.FS9 textures fall short of FSX but the smooth 60fps vsynced performance is remarkable.

I ran across this ASUS laptop computer at Best Buy. It looks quite cool, and is equipped very surprisingly for the money. Vista 64 and a great Video Card. 4 gigs of RAM and other goodies.Please tell me what you experts think!Here's the Best Buy link:http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?sk...d=1218044029168

Hello Everyone !..I Just purchase a new rig for FsX..with a Asus p5n74-AM Mobo thats Using a PCI EXPREss..x16 1.0 slot..(one minor detail i overlooked at purchase) But im Now crossing my fingers n Hoping that the ATI 4870..video card which uses PcI EX 2.0 technology is Compatible With My Motherboard. Please Someone Say Its So..! Is it Compatible at All? or do i have to look 4 a lower end Graphics card?. N If its compatible will my brand new untouched rig suffer perfomance wise :( with the lower "BandWith"??BTW i didnt buy the graphics card Yet.Gideon B

I'd be very interested to hear any opinions or views on these two CPU coolers.http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct....rodid=HS-027-TRhttp://www.ebuyer.com/product/105994Or of course, any others you may reccomend.I want to overclock my cpu a little further but need better cooling.Thanks

Am building an FSX system per NickN's advice (a Nick-spec system?) Just ran into a hardware snag. It seems that the 3ware 9650SE RAID card isn't compatible with the ASUS P6T motherboard. To configure the RAID card, it's necessary to enter the 3ware BIOS at boot-up. But when I try to do that, I'm told that there isn't enough PMM RAM to load the BIOS. As a result I'm unable to configure the drives and load the OS (the drives are recognized but don't have drive letter designations). I've checked on the Internet and found out this is a known issue. According to forum posts, there's no solution short of an ASUS BIOS revision. I'm following up with ASUS and 3ware but th…

Hi Guys,I just installed a new processor on my homebuilt system, but I can't get the system to boot. My specs are:Core2Quad 9550 2.83ghzASUS P5N32E - SLI - Nvidia 680iAntec TPQ-1000W PSU8GB Corsair RAMNvidia 8800GTXWinXP-64bitI upgraded from a Core2Duo6600 to a C2Q9550. I went with the Q9550 because I didn't want to install a new motherboard (my current board is an ASUS P5N32-E-SLI) This board will accomodate both Core2Quad and Core2Duo processors, so it was just a straight CPU swap (and a new CPU heatsink/fan).. nothing else was changed. Anyway, I powered up the system and all the fans power up, all the DVD drives power up, but the HDDs won't spin up (i.e. no blinking li…

Hi,Im wondering something, I have a GTX 280 video card with 1GB of DDR on it.I have 4GB DDR on my computer.I have set the boot.ini with the "/3GB /userva=2560", as suggested everywhere.Now, I do the math : 4096 - 2560 = 1536 MB left for Kernel space.Since my PCI-E video apperture mapping will be 1024, then, the real memory avail for XP kernel is : 1536 - 1024 = 512 MB.The question is : is 512 MB sufficient ? or should I decrease my userva ? Or even remove it totally ?I ask this because Im experiencing FSX SP2 display freeze from time to time (only display is freezing inside FSX window... Sound I can hear, keyboard responding.... but I have still to close the game... )Chee…

Hello Fellow Simmers,I am looking for suggestions for a replacement motherboard for my FSX & DVR (SageTV) rig. That is all I use it for. Currently I am using a Gigabyte P35-DS3R with:E6850 Processor2Gb Oz DDR2 1066 RAM500 Gb SATA driveEVGA 8800 GTS video cardLinksys PCI wireless cardTV tuner PCI cardSoundblaster PCI card600w power supplyThe biggest reason for changing it is to reduce power use. The PC wont come out of Windows standby cleanly, and can't wake it up simply by moving the mouse or hitting a key on the keyboard. This is a must. So the system stays running full time which is a waste of energy and thus too much heat.One feature I really like about the Gig…

Friends, For guys like me who lack the expertise to build a quality PC for FSX would you please suggest reliable builders as Google lists 290,000 under "Custom PC builders".The best I can do is replace HD's and graphics cards. I've looked at several " well advertized" builders with the usual good and bad comments. My Dell XPS-P-4 2.8,800FSB, 3gigs Crucial PC3200, and a 512MB Nvidia 7600GS is being severly over taxed. Your comments and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. rnails(Space Coast,FL.)

On tradera (eBay) for 600 SEK still no bid. What do you think about ithttp://www.tradera.com/Kraftfullt-uppgrade...uktion_84767393A FX-60 best CPU and a dual core for Socket 939A mobo that supports PCI expressWhat could I gain over what I already have?My systemAMD 64 4000+ OC 2.6 GHz2 Gb PC3200 RAMNVIDIA 7950GT 512M AGPWin XP Home