NZFF

So here is my new build:

CPU: i5-750 2.66GHz @ 4.0GHz
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD4
RAM: Kingston HyperX 4GB DDR3-1600 8-8-8-24-1T
GPU: XFX nVidia GTX275 896MB
Case: Coolermaster CM 690 II

FSX Settings: Jesus Altuve's FSX.CFG with Scenery @ ED, and Autogen @ VD, Everything else MAX (or close), FPS Limiter: 30fps

Results: Absolutely gobsmacking!

This thing is crazy fast compared to my old 3GHz Q6600. Flying over Sydney (FTX AU Blue) on my old rig at the same settings would bring it to its knees 7-12fps. Now its a solid 30fps, dropping to 25 over YSSY and city centre. My jaw is on the floor. Literally. This was all when flying in the Islander as well. I highly recommend this setup to anyone. It would set you back roughly $1700 (minus the GPU, it cost me $1240 from ComputerLounge). Finally I can enjoy FTX!

So happy right now!

Nice build and sweet price!! I'm still researching the latest PC hardware and am having trouble deciding if I'll just throw in a new CPU, RAM and video card in my old machine - or spend up large and get an entirely new mega FS PC!! So far my estimates have a new one at around $3000 versus $1000 for a fairly decent upgrade box........

I love the look of that Coolmaster case!! How much RAM did you get? Are you sticking with the stock CPU cooler or going for one of those massive tower coolers? I'd like to get some better cooling for my new PC but I'm worried that those things put too much stress on the motherboard!!

From what I've seen the Computerlounge always seems to have some pretty good combo deals out there..... was this one of their combo's or your own build?? I'll will have to go back to their site and have another look now!!

Happy flying!!

Hey mate, thanks. To answer some of your questions;

1. The case is fantastic. I looked hard for something with great airflow, but no stupid flashy lights, or windows, or crazy designs. This case has a mesh front and top giving it very open and cool airflow + 3 fans as standard. The LED's at the front can be turned off too which is great. Overall it looks and works great.

2. 4GB of RAM. If you fill all 4 slots its harder to overclock. I think this is true on every platform (though 6 slots for LGA1366). Also I have never found my system maxing out on RAM usage. Really no need for more.

3. Massive cooling tower Noctua NH-U12P. Comes with 2x120mm fans. Don't worry about motherboard stress. The mounting kits are well designed and the motherboard can easily handle it. The stock heatsink and fan is too small for any overclocking.

4. CL are a great store. I chose all the bits myself, but they'll give you a discount off any combo of CPU, mobo, and RAM.

Been playing around and I'm still blown away by how amazing FSX runs now. It absolutely screams along. It's gone far above and beyond what I had ever expected. If you're building a high end system on a budget I highly recommend the i5-750. Great little chip. If you have the dosh though, I would recommend the i7-930. Either way, you will have to overclock to get these great results. Not sure where you got $3k from, unless you really are going to buy the best of the best. I think with $2k you could build an extremely sweet machine (minus monitor, keyboard, mouse). Luckily I already had the graphics card, a decent PSU, and 3 HDD's. I think it would be a waste of $1k on upgrading an obsolete/old platform. Let me know what components your thinking of and I'll see if I can help. I spent a good 2 weeks reading and researching before I bought my bits so I'll probably be able to give some advice.

Sweeeet...... The reason it adds up to more is that I'm just picking the hardware I want and looking at the cheapest price....... when it comes to actually buying it I'll hit two or three stores for their best cash and carry prices.

Those i7's are brilliant for FSX. Another thing is don't skimp on the power supply. Make sure it has plenty of juice for all your components. A PSU that's on the the borderline will make the system unstable resulting in poor performance and much pulling out of hair.

cirrusnature wrote:

QUOTE (cirrusnature @ May 29 2010, 08:16 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Those i7's are brilliant for FSX. Another thing is don't skimp on the power supply. Make sure it has plenty of juice for all your components. A PSU that's on the the borderline will make the system unstable resulting in poor performance and much pulling out of hair.

Yes. I agree you need a decent PSU, but a decent PSU doesn't = high watts. I've yet to see any benchmarks that show a system using more than ~500watts at full load. Even if you're overclocking 650w - 750w should be more than enough. These 1000w PSU's are really just for show. A decent PSU will have high efficiency and a good number of available amps on each rail.

Is your i5 a dual or quad core? I have upgraded to a second hand quad core extreme QX9650 with a new 216 core GTX 260. Improvements were modest until I ran the Jesus bufferpool tweak and although i only get mid 20's to low 20's over citys, the insane amount of autogen and sharp textures makes me drool. If i could only clock it to the 4ghz it is supposed to achieve easily i would be away laughing but the asus striker 2 extreme mobo is well known to be a real ba#**rd to overclock which I did'nt know at the time, Its 1 redeaming feature though is it uses DDR3 ram up to 1800mhz which makes a huge difference over all the older 775 motherboards. Good to see some members shelling out for new systems, the less fortunate simmers dont know what they are missing.
The new graphics cards run REX's extreme weather without even a hickup.