Building a computer

rmciottijr

rmciottijr

Line Up and Wait
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rmciottijr
I am thinking of building a computer and I have a few questions. This will be the third computer I built but the last two was a long time ago (windows 3.1 and windows 3.11/windows 95 time). I just got MSFS-X and it does not run well on my old bookend. I am not sure what is out there for motherboard, video, recomended processor size and type, any input on the new windows Vista.

Thanks,
Bob
 
rmciottijr said:
I am thinking of building a computer and I have a few questions. This will be the third computer I built but the last two was a long time ago (windows 3.1 and windows 3.11/windows 95 time). I just got MSFS-X and it does not run well on my old bookend. I am not sure what is out there for motherboard, video, recomended processor size and type, any input on the new windows Vista.

Thanks,
Bob
Click to expand...

I think you'll better off with running XP than Vista. The report is that Vista DRM is REQUIRED to deliberately disable or downgrade capability ON THE WHOLE MACHINE if something with DRM is running and it will tie up the system constantly checking and encrypting - not a good environment to be running a taxing app like MSFS.

http://www.techworld.com/opsys/news/index.cfm?newsid=7675

When it says "My Computer" who did you think it was referring to? BTW, it doesn't say that in Vista. It says "This Computer." Just to clear things up in case you thought it was yours.
 
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Personally, unless you just want the fun and grins and giggles... and are immune to cussing and headaches.... order it built! You can go from HP on their business machines all the way down to small-shop builders. You just have to look for the reputable guys to do the work. Vision Computers in Norcross, GA is just such a place. And, they have awesome customer service. (Nope, I have no affiliation with them. I just know they are a good bunch of folks with no complaints.)
 
Vista isn't yet generally available. It's still in beta testing (which has been offloaded to us users). I haven't read any reports about it but if it's like other windows products, I can wait.
As far as a machine for Flight Sim, speed, graphics, and memory seem to be the order of the day. My machine is a 1.6G processor with ATI graphics and it really labors.
I've noticed the newer machines have big power supplies (850w+). I've got a couple of towers I was going to rebuild but the P/S might need to be replaced. The motherboards I was looking at was an ASUS. Either the intel or AMD would work for me.
Tom's hardware might give you some hints and tips as will Motherboards.
The new tech is Dual Core (Core 2 DUO). Basically, think of them as two complete processors on one chip. I also heard of a QUAD chip on the horizon. It's one of the techniques they are using to get the speeds up. Not all applications can make use of the second path but it does allow for better throughput through increased multiprogramming.
 
silver-eagle said:
The new tech is Dual Core (Core 2 DUO). Basically, think of them as two complete processors on one chip. I also heard of a QUAD chip on the horizon. It's one of the techniques they are using to get the speeds up. Not all applications can make use of the second path but it does allow for better throughput through increased multiprogramming.
Click to expand...

Core 2 Quad (as we call it) is great if you have parallel tasks you need to run concurrently. MSFS doesn't need this capability. In fact, nothing I run does. However, if I need to do a couple processor intensive things at the same time as some other things, and the OS can handle parcelling the work out to multiple processors, it would be a good thing.

I'm going to buy a Core 2 Duo processor (probably in January) and build a new machine. MFSF X will crater the 1 GHz Pentium III machine I'm running now (probably don't have enough space on the C drive to load it) and upgrading it doesn't make sense with the age of the machine. New everything. 250 GByte or larger harddrive. I bought 4 250 GByte SATA drives a couple months ago for my backup box and only paid around $80 each for them. Motherboards have SATA interfaces now, so it's a direct connect. I'll probably wind up spending more money on the video card than the motherboard or processor (of course, I work for Intel and can get a good employee discount on the processor and motherboard - quantity 1, not for re-sale - sorry).
 
silver-eagle said:
Vista isn't yet generally available. It's still in beta testing (which has been offloaded to us users). I haven't read any reports about it but if it's like other windows products, I can wait.
Click to expand...
Vista release version is currently available to major organizations (Top 100 companies). Here is a write-up I made for my company that explains the major differences compared to XP.
http://www.auntpeggy.com/Vista/Vista0.php
 
KennyFlys said:
Personally, unless you just want the fun and grins and giggles... and are immune to cussing and headaches.... order it built! You can go from HP on their business machines all the way down to small-shop builders. You just have to look for the reputable guys to do the work. Vision Computers in Norcross, GA is just such a place. And, they have awesome customer service. (Nope, I have no affiliation with them. I just know they are a good bunch of folks with no complaints.)
Click to expand...

Pretty much anyone with a little guidance can build their own system with little cussing and headaches. Plus--They'll be able to support/repair it when it breaks.

IMO it's by far worth the extra effort to do it yourself.

Building computers is as hard as you make it. An average joe can build a system for their use with little effort. When you start getting into all kinds of custom crap and making promises to produce the exact same system for the next five years is when the complication starts to ramp up.
 
I wrote in an earlier Vista column just a few weeks ago, the OS (just as every earlier release of Windows) is entirely about getting people to buy new computers and that any lip service to upgrading current equipment is just that, lip service. If you want a Windows Vista media PC to deliver high-quality video and audio with no driver problems, just buy a new Windows Vista media PC from some big vendor like Dell, HP, or Sony and match it with other big-vendor stereo and video components that use strictly DRM-preserving HDMI connectors and therefore create no points of signal degradation along the path from hard disk to eye or ear.
Click to expand...

http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2006/pulpit_20061229_001403.html

I don't think HDMI is that a big a deal now, except new TVs are going to have to lots of HDMI inputs. Even more than 2.

I shant be on the Vista wagon.
 
I just built a system for MSFS X. This game really needs lots of RAM, CPU, and Video power. I would look at a Core 2 Dou E6400 minimum (2.13ghz) or perferably E6600 (2.4ghz) on the Intel side or AM2 4600-4800 on the AMD side. I would put 2 gig of DDR2-800 ram and either an x1950pro or 7900Gt video card. You will need a powersupply rated for 28a on the 12v line (most 450w or higher with a PCI-E plug will do this) to handle the extra power required from the video card. Look at spending just under $1000 for this setup.
And if you are really up to make it scream get a ASUS P5N-E SLI motherboard and O/C the processor to ~3.6ghz
 
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JRitt said:
I just built a system for MSFS X. This game really needs lots of RAM, CPU, and Video power. I would look at a Core 2 Dou E6400 minimum (2.13ghz) or perferably E6600 (2.4ghz) on the Intel side or AM2 4600-4800 on the AMD side. I would put 2 gig of DDR2-800 ram and either an x1950pro or 7900Gt video card. You will need a powersupply rated for 28a on the 12v line (most 450w or higher with a PCI-E plug will do this) to handle the extra power required from the video card. Look at spending just under $1000 for this setup.
And if you are really up to make it scream get a ASUS P5N-E SLI motherboard and O/C the processor to ~3.6ghz
Click to expand...

Will this work?

Intel Core Duo Extreme (2.93Ghz)
2GB Corsair Dominator DDR2
2 500GB WD SATA 3.0Gb/s Caviar drives in RAID 0
eVGA NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTX 768MB GDDR3 in SLI

?
 
JRitt said:
I just built a system for MSFS X. This game really needs lots of RAM, CPU, and Video power. I would look at a Core 2 Dou E6400 minimum (2.13ghz) or perferably E6600 (2.4ghz) on the Intel side or AM2 4600-4800 on the AMD side. I would put 2 gig of DDR2-800 ram and either an x1950pro or 7900Gt video card. You will need a powersupply rated for 28a on the 12v line (most 450w or higher with a PCI-E plug will do this) to handle the extra power required from the video card. Look at spending just under $1000 for this setup.
And if you are really up to make it scream get a ASUS P5N-E SLI motherboard and O/C the processor to ~3.6ghz
Click to expand...

How much for the direct feed from the primary national power grid to power it all? This is for a GAME right? :p
 
wbarnhill said:
Will this work?

Intel Core Duo Extreme (2.93Ghz)
2GB Corsair Dominator DDR2
2 500GB WD SATA 3.0Gb/s Caviar drives in RAID 0
eVGA NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTX 768MB GDDR3 in SLI

?
Click to expand...

Yes it will.... the cost? surely not for the 1k as the OP's.

Newegg has listed prices of:

ntel Core 2 Extreme X6800 Conroe 2.93GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor -$958.00


CORSAIR Dominator 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1142 (PC2 9136) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
$459.00


Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000KSRTL 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$269.99 EACH


eVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card
$589.9


Dont get me wrong, I would love to have this setup!
 
cherokeeflyboy said:
Yes it will.... the cost? surely not for the 1k as the OP's.

Newegg has listed prices of:

ntel Core 2 Extreme X6800 Conroe 2.93GHz 4M shared L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor -$958.00


CORSAIR Dominator 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1142 (PC2 9136) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
$459.00


Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000KSRTL 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive
$269.99 EACH


eVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card
$589.9


Dont get me wrong, I would love to have this setup!
Click to expand...

Yes yes, it's on the pricey side, but I don't JUST play FSX ;) I'm just trying to figure out what to put in the new system I'll be building later this year.

BTW, Newegg sells the OEM version of the WD Caviar for about 80$ less. ;)
 
wbarnhill said:
Yes yes, it's on the pricey side, but I don't JUST play FSX ;) I'm just trying to figure out what to put in the new system I'll be building later this year.

BTW, Newegg sells the OEM version of the WD Caviar for about 80$ less. ;)
Click to expand...
Dont run the 8800's in SLI. Run them separate and set them up a 1 for the center monitor (30") and the other as the left and right monitor (24" each)
 
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