1st Build $1000 budget (flight sim)

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zachieepoo

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My budget is around $1000, any money I save will be put towards my 3 monitors. (Feel free to give me suggestions on what monitors, I prefer size over quality, 1080p is plenty)

I mainly play BF3, X-Plane 10, FSX, DCS-World (A-10C and P-51), KSP, Crysis 3.

Mostly flight simulators as you can tell.

I will be trying to overclock as high as possible (4.4GHz or higher), so a good cooler is a must.

I really love simple and functional cases, I don't really care for the random lights.
I love the Corsair 600T white, but I also love the SilverStone FT02 Red Edition(trying to find one to buy) or the silver one.


Any suggestions? Is it all compatible? Should I go for a GTX 670 to help the triple monitor? Any case or cooler suggestions?

Here is my build I have researched so far:

Corsair CC600TWM-WHT Special Edition Graphite Series 600T Mid Tower Gaming Computer Case - White
142.00

GIGABYTE GV-N66TWF2-2GD GeForce GTX 660 Ti 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
280.00

Intel Core i5-3570K Quad-Core Processor 3.4 GHz
220.00

Gigabyte Intel Z77 LGA 1155 AMD CrossFireX/NVIDIA SLI W/ HDMI,DVI,DispayPort Dual UEFI BIOS ATX Motherboard GA-Z77X-UD3H
140.00

Corsair Vengeance 8 GB ( 2 x 4 GB ) DDR3 1600 MHz (PC3 12800) 240-Pin DDR3 Memory Kit for Core i3, i5, i7 and Platforms SDRAM CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9
55.00

Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - CPU Cooler with 120mm PWM Fan (RR-212E-20PK-R2)
33.00

Western Digital Caviar Black 1 TB SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Internal Desktop Hard Drive Bulk/OEM - WD1002FAEX
93.00

Corsair Builder Series CX 600 Watt ATX/EPS 80 PLUS (CX600)
58.00

Total: $1021.00 (without shipping)

Thank you guys so much,

Zachieepoo
 
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SHORYUKEN

SHORYUKEN

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Jan 3, 2013
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PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($104.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($47.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon HD 7950 3GB Video Card ($297.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair 400R ATX Mid Tower Case ($98.81 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: XFX 550W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $899.70
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-04-02 18:06 EDT-0400)

What I recommend.
 
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zachieepoo

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Thank you so much! looking through it, great prices! Do you prefer EYEINFINITY or surround?
 
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marshallbradley

marshallbradley

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Hi there,

If you're serious about the triple monitor setup, you might want something a bit faster than a single 7950. A 7970 would be a worthwhile upgrade. You could also just about squeeze CrossFire 7870s into your budget, though they would have slightly more 'issues' (some games aren't optimised for CrossFire, but in most games the drivers aren't too bad).

PCPartPicker part list

CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.99 @ Microcenter)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.98 @ Outlet PC)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V LK ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($104.99 @ Microcenter)
Memory: Patriot Viper 3 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($47.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: HIS Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($219.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: HIS Radeon HD 7870 2GB Video Card (2-Way CrossFire) ($219.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Rosewill Challenger-U3 ATX Mid Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 750W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($73.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $996.87

The 7970 would be a simpler solution, but not have quite the same performance (maybe like 60-65% of the performance of the 7870s).

M
 
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SHORYUKEN

SHORYUKEN

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To be fair, flight sims don't need much, but if he's planning on BF3 on 3 monitors, then that would be better.
 
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marshallbradley

marshallbradley

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Yeah, the build is geared more towards the BF3/Crysis 3 he mentions. Flight sims aren't that graphically intense normally, it's true.

@OP Basically a single 7950/7970 would be fine for flight sims across 3 monitors, but if you want a decent stab at playing BF3/Crysis 3 and other modern titles across 3 monitors with decent graphics settings, you're definitely going to want a multi-GPU setup.

M
 
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burritobob

burritobob

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You could get away with a single 7870 for a tri monitor flight sim... those are hardly the standard of demanding these days, I have a computer using a 6870 that runs most flight sims with a breeze on max graphics with 3 monitors...
 
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zachieepoo

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Thank you guys, flight sims are very hard on the pc, but for the CPU not so much for the graphics cards. No pc can max x-plane 10 yet.... Great suggestions I was thinking about going SLI, I think I will get a single gpu now (see what kind of performance I get and wait till I get more money) and SLI it later, I would rather have 2 high ones then mid tier ones.
Also some of my flight sims don't take advantage of SLI.....But this is very tempting, defiantly excited about your build you suggested.
 
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CompuTronix

CompuTronix

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The following link is to X-Plane's website - http://www.x-plane.com/store/hardware/ - and to their partner's website, XForce PC, who builds their PC's - http://xforcepc.com/store/index.php/computers.html?mode...

This is their description of their recommended hardware configuration:

"XForcePC Computer Specifically Designed for X-Plane: Intel Quad Core i5-3570K Processor overclocked at 4.0GHz, 16 Gigabytes of DDR-3 1600MHz" ... "Nvidia GTX 660 Video Card with 2GB. Requires no special adapters to run X-Plane on 3 screens."

Unlike most "gaming" titles, X-Plane and FSX are "simulations" which are very heavily CPU bound, but very lightly GPU bound. As such, neither X-Plane nor FSX benefit from CF / SLI or high-end graphics horsepower. Conversely, since multiple cards require more CPU interrupts, frame rate can actually decrease slightly.

As I've explained in many threads, frame rate scales with the number of CPU cores and clock rate, so a high overclock produces the best frame rates. Further, since these simulations perform better with nVidia drivers, a mid-range nVidia based graphics card works well, which is why X-Plane recommends a single GTX 660.

However, since you'll also be running some heavily GPU bound gaming titles, I would recommend going with a more powerful single nVidia card such as a GTX 670, which would satisfy your simulation, gaming and budget requirements.

Hope this helps,

Comp :sol:
 
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zachieepoo

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Perfect Info! Extremely helpful, thank you. I think I will use the above build and get a gtx 670. Can't wait.
 
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