Building a new desktop

I'm retired recently and want to build a new PC. Never done this before, so not sure where to begin, but I've got the time. Mostly I want to play flight simulator on it.

Where do I begin? I've got a budget of 800 dollar.

Thanks!

Find a Computer Store near you (but NOT Best Buy!). Go to them and tell them your budget ($800) and they will put together a rig for you. They don't charge extra for advice. They will know what parts go together BEST to get a 'balanced' system (ie: no bottlenecks). That is what I did. I took the parts home and read the manuals (plus read online and watched videos on YouTube on 'How-To'). That was 5 yrs ago. My rig is good enough for FSX Accel and get 30 fps (after tweaks to fsx.cfg). It's air cooled - no liquid cooling needed because the i7 runs cool and stays at 43 C even when it's 80 F inside the house. I am 78 yrs old so age is no barrier. Take your time. Never guess. Have a table ONLY for PC stuff (you may leave it sit for a day). Keep all paperwork, manuals, etc in safe place. Get a buddy that know PC stuff to help if needed. Good luck.

Chuck B

Napamule

Do you have any particular brand choices? If you go here, look at the highest scored CPU you can afford. https://www.cpubenchmark.net/singleThread.html

FS is a single threaded game and is mostly CPU orientated. So the CPU will be the most important part.

With a Kaby Lake or Coffee Lake CPU, you should use Windows 10, but I guess you don't have to. If you want updates you'll have to apply a hacked patch with a newer CPU and Win 7.

I can put together a parts lists, you buy the parts and take it to a PC shop and they will build if for around $100. Or you can build it yourself if you're willing to learn. I'd start by watching some YouTube videos and doing your research. Do you even know how to install an operating system?

I recently bought a Dell gaming computer at Sam's Club on sale for $849.00. With tax, $900.00. Here are the specs:Windows 10 Home, 64bit Core i7 8th gen 8700 CPU @3.2Ghz, 8GB DDR4 2400 RAM ( I added three more 8GB for $274), Nvidia GeForce GTX1060 3GB Video Card. Power supply is 450 watts. It also claims to have 16GB of "Optane memory," what ever that is.

The processor is listed at number 4 from the top of the chart mentioned above.

If there is any weak spot in the system it would most likely be the video card. You can spend over $1000 for the best one out there. BTW, the sale ended and they are out of stock at my local store but more will be coming at $1050.00. I'm not sure you can build a "no compromises" gamer for under $800 buying everything separately.

If you want to run current or future flight sims stutter-free, and with a modicum of quality graphics, $800 is basically a cover charge.

I too recommend that you purchase a pre-built PC (stay away from Dell low-end PC's). Putting together a complete PC build yourself can be a daunting project, especially w/o some experience. Save-up, or spring for more bucks and get a better PC. There are many article available in this and other Forums on the minimum PC requirements to run a flight sim...

Make sure you have good back up software and always make an image on a separate drive before you add or alter anything.

(This applies to any computer system, not just for Flight Sim!)

I use Norton Ghost (there are many others) and it's by far the most important software on my computer, as it has saved me from myself countless times.

Good luck with your project! :)

Read what I posted here: https://www.flightsim.com/vbfs/showthread.php?313853-I-would-appreciate-your-thoughts-on-upgrading&p=2063308#post2063308

Tip:

Many people seem to make the God awful mistake of bolting down the motherboard to the case. Don't do that. With the case or the motherboard (can't remember which now) will supply you with the motherboard standoffs. Those get screwed into the case and the motherboard holes line up with the stand offs for the screws that hold the motherboard to the case.

Tip #2:

When I put my computer together which was my first build, (prior to that I did major upgrades to OEM Dell computers) I noticed that my case, a Cooler Master Storm Scout II Advanced had holes that lined up with my motherboard holes, but there was one or two other holes that didn't line up. If you have such a case be well aware of it because you may end up screwing in a standoff that doesn't belong where it will make contact to the underside of the motherboard and short it out. That would suck beyond SUCK!

I spent the better part of some ten hours on the night and early morning of May 6th 2017 (LOL!) carefully putting my computer together. While I'm pretty damn good in things like computers and fairly good at websites, I always take my time, read as much as I can and then read and understand some more. In the end it's a great learning experience (which is why I have a website), and it's rewarding to know you built your own computer. I could have slapped it all together quicker, but I don't have money to blow and I certainly didn't want to make returns and turn a simple computer build into a weeks long project. I built it, powered it up and viola! It works. And has been working for over a year now.

Tip #3:

I highly recommend you think of contingencies in two realms, and they are, 1) a power failure and 2) a complete OS mess up due to malware or anything else.

Two combat a power loss and having your computer PSU or motherboard go to pot, I highly recommend a good UPS (Universal Power Supply). I bought the 850VA version of this one here.. It will last 15 minutes with its battery when the power goes out according to its LED display. (You don't need the software or USB cable) I have tested a power outage and it kept everything on like nothing ever happened. The switching between mains power and battery is in the mili seconds. 15 minutes may not sound like a lot of time, but it's plenty of time to allow you to save your flight or work, etc and power off the computer in a normal fashion rather then an abrupt loss of power which could ruin your machine. I've seen countless posts all across the Internet of people's computers that got hosed due to a power failure. But, BUT, a UPS or surge protector will NOT protect you from a lightning strike. During a lightning storm it's best to power off your UPS and unplug everything. I'm so paranoid about lightning I do this all the time. I mean, I have after all about $3000 worth of crap. This particular UPS is meant for an active PSU which you will most likely get. If you have an active PSU you have to have a UPS meant for active PSUs. I contacted the company and they told me this UPS was indeed meant for active PSUs. Something else I want to mention. I have 15 minutes of battery time and that's with the computer, two monitors and a 5.1 surround sound system with a sub woofer. I was impressed at the battery time given all the crap I have plugged into it. LOL

On point number two. I would periodically clone the computer to an external USB hard drive of adequate size. I use the free version of AOMEI Backupper to accomplish this. Then the external USB hard drive is stored in a zip lock bag in a fireproof safe. The inside of these safes get moist with fire so you need to use a zip lock bag. Make sure the safe is rated for electronics. They cost around $35. I would make the PE Windows AOMEI Backupper disk or USB so that you can clone back to your computer in a pre-installed boot environment. All that means is that when you want to clone your good copy of your backup to your computer, you boot the PE-environment disk created by AOMEI like you would a Windows install disk and from there you can clone from the external USB hard drive to your computer. The PE-Environment is like a live version of Windows except it runs from CD or USB.

I have exactly three backup methods for FSX myself. The periodic clone of the whole computer, a copy of the whole FSX directory to another external hard drive, and I have a software that makes an automatic copy of changed FSX data to my secondary hard drive in the computer every time I boot my computer. You can read about that at my site. I shared it here, but a Mod pulled it for some reason.

When I get a blu-ray burner capable of burning to 128 GB blu-ray disks, I plan on creating a backup to blu-ray as well. LOL I just don't trust mechanical or flash-based mediums, even though I have three backups. I in fact backup my website to DVD/RW every now and then. My host makes one backup every 24 hours, and I make my own backups every two weeks or so that are encrypted and stored on my personal home FTP, and cloud providers like Amazon S3 and others.

Anyway... think in terms of contingency. It may cost you a little more, but you'll be better off. I'd not only be royally pissed off to lose my data, but it would be a major PITA to have to reinstall and download all of my add-ons, programs, etc. Right now, malware has little chance at doing any damage and that's besides my very tight ship I run. My laptop and other computers get cloned and I use CloudBerry Backup with those with Amazon S3 for important data. In this day and age, I can't tell you how many stories I've read of people losing data, and I simply refuse to be a victim. I'd hazard a guess and say it's not if it happens but only a matter of when. Word of the day: contingency.

Damn, can't edit my long, drawn out post now. HAHAHA

Once upon a time I ran around school like that with a mini tape recorder, pen, mechanical pencil, floppy disk, and a test tube, yes, a freaking test tube in my shirt pocket. :D HAHAHAHA!