Nick! Need your expertise!

[Jay29]

ok I know theres a stcky about building your own fsx friendly pc but alot of those links the products are no longer avail. heres what Im thinking of getting to build my own, i really wanna know if its all compatible before i go ordering.

case, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811156098

mother board,

[SubZer0]

you have an x58 LGA 1366 motherboard so your processor will have to be only a Core i7 and that's what Nick and everyone else will probably recommend you (it's even cheaper than what you chose and much, much faster)

also, you don't want an Intel motherboard... no no no. it doesn't allow for overclocking at all and the options are extremely limited. something like this will work much better:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131346

this for the processor to go along with the motherboard:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819115202

the video card I think you will be able to do fine with but I would recommend a GTX260 or 280 if you can afford either one.. if not, then you're good with what you chose. here's the 260 for not much more
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130370

and for the last thing, you'll need to get a x64 bit OS instead of the x32 that you chose. this is so you can use more than 4GB of RAM
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6832116493

[jime59]

That motherboard is for the new i7 Core CPU. It will not support the Q9550. It's not compatible. You need to look for a motherboard with a 775 CPU socket if you plan on buying that processor.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131317
A lot of choices for this,do your research before deciding.The one I showed you is more of an example on what to look for,not necessarily a recommendation,even though it would be a good choice.

For the DVD burner,I'd look for a SATA type,but that's my preferrence, it's faster than IDE.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827140031

For the soundcard,I can't speak for the Asus since I've never had one.

[jime59]

Guess I'm a little slow tonight. Didn't see Subs reply until I posted.
Wish you luck on your new system Jay.

[NickN]

we need to establish if he wishes to move to i7 or not before I can comment

I would not bother with a sound card.. people saying a sound card is needed to avoid performance problems is a VERY OLD issue that stopped being a problem with newer motherboards in the last 2 years. Unless you are a sound engineer and need the direct hardware support of a sound card, use the onboard surround system which will work just fine and deliver equal if not better sound

[SubZer0]

you're right Nick. the only reason I recommended him that hardware, however, is because it's not much more expensive than what he had listed up there. of course the final decision is up to him

[Jay29]

I just want something that will play fsx at a decent rate while being able to run my other applications such as office. Also wanna be able to upgrade it as the technology changes, such as lets say i get a 2.66ghz intel processor but a few months later i wanna upgrade it to a 3.0

I don't have a  ton of money thats for sure. I use my pc for school and the only game i play is fsx but im tired of the crappy frame rates. So any recommendations are greatly appreciated! Thank you

[SubZer0]

well.. saying that you want to be able to upgrade in the future and that you are tired of crappy FSX frame rates, I would go with what I recommended. I ordered a new system (see specs in my sig) literally this last Thursday (hopefully here by Tuesday or Wednesday) because I am also tired of crappy FSX fps and I want to be able to upgrade for a good while into the future if needed

[Jay29]

Ok yeah i like that configuration you suggested Subzero, i may go that route looks a lil cheaper too, now does that case i posted have an adequate power supply? And is the memory I selected compatible as well?

[SubZer0]

Newegg seems to be down right now.. I'll check in a few minutes again

[SubZer0]

OK it's up again.. for memory you might want to go with this. the timings are quite good and the voltage (1.65v) is just around where you want to be when running it with an i7 processor. if and when you clock, make sure the mem voltage doesn't go over 1.7v or you may burn out your cpu (thanks Nick )

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820227366



For power supply.. with an i7 and a GTX card you'll want to have 700+ watts to make sure you have plenty of room for upgrading and overclocking. this does the job for that and for an unbelievable price!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817703009



as far as the case goes.. the Antec 900 is actually the case that I bought for my new build. none of the parts are here yet and I don't know if the GTX 260 will even fit right. if you want, you can wait till maybe tuesday or latest wednesday and I can tell you if it fits.. if not, then you can look for a different case? I know Nick would jump all over me for going with the Antec 900, but I simply couldn't afford those airplane quality cases he uses that go for $250+

[cause88]

subzero
I am really interested in your impressions, when your system arrives and you go into the build phase.
You are getting ready to assemble almost the exact system that I have settled my mind on.
My build wont start until early 2009.
I have had the Acer x223w monitor for about 2 weeks now, I really like it compared to my old Viewsonic 19" CRT that crapped out on me after 4 years.
Please keep us posted on how the build goes

[SubZer0]

subzero
I am really interested in your impressions, when your system arrives and you go into the build phase.
You are getting ready to assemble almost the exact system that I have settled my mind on.
My build wont start until early 2009.
I have had the Acer x223w monitor for about 2 weeks now, I really like it compared to my old Viewsonic 19" CRT that crapped out on me after 4 years.
Please keep us posted on how the build goes

will do, cause. I'm only worried about the GPU not fitting or having to RMA something (the last time it was the HDD... twice..) i'll take pictures of the process and of the results and post them up

[Jay29]

you're right Nick. the only reason I recommended him that hardware, however, is because it's not much more expensive than what he had listed up there. of course the final decision is up to him

Im gonna need a sound card though won't I though in order to  have sound? I have never done this before, i usually just buy pre configured pc's, but I'm tired of that cause everyone i get never seems to do what I want it too.

[SubZer0]

you won't need a soundcard.. nowadays motherboards have great built-in sound control that work as well as any other soundcard would. since you've never done this before, make sure that you post back here before you make any purchase to make sure you're getting all the right parts