PC had died - system recommendations please!!

Hi, i can vouch for scan, as a builder of PC's. I know scan do very good bundles which a friend at work has purchsed and is very happy with.

Also just to add, you need to know if your going to install more RAM in future as the table below shows what versions of 7 will determin what memory size you go for.

Real-world limits of each OS version:

Windows 7 Ultimate x64
192 GB
Windows 7 Enterprise x64
192 GB
Windows 7 Professional x64
192 GB
Windows 7 Home Premium x64
16 GB
Windows 7 Home Basic x64
8 GB
Windows 7 Starter
2 GB
 
Thanks Chris. The "Nick" article says you should never need more than 8GB and I won't have any other need for more than that so Home Premium ought to give some further expansion room in this respect. What I think I still find hardest to follow are the RAM specs - ghz, timing, matching etc. Not sure what RAM (2x4 Gig let's say) rating(s) would best match to a Haswell 4700k (clocked to 4.4gig0 with a GTX780 card, and Asus Z87 mobo for instance.
 
[SUB]OEM Win7 Pro... Works great I've done a few activations without issues. You'll have to read through the lawyer speak and decide if you need retail or not.[/SUB]
 
It's worth giving Alpine Systems a look, I've had two flight sim computers off them, they are very good and both are still going strong after years of use ( I demote them to everyday computers when their flight sim days are over). Though not the cheapest, they do build good quality machines.

http://www.alpinesystems.co.uk/

Ian.
 
I'm still running a lame system that barely gets by with the latest FSX offerings but once in a while when I feel I can afford a new one (before the Jeep or house needs some repair and takes the money) I look at the signatures of folks here in the forum. I figure if they bother to list what they have it must be good or at least a good starting point.
:ernae:
 
What ever you do, go with SSD hard drives. They are 10X plus faster. 840 series by Samsung are highly rated, and one is available at 500 gigs, though the 250 gig 840 series is more 'affordable'. Get two, one for Windows, one for FS, and you are good to go.

Don't go cheap on SSD's. If you get Read/Write of 500/500, that is ultra fast. If you go with 500/100, you might as well get a disc version HD. You want 500/500.
 
Don't go cheap on SSD's. If you get Read/Write of 500/500, that is ultra fast. If you go with 500/100, you might as well get a disc version HD. You want 500/500.
Click to expand...

Bill, that is just the kind of detailed steer I need and probably would have missed - many thanks!

I have always had FSX and Windows - and everything else - all on the same disc. I now see the preferred route is to separate them - and once done, not a problem with installers finding the FSX folders on a different drive. I can't make up my mind whether to have just one 250 gig 840 Samsung SSD for FSX - and a big 1tb HDD for "everything else" or a second 250gig SSD for windows and everything else, (the down side being much less storage space available). I have an older WD my book 700gig USB external drive I can probably continue to use for my "hangar" of over 1000 a/c, music, photos etc, so maybe I should just order the 250gig SSD x 2?

Can anyone explain RAM for these types of rigs today, i.e., matching, timings and all that stuff? I know I am going to order two sticks of 4gb but not sure what other spec to go for.

Thanks!
 
A single large SSD, 256GB+ is fine for Windows and FSX both. From my testing of various HD configs, that is better than Windows on a spinner and FSX on an SSD, or vice-versa.
Ideally you'll have 3 drives. A small(64-128GB) SSD for Windows, a larger one(180GB+) for FSX and a 1TB+ mechanical for other apps, storage, and backup.
Depending on the motherboard, you will usually have at least 2 SATA III(6GB/s) and 4 SATA II(3GB/s) ports. Be sure the Windows and FSX drives are connected to SATA III(6GB/s).

As others have noted, the Samsung 840 offerings are great. The 512GB Pro in my rig is the only SSD that has ever crossed my bench that meets/exceeds it's advertised R/W speed.

Use your selected motherboard's QVL(Qualified Vendor List) to help select your memory. The stuff on that list is known to work, but, are not the only sets that will. Some listings may be older and no longer available.
Grab the fastest, Lowest Latency, 8GB set you can afford...Don
 
I would like to offer some more pointers;


  • keep FSX to a single drive and make it as big as you can afford
  • Buy RAM that is on the QVL or at least research to find if the RAM and Mobo board work together, especially for Quad channel RAM (For instance buying an Asus look on the ROG forums as there is loads of help and advice)
  • always have a backup plan in place, esspecially with SSD's as at some point you will need it!
  • If you cannot afford SSD's look at the WD Velociraptors, quicker than normal HDD's but higher capacity than SSD's
  • When choosing your PC/parts always think future expansion/capabilities.
  • Budget well but be prepared to go over budget, and shop around as you might want to be ordering parts from different shops. (use cashback schemes like quidco to get a few % back)
 
Funny you mention it, I actually play in and help run a cricket club (something of a rarity for an American) ..
 
No other games planned but it will also be my main home pc for e.g., internet, Outook email, iTunes/Airplay and other MS Office docs (Word) for work occasionally.
 
8 GB will be enough for FSX for ever. As a 32-bit software it can't use more than 4 GB. The rest is for other programs but only if you have a 64-bit OS.
 
The reason I suggest 2 SSD HD's instead of one is that you have added performance with two HD's, one running Windows on, and one running FS on. Every bit helps in gaining a couple of frame rates. ;)

Also, and this is the crazy part, a full size SSD HD is about the size of a laptop computer HD, and so lite, you would think nothing is in them and that they were plastic instead of Aluminum. (They are Aluminum). But, you can actually fit two of these in the area of a regular fat version HD.

With my table top console Alienware, I took out the CD drive and put a third SSD HD in there. I then hook up a exterior CD drive (like you do with MacBook Air and some ultra thin Notebooks) if I should need a CD loadup.

3 SSD HD's... Loving it!
 
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