A system worthy of FS (Sorry I knowthis topic bores people)

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.microsoft.flight-sim (More info?)

About 2.5 years ago I bought a new PC, the one I'm typing this on in fact.
It's a Siemens off the shelf affair and to be honest it has and does still
does a great job for most things. The only thing that frustrates me is FS9.
I have attached the spec at the bottom of this post. Since buying I have
added memory to 1GB and a NVIDIA 5900XT card.

So this morning I started looking at other options mainly around self build
as it will allow me to create my own spec, and contrary to popular belief I
reckon will be cost effective.

Here are my thoughts so far and I used ebuyer (www.ebuyer.c.uk) in the UK
for info:

Case:

I looked at barebones systems but couldn't find the right MOBO so I reckon
on buying a case with just a PSU (around 400W)

Motherboard:

The first dilemma, should I go Intel or AMD, more later. Apart from that my
criteria for the MOBO are dual SATA and suitable USB support. The other
issue is PCI Express or AGP. My ideal would be for both as I would transfer
my current NVIDIA 5900 card as a short term / medium term option. Do boards
exist that support both AGP and PCI express?

Processor:

I've always been an Intel chap to date, however I'm willing to listen to
suggestions. The AMDs appear to give more bang, and even more bang for your
buck. The 64 bit won't help now but maybe in 18 months. However the Intel
has Hyperthreading but I don't think that affects FS9. Your thoughts would
be appreciated. If I go Intel it will probably be the Prescott 3.2Ghz. If I
went AMD I reckon on something like the 3800 (Newcastle).

Memory:

I saw some nice matched Corsair (2*512MB) sticks. DDR400 / PC3200

Disks:

I've been looking at SATA drives. I reckon two 160GB drives running RAID 0
would be good for performance. I backup separately so that's not an issue. I
would have liked 10,000RPM but the 7200RPM drives are half the price and not
as hot.

Cooling:

I will likely Overclock it so cooling is a consideration.

Graphics;

As I mentioned I would like to use the existing card if possible.


Your thoughts on the above would be appreciated. If I don't get a response I
will repost with the moniker of Melanie which will get loads of responses


Cheers

Geoff

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
Exisiting system:

Computer:
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP
Professional
OS Service Pack Service Pack 1
Internet Explorer 6.0.2800.1106 (IE
6.0 SP1)

Motherboard:
CPU Type Intel Pentium 4A,
2533 MHz (4.75 x 533)
Motherboard Name Gigabyte GA-8STXC
(5 PCI, 1 AGP, 1 CNR, 3 DIMM, Audio, LAN)
Motherboard Chipset SiS 645DX
System Memory 1024 MB (DDR SDRAM)
BIOS Type Award Modular
(08/03/02)
Communication Port Communications Port
(COM1)
Communication Port Communications Port
(COM2)
Communication Port Printer Port (LPT1)

Display:
Video Adapter GeForce FX 5900XT
(128 MB)
Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce FX
5900XT (128 MB)
3D Accelerator nVIDIA GeForce FX
5900 XT
Monitor CTX 1785 (7021720)
Monitor Plug and Play
Monitor [NoDB] (YERB161356)

Multimedia:
Audio Adapter SiS 7012 Audio
Device

Storage:
Floppy Drive Floppy disk drive
Disk Drive HP Photosmart 7400
USB Device
Disk Drive Maxtor OneTouch USB
Device
Disk Drive ST380020A (80 GB,
5400 RPM, Ultra-ATA/100)
Optical Drive CyberDrv CW058D
CD-R/RW (32x/12x/48x CD-RW)
Optical Drive LITEON DVD-ROM
LTD163 (16x/48x DVD-ROM)

Partitions:
C: (NTFS) 76308 MB (21267 MB
free)
E: (NTFS) 105010 MB (5524 MB
free)
F: (FAT32) 14983 MB (5781 MB
free)
N: (NTFS) 25007 MB (8972 MB
free)

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.microsoft.flight-sim (More info?)

Melissa's moniker would probably do better!

I cannot comment very much on your choice of set-up, other than I have heard
that FS does not like over-clocking. I do not know how true this is, but
with the chips you are talking about, I doubt it would be necessary.

Cheers,

Quilly

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.microsoft.flight-sim (More info?)

Quilly,

Not heard about the overclocking point, but thanks and you got mine about
the moniker.

Cheers

Geoff


"Quilljar" <wykehill-flightsim@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:3aljreF67nn06U1@individual.net...
> Melissa's moniker would probably do better!
>
> I cannot comment very much on your choice of set-up, other than I have
heard
> that FS does not like over-clocking. I do not know how true this is, but
> with the chips you are talking about, I doubt it would be necessary.
>
> Cheers,
>
> Quilly
>
>