Help on upgrading for FSX!

[clayestes]

Hello, My name is Clay and I am really looking to improve my performance of FSX on my PC. My PC specs at the moment are:

Motherboard: Foxxconn G4MI-S
Ram: 4.00 GB DDR2 Double Sided
Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce 9800 GT
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6700 @ 2.66 GHz
PSU: BFG 450w PSU
Case: Thermaltake V9 BlacX Edition Gaming

I have be reading and it looks like FSX does really really well on multiple fast core proccesors and I was looking into the Intel Core i7-970 Gulftown @ 3.2GHz. With the Sunbeam CR-CCTF92-4 92mm Core-Contact Freezer CPU Cooler. I am also interested in upgrading my RAM to 12 GB of DDr3 (on 6 sticks) and I dont think my MB will support that right now and I found the EVGA X58 FTW3 132-GT-E768-TR LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard of off newegg.com. So I was wandering if this would be a good setup for FSX and run it really well and also would I be able to Over Clock the CPU and and if so how/where could I find out to do it safely , also if I would need to upgrade any thing else to make this run well please tell me.

I appreciate in advance all the help that is given to me,
Thanks Clay

 

[jj463rd]

Don't even consider the i7-970.It's too costly and besides the new Sandy Bridge i7-2600K is almost here in just a couple of weeks from now.
On the Toms Hardware front page a news article already mentions that it is already available in Malaysia.
It will cost only around $317
See here
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i7-2600K+%40+3.40GHz

This CPU will most likely oc better than the i7-980X and outperform it and considering that it is only 4 physical cores (with hyperthreading) and the physics of FSX use 1 core and the rest are for textures it's highly likely that this CPU will be the FSX King of CPU's and for vastly much less cost too.
It uses a completely different motherboard too (less expensive in cost than 1366 boards).

 

[clayestes]

Don't even consider the i7-970.It's too costly and besides the new Sandy Bridge i7-2600K is almost here in just a couple of weeks from now.
On the Toms Hardware front page a news article already mentions that it is already available in Malaysia.
It will cost only around $317
See here
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/cpu_lookup.php?cpu=Intel+Core+i7-2600K+%40+3.40GHz

This CPU will most likely oc better than the i7-980X and outperform it and considering that it is only 4 physical cores (with hyperthreading) and the physics of FSX use 1 core and the rest are for textures it's highly likely that this CPU will be the FSX King of CPU's and for vastly much less cost too.
It uses a completely different motherboard too (less expensive in cost than 1366 boards).

Really thats cool thanks for the help. Now I also play games like Call Of Duty and ARMA II <--which I would like to run better (especcially ARMA) and would this work well on it? And also is there a MB that would support that CPU + x6 slots for RAM?

-Thanks, Clay

 

[jj463rd]

Really thats cool thanks for the help. Now I also play games like Call Of Duty and ARMA II <--which I would like to run better (especcially ARMA) and would this work well on it? And also is there a MB that would support that CPU + x6 slots for RAM?

-Thanks, Clay

Of course those games will run extremely well on it.The new LGA 1155 motherboards will likely have 4 slots for memory (you could opt for higher capacity RAM instead like 4 X4 GB sticks (16GB) instead) or perhaps opt for just 2- 4 gig sticks at first and get another 2 sticks of RAM later on.
We will have to wait just a short while for those new boards and see reviews of them.
They look pretty inexpensive though.The money that you save on getting the i7-2600K can be spent instead on a single high end graphics card like the 580 GTX (remember now that FSX doesn't work well with crossfired or SLI'd cards nor with dual GPU chips on a single card).
The 580 GTX is the highest performing graphics card for FSX.
Also you will probably prefer a high end air cooling setup (very efficient Heatsink/Fan) as well to go with it if you oc.
Anyway I have to go to sleep so you have a good night or day.
Other folks can fill you in.

 

[clayestes]

Okay, Thanks for the help. Also, would I need a better PSU or case for that type of mther board and also do you know of any good but fairly cheap RAM that is like DDR3 and has like 8+ GB that would work on that MB?


Parts I was consider getting:

MB: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813188066 and this one that I just found http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131648

PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139005

RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145235 or I just found this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145332

GC: http://www.evga.com/products/moreInfo.asp?pn=015-P3-1589-AR&family=GeForce%20500%20Series%20Family&sw=

CPU Cooler: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835207006

And could you also give me suggestions on these and tell me if they are good or if you think there would be any thing just as good/a little worse that is cheaper. And what would be the Max. GHz I could OC that CPu to being safe of course.

-Thanks again for all the help, Clay


And sorry to overload you with links but I really really appreciate the help.

 

[jj463rd]

Generally you will want a beefier power supply depending upon the power requirements of your graphics cards and other components.
That is an area that you don't want to skimp on at all.
You can try a power supply calculator here.Since the i7-2600K is not out you could substitute a core i7 875k 2933Mhz Lynnfield in the area and estimate a large over clock for it like say to 4200 Mhz (for power consumption purposes)
http://www.antec.outervision.com/PSUEngine.
It will also depend upon other areas as well like how many optical drives you will be using,hard drives in use,SSD's,case fans etc. in addition to their nice capacitor aging feature.To me just to be on the safe side it looks as if a 900 watt power supply or above would put you in a comfortable and very safe position right off hand with a 580 GTX and a much OC'd Lynnfield with a couple of hard drives,an SSD and a couple of case fans,including some extra PCI cards (just in case) and 4 USB devices in use considering 50% capacitor aging and 90% system load.It probably would be overkill then again it's better to be safe rather than sorry.

As to cooling you can look at this article
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/corsair-h70-liquid-cooling-radiator,2757.html

You can see some nice air cooling heatsinks/fans there in the article comparing performance and temperatures against this liquid cooler.

I would wait on any memory as the motherboard manufacturer will usually have a list of qualified memory that has been tested and recommended.

I haven't seen any 8 Gigabyte RAM sticks over at newegg just 4 GB ones.
Here is their 4 by 4GB kit collection of DDR3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007611%20600006073%20600006050&IsNodeId=1&name=240-Pin%20DDR3%20SDRAM

Again I would hold off of any RAM for now.
The only components safe for selection on a new build on a unreleased platform such as this would probably be the case,power supply,optical drives,hard drives,ssd and maybe the graphics card

 

[clayestes]

Generally you will want a beefier power supply depending upon the power requirements of your graphics cards and other components.
That is an area that you don't want to skimp on at all.
You can try a power supply calculator here.Since the i7-2600K is not out you could substitute a core i7 875k 2933Mhz Lynnfield in the area and estimate a large over clock for it like say to 4200 Mhz (for power consumption purposes)
http://www.antec.outervision.com/PSUEngine.
It will also depend upon other areas as well like how many optical drives you will be using,hard drives in use,SSD's,case fans etc. in addition to their nice capacitor aging feature.To me just to be on the safe side it looks as if a 900 watt power supply or above would put you in a comfortable and very safe position right off hand with a 580 GTX and a much OC'd Lynnfield with a couple of hard drives,an SSD and a couple of case fans,including some extra PCI cards (just in case) and 4 USB devices in use considering 50% capacitor aging and 90% system load.It probably would be overkill then again it's better to be safe rather than sorry.

As to cooling you can look at this article
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/corsair-h70-liquid-cooling-radiator,2757.html

You can see some nice air cooling heatsinks/fans there in the article comparing performance and temperatures against this liquid cooler.

I would wait on any memory as the motherboard manufacturer will usually have a list of qualified memory that has been tested and recommended.

I haven't seen any 8 Gigabyte RAM sticks over at newegg just 4 GB ones.
Here is their 4 by 4GB kit collection of DDR3
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007611%20600006073%20600006050&IsNodeId=1&name=240-Pin%20DDR3%20SDRAM

Again I would hold off of any RAM for now.
The only components safe for selection on a new build on a unreleased platform such as this would probably be the case,power supply,optical drives,hard drives,ssd and maybe the graphics card

Okay, so are you saying I should probably just wait untill it comes out to get all of the information on it? And on cases do you know of a good case that would be spacious/cool and would work or is it too early to tell?

-Thanks a million, Clay

 

[jj463rd]

Okay, so are you saying I should probably just wait untill it comes out to get all of the information on it? And on cases do you know of a good case that would be spacious/cool and would work or is it too early to tell?

-Thanks a million, Clay

Yes I think you should wait.Look closely at reviews of motherboards to see which features you like and need.Also it's best not to be a first buyer of anything.Let others try it out and get impressions from their reviews,satisfaction.Also Toms Hardware will likely have upcoming review articles of these new motherboards so stay in touch and read them next month.

A good case with lots of cooling and accepts big and long length graphics cards is this one.
It's a cheap case though so if you want a better quality case it's up to you to spend more money (Myself I like saving some money)

For a mid tower case it's surprisingly big and heavy.I have this case BTW.
Very very good for keeping components cool and quite spacious inside.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119197

Other people might recommend a different case to you though and that's their opinion

Also you will be quite prepared when the upcoming Microsoft Flight comes out I think next year.

By the way here are some boards you can have a peek at.
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=261996

 

[clayestes]

Sweet thanks again for all the help!!

-Clay