Flight Simulator X (FSX) sextuple monitor eyefinity system

[DannyITR]

Approximate Purchase Date: 2 months or less
Budget Range: (e.g.: 1000-2500)
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Flight Simulator X
Parts Not Required: Hard Drive, PSU. I already have a 80Gig Intel X25M SSD and Corsair 850W PSU
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: newegg.ca
Country: Canada
Parts Preferences: Intel CPU, ATI Video Cards
Overclocking: Probably
SLI or Crossfire: 100%
Monitor Resolution: I plan to have three 40" LCD monitors for main window and three ~19-24" monitors for gauges.
Additional Comments: I'll try and pick up the monitors on Boxing day or something so lets just stick with the PC build. I went with the P67 chipset over the Z68 because I'll be able to load everything on the SSD so I don't need the cache feature and I don't see the comp ever being used without a video card so no need for on board video. I suppose if there is a Z68 board for the same price I'd get it because it's newer.

Here is what I have so far:

Rosewill DESTROYER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 49.99

StarTech Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Video Adapter Converter Model MDP2HDMI X2 29.98

MSI P67A-G43 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard 124.99

XFX HD-697A-CNFC Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity X2 679.98

Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 229.99

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL 30.49

LG 22X Super-Multi DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS90B - OEM 18.99

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM 109.99

ASUS USB-N53 Black Diamond Dual Band (2.4GHz 300Mbps/5GHz 300Mbps) Wireless-N USB Adapter, Graphical Easy Interface, Live39.99

COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R1 Continuous Direct Contact 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler Compatible with latest Intel 36.99

Total before tax and shipping $1351.38. With a bit of overclocking I think this is about as powerful a system as you can buy these days.

 

[g-unit1111]

Monitor Resolution: I plan to have three 40" LCD monitors for main window and three ~19-24" monitors for gauges.

Wow, that is a sweet monitor setup.

Rosewill DESTROYER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 49.99

If you can I'd say invest a little bit more in the case. The Antec 300, Cooler Master HAF 912 are better cases for the money. If you want to go a bit higher, try the Corsair Carbide or the Fractal Design Arc MIDI.

MSI P67A-G43 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard 124.99

Not sure I'd recommend this motherboard, I'm not a big fan of MSI but that's my personal preference (had way too many of theirs fail on me). Try Gigabyte or Asus instead - much better.

StarTech Mini DisplayPort to HDMI Video Adapter Converter Model MDP2HDMI X2 29.98

ASUS USB-N53 Black Diamond Dual Band (2.4GHz 300Mbps/5GHz 300Mbps) Wireless-N USB Adapter, Graphical Easy Interface, Live39.99

Wait until you get your components before buying the accessories - they're not necessary to the build. You do not need to spend $40 on a Wifi adapter when you can achieve the same results with a $15 wifi adapter. Use the nearly $80 instead toward a better case and motherboard. However with Eyefinity - the only card you will be able to run 3 x HDMI setup on - which will be required for your 40" displays - is Sapphire's Flex cards. With that you will be able to hook up the 3 x HDMI and 3 x DVI in the monitors' native resolutions with relative ease.

I went with the P67 chipset over the Z68 because I'll be able to load everything on the SSD so I don't need the cache feature and I don't see the comp ever being used without a video card so no need for on board video.

I can understand going with P67 but most of the time the onboard video on the Z68 can be disabled with like two clicks in the BIOS. It's never a good idea to load all your files onto your SSD anyways. Most of the time you use an SSD is for a boot drive with the other drive as your primary storage. But the thing to remember is an SSD is more likely to fail if you load it above 80%, it will only be able to perform so many read/write cycles in the drives' lifespan.

 

[DannyITR]

Thanks a lot for the reply. I'm lost when it comes to the case. Fitment is my main concern with two 6970s. I currently have an Antec P183 and I love it though I'm wondering how much I want to invest into a case. I may use my P183 and use the Rosewill destroyer for my office PC.

Thanks for the heads up on MSI. I usually only use ASUS but figured that there was no reason not to try another brand. The reviews on newegg are great for MSI and I'm sure all manufacturers can have defective boards.

I didn't see a cheaper wifi stick. Link? Also the other item was a display port to hdmi which I'll need to plug into the hdtvs.

Point taken for the SSD. This comp's sole use will be for FSX so in the event of a drive failure it's no big deal to me. I had Win 7 + FSX + docs and email loaded on it and after about 1 year of using the comp it filled up. Without using email and office I should have about 40% of the drive empty.

 

[g-unit1111]

Thanks a lot for the reply. I'm lost when it comes to the case. Fitment is my main concern with two 6970s. I currently have an Antec P183 and I love it though I'm wondering how much I want to invest into a case. I may use my P183 and use the Rosewill destroyer for my office PC.

Yeah that won't be easy and you certainly won't find a case for less than $60 that will house both of them, you might have to get something that will cost a bit more.

Thanks for the heads up on MSI. I usually only use ASUS but figured that there was no reason not to try another brand. The reviews on newegg are great for MSI and I'm sure all manufacturers can have defective boards.

If you want to try out another brand I highly recommend Gigabyte - both of my systems have Gigabyte boards and I've been really impressed with both, and I'm especially impressed with how my Z68 build turned out (uses Z68XP-UD3P) - it's probably the best computer I've ever owned. My home system is built around an AMD 990FX board using Phenom II 1055T. Alternately try EVGA's boards - their Z68 SLI and Z68 FTW are some of the easiest to use boards on the market for overclocking.

I didn't see a cheaper wifi stick. Link? Also the other item was a display port to hdmi which I'll need to plug into the hdtvs.

This is the one I use - gets the job done. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833704045

My thing is I usually try to get people to purchase the small stuff after you get your main components as they're usually not crucial to the build.

Point taken for the SSD. This comp's sole use will be for FSX so in the event of a drive failure it's no big deal to me. I had Win 7 + FSX + docs and email loaded on it and after about 1 year of using the comp it filled up. Without using email and office I should have about 40% of the drive empty.

Yeah you can get away with it then.