Delta Virtual Airlines Water Cooler

Delta Virtual Airlines Water Cooler | PC Support | New Computer Help

DVA10783
Captain, B737-800
OLP

Joined on March 23 2012

"The stars are were we look not what's under us."
Billings, MT

83 legs, 147.2 hours
75 legs, 129.1 hours online
79 legs, 135.6 hours ACARS
1 legs, 4.9 hours event

Posted onPost created on June 17 2012 10:28 ET by Casey Penney

I am purchasing a new computer for FSX. I run ORBX scenery, FS2Crew, And payware aircraft. This is the computer
Alienware X51
Proccesser option is i3 i5 or i7
6GB of Memory
1TB hard Drive
Video Card unknown yet

What video card and Proccesser do you guys suggest? Thanks
Casey

Casey Penney

Captain, B737-800

DVA1416
Captain, B747-400

Joined on December 06 2003
50 State Club
Globetrotter
Quad-Jet Quartermaster
Everett 500 Club
Million Mile Club
Yellow Bird Club
Millennium Club
DVA Twenty-Year Anniversary

"Keep the blue side up!"
Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland Netherlands

1,021 legs, 2,992.7 hours
43 legs, 103.4 hours online
944 legs, 2,706.1 hours ACARS

Posted onPost created on June 17 2012 11:21 ET by Luc Maaskant

The more powerful, the better. FSX relies heavily on the CPU. As FSX won't profit from hyperthreading I'd suggest to go for a high-end i5 (quadcore sandy bridge/ivy bridge).

This will save you some dollars compared to the i7 to put into the gpu. To my knowledge FSX doesn't support SLI or CrossFire so pick a high end card. On a FS platform I have better experiences with Nvidia cards than Ati (I'm not saying Ati makes bad cards as I have a 5770XXX, Nvidia just seems to perform better).

Luc Maaskant

Captain, B747-400

DVA1038
Captain, B737-800
E-MAIL

Joined on January 12 2003
Century Club

"Celer, Silens, Mortalis"
Summerville, SC USA

169 legs, 1,008.2 hours
56 legs, 288.5 hours online
25 legs, 221.2 hours ACARS
1 legs, 5.0 hours event

Posted onPost created on June 17 2012 11:34 ET by Kevin Cornish

I'd go with the i7. FSX runs MUCH smoother using an i7.

Kevin Cornish

Captain, B737-800

DVA10131
Captain, MD-11
E-MAIL

Joined on August 29 2011
50 State Club
Century Club
Online Century Club

"If it's not Boeing, I'm not going"
Charleston, SC USA

136 legs, 473.3 hours
123 legs, 428.0 hours online
130 legs, 451.7 hours ACARS
11 legs, 38.5 hours event

Posted onPost created on June 17 2012 13:15 ET by Robbie Johnson

Do NOT get the X51. It is overpriced and has a low wattage PSU that you can't change out, which rules out a lot of the higher end GPUs. I would strongly recommend building it yourself, you could save a good bit of money that way & end up with an overall better system. An i5 is plenty, for FS purposes you will not see any difference an i5 and an i7 at the same clock. If you insist on buying prebuilt I would stay away from places like Dell, they overcharge for underpowered systems.

Robbie Johnson (DVA10131)

DVA5255
First Officer, A330-300

Joined on November 17 2007

Western United States

31 legs, 54.8 hours
15 legs, 18.7 hours ACARS

Posted onPost created on June 18 2012 12:04 ET by Louis Vanbelkum

I7 is not useless regardless of fsx not using hyperthreading people fail to notice that they still bench higher per core per mHz

Posted onPost created on June 18 2012 12:58 ET by Luc Maaskant

Thats right, the i7 will outperform the i5 slightly because it has a larger l3 cache. Still, it is generally not worth the extra 100$. I'd rather spend that on a dedicated WD Velociraptor diskdrive or a high end GPU.

It's all about balance in your system. A high end cpu and a low end gpu will still give you a headache.

Also, I'd recommend to not buy your system at Dell like Robbie pointed out. Perhaps you can visit a couple of local computer stores and have them set up a list for a customized rig for a budget you specified. If you don't actually know what to buy, or why to buy the hardware they specified, always ask around, and only be satisfied when you get a knowledgeable and honest answer. That way, you probably get more bang for your buck and support a store which is not only interested in your wallet.

Luc Maaskant

Captain, B747-400

Posted onPost created on June 18 2012 14:13 ET by Casey Penney

Thanks guys I will go to the local computer stores and ask around. Thanks.

Casey Penney

Captain, B737-800

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