Delta Virtual Airlines Water Cooler

Delta Virtual Airlines Water Cooler | PC Support | Computer build

DVA8697
Captain, B777-200
OLP

Joined on June 03 2009
Online Century Club
50 State Club
Everett 500 Club
Million Mile Club
Millennium Club
DVA Fifteen-Year Anniversary

Southeastern United States

1,154 legs, 3,777.8 hours
157 legs, 198.5 hours online
1,148 legs, 3,769.6 hours ACARS
2 legs, 2.8 hours event

Posted onPost created on December 25 2012 13:47 ET by Jason Ontog

Hey guys, merry Christmas to all of you. I want to build a new system for fsx (been using FS9)and got a few components for Christmas. I'm wondering what else I need. I am going to cannibalize some parts from my old system, but I don't have it in front of me so I can't give exact specs on those. Also im not sure if i will be overclocking or not (mainly because i dont know too much about it). Any help in what else i will need would be appreciated...

Here is what's new...

Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo)
Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD5H motherboard
AZZA Solano 1000 Black/Black Japanese SECC Steel/Metal mesh in front ATX Full Tower Computer Case

Here is what's cannibalized...

450w PSU
Disc drive
Radeon 6950 GPU
8gb RAM
Internal hard drive (used for windows)
Seagate 500gb external drive or FSX/FS9

DVA2214
Captain, A330-300
OLP
E-MAIL

Joined on March 25 2005
50 State Club
Everett 500 Club
Globetrotter
White Knuckles Club
Million Mile Club
Millennium Club
US Capital Club
DVA Fifteen-Year Anniversary

"One takeoff and landing at a time"
Tampa, FL

1,124 legs, 2,777.2 hours
35 legs, 61.3 hours online
1,005 legs, 2,492.2 hours ACARS
1,153 legs, 2,869.7 hours total
111 legs dispatched, 90.7 hours

Posted onPost created on December 25 2012 17:16 ET by Anthony Katosh

looks good I would get a little higher power supply though. other than that looks like it could turn out to be a nice set up if the money there I would upgrade the GPU to Nvidia there's a lot of articles on the two while using fsx (ATI/NVidia) and for anyone that says you don't need a high graphics card, ask them this is fsx the only game you play most people do not factor this in when there giving hardware help, although FSX is CPU dependent you might also play other graphic intense games or other GPU dependent products that would require a nicer GPU just my 2-cents

Anthony Katosh (DVA2214)

Posted onPost created on December 25 2012 17:47 ET by Jason Ontog

Hey Anthony, thanks for the input. I figured i would need a bigger power supply, but wasn't sure. How high do i need, and do i need a cooling unit? I was thinking about getting the i7 instead of the i5 but from what i read i wouldnt notice the difference. As for the graphics card, I just bought it six months ago to take advantage of the eyefinity and use three monitors. I should mention though that I use the computer only for FS. I don't play any other games.

DVA455
Senior Captain, MD-88

Joined on April 29 2002
Century Club

"Aquatone"
Shelbyville, IN

132 legs, 255.8 hours
79 legs, 158.6 hours online
29 legs, 52.9 hours ACARS
2 legs, 3.8 hours event
276 legs, 632.7 hours total
23 legs dispatched, 11.3 hours

Posted onPost created on December 25 2012 18:07 ET by Ryan Watkins

Power supply prices have come down quite a bit over the years. I would recommend 600W, especially if you plan to have multiple internal hard drives down the road.

Ryan Watkins (DVA455)

Posted onPost created on December 25 2012 18:34 ET by Jason Ontog

thanks ryan, any cooling apparatus?

Posted onPost created on December 25 2012 21:29 ET by Ryan Watkins

You'll want some chassis fans, and don't pinch a penny on this area - remember, heat kills. Not sure what sort of case you have. I have a 120mm fan in the back of mine and another 120mm on top blowing the hot air out. The hottest air is always at the top so that's where my focus is.

As far as apparatus, I've seen people use liquid cooling before and almost all have said they regretted it, seeing hardly any real benefit and spending a lot more money to set it up. I also advise people to buy heat pipes for the processor versus the traditional heatsink. That depends on what you're doing really, though. If you run a lot of labor intensive processes, then you really need to pay close attention to cooling. But otherwise a few chassis fans will be sufficient. Heatsinks for your RAM modules are not a bad idea. Some people will tell you that heatsinks on RAM will give you some performance boost out of the modules themselves, others say it doesn't. I've never really charted it, so you can pick your flavor there.

If you really want to spend the big bucks you can always get an air conditioned case.

Ryan Watkins (DVA455)

Posted onPost created on December 25 2012 22:09 ET by Jason Ontog

the case that i have is an AZZA Solano 1000 which i just got as a present for Christmas. my wife bought it for me from newegg. i really wont be doing anything with this machine but using it for fs9/fsx, but i dont know how intensive that will get. could you give me an example of a chassis fan, not too familiar yet with it all.

Posted onPost created on December 25 2012 22:38 ET by Ryan Watkins

Sure, sorry about that. Here is an example from newegg. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103052&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleAdwords&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleAdwords-_-pla-_-NA-_-NA&gclid=CKHsiuaQt7QCFQeDnQodXwMACQ

I'm not making any recommendations to buy this product, or anything from any particular retailer, but this gives you an image of what you're looking for.

Some cases aren't equipped for that large of a fan so you may only be able to install a 90mm. Which is fine. Whatever the largest size your case can take, use that size. For example the holes in the back, on mine, allow me to install anything from 80, 90, and 120mm. I recommend the larger size. The smaller fans will give you smaller volume at higher velocity and the larger fans higher volume and lower velocity. Generally speaking, the larger fans run quieter. (Ever been in a server room and heard that distinctive whine from the rack blades?)

Here is an exerpt from the review on the case you described: "The AZZA Solano 1000 features two monster 230mm top and side fans, two 140mm front fans and one 120mm rear fan for exceptional cooling performance." -- 230mm is indeed a monster!

Look to see if fans came with it. If all of those are already there, you don't need to buy anything else, it will be a waste if you even consider it. In fact I'd say as it is this would be overkill for what you plan to use it for, as far as cooling is concerned. Definitely upgrade that 450W power pack. I'll stick to my earlier suggestion of 600W.

Ryan Watkins (DVA455)

Posted onPost created on December 26 2012 00:32 ET by Jason Ontog

Thanks for the clarification Ryan, I found a 650w fan on newegg that I think is pretty good. I appreciate your input and help smile

DVA4965
Senior Captain, B737-800

Joined on September 07 2007
Online Quintuple Century Club
Million Mile Club
Millennium Club
Everett Millennium Club
DVA Fifteen-Year Anniversary

Saratoga Springs, UT USA

1,195 legs, 3,500.8 hours
566 legs, 825.5 hours online
1,174 legs, 3,437.6 hours ACARS
26 legs, 51.6 hours event

Posted onPost created on January 07 2013 01:21 ET by Alan Cluff

I have personally seen huge performance gains in using a solid state drive for my operating system drive and also the flight sim drive if you can afford it.

Alan Cluff

Senior Captain, B737-800

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