Budget FSX rig

[Guest]

Please critique the following system components for a budget FSX rig.

Objective: to be able to run FSX in "High" possibly "Ultra High" settings at 20+ FPS. I will also be installing Traffic X, PMDG, PIC, World of AI, etc. Budget: US$800.


1. CPU: Core i5-750 2.66Ghz overlocked to at least 3.8Ghz (as a budget rig, I am not interested in i7/any tri-channel hardware)
2. Power: Corsair VX550W ATX12V V2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready
3. Mobo: ASUS P7P55 LX
4. Video: HIS HD 5770 IceQ 5 Turbo 1GB (128bit) GDDR5 PCIe (as a budget rig, I will not be using more than one GPU)
5. HDD: WD Caviar Black 640GB 6402AAEX SATA2/32MB HDD
6. DDR3 RAM: Corsair VS2GB1333D3 DDR3 1333 2G Ram x 2
7. CPU Fan: Cooler Master Hyper 212 PLUS+ CPU FanRR-B10-212P-G1
8. DVD Drive: LG GH22NS40
9. Generic ATX case.

Do you foresee if any difficulties with this system running on my 37" TV at 1920x1080@32bits?

Thank you guys

 

[haxfar]

If you can go with the ASUS P7P55-E LX, then do it, as it much more future proof.
The same goes withe a Samsung Spinpoint F3 as HHD, otherwise looks good...
What cases have you considered? Something with good air flow? Good cable management? Expansion possibilities?

 

[Guest]

Thanks, I have heard a lot of good things about Spinpoint unfortunately they are no available in where I live. I am getting a CoolerMaster 334 case.

You don't reckon running this set up on a 37" TV would be an issue?

 

[haxfar]

Can't say anything about that, i'm afraid.

But i've heard some use projectors for DCS:Black shark, so wont see it as a problem.
Afaik FSX doesn't rely heavily on the GPU.

 

[doive1231]

I bought an i5-750 to play FSX too. I paired it with an ATI 5750, 2Gb DDR3 1333 and it runs pretty good on Ultra-high settings but not tried DX10 Preview yet (not overclocked anything either). FSX uses cores so your CPU is good. You will have more memory than me and a better card so I see no problems although I run at 1280x1024.

 

[Deleted member 217926]

I have just a few suggestions.

I would go with this memory: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231303

It has a faster clock speed and very low timings. I have use it in several builds and am quite pleased with it.


The WD 640 Blacks are not the fastest thing out there any more. They use 2 x 333GB platters and the newer faster designs have 500GB platters ( denser is better ). The new 500GB, 1TB, 1.5TB ect. drives are best. WD Blacks, Seagate 7200.12 and Samsung Spinpoint F3 series all have this design now. I believe the Spinpoint F3 is the best "bang for your buck".

This is an amazing little case with great cooling ( you will need good cooling for overclocking ) that is the best in it's price range in my opinion. It comes with 3 speed fans that are quiet and move a great deal of air. I have seen this for $10 to $20 cheaper on sale so you might check a few more sites for a better price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129066


Keep in mind that while FSX is heavily CPU dependent it would do better with an HD5850 at that resolution.

 

[planegeek]

This is the final set-up I went with and I am extremely happy with the result. Not bad for less than US$900 all up.

1. CPU: Core i5-760 2.80Ghz running at stock clock speed
2. Power: Corsair VX450W
3. Mobo: MSI P55-GD55
4. Video: Inno3D GTX 460 1GB
5. HDD: WD Caviar Black 640GB 6402AAEX SATA2/32MB HDD
6. DDR3 RAM: Kingston DDR3 1333 2G Ram x 2 (CL9)
7. CPU Fan: Cooler Master Hyper 212 PLUS+ CPU Fan
8. DVD Drive: LG GH22NS40
9. Antec 300 Case
10. Viewsonic 22" LED 1080p display

Add-ons: CLS 747 Classic, CLS 767, PMDG MD-11, Wilco 777, Feelthere 737 Pilot-in-Command, CLS DC-10, Feelthere Airbus Volume 2 (A330, A340, A380) Pilot-in-Command, Posky 777, Posky 737NG, Traffic X with SP1 and REX 1.0.

Sliders all to the way to the right (or almost all the way to the right), I average between 30-60FPS, in EGLL/KJFK/Downtown Manhattan, it is around 20-22FPS. GPU temperature is 45C under load, below 30C otherwise. CPU temperature is 40C under load, circa 30C otherwise.

If I OC-Genie the whole thing, double the performance at the expense of higher temps.

The only performance tweak could have been a 150GB 'raptor.

All in all, very happy with my FSX.