New Computer - Need Advice

[md_eleven 0]

Hi All!

I have decided that it is time to get a new PC. Unfortunately I am a bit hopeless when it comes to hardware and I always find it difficult to choose what to buy.

I want a complete machine with Windows installed. I use it mainly for Flightsimming and games like Need for speed - SHIFT, Simcity4 (Yup, I still got that on my harddrive ) or Elite Force2.

My budget is

[allardjd 1,853]

...and not be outdated within 12 months.

Good luck there - Phillip's Law (and several of Murphy's Laws) says you're doomed.

I'm not expert enough to advise but there are others here who are. The hard part will be deciding whose advice to take as they will all be somewhat different.

Good luck with it.

John

[rob16584 42]

The company that built Joe's PC come highly recommended.

I got my rig for http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk a few years ago and it's still going strong, although I am just about to install Windows 7, which I have been reliably informed is a must for FSX as it will improve the performance massively due to lots of technical stuff which I don't understand!

The way I did it was to go to their gaming machine and they alter the bits that I had to have - ram, gfx card etc... and then got rid of the stuff I didn't want - monitor, keyboard, mouse to bring the price down. In the end I got mine for about

[mutley 4,498]

Yes I highly recommend http://www.wired2fire.co.uk my machine is over a year old now and still delivering great results.

You could also try http://www.alpinesystems.co.uk

They are both good at setting up and testing the PC prior to despatch but you pay a premium for this.

Cheers

[md_eleven 0]

Hi!

Thanks for all the advise!

I like the look of wire2fire. Especially since they build PCs tailored to FSX. I am not sure if that really makes a big difference or if it is more marketing. But they certainly sound and look good. Might be between them and alienware.

There somethings I still don't quite get with graphics cards. There are so many now and some systems combine two weaker ones and others use one strong one. Not sure whats best. Also how much RAM do I really need? Some systems have 12GB some 5GB. Big differences... all a bit confusing for me

Thanks for all your help

Stefan

[simi_av8r 0]

Hi!

Thanks for all the advise!

I like the look of wire2fire. Especially since they build PCs tailored to FSX. I am not sure if that really makes a big difference or if it is more marketing. But they certainly sound and look good. Might be between them and alienware.

There somethings I still don't quite get with graphics cards. There are so many now and some systems combine two weaker ones and others use one strong one. Not sure whats best. Also how much RAM do I really need? Some systems have 12GB some 5GB. Big differences... all a bit confusing for me

Thanks for all your help

Stefan

Stefan,

maybe i can lend a helping hand here? I try to keep up to date with all this neww fangled technology and having been using PCs since i was 8 (now 26) and building them from about age 14, i'd like to think i can put together a good system now and then...

so, Graphics cards - what's the problem? Not sure which to pick, or what to choose? ATI and nVidia are the two big guns here, however very recent tests in FSX have all but ruled out the use of their absolute high end units (nVidia's GTX295 and ATI's HD5970) beacuse of them using a hybrid dual-core GPU system on a single PCB (basically its SLI/Crossfire, but using a single GPU chip) unfortunatley FSX doesn't take kindly to SLI/Crossfire systems and most have reported poor framerates and such with their use.

As for RAM, this depends on what system you get. If, say you purchase an Intel Core i5 system, this only uses Dual-Channel memory, similar to the previous Pentium systems. A system built around the Core i7 however uses tri-channel memory modules. This means that it accesses three sticks of memory at a time and can REALLY speed up transactions between the RAM, HDD, GPU and CPU....this is made even faster with the use of QPIs and the removal of the North and South bridge chips within the i7 system - all in all a much faster architecture and very very quick links between all your PCs internal components.... So, how much should you get? Well, on an i5 i'd suggest around 6GB split over 3 banks of 2GB matched pairs (6x 1GB sticks in total). If you plumbed for an i7 system, then tri-channle memory is much fun indeed! 12GB would result in, i'd guess, 2 banks of 3x 2GB sticks (6x 2GB stick in total)...

did that help??

[md_eleven 0]

Hi Simon!

Yes that helped a lot. I wrote it all down and will try to bear it in mind when choosing components.

Would you have any exoerience with alienware? I have never had one but in most gaming reviews they come top. They are expensive but if they deliver I would be happy to pay.

Stefan

[simi_av8r 0]

Hi Simon!

Yes that helped a lot. I wrote it all down and will try to bear it in mind when choosing components.

Would you have any exoerience with alienware? I have never had one but in most gaming reviews they come top. They are expensive but if they deliver I would be happy to pay.

Stefan

To be honest Stefan, the AlienWare systems are just glorified Dell Precision PC's with 'mid-high-end' gaming components under the hood.... I'd choose a system built specifically for FS rather than one bodged together by a world-wide company using cheap components any day. Stick with Wired2Fire, AlpineSystems or SpecialistPCs as referred to above - there you'll get some of the best systems dedicated to high-throughput CPU intense applications (like FSX!) that the AlienWare PCs just can't match!

anything featuring an i7, atleast 6gb tri-channel memory, Windows 7 and either the nVidia GTX275/285 or ATI HD5950/5870 graphics cards would be a mega system for FSX

[Helaro 0]

As FSX is a CPU intense application, instead of GPU intense like most games, a FSX specialized computer like from Wired2Fire will give you a lot more for your money compared to alienware, if you mainly want good performance in FSX.

the backside is that FSX, like simi said, it doesn't like the newer GPUs that other games will like.

so I guess you have to compromise, either a great gaming computer but less fps in FSX or opposite.

But again, like simi says, anything featuring an i7, atleast 6gb tri-channel memory, Windows 7 and either the nVidia GTX275/285 or ATI HD5950/5870 graphics cards would be a mega system for FSX

[rob16584 42]

Personally I've always found alienware to be massively over priced compared to other manufacturers

[md_eleven 0]

Thank you guys!

You really are very helpful! I will try to get an i7 with try Channel then. I have heard good things about the GTX 275 so I will have a look at that.

The problem is of course that I dont just use FSX. In fact I still fly a lot more in FS2004 and also spend alot of time in Corel Draw and Sony Vegas. So I guess I will have to find the right balance.

In the end I guess it will just come down to money and how much my wife will allow me to spend

Thanks again!

Stefan

[rob16584 42]

Why not buy FSX and install it on the PC and use hook up the hard drive from your current PC to it too? That way you wont loose FS9. When I decided to get a new PC I bought a 'caddy' for my old HD, inserted the HD and hooked up the caddy to the new PC and whala, still able to use FS9 (which I do...a lot) and keep all my add-ons

[simi_av8r 0]

Why not buy FSX and install it on the PC and use hook up the hard drive from your current PC to it too? That way you wont loose FS9. When I decided to get a new PC I bought a 'caddy' for my old HD, inserted the HD and hooked up the caddy to the new PC and whala, still able to use FS9 (which I do...a lot) and keep all my add-ons[/quot

+1 from me on that too!

Best of both worlds there, keep FS9, all your current docs etc and just hook it up as a 'slave' hard disk in the new PC.

Thank you guys!

You really are very helpful! I will try to get an i7 with try Channel then. I have heard good things about the GTX 275 so I will have a look at that.

The problem is of course that I dont just use FSX. In fact I still fly a lot more in FS2004 and also spend alot of time in Corel Draw and Sony Vegas. So I guess I will have to find the right balance.

For video apps, anything that meets the specs for an FSX system would certainly hit hard in video and photo editing apps.

i7 was made for high-intensity number crunching, unlike many games out there that are graphics bound, FSX is more CPU bound and tends to rely more on the processor, so the i7 quad core CPUs would very easily cut the mustard here. The upside of this is that nearly all Video and Photo editing apps are hard coded for installation with quad-core CPU based machines, win-win situation!

The same goes for RAM, the more you can fit in (especially in Tri-Channel) the better applications will run, expecially if your application is native 64-bit coding.

[md_eleven 0]

Ok, I have been looking around and have custom build a system with the following:

Intel

[simi_av8r 0]

Ok, I have been looking around and have custom build a system with the following:

Intel

[md_eleven 0]

Thank you simi!

Well, I could strech to a higher CPU but then I would have to stick with this graphics card. Also, for

[simi_av8r 0]

Thank you simi!

Well, I could strech to a higher CPU but then I would have to stick with this graphics card. Also, for

[md_eleven 0]

Hi All!

Right, I have spend a few hours pondering and trying different configs to see what I can afford. I am unable to strech to a faster CPU but a better graphics card I can afford. For that, however I need to go from 12GB RAM to 9GB

So this is what I have put together now:

PROCESSOR Intel

[simi_av8r 0]

Hi All!

Right, I have spend a few hours pondering and trying different configs to see what I can afford. I am unable to strech to a faster CPU but a better graphics card I can afford. For that, however I need to go from 12GB RAM to 9GB

So this is what I have put together now:

PROCESSOR Intel

[md_eleven 0]

Yes the price is odd. It is because all prices on their website are without VAT. Then when you add that, you get those odd numbers.

We have called Alienware because my wifes business buys all their hardware from Dell. They said they would give us a discount from the above price. I guess sometimes you just have to ask.

Do you think the memory will be a problem?

Stefan

[simi_av8r 0]

i'm not sure the memory will be an issue, i just though it was an odd setup...not seen 9GB in a system before.

The only issue i've heard of before is the customer support (or should i say inherent lack of) and the technical prowess that seems to be missing with Alienware systems - i mean to say cheaper OEM components other than the big-name brands known for their excellent reputation.

We cant force you to buy elsewhere, although as many of the guys said before, systems in identical spec to Alienware can be purchased for much cheaper if you get them made elsewhere by specialists.

[md_eleven 0]

Well, I am still considering other options.

What would you make of this:

http://www.wired2fire.co.uk/build.php?systype=14&fsb=31

If I choose a cheaper casing and remove one hard drive (1TB is enough) then there wouldn't much of a price difference.

Thanks

stefan

[simi_av8r 0]

the Sim Xtreme is a fantastic machine in its basic configuration, so anythin on top of that Stefan is top dollar computing for FSX, definitely a keeper in my opinion.!

[mutley 4,498]

I have the W2F Sim Xtreme but with the 965 extreme processor and 12Gb, they took 3 days to OC and bench test it to ensure it was a stable and sustainable configuration. A year later I've not a bad word to say about it.

If you could stick to that Cooler Master Cosmos 1000 case you wouldn't regret it, it has great sound-proofing, air flow and access to components for possible future upgrades.

Cheers

Mut

[simi_av8r 0]

Stefan,

if price is a concern, and you'd like to tray and keep it below