Gaming Build for FSX with i7 975

[Space_Monkey]

While i'm building my own system i've been hired to help a friend of mine build a system. Now i realize that this system is both overkill and overpriced but i'm going to post it here to see what you guys think.

There is no real budget currently for this build, but i'm going to put one at $2,500 just so things don't get too out of hand.

The system is going to be used only for FSX and school work, and maybe other games, but nothing more stressful than WoW.

I'm not paying for this, if i was i wouldn't do this, but he wants the newest core i7-975. No, he needs it, or so he says. Hes only gaming at 1680x1050.

anyways, here is the setup


CPU: Intel Core
i7-975---------------------------------------------------->$1,019.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115212

Motherboard: DFI LP DK
X58-T3eH6------------------------------------------>$219.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813136065

Memory: OCZ Gold 6gb(3 x 2gb) DDR3
1600----------------------------------->$99.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227365

Hard Drive: WD Caviar Black
1tb------------------------------------------->$99.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136284

Case: Antec 902 Mid Tower
Case-------------------------------------------->$129.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129058

Power Supply: Corsair
850tx----------------------------------------------->$139.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139009

Video Card: MSI N285GTX SuperPipe
OC-------------------------------------->$349.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127428

DVD Burner: Some Random DVD-DL
Burner------------------------------------->$27.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151188

CPU Cooling: ZeroTherm Nirvana
NV120-------------------------------------->$49.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835887011

Total Cost (Before Shipping):
-------------------------------------------->$2137.91



Note that this is only for FSX so eveything here has been taylored to that game. I realize that i can get a 4890 for cheaper, and Crossfire two of them for a little over the cost of the GTX285, but FSX only supports 1 GPU from what i'm being told, so it would do no good. Also, I think that the HDD should be SSD, and then a secondary storage, or a velociraptor and then secondary, but he insists on one big drive, so i decided on the WD caviar Black.


Thank you for any input!! This system is irratating me alot lol, its just not even, and its not optimized. IMHO its completely unneeded.

[SoulsCollective]

You've pretty much said it all. I'd show your friend all the SSD benches and press the redundancy/data loss line to try and get them to move to a storage array and boot/apps drive. Also, show them some pixs of FSX on larger monitors - with that kind of budget, a 22" is :rofl:

[YMAA]

He should have a 24-28" display and a 920 with 12GB of RAM instead of a 22" and a 975, particularly since the 920 will match the 975 in terms of clock while on air. Your friend needs to have his eyes opened to the world of overclocking.

[clayton]

I would just surrender that CPU and get a 30" monitor instead. Now that's the ultimate gaming experience.

[zanzabar]

the 285 looses to the 4890 whene they are both oced, and at sold speeds the xfx black or saphire vaporX will beat the liquid edition 285 while being cheaper. and did u tell him that u could get a way better monitor and a 950 that runs the same speed as the 975

with $2500 u should get the 850hx its an 80+ gold and its much better than the tx, then i think that u could also do a better case the antec 900 and 1200 cases are ugly IMO and there are so many better cases even the coolermaster 690 is better IMO and its cheaper

and u can get a better heatsink
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835233029

[systemviper]

I would think with all that quality that the MB would be a classifed or something in that class

also as much as I liked the zerothermm, I would suggest the True Black or the Xig direct touch (dark Knight)

i'm a NV guy so i like that choice.
like the PS
Like the WD Black

But again i would go with a better cooler and motherboard

[Space_Monkey]

You've pretty much said it all. I'd show your friend all the SSD benches and press the redundancy/data loss line to try and get them to move to a storage array and boot/apps drive. Also, show them some pixs of FSX on larger monitors - with that kind of budget, a 22" is :rofl:

Exactly lol, he should be running atleast 26" But he says he desk will only fit a 22"...... though i think he should buy a new desk ; )

[jcool]

Take it from someone who has a 975 - don't get one ;)
I got mine way before other D0's were out, it doesn't make any sense to buy one now.
Get a W3520 or, if you wanna go overkill, a W3540.

For the money saved on the CPU, get a decent WC setup. And an SSD of course, this thing will be a slouch without SSDs.

[Space_Monkey]

As far as the 4890 goes, i've been told that it doesnt do as well as the 285 when it comes to FSX. I could be wrong, but i'm pretty sure that 12gb of ram is going to get the same FPS as 6gb on FSX. Also, There will be no overclocking on this system, the Owner has no idea how to build a computer let alone oc. I wish lol, i mean come on, why does someone like that get a system that OCs like a dream. Is the classified really worth it in this case? I mean seeing as there will be no OC and no Crossfire or SLI

[Space_Monkey]

Thank you for all posting! I did not expect such a large response so fast lol. So far i think i will change the PSU to an HX, No reason not too, and also maybe switch teh video

[zanzabar]

dont get a classified if u dont oc, i think that the dfi jr is a good choice. and i would agree with getting the xeon there is a marketing premium on getting a server line cpu so most people will go with that over the extreme edition given the option.

and FSX wont run better with a 4890 or 285 they are both really overkill, the 4890 will have better video playback and 2d though with a little lower power consumption and with the i7 u dont need the cuda transcoder and thats the only thing that NV has as an advantage

and change the case maybe a lianli or mini p180 get something nice looking, the 902 looks like a toy

[Space_Monkey]

Ok i figured that at this res it would be overkill. He wants to max out his fps, apparently he competes or something.

Thank you for all the input, hopefully i can talk him into being a reasonable person lol

[fiskov]

Just got to say, if you can afford it get the Solid State HDD.
I just got a G.Skill Falcon 128GB for the exact same reason, FSX.
Before i used 2x Western Digital Raptors, textures would take time to load and you'd get flat simple scenery till it slowly built up the quality.
That just doesn't happen anymore (Unless your in a jet going mach 1+ at 600ft). Gameplays overall so much smoother since the swap its lovely.

[RayderR6]

For FSX (I play it):
1) stick with Nvidia (285 is the right choice now and OC'ing it doesn't matter) and use Nhancer
2) CPU is everything (you must OC, no less than 3.6GHz, turbo and HT off), get a D0 920 and OC it, other i7 choices are waste of money.
3) HDD I/O's are important and most texture loading is large so you won't get bogged by small reads (CPU clock and HDD speed are the 2 biggest factors in FSX), a good SSD is the way to go unless he's a major addon guy and that could get expensive
4) FPS in FSX doesn't mean anything like the video card driven games. You want smoothness and you can find it around 30FPS. Don't even use FRAPS or in game counter, adjust for smoothness and it's all almost all CPU and HDD optimization.
5) Don't use onboard raid, hardware raid or single drive. A dedicated SSD with FSX files would be highly efficient.

[Mango31]

the 285 looses to the 4890 whene they are both oced, and at sold speeds the xfx black or saphire vaporX will beat the liquid edition 285 while being cheaper.

For FSX you want nVidia. Believe me...

[Ch3ck5um]

I run FSX with 2x GTX280's in SLI with a i7 920 clocked to 3.6ghz and Samsung 1TB F1's and at 1920x1200 its very smooth :)

[Xello]

Also, There will be no overclocking on this system, the Owner has no idea how to build a computer let alone oc. I wish lol, i mean come on, why does someone like that get a system that OCs like a dream.

So overclock it for him. You are the one building it, right? Don't let him get a 975 when you can get something for a fraction of the price that will overclock the same :down: .... and get that 30" monitor :up:

[jpennstar]

Yeah stick with Nvidia and high CPU clocks. I run the e8400 @ 3.6; GTX275; 2GB; WD Velocirapor and I have really good frames on Ultra quality and 1920x1080 res, 2x AA.