thetford569
Charter Member
Hello,
My old Q6600 2.4 system has died and as I was looking to upgrade anyways later this summer I am going to likely go ahead and upgrade as soon as possible. I had my system overclocked to 3.4 GHZ on air cooling and was for the most part satisfied with in non-dense areas (away from cities) however I still had sliders turned down (autogen and no car traffic). I did run my AI at almost 100% though which taxes the system alot but for me AI aircraft are important. Anyway, I'm looking for some suggestions on what to buy as I have been looking through the forums and just don't know what to get. Waiting for an Ivy Bridge system is not an option due to cost and I would like to not wait very long to make an order. I'm looking to spend at most $1500 but I'd like to stay around $1000-$1300 if possible. I do realize that waiting for the Ivy Bridge processors to be released may mean a drop in price for the Sandy Bridge processors but will this really happen and if so how soon? I can't wait for 2 months to build a new system. Also this system isn't just for FSX...I also do alot of photo and video editing as well as other tasks and software. My son also has his own Windows account on the computer.
Here is what my basic requirements are in my mind for a new system:
Motherboard - Have no idea here except I would like to have sometihng that is Ivy Bridge Compatible for future upgrades and also I will be overclocking so I want something that is easy to OC
Processor - Definately want to go with an Intel System with at least a Quad Core (cause that's what I have now) and will easily overclock (I'd like to get to 4.8GHZ or above on air if possible)
RAM - I would like to have at least 8GB which is what I have now and I know I need the fastest timings and compatibilty with the motherboard (is there somewhere that tells you how to match the RAM timings correctly?)
Video Card - Probably looking at a GeForce 580 or 680 (leaning towards a 680) - I have a 260 now so whatever I get is going to be a big jump...
Hard Disks - SSDs - I know nothing about this technology other than you don't have to defrag and they're super fast. I want to get one for my OS (80GB?) and then another for FSX (250 GB)
I have 2 My Book external drives that I use for backups and 2 SATA drives in my old computer that will be coming out and being used for more storage. One of these drives is a 10,000 RPM VelociRaptor that FSX was installed on.
Just looking for some comments and maybe some suggestions or things I haven't thought about from the very knowledgable people here. I want to get the most I can out of FSX which means I'd like to turn the sliders up and achieve a smooth experience. My old system had problems with blurred textures many times especially in dense urban areas. I mostly fly fast jets including the VRS F/A-18E Super Hornet and do alot of Navy Carrier operations. I don't really fly airliners much...Mostly military jets and I also fly the Eaglesoft Citation X regularly. I would just like to get a good overclocked system that will run FSX well and I won't have to tweak all the time so I can concentrate on flying and developing my scenery. Also of note is that I run alot of AI which I know takes a toll on the system. I use Ultimate Traffic 2 and alot of custom AI including Military AI Works AI Aircraft. For this reason I run FSX in DirectX9 mode instead of DX10 which I know also decreases performance but AI is important to me and the military AI I have is not DX10 compatible. I also would like to be able to turn on car traffic some...right now I run that at 0%. Thanks for any help and comments!
Brandon
My old Q6600 2.4 system has died and as I was looking to upgrade anyways later this summer I am going to likely go ahead and upgrade as soon as possible. I had my system overclocked to 3.4 GHZ on air cooling and was for the most part satisfied with in non-dense areas (away from cities) however I still had sliders turned down (autogen and no car traffic). I did run my AI at almost 100% though which taxes the system alot but for me AI aircraft are important. Anyway, I'm looking for some suggestions on what to buy as I have been looking through the forums and just don't know what to get. Waiting for an Ivy Bridge system is not an option due to cost and I would like to not wait very long to make an order. I'm looking to spend at most $1500 but I'd like to stay around $1000-$1300 if possible. I do realize that waiting for the Ivy Bridge processors to be released may mean a drop in price for the Sandy Bridge processors but will this really happen and if so how soon? I can't wait for 2 months to build a new system. Also this system isn't just for FSX...I also do alot of photo and video editing as well as other tasks and software. My son also has his own Windows account on the computer.
Here is what my basic requirements are in my mind for a new system:
Motherboard - Have no idea here except I would like to have sometihng that is Ivy Bridge Compatible for future upgrades and also I will be overclocking so I want something that is easy to OC
Processor - Definately want to go with an Intel System with at least a Quad Core (cause that's what I have now) and will easily overclock (I'd like to get to 4.8GHZ or above on air if possible)
RAM - I would like to have at least 8GB which is what I have now and I know I need the fastest timings and compatibilty with the motherboard (is there somewhere that tells you how to match the RAM timings correctly?)
Video Card - Probably looking at a GeForce 580 or 680 (leaning towards a 680) - I have a 260 now so whatever I get is going to be a big jump...
Hard Disks - SSDs - I know nothing about this technology other than you don't have to defrag and they're super fast. I want to get one for my OS (80GB?) and then another for FSX (250 GB)
I have 2 My Book external drives that I use for backups and 2 SATA drives in my old computer that will be coming out and being used for more storage. One of these drives is a 10,000 RPM VelociRaptor that FSX was installed on.
Just looking for some comments and maybe some suggestions or things I haven't thought about from the very knowledgable people here. I want to get the most I can out of FSX which means I'd like to turn the sliders up and achieve a smooth experience. My old system had problems with blurred textures many times especially in dense urban areas. I mostly fly fast jets including the VRS F/A-18E Super Hornet and do alot of Navy Carrier operations. I don't really fly airliners much...Mostly military jets and I also fly the Eaglesoft Citation X regularly. I would just like to get a good overclocked system that will run FSX well and I won't have to tweak all the time so I can concentrate on flying and developing my scenery. Also of note is that I run alot of AI which I know takes a toll on the system. I use Ultimate Traffic 2 and alot of custom AI including Military AI Works AI Aircraft. For this reason I run FSX in DirectX9 mode instead of DX10 which I know also decreases performance but AI is important to me and the military AI I have is not DX10 compatible. I also would like to be able to turn on car traffic some...right now I run that at 0%. Thanks for any help and comments!
Brandon
