Rig for FSX

[zazu]

Soo heres the deal, I'm building a PC that can withstand FSX and I'm limited to about 700-800 dollars to spend.

Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor BX80601950
ASUS Sabertooth X58 LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB DDR3
Western Digital Caviar Black WD1002FAEX 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5
ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro Rev.2 92mm
XFX ATI Raedon 4870 750M 512mb DDR5
CORSAIR CMPSU-750TX 750W

What do you guys think/recommend?
The only thing I'm not gonna change is the ATI 4870, sense i already have it and its still fairly new.

 

[mi1ez]

I would have said the main upgrade for what you've listed is the GPU... I'm not sure how well the 512MB card will cope and can see it holding you back.

Also, for a n x58 system, you're best with 6GB of RAM as it runs triple channel.

 

[Emperus]

As said above, switch to a triple channel memory setup.. A 3 x 2GB kit will be good.. For the video card, get the GTX 460 1GB if you can.. FSX however is CPU intensive and as such, you'll need as much CPU horsepower as you can get (which further means that you can relax on the GPU by not needing an ultra high end video card).. The i7 950 is good and with a healthy overclock, should be able to handle it pretty well..

 

[zazu]

I used to have a Nvidia 9800 GT 512 mb, with a core 2 duo 2.2 ghz, and I used to average around 20 fps...So i think the ATI will do well..hopefully.

 

[rand_79]

thats a fairly old card. I would also suggest a 460 1gb

if you want to go cheap they have deals on the 460 768meg version as low as 130$

I got the hawk edition msi 460 1gb and it overclocks to near 920mhz without really changing voltage etc too much. (209 after rebate)

I think you can still keep it under budget and it will look better.

also the 9800 chip was pretty kickass.. the 4870 isnt much of an upgrade.

still I guess you can start with that and upgrade later.

as mentioned socket 1366= triple channel memory so go 3x2gb chips. preferably try to find a triple channel kit on the approved list for your motherboard and get that. Make sure the voltage requirements are also met (some require too high voltage)

 

[zazu]

yeah, my 9800 basically fried, and XFX rma'd it and sent me a 4870...

 

[Emperus]

yeah, my 9800 basically fried, and XFX rma'd it and sent me a 4870...

That's an upgrade.. And a healthy one too..

 

[zazu]

Thanks for the feedback guys, I will definitely get 3X2GB of Ram, and I will try out the 4870 and see how I like it...

But seriously your replies were much appreciated.

 

[ulysses35]

FSX is more dependent on CPU power than video card performance.

People tend to forget that FSX isnt fast paced and anything over 25 FPS is very good - there is no fancy top gun stlye flying - in fact the whole game is based on smooth accurate controls.

any i7 series CPU will be more than adequate (i used to run it on an E8400 with an 800GT) - again like others said 58 chipsets are triple channel so you need a 3x1gb ram setup as a bare minimum, but 3x2gb is prefered.