FSX: Upgrade or New PC

[Graeme1873]

Hi All

Had the following PC specialist PC for about 5 years now primarily to run Flight Simulator X. Now getting to the stage I'd line to improve my specs to run some of the more complex scenery and aircraft that are now available but not sure whether to turn and upgrade my existing OCbor bite the billet and buy another from scratch.

Your thoughts would be welcomed. having looked at the upgrade options on The PCS website I'm not sure there is much I can do to the current machine?

Thanks
Donald

Case COOLERMASTER HAF 932 FULL TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7-2600 Quad Core (3.40GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics
Motherboard ASUS® P8P67 (NEW REV 3.0): USB 3.0, SATA 6.0GB/s, CrossFireX™
Memory (RAM) 8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card 1.25GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 570 - 2 DVI, HDMI, DP - 3D Vision Ready
2nd Graphics Card NONE
3rd Graphics Card NONE
1st Hard Disk 750GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD7502AAEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
2nd Hard Disk 500GB WD CAVIAR BLACK WD5002AALX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200rpm)
M.2 SSD Drive NONE
RAID NONE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive 24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
2nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive NONE
Memory Card Reader INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Power Supply CORSAIR 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£72)
Processor Cooling SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE CPU COOLER (£19)
Sound Card ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking ONBOARD GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI CARD (£16)
USB Options 6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
3G/4G Module NONE, I WILL BE USING BROADBAND
Floppy Disk Drive NONE
Firewire NONE
TV Card NONE
Operating System Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

 

[keynes]

You could consider upgrading to a gtx 1070 and adding an SSD as the primary drive.

 

[Scott]

New system required IMO. FSX is a CPU eating machine, I'm running an overclocked 6700k and it would happily take more if I could throw it at it (fairly stable 30+ fps in all scenarios).

Unfortunately to make the most of FSX with all the addons etc it takes a very high end PC. It's so poorly optimised that it doesn't take advantage of various modern features.

I wouldn't suggest upgrading the GPU to a 1070, the GPU will barely be utilised (I see around 20% max on my GTX1080 after hours of playing). Just about any GPU would handle FSX.

What sort of budget are you looking at? My recommendation would be to look at overclocked 7700k builds and see if that would meet the budget or not.

 

[Oussebon]

What kind of VRAM usage do you get on the 1080?

 

[Scott]

What kind of VRAM usage do you get on the 1080?

I've not checked it to be honest but I remember reading that no more than 2gb was ever used. I'll need to check it for myself though.

 

[Graeme1873]

New system required IMO. FSX is a CPU eating machine, I'm running an overclocked 6700k and it would happily take more if I could throw it at it (fairly stable 30+ fps in all scenarios).

Unfortunately to make the most of FSX with all the addons etc it takes a very high end PC. It's so poorly optimised that it doesn't take advantage of various modern features.

I wouldn't suggest upgrading the GPU to a 1070, the GPU will barely be utilised (I see around 20% max on my GTX1080 after hours of playing). Just about any GPU would handle FSX.

What sort of budget are you looking at? My recommendation would be to look at overclocked 7700k builds and see if that would meet the budget or not.

Thanks for the reply. I remember reading that the GPU is hardly used in FSX. In terms of budget I was hoping for something around £1,000 but could push that to £1,200 at a push. Would I be able to get something worthwhile, and future proofed, for that level of investment.

Donald

 

[Scott]

You won't really get a high end i7 for that money but definitely a high end i5......

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE S BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™i5-7600K Quad Core (3.80GHz @ up to 4.8GHz)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z270E GAMING: LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GB, Wi-Fi - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
8GB HyperX SAVAGE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 4GB Kit)
Graphics Card
4GB AMD RADEON™ RX 480 - HDMI, 3 x DP - DX® 12
1st Hard Disk
NOT REQUIRED
M.2 SSD Drive
256GB SAMSUNG SM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3100MB/R, 1400MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Noctua NH-U14S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 6 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,194.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z270-overclocked/4wNNb9YB!a/


As much as hyperthreading will have a slight advantage, it won't make as much of a difference as clock speed will so the i5 will suit nicely for this budget.


It's worth noting a few points. In order to keep within the budget I've compromised with the following:

CPU - i7 is an expensive luxury, you won't see a huge difference in FSX so unless you plan on eeking out every bit of performance it's worth leaving out. (Optional cost of i7 £118)

RAM - I would always recommend 16GB of RAM, FSX is limited due to being a 32bit application so there's no need to worry about 8GB not being enough though. 16GB is just what I would always say to people to aim for. Note, for some reason I can select the 3200 16GB kit but not the 8GB, hence why I went with the 3000mhz choice. If you go with 16GB, be sure to select 3200. (Optional upgrade to 16GB £85)

Motherboard - I've chosen a fairly high end motherboard. The reasoning is simple, the feature set is high for what you are paying. You get onboard Wifi, dual M2 ports, etc, etc, etc. This board is worth it. (Optional saving for lowest spec £57)

GPU - As much as you could save a little and go with the RX470 I don't feel that the savings justify going for the lower card. The 470 will run FSX with no issues but the 480 gives a little more scope with more modern games for a modest increase in price. (Optional saving £26)

Storage - I've simply chosen what can be afforded within the budget. In the future I would recommend adding a 1TB conventional drive to the system in order to store any games/addons/etc on. The 256gb M2 drive will fill up fast if you use FSX addons (ORBX etc). My current FSX install is now over 300GB on its own. (Optional 1TB drive Cost £45).

Cooler - I've went for a fairly high end cooler, this is to help with the longevity of the system. The Noctua will do an absolutely fine job with the i5 processor, you won't have to worry at all here. I wouldn't recommend going for one of the lesser coolers with FSX, it pushes the CPU.

Warranty - I've gone with silver, it's only £5. (Optional saving £5).

All the top options would bring the total to £1442.

Happy shopping

 

[Wozza63]

Might be worth considering a new Ryzen processor for this build. Could get an 8 core 16 thread for not much more than the i5 and CPU is the most important thing for FSX

 

[Graeme1873]

Many thanks - looks great. I think I'll go for this but include the 16gb RAM and the 1TB hard drive. Just one question. I regularly leave FSX running for long periods of time unattended (eg overnight)- is this dangerous with an over clocked processor? Thinking about the heat it may generate? Sorry if this is a daft question but I've no experience of over clocking and something being described as "over...." has me slightly concerned.

 

[Oussebon]

is this dangerous with an over clocked processor?

No is the short answer.

Kaby Lake i5s don't seem to have problematic temps when overclocked and 4.8GHz is a reasonably tame OC. The Noctua is an extremely capable cooler. It's good practice to keep an eye on temps anyway but they shouldn't be anywhere close to being a problem.

Modern CPUs have plenty of safeguards as well for temps so that in the unlikely event that there were an issue (e.g. CPU fan broke) it would take steps to avoid damage such as throttling and, if necessary, shutting down the PC.