Building my first FSX computer

[Woevie9]

Hello everyone,

 

I am a new user on this forum so sorry if I made a mistake or what so ever ;)

 

I want to use my pc for FSX and for school, I also need it for video rendering, not just 360p rendering but big rendering like 1080P videos etc.

That's why I choose this setup:

 

Case: Sharkoon VS3-V

Motherboard: Asrock H81M-HDS

CPU: Intel i7 4790K (4,0Ghz with turbo 4,4Ghz)

GPU: Nvidia GTX 750TI 2048MB

RAM: Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3

Power supply: Corsair VS550 (550 Watt)

HDD: 500GB 7200RPM

WiFi: TP-Link TL-WDN3800

 

Please let me know if this is a good pc for fsx with addons like:

 

Pmdg 737 with Amsterdam X

 

I do not need to run everything at max settings.

I'm open for suggestions.

[il88pp]

Looks good. Looks like you chose a budget-build, with a very good CPU.

That is a good choice regarding fsx. fsx is very CPU intensive.

I think you knew that, from reading the fsx forms...;)

 

But one thing I spot right away, and that is the mainboard. a H81.

That's not a good choice.

The H81 chipset does not allow overclocking. So that fantastic CPU you have can not be overclocked if it is stuck into that board.

 

The Z87, (or possibly the Z97) would both be much better choices.

They allow overclocking, they offer many more USB3.0 ports, and allow for more harddisks and DVD drives to be attached.

I don't have ALL the specifics at the ready, so I just Googled: H81 Z87 Z97

The following was one of the first in the google results:

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Z87-H87-H81-Q87-Q85-B85---What-is-the-difference-473/

 

Have a good look at the differences.

The Z97 is not in there, but it should be possible to find similar pages with some googling.

 

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Another thing, I would personally always choose a ATX board. (I didn't look you board up, but I expect the H81M is a mATX board, and those are smaller.)

The differences:

A full size will need a larger case. (duh)

 

A larger case will be a little more expensive, but it also means the heat has somewhere to go. Heat can build up quickly in a small case. So the overall temp in a larger case is lower.

 

The parts on the larger board are spaced a little further apart. That makes it much easyer to reach a connector to attach cables and parts. It's much more comfortable working on the hardware.

 

Full size (ATX) has more PCI connectors (PCI-express connectors these days).

That means you can attach more PCI cards if you want them. For example a: soundcard, wireless internet card, Firewire, E-Sata (external sate drives), USB Card for more usb ports, etc.

 

I find it hard to recommend a brand, but I hear very good things about Asus.

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And a last advice. Get a SSD as well as that HDD.

256 Gb is fine.

Put Windows on that. And you can put Fsx on it as well.

Then use the HDD for Data storage.

 

Two huge advantages to a SSD. Your system is not held back by a slow drive that windows is using as cache space. It will make it blazing fast.

And the system will be whisper quiet. No more prrt ppprt pprt pprt pprt constantly below your desk. A delight.

 

Actually, looking closer, instead of the one you chose, choose a larger Hdd. 500 Gb will run out really quickly. Get 1Gb, or better 2Gb. 7200rpm.

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With those small changes you will have built a Beast of a machine.:)

 

A small tip:

Make sure when you choose a mainboard you look on the website of the manufacturer for the specs as well.

There look up the specs of the required RAM.

The voltage is very important. Some boards require 1.5 volt Ram, others require 1.65 volt Ram.

Most manufacturers give a list of Ram that is GUARANTEED to work with the mainboard.

They list several Ram manufacturers, and the exact part number of the Ram kit's that can be used. If possible/available choose one of those.

(getting ram from the list will make a mainboard manufacturer more wanting to help you if there is ever an issue with the mainboard. Otherwise they may say: with the wrong ram we can't guaranetee the mainboard works right.)

 

(Sometimes there are slight errors in the specs on vendor sites as well, so look the specs all over on the manuf site to make doubly sure the board has all the options you require.)

 

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Apart from that mainboard you picked well I think.

Good on you for building yourself. Much better results then you'd get from buying a pre-built system.

I did so as well two years ago and it was the best experience ever, and it still runs great. Enjoy!

il88pp

 

 

 

 

 

back then I chose:

GA-Z77X-d3h (Gigabyte Z77X series mainboard)

i5-3570k

Corsair Ram, 8gb, 1600Mhz, cl9, 1.5v. (CML8GX3M2A1600C9) (not on the official list btw, couldn't find any locally.)

DVD writer. Asus DRW-24 F1st

and some older parts I had:

Processor Cooler: Cooler Master 212 Evo.

Nvidia GT430 1Gb ddr3 card, active cooling.

1 Gb Hdd Sata III 7200rpm - Western Digial Caviar black.

Generic card reader.

later added:

256gb SataIII SSD Sandisk.