Help please! Newbie help choosing new pc for FSX.

[Andy Martin 0]

Hi, im Andy, new to the forum.  I used to use fs2004 years ago and im looking to get back into simming with FSX.  My trusty old pc is not up to the job so ive had 2 quotes from a local computer shop to build me a pc to run FSX.

As a fairly untechy person, could anyone tell me if  either, or neither, or one of the following 2 set ups are enough to run FSX at fairly high settings, with some add on aircraft, airports and scenery?

 

Firstly, 

 AMD FX-4350 piledriver black edition Quadcore 4.2GHZ processor

Motherboard which will take up to 64GB ram

2 x USB3 + 6 X USB2

Realtek ALC892 8-Channel Blu-Ray Audio

Lan 10/100/1000

8GB DDR3 1600mhz RAM

1TB hard drive

24 x DVDRW Internal optical drive

Aerocool Strike-X One mid-tower gaming case with red lit fans

750W 80+ cert. Power supply

Nvidia Geforce GTX750 Graphics card with 2GB DDR5 dedicated Ram

Windows 8.1 64bit operating system (can be swapped for Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit)

and secondly, the lower spec one.

AMD Richland A6-6400 Black edition 3.9 Dual Core FM2 processor 

Motherboard which will take up to 64GB ram

2 x USB3 + 4 X USB2

Realtek ALC892 7.1 CH HD Audio

Lan 10/100/1000

2 x 4GB DDR3 1866MHZ RAM

500GB hard drive

24 x DVDRW Internal optical drive

Chieftek Mesh Series Midi Tower (no coloured fans)

550Watt 80+ cert Power supply

VTX3D VX6450-2GBK3-H Radeon HD6450 2GB 64-Bit Low Profile Silent Graphics Card 

 

The second one is £130 cheaper but if its not up to the task then i would have to shell out my hard earned pennies on the first system

Are these pc's liable to be noisy with all the fans running?  Also, is windows 7, or 8 better for FSX?

Any help and advice would be much appreciated, thank you in advance.

Andy

[allardjd 1,853]

Welcome to Mutley's Hangar. You'll find plenty of help and opinions here, I think, and they will probably all point in different directions. Here's mine...

 

If possible, get Intel processors, not AMD. It'll cost more.

 

2 + 6 is a little light on USB ports, but probably OK. Definitely get as many 3.0 as you can afford. All the new external drives and such seem to now be 3.0 compliant and reportedly go 10X as fast as a 2.0. 2.0 and 3.0 devices, cables and ports are interchangeable, i.e. you can mix and match any way you want to - plug a 3.0 device into a 2.0 port and vice versa, using either type of cable, but a 3.0 device will only run at the higher speed if plugged into a 3.0 port with a 3.0 cable. 3.0 ports and cables have a blue plastic "blade" in the end. 2.0 are white.

 

16 GB RAM might be a good bet if you can swing it. FSX likes memory.

 

Ditch the red-lit fans and get a plain vanilla, preferably metal case. You're going to be looking at the monitor(s) not the case. I never heard anyone say, "I wish I'd gotten a more expensive case." Cooling is more important than LEDs that do nothing. Be sure the builder puts a good quality cooler on the CPU. Let the builder know up front that you don't want a lot of fan noise - cool but quiet. He should be able to manage that if he's any good.

 

I don't know how many or what kind of output ports the Geforce GTX750 has. You probably want 1 each VGA, DVI and HDMI, with the capability to use at least two at a time. Adaptors and cables are available to cross connect between the types, but they're sometimes not cheap. If you know what kind of port your monitor(s) has, be sure you're getting ports that you can plug into without spending a fortune on adaptors.

 

Dual monitors are almost a must for a good FSX experience. They don't have to be the same size or type - the second monitor is useful for placing pop-up gauges, charts, etc. without cluttering up the view on the main display.

 

If you can get Windows 7, that would be my recommendation. There are reported issues with FSX on 8 and 8.1, but some seem to be immune to them. Do you feel lucky?

 

Consider a wireless card in addition to the LAN 10/100/1000.

 

When you buy FSX, be sure to get Acceleration. It was an add-on from MS a few years after FSX came out. It's probably part of the Gold Editions being sold now, but check and be sure you're getting it.

 

John

[Andy Martin 0]

Bit disapointed this post can have 24 views but only 1 reply.  

[allardjd 1,853]

Sometimes the views number is inflated by web crawlers, i.e. bots that are trolling for links for their search engines.  Those will not be real people.

 

I'll see if I can drum up any replies.

 

John

[needles 1,013]

Hi Andy and  to Mutley's Hangar.

You will quickly come to realise that MH is the friendliest forum on the internet, by far. And that's not just my opinion by the way.

 

As for building a PC for FSX and flight simming, what I find is a quick way to ascertain what you need, is to look under the members names and their contry flag, on the left of the forum.

Here, you will mostly find what the guys and girls are using.

This information is pretty much up to date, as we tend to buy new stuff as and when it comes available, so it's a great place to start.

 

One thing I can reiterate from John's post above is, definitely get Win7, it is the most stable when it comes to FSX. There are still some available and if you can't find one, I know where you can get one. (legitimately)

Also, always use the largest SSD you can afford for the operating system, then get the largest capacity hard drives you can afford for the other stuff.

Try and keep FSX on its own drive. You will see by my setup, I have a Velociraptor for Win 7. These are the next best thing after SSDs.

Get the fastest intel CPU you can afford, as FSX is only as fast as the CPU you have. Memory, again as much as you can afford but no less than 4Gb.

Graphics cards, definitely go for Geforce. These cards were made for FSX.

As for the case, you don't need all the bells and whistles. What you do need is, a good air flow throughout the case to keep things cool.

So, like John says, steer clear of fans with leds, you really don't need them. They are just jewellery for your case.

 

As for advice, hang in there. There are guys in the Hangar that will, in time get back to you. You may be getting views, just not from the techie guys. So hang tough and good luck.

By the way, post some pics when you are up and flying.

 

EDIT: Also Andy, try asking in the 'Hardware' forum also. A lot of the techie guys will be looking there for PC building.

[ddavid 149]

Bit disapointed this post can have 24 views but only 1 reply.   I thought this forum may have been helpful to newcomers but obviously i was mistaken.

 

That's a bit curt, Martin, but we can ignore it, if you like!

 

First off, have you built before? Sounds as if you have.

 

Second, what's your experience with flight sim? Do you intend to go the P3D route at all?

 

Finally, on the hardware, I'd check with Tom's Hardware ( http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/ ) before buying any HDD/GPU/PSU. There's a lot of good advice there. For example, look for a hybrid SSHD, they're up to 3 times as fast and perfect for gaming.

 

Hope that helps.

 

You're Welcome!

 

Cheers - Dai.

 

[mutley 4,497]

Hi Andy,

 

Welcome to Mutley's

 

This is quite a common question and the goalposts keep moving.

 

I agree with the guys that Intel is the processor to go for.

 

What I tend to do when specifying a new machine is to look at the commercial builders who make systems just for FSX, for example: -

 

http://www.alpinesystems.co.uk/

 

http://www.wired2fire.co.uk/

 

http://www.chillblast.com/ 

 

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/

 

They usually present systems by computer power rating to suit your budget, so what you can do is take the spec from the professionals there and shop around for the components if you wish to build it your self.

 

Make sure you get a hard drive dedicated for FSX and keep the operating system on another, I wouldn't recommend Windows 8, keep to Windows 7 / 64 bit.

 

Help that helps.

 

Joe

[Andrew Godden 943]

Andy,

 

Welcome to the Hangar.  Some of us are young, some are old, some are slow, some are retired and some are a combination of the aforementioned, so immediate responses are not always possible.  I'm lucky to be be young, slow, and retired, but that's only relative to my colleagues.

 

Firstly, some general points:

• neither of the systems you list appear adequate enough for what you want;
• avoid AMD chipsets (motherboard and CPUs) as they are not good for running FSX at its highest settings (my personal opinion but general concensus supports this);
• NVidia GTX series graphics cards are the best for FSX performance (my personal opinion but general concensus supports this);
• get Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit as the OS.

Now, to add to John's original comments I offer these, which I researched in preparing this response and should serve you well with FSX and P3D and the current and future range of add-ons being developed for them:

• motherboard - Intel Z97 chipset based (considered the fastest for any gaming), with onboard Creative SoundBlaster Core3D quad-core audio processor or X-Fi MB3 gaming audio suite;
• CPU - (in ascending order of price / performance):
  • Intel Core i5 4690K;
  • Intel Core i7 4790K (recommended if price allows); or
  • Intel Core i7 4930K.
• graphics card - NVidia GTX780Ti 3GB GDDR5;
• RAM - 8 to 12GB DDR3
• Storage:
  • OS dedicated drive - 120GB SSD or 1TB, 7200 RPM, HDD; and
  • FSX dedicated drive - 2 or 3TB, 7200 RPM, 64MB or 128MB Cache, 6Gb/s, Seagate or Western Digital HDD.
• power supply - match it to the graphics card requirements and then increase it to the next size up; and
• case - a good recommended gaming case with good fan ventillation (ditch the coloured lights).

For the motherboard, you could also consider a wi-fi capability for wireless internet connectivity.

 

The rest of the components, whilst important, can be less critical.

 

In the end, it gets down to price and only you can determine how much you want to spend.

 

Cheers

Andrew

[Christopher Low 63]

I would be interested to know the quoted prices for those PCs that you have listed, Andy. The motherboard and GPU in my current PC failed last Friday, so I have decided to purchase a new PC (from PC Specialist; I have purchased from them before, and I consider them to be very good). The specification that I have selected is as follows, and the price is £806 + VAT....

 

Asus Z97-A motherboard
Intel Core i5 4690k CPU @ 4.6Ghz
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO CPU Cooler
16GB Kingston Hyper X Fury Dual DDR3-1600 RAM (2x8GB)
2GB GeForce GTX 760 GPU
CoolerMaster Storm Enforcer case
2x2TB 7200rpm hard disks
24x Dual Layer DVD Writer
750W Corsair RM Series PSU
 

I am using my existing copy of Windows 7 64bit Home Premium, SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Music soundcard, monitor, keyboard, mouse and speakers.

FSX needs plenty of horsepower in the CPU department, so an overclocked Intel CPU is the best option.

Bear in mind here that my desktop resolution is only 1280x1024 on a 19" monitor, so I do not need quite as much raw graphics power as others who run large widescreen monitors (or even multiple monitors) at significantly higher resolutions.

[Andy Martin 0]

Thanks for the replies guys,  Christopher, the price was £595 for the higher spec system but with intel instead of AMD it will be £100 more im told,  that also includes windows 7 at £90 but im wondering if i can get a legitimate copy of that somewhere else?, ebay maybe?

Regards

Andy

[mutley 4,497]

4 minutes ago, someone in Havant has just advertised a new Windows 7 on Gumtree for £35

http://www.gumtree.com/p/for-sale/windows-7-operating-software/1074235375

 

[Jess-b 420]

Just to follow up on what the other guys have said, the two systems you've listed aren't really 'FSX' friendly. That said, from my own recent experience, it's not worth paying top dollar for a full on monster system if fsx is your main sim. In fact, the system Christopher lists is a great choice for fsx. If you plan to fly p3d or XPX then you can expect to push the graphics card and for XPX, the more system memory, the better. For fsx though, the intel i5 4690k is a great choice and much cheaper than the i7 whist the performance is the same (fsx doesn't use hyperthreading so the i7 is wasted. Graphics card wise, the did fence between the nvidia 760 and the 780 is really very small, just a few frames, so it makes little sense to spend the big bucks on the the 780.

So the system Chris posted is ideal

Hope this helps,

Jess B

[allardjd 1,853]

You can still buy Win7/64 from Amazon.

 

John

[flybytes 34]

Andy,

 

Have to agree with most of the advice mentioned.

 

I am on my 3rd PC running FSX with various upgrades on all of them to improve FSX performance or extend the life of the hardware.

 

Can recommend PC Specialist - they have a nice web-site which is easy to navigate with unambiguous selection of components & pricing, also, the last time I looked they offer the option of Win-7 64 operating system which in my experience is best for FSX & they will build a system without a graphic card which is handy if you already have one.

 

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/

 

Agree that 8GB of RAM is a minimum, Intel cpu's are best (buy the k variant which are over-clockable) & my experience is that Invidia graphics (2GB gpu RAM now a minimum) seem to run FSX with less texture glitches.

 

If planning to expand your hardware then you can never have too many USB ports.

 

If you want to compare polygon & texture capabilities of graphics cards, there is a useful site which not only compares the current crop of cards, but you can compare these with much older cards.

 

http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php

 

p.s. just checked this site (which was always bang uptodate) and it seems that not all current cards are listed.

 

Good luck with your new PC.

 

Ray.

[Andy Martin 0]

Thanks for the helpful replies guys, the price at my local pc shop is now up to £700 after increasing the spec from amd to intel i5 and better graphics card. Nearly ready to dig deep and take the plunge!

Andy

[flybytes 34]

Bit disapointed this post can have 24 views but only 1 reply.  

 

Suspect that post of yours raised a few eyebrows here, hope the response to your question results in you ending up with a pc which is not only value for money, but runs FSX extremely well.

 

Despite being a relative newcomer on this site, I've found it very helpful & friendly, but, being a cosy small site where not everyone logs in everyday, it can sometimes take a few days for some of us to leap into action!

 

I would like to think that this site's forum, compared with that of a large US site which I won't mention by name, is 'quality', not 'quantity'.

 

Ray.

[allardjd 1,853]

We only see about 50 log-ins a day, so, yeah, not all that much traffic, but those who traipse through here tend to be the friendly and helpful type.

 

John

[needles 1,013]

Andy, before you spend your hard earned dosh in your local pc shop, have you priced up the same gear from the online pc components outlets?

I think you could save a few quid building it yourself.

It's pretty straightforward.

You dont mention your age in your profile, but I'm betting you are old enough to know how to slot things together.             

[flybytes 34]

Andy/Needles,

 

To some extent, have to agree with Needles, whilst I like to support my local shops (believe me, when it comes to technology I've tried), there is no way that they have the buying power to purchase pc components at the bulk/competitive prices as the huge internet companies can. If they appear cheaper, then they are using lower spec or older components.

 

It's more than 2-years since I purchased my pc & at that time, shopping around for the cheapest component prices on the internet, usually to get the best deals, would have resulted in ordering from numerous dealers.

 

No matter how many times I looked, I always got a better deal from the internet companies which would not only assemble a pc to your spec, but test it before delivery. These companies have such a large sales turnover that they are almost always using the latest hardware/firmware and their delivery cost to the customer is much cheaper than that of individual companies each mailing a single component (there is no such thing as free delivery, despite what the sales blurb says).

 

Sorry to say, unless you are cannibalising a previous pc, or here in the UK, building back in the pre VAT taxation era when components were tax-free (did not have purchase tax imposed on them), then it's better value to use one of these internet 'build it for you' companies.

 

Ray.

 

[Andy Martin 0]

Im waiting for the final quote from my local pc shop which I should have tomorow. Im not confident enough to build one myself and after numerous emails between us I wouldnt feel right not using my local shop. Also the warranty is a real peace of mind if something did go wrong I can just take it back to them.

Cheers

Andy

[hifly 925]

I gave my local pc shop the specs from a FSX specialist builder and got the same components apart from my existing  GPU for £80 less than the specialist build price.

 

What that gave me was a years warranty, peace of mind as they had supplied pcs to me before and I trusted them, personal and same or next day service, and they are just around the corner.

 

I'm Happy with it.

 

Support your local dealer.

 

 

[Christopher Low 63]

Let us know the final spec, Andy. However that may compare with specialist online companies, I admire your loyalty to your local dealer

[Andy Martin 0]

Query from my pc shop re the graphics card.  I would like to have a 3 monitor set up in the future but apparantly my original choice of card, the 2gb GTX 760 only supports 2?   The shop have recomended therefore the Windforce GTX750TI, which supports 3 and with a bonus being its also a little cheaper.    

Is the GTX750ti therefore a good card to go for or are there any others with similar performance and capable of running 3 monitors cheaper out there?   Its an important choice as it seems the graphics card is a big cost in buying my new system.

 

Thanks in advance, Andy

[mutley 4,497]

Hi Andy,

The 760 is a lot more powerful on a single screen so if you try to run the less powerful 750 on three screens then the performance will surely suffer.

You maybe better off getting the better card (760) now and keeping an eye out for a triple head to go from Matrox, on eBay maybe in the future? A lot of our members use the TH2G.

Wait for more advice, my card runs three screen directly but was hideously expensive.

Cheers,

Joe

[Andy Martin 0]

Thanks Joe , that sounds like good advice.

Andy