Flight Simulator X Desktop

[feli1547]

Hi, I'm a huge flight simulator x enthusiast and I'm wondering if the following specs will support the gold edition of FSX along with Ultimate Traffic 2 and a number of additional smaller add ons at a steady HIGH FPS. I'm also pretty sure, but wondering, if these specs are good enough to support a minecraft server and pretty much any first person shooter game. Here are my parts:

Processor: Intel Core i5-3570k Ivy bridge (3.4 GHz) (i hear it's a good when it comes to overclocking)
Graphics Card: XFX Double D FX-787A-CDFC Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB
RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600
Motherboard: ASUS P8Z77-V LK LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Power Supply: Rosewill LIGHTNING Series LIGHTNING-800 800W
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green WD15EZRX 1.50 TB
Case: Coolermaster Storm Enforcer Mid Tower ATX Case

The prices fro Newegg.com add up to around $1000 and if possible I would like to downgrade a bit and save some money, but if push comes to shove, I'm happy to stick with these specs.

Really appreciate any feedback on this.

 

[feli1547]

So then I can downgrade slightly to save myself some money?

 

[confuciused]

It's not advisable to use a green drive as your only HDD, They are slow and intended as secondary data storage drives when you have the OS & programs on a SSD or similar. So either add an SSD to your build or replace the green drive.

If you intend to overclock you will also need a CPU cooler.

If you're looking to save money;

Get 8GB ram, that should be plenty for your needs.

That's a good PSU you've chosen but far more than you need (unless you plan to add a 2nd GPU in the future). I'd recommend an XFX PRO 550W.

 

[feli1547]

I do intent to overclock and will get a CPU cooler.

You said a 550 Watt PSU, but if I'm going to overclock then i'll surely need at least a 650 watt or possibly even a 750 Watt, which leaves room for upgrades in the future.

I already have an SSD at home (forgot to say so in the parts list).

Finally I was wondering if you know if downgrading my CPU from an the 3570k to an i5-3350p would still allow me to run fsx smoothly.

 

[confuciused]

I do intent to overclock and will get a CPU cooler.

You said a 550 Watt PSU, but if I'm going to overclock then i'll surely need at least a 650 watt or possibly even a 750 Watt, which leaves room for upgrades in the future.

I already have an SSD at home (forgot to say so in the parts list).

Finally I was wondering if you know if downgrading my CPU from an the 3570k to an i5-3350p would still allow me to run fsx smoothly.

The latest series of graphics cards are incredibly efficient and while 650W was once the norm, this is no longer the case. I had my 3570K @ 4.3GHZ and HD7870 @1225/1350 on a Corsair VX450W, (now upgraded to a XFX Pro 550W and the VX is powering my HTPC). I can't stress enough, the quality of the PSU is the most important factor.

Check this link: http://www.anandtech.com/show/5625/amd-radeon-hd-7870-ghz-edition-radeon-hd-7850-review-rounding-out-southern-islands/18

Here you can see the max power draw for a 7870 clocked at 1150/1350 is 336W. Note that that's the total system (and probably what's going into the PSU, not coming out), not just the card.

So 550W is plenty of headroom.



As far as the 3350P goes, I'm not familiar with that one, having a quick look I see it's a lower TDP, turbo at 3.3 and no IGP. It should still run fsx quite capably. Be aware that as it's a none K cpu it will have a maximum multiplier of 37 so overclocking is very limited though should allow you to reach the level of a stock 3570K

Goodluck!

 

[feli1547]

Thanks for all the advice!

I think I'm going to go with the the i5-2500k because of its great overclocking capabilities and stick with the HD Radeon 7850, however I'm not sure whether I should go with the 1gb version of it or the 2gb version, this price difference is around 20 dollars, but at the moment I'm trying to cut down on what I can.

 

[confuciused]

Well as far as I'm aware FSX (along with most other sims) is more CPU dependent than GPU, so I doubt you would see any difference between 1GB & 2GB

 

[confuciused]

won't let me edit: that being said... for other gaming, if you plan to keep the 7850 for a couple of years or more, then the 2GB may be an advantage in the future... it's your call

 

[feli1547]

Had to downgrade most of my parts in order to save quite a bit of money; I'm wondering, again, if this set up will support FSX with a bunch of add ons.

CPU: i5-2500k
Graphics: VTX3D AMD Radeon HD 7850 X-Edition
Motherboard: ASRock Z77 Pro4-M
PSU:XFX core edition 550w
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 1tb 7200RPM (ST31000528AS) + 128 gb SSD
RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8gb (2 x 4gb) - Blue

Thanks!

 

[feli1547]

Since I live in Italy I have to spend that extra amount to get the parts. The total price in Pounds is 520, that's 820 dollars. Obviously I then have buy a monitor, windows, a case, DVD drive and fans. My budget for the whole thing is around 740 pounds which is 1,170 dollars.

 

[FSX-JACK]

Go with Nvidia. AMD suck for FSX dude.

 

[HEXiT]

problem is fsx is such an old engine that you need a fast single core and not a whole lot in the gfx card dept to get it to max out on the vanilla version.
its actually physically limited by the game engine to 20 fps. only when you apply mods does the game become unbound from it shackles. but even then the results vary wildly.
truth is it would run just as well on an over clocked core 2 as an overclocked ivy and you would see little fps difference if you bought a gtx560 or a 690.
for that game your system is both over kill and under spec because results change so much from mod/addon to mod/addon.

if i remember correctly fsx-jack bought a decent system a while back and asked the same questions. then when he got it, he was back on here saying the fps still suck.

 

[feli1547]

So...what are you saying here. That I should just not get great parts cause I'm not gonna get a good Frame rate anyway?

But if the FPS rate is only at 20, then that's the maximum, so getting 20 fps is good then.

 

[HEXiT]

for fsx 20 fps is the norm. some mods will unlock the fps but i cant say for sure which 1s as havent played it in years. even then it wasnt on my system long.
i just did a follow up search and i think you may find this page helpfull
http://gotbush.org/forums/index.php?topic=7581.0 they talk about tweaking and adding service packs that up the max fps limits.

 

[feli1547]

Go with Nvidia. AMD suck for FSX dude.

Does it really make that big a difference? If so what are your recommendations for a card for around 130 pounds or $200?

Thank!

 

[feli1547]

I was also wondering if anyone could tell me the recommended amount of cooling needed for the parts that I listed a few posts ago. The case I'm getting is the Zalman Z11 Plus which comes with 3, 120mm fans and 2, 80 mm fans. Is this enough cooling or should I be getting another 120mm fan??

Thanks!

 

[AhtashamTomal]

Hi, I'm a huge flight simulator x enthusiast and I'm wondering if the following specs will support the gold edition of FSX along with Ultimate Traffic 2 and a number of additional smaller add ons at a steady HIGH FPS. I'm also pretty sure, but wondering, if these specs are good enough to support a minecraft server and pretty much any first person shooter game. Here are my parts:

Processor: Intel Core i5-3570k Ivy bridge (3.4 GHz) (i hear it's a good when it comes to overclocking)
Graphics Card: XFX Double D FX-787A-CDFC Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB
RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 1600
Motherboard: ASUS P8Z77-V LK LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Power Supply: Rosewill LIGHTNING Series LIGHTNING-800 800W
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Green WD15EZRX 1.50 TB
Case: Coolermaster Storm Enforcer Mid Tower ATX Case

The prices fro Newegg.com add up to around $1000 and if possible I would like to downgrade a bit and save some money, but if push comes to shove, I'm happy to stick with these specs.

Really appreciate any feedback on this.

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