Have you heard of Jetline Systems???

[Skittles]

Personally, I would get the 2600K. It is $100 more expensive, but has the advantage of hyperthreading (probably not a big use for FSX), extra cache, an extra 100mhz, and will overclock further). The CPU is one of the most important components for MSFS. It's your call, the 2500K is also a very good product, and it is better value than the 2600K.

So the 2500K doesn't have HT, I still intend to use the 2600, I think I just needed a little more reasoning as to why.


I'm also asking advice on X-plane.org and I'm

[Skittles]

I wanted to take a peek at heatsinks... And before you say I don't need to, I know but I just wanted to peek... They need to be renamed to Cooling Towers.
OMG! Do they even make a case to house this beast?

If you think that's big look at this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835608018

That just looks noisy. With all the fans I'm using now, I can hear my comp from 20ft away in the kitchen.

[Slotback]

I wanted to take a peek at heatsinks... And before you say I don't need to, I know but I just wanted to peek... They need to be renamed to Cooling Towers.
OMG! Do they even make a case to house this beast?

If you think that's big look at this:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6835608018

That just looks noisy. With all the fans I'm using now, I can hear my comp from 20ft away in the kitchen.

Actually it's one of the quietest heatsinks available. And it can cool better than cheap watercooling.

[Skittles]

And it's <$100. Wow!

[Slotback]

So I want to say right now... I truely appreciate your advice, time and efforts.

No probs. I'm actually thinking about building a similar system myself. I don't have the cash so it might have to wait a couple of months though.... I'm also a regular on a bunch of PC hardware forums, so it's not like it's that difficult or "hard work" choosing the parts.



[quote]I'm also asking advice on X-plane.org and I'm

[Slotback]

Also, you could try installing Windows / MSFS on the Samsung Spinpoint F3. If you're not happy with the loading performance buy a SSD later on.... after all, newer and better SSD's are coming out within the next couple of months.

edit; I read the thread on x-plane dot org. I can see why they dislike the SSD, an X-plane install with global scenery is HUGE (what is it? 80 gigabytes?) before any addons. FSX is much smaller, and should fit with ease with Windows onto a 128 gigabyte SSD (It was also amusing to see them recommend more cores despite the fact that the only 6 cores that are faster actually cost $600 more for like 2% extra performance, ALSO the hardware guide that is pinned over there is horribly out of date, also why are they whinging at the price of SSD's when they buy MACS?).

[Slotback]

Case

[Skittles]

...an X-plane install with global scenery is HUGE (what is it? 80 gigabytes?) before any addons.

The box for v9.3 asks for 60GB. I only installed scenery for the USA and I think it was 15-18GB.

...(It was also amusing to see them recommend more cores despite the fact that the only 6 cores that are faster actually cost $600 more for like 2% extra performance, ALSO the hardware guide that is pinned over there is horribly out of date, also why are they whinging at the price of SSD's when they buy MACS?).

2% more compared to the OC 2600K, right? Yeah not worth it.

And did you happen to read the post where DOC is balling me out? WTF?

[Skittles]

But if you swap to a cheaper case (less air-flow, less space for components) and power supply (might be less efficient (more heat, tiny tiny tiny bit higher power bill, louder), louder, but still very good) you might be able to save $100.

I don't want hot and loud, I have that now. I live in the mountians. During the winter it's fine, but in the summer I get paranoid about over heating. It's a P4 3.2 OCd to 3.5 and it tops at 140-150F. At 160 it crashes if it's 85+ in the house. Under continued full load of course.

The Corsair as more front ports, which I like. The only diff between the PS is #SATA ports and wattage. So yeah, I may go with the HX

"MACS" You mean Apple Macs?

[Skittles]

[i]The Crucial states:
SATA III
Sequential Access - Read

[Skittles]

Back to memory again... The P8P67 has four slots...
I should be able to get 2 of the Mushkin Enhanced Redline 4GB (2x2GB) for a total of 8GB, right? I think I'd be more comfortable with 8GB.

And again about the SSD... I can't decide. I've been doing searches about the pros and cons but I'm not getting much more...

http://www.technize.com/ssd-vs-hdd-comparison/
http://www.ssdvshdd.com/
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/ ... the_money_

Can you think of anything else that may help me get off this fence?

[Skittles]

I'm also partial to Full towers... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811119187
In the future I may get more CD/DVD Drives, so I'd like to have the extra slots.

Do you have a negative vote?

[Slotback]

The Fractal Design Define R3 has 8 hard disk trays, and two optical drive trays.

Corsair 600T has 6 hard disk trays, and 4 optical disk trays.

Cooler Master ATCS 840 has 6 hard disk trays, and 6 optical disk trays.

I have my doubts you are going to need the Cooler Master ATCS over the Corsair 600T, or even the Fractal Design. I doubt the quality of the ATCS is the same as the Define R3 or the Corsair 600T. Plus $200 is massive overkill for a case. In my opinion, go with the Fractal Design, if you would like more space go with the Corsair.

The Corsair AX-750 is overkill, I think a 650 watt power supply is better suited to your system. There's this, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817151088 and also the Corsair HX-650. The Seasonic is more efficient, and is also quieter.

But if you swap to a cheaper case (less air-flow, less space for components) and power supply (might be less efficient (more heat, tiny tiny tiny bit higher power bill, louder), louder, but still very good) you might be able to save $100.

I don't want hot and loud, I have that now. I live in the mountians. During the winter it's fine, but in the summer I get paranoid about over heating. It's a P4 3.2 OCd to 3.5 and it tops at 140-150F. At 160 it crashes if it's 85+ in the house. Under continued full load of course.

The Corsair as more front ports, which I like. The only diff between the PS is #SATA ports and wattage. So yeah, I may go with the HX

"MACS" You mean Apple Macs?

Yes.

Back to memory again... The P8P67 has four slots...
I should be able to get 2 of the Mushkin Enhanced Redline 4GB (2x2GB) for a total of 8GB, right? I think I'd be more comfortable with 8GB.

Yes.

Would I see the difference between the two? It's only $30 difference.

Probably not.

Those are, from what I understand, theoretical performance figures.

Try looking at these tests:

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/196?vs=194
They're neck and neck most of the time although the Corsair FORCE kills it in some areas. If get you a SSD, get the Corsair FORCE 120gb, IMHO.

SSD's are generally a premium product though. Premium products never have great value, however, for the most part you still get what you're paying for. You can just buy the Samsung Spinpoint F3, install everything on that. If you're getting bothersome loading times even after defragging, and stutters caused by the hard-disk after defragging, then go grab a SSD. Cheaper and faster SSD's are coming out all the time. Intel is about to release new SSD technology which should be cheaper.

This is $235 SSD versus $275 10,000rpm Velociraptor 600gb. Smaller Raptors are slower.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/196?vs=182

SSD advantage:
AnandTech Storage Bench - Light Workload = SSD is 5x as fast as Raptor
AnandTech Storage Bench - Heavy Workload = SSD is 2.15x as fast as Raptor
AnandTech Storage Bench - Gaming Workload = SSD is 2.11x as fast as Raptor
PCMark Vantage - Overall Suite = SSD is 1.49x as fast as Raptor
PCMark Vantage - Memories Suite = SSD is 1.35x as fast as Raptor
PCMark Vantage - TV & Movies Suite = SSD is 1.07x as fast as Raptor
PCMark Vantage - Gaming Suite = SSD is 1.78x as fast as Raptor
PCMark Vantage - Music Suite = SSD is 1.66x as fast as Raptor
PCMark Vantage - Communications Suite = SSD is 1.3x as fast as Raptor
PCMark Vantage - Productivity Suite = SSD is 2.35x as fast as Raptor
PCMark Vantage - HDD Suite = 5.15x as fast as Raptor
Desktop Iometer - 4KB Random Write (4K Aligned) - 8GB LBA Space = SSD is 86.42x as fast as Raptor
Desktop Iometer - 4KB Random Read (4K Aligned) = SSD is 286x as fast as Raptor
Desktop Iometer - 128KB Sequential Read (4K Aligned) = SSD is 1.46x as fast as Raptor
Desktop Iometer - 128KB Sequential Write (4K Aligned) = SSD is 1.49x as fast as Raptor
___________


By the way, the specifications on newegg are often not completely correct. Best look at the manufacturer site. The GTX 460 supports OpenGL 4.1. That's according to the nvidia website, here:


http://www.nvidia.com/object/product-ge ... 60-us.html

GTX 570 vs GTX 460 1gb here: http://www.anandtech.com/show/4051/nvid ... the-gaps/4 Although the GTX 460 is fairly fast, the GTX 570 is usually significantly faster. If you don't mind loosing some value, get the GTX 570. Besides, if you ditch the useless full ATX Cooler Master ATCS and get the cheaper but equally fast SSD, you'll have enough money for the GTX 570 anyway.

I think it is a waste getting a 2600K, 8 gigabytes of RAM, paired with a GTX 460.

If you wait two weeks (20th january) you can get the GTX 560, which should be between the GTX 460 and the GTX 570 and cost under 300$. It will be a fantastic card.

But in my opinion, just get the GTX 570.

[Skittles]

When I compare...

The specs between two products

VS

The test results of two products

The story is vastly different.

After analyzing all the data, input, positive and negative advice/feedback. I have made a final (yet not unchangeable) decision.

Your opinion about the 750W power supply being overkill matches what I've read about power requirements for multiple large displays and cards. I don't meet those requirements.

[Slotback]

No probs.

Should be an amazing system, all the parts not on neweg already should appear on on the 9th or 10th.

Anyways, the first thing you need to do when you power on the system (before installing windows) is go into BIOS (aka system setup), go into Advanced Mode (will be in the top right of the screen), go to advanced tab, go into SATA configuration, and verify that SATA mode is in AHCI mode. If it isn't. Make sure it is.

Also, this is probably worth reading:

http://forum.corsair.com/v3/showthread.php?t=82516


You might also need to manually set the memory voltage and timings.

IMHO do not let the motherboard autotune overclocks, do everything manually.

Also, bump this thread up when you do decide to buy, because the picture might be somewhat different then. Newer SSD's are coming out all the time.