New PC for Flight Sim

[JohnD]

I am in the process of buying a replacement PC. I have been debating wether to build or buy and have changed my mind may times. Finally deciding to buy.
As this is probably my last major PC purchase - as I am retired - I need it to be suitable for many years (hopefully) and upgradable.

It will be used for FS2004 and hopefully FSX. I will also be doing video editing
This is a spec that I have come up with is affordable but I am unsure about the components and their compatability.

Intel® Core™2 Quad Q9400 (4 X 2.66GHz) 1333MHz FSB/6MB Cache
4GB CORSAIR XMS2 800MHz
ASUS® P5Q WS: DDR2, SATAII, PCI-e x16, 1 PCI, 2 x PCI-e x1
Windows Vista™ Home Premium
250GB SERIAL ATA II HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
20x Dual Layer LightScribe DVD Writer ±R/±RW/RAM
1024MB GEFORCE 9800GT PCI Express + DVI + TV-OUT
450W Quiet Dual Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan

Do any hardware experts have any comments, I would be extremely grateful for any feedback.

Regards

John

[TSR2]

Hi John,

That spec is not dissimilar to my own. A couple of things I would suggest. A 480w power supply will not cut the mustard with a rig of that spec. The modern graphics card allow can consume 300W, so you need something in the 600W+ area.

Additionally, both for FS (whether FS9 or FSX) and Video editing, you would be better with two hard disks. This is because you C drive is used by the opperating system, so pretty much everything you do causes reads and writes to that. The only data that should be on there ideally are your documents / pictures / movies / music etc when they are finished, as this is typiclly static data so accessing it to play a move or music or view pictures is no big issue. However video editing (and FS) will involve the manipulation of very large files (or in the case of FS the loading of large amounts of data) and this is best handled on a separate disk. So to this end I would recomment 2 physical hard disk drives, probably just add another 250GB drive to your list.

Its difficult to compare it accurately without some idea of cost, as I said, its similar to my setup, but I bought mine 18 months ago, so it was quite expensive at the time. That said, I aim to get 3 - 4 years out of it.

Hope thats of some help.

[DaveG]

Will Vista HP make full use of the 4Gb RAM?

I'm sure I read somewhere that Vista Home won't install with 4 gigs fitted and you need to remove 2 gig, install Vista then refit the remaining 2 gig :roll:

Could be wrong though...probably am...talking out of my.. :fart:

[TSR2]

There was a funny on the 32 bit version DG (well - it rings a bell) but I think it was patched in SP1

[JohnD]

Hi Ben and DG

Thanks for the comments it looks like i'm going in the right direction. I will take on board your notes about the PSU and 2nd hard drive Ben, thanks.

The PC should be supplied with Vista installed so hopefully if there are any problems with the 4Gb memory it should be resolved prior to delivery.

I have a budget of no more than £900 hence the need to ensure that it will last for many years.

Thanks again

John

[Paul K]

John, I am also gradually drifting towards a new computer for FS ( and other things ), so this is useful information for me too. Where are you buying your's from ?

[DelP]

Hi John,

That looks like a good system and you shouldn't have any problems running FS9/FSX reasonably smoothly.

As already mentioned, you'll need a PSU spec of at least 600-700W...go for a modular type if possible, then you only need to connect as many power cables as are necessary and wont have redundant cables hanging about and blocking airflow.

I've just completed a new build:

Asus P5K
Intel Core2Duo E8400 3Ghz
4GB OCZ PC2-6400C4 800MHz Dual Channel Platinum Revision2
Tagan PipeRock BZ700 modular PSU
Vista Ultimate.

Vista saw the 4GB memory from startup ;-)

ATB,

Derek

[ianhind]

I agree with Ben about a second hard disk. And the comment about the PSU - I've got a 480w PSU in a low end dual core machine (E4300) with an old Nvidia 5200 and two 160Gb hard disks. That's about as far as I would push it.

And if these upset your budget, why not drop the quad core CPU and go for a dual core like the E8400 that DelP is using - faster core than the quad you were proposing anyway. My wife has a quad core PC, I've got a dual core PC and not convinced of any difference in every day use.

And although 32 bit Vista can see 4Gb of RAM, inside that 4Gb it has to include all the other bits and pieces. So that 1Gb graphics card means that Vista really only has 3Gb RAM to use (this is detailed in PCPro magazine this month - and XP can't even see 4Gb of installed RAM).

[JohnD]

Thanks for all your replies. I have amended my spec as detailed below, taking into account your inputs.

Intel® Core™2 Duo E8600 (2 X 3.33GHz) 1333MHz FSB/6MB L2 Cache
2GB CORSAIR DOMINATOR 1066MHz - LIFETIME WARRANTY (2x1GB)
250GB SERIAL ATA II HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
160GB SERIAL ATA II HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (7,200rpm)
600W Quiet Quad Rail PSU + 120mm Case Fan

I am still a little unsure wether to go with the original quad processor or change to the duo as above
I have looked at a few PC manufacturers and am proposing to buy from PCSpecialist.co.uk. Has anyone had any experience from this company.

The memory has been reduced from 4Gb to 2Gb. This will give 3Gb with the graphics card memory.

Ben said - ...However video editing (and FS) will involve the manipulation of very large files (or in the case of FS the loading of large amounts of data) and this is best handled on a separate disk. So to this end I would recomment 2 physical hard disk drives, probably just add another 250GB drive to your list.

Is it recommended that both flight sims should be loaded onto the d: drive for example.

Regards

John

[TSR2]

Hi John,

I think you may have missunderstood. You should use 4GB of system RAM. Vista will effectively use 1GB of the 4GB to match your Graphic card's 1GB. This will leave 3GB for system to divide up as it see's fit.

Personally, I'd go with the Quad CPU, especially given your other applications. FS is not a good way to demonstrait the benefit of Quad over dual as the sim will use as much CPU as you have... and all of the cores too(in FSX). In FS9, only one core will ever be used. ;-)