In the process of putting together the hardware for a new computer. First upgrade in 3 1/2 years. Want to upgrade fsx experience and be ready for future games (mostly for fsx experience.)
My selections as of right now.

Mobo: EVGA 123-YW-E175-A1 LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 750i SLI

Cpu:      Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775

Cpu cooler: OCZ OCZTVEND2 120mm Rifle CPU Cooler

Ram:      CORSAIR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)

Dual Video cards: EVGA 512-P3-N975-AR GeForce 9800 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card

Hard drives: Western Digital Caviar RE WD2500YS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

Raid card: HighPoint RocketRAID1720 PCI SATA II Controller Card RAID 0/1 JBOD

Case and Psu: Antec TITAN650 Pedestal Server Case 650W Antec Psu

Flight controls: Saitek PZ35 Pro Flight Rudder Pedals
Saitek PZ44 Pro Flight Yoke System Controllers

Suggestions or comments much appreciated.

i appreciate the comment. i keep seeing conflicting information about how effective sli is in fsx. since my current system is still running a 9700 pro card on a amd athlon xp 2700+ thoroughbred i am way over due for an upgrade.

Nick I am glad you popped up here. After much of the day searching past threads on this forum I have made a few adjustments to my list. I have substituted my Motherboard, video card and memory.

Motherboard   ASUS RAMPAGE FORMULA LGA 775 Intel X48

Video card      EVGA 896-P3-1262-AR GeForce GTX 260 Superclocked Edition 896MB 448-bit GDDR3

Ram            CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066

Everything else is staying the same unless someone can point out a reason for change.

I notice that you seem to have a preference toward x38 and x48 motherboards, can you explain why?
why the preferences for corsair dominator series of ram as compared to the corsair xms series?
Lastly I have finally come to understand the logic behind looking at a video cards bit rate more than its model number designation.
After combing through your posts over a good part of the year, I am greatly appreciative of any info or insight you can share with me.

Thanks Dennis

There is one other thing I would like to point out

you are building a FSX tower. You are selecting DDR2 parts and DDR3 is now entering its 2nd generation with i7.

For about 500 more you could put yourself into a tower that will out perform what you selected by a longshot. Considering the fact that you could spend that 500 on a different processor running DDR2 and never see the same performace in FSX I would suggest you may wish to change the processor, motherboard and memory to i7

You will most likely reach a point of wanting to upgrade that Q6600 which is really a old news processor since the Q96 hit the market.

i7 940
P6T Palm motherboard (OC Palm is a nice feature)
DDR3 1600 3x2GB 8-8-8 1.65v

You will need a socket 1366 heatsink if you intend to try and clock above 3.5GHz and that proc will do 4. Thermalright is releasing a 120 Extreme 1366 version in about a week or so which comes with a fan. Or a 120 Extreme can be used with a special backplate mount sold to convert the 120 Extreme socket 775 to 1366 but the original 120 Extreme does not come with a PWM 4 pin fan

Use a 64bit OS for full 6GB access. If 32bit you can mark the OS for >2GB aware and use up to 3.2GB of the first 4. FSX SP2 is >2GB aware and will use the memory


You will probably spend about 550 more for all that but the result in FSX will be much greater than the highest most insane overclock you can ever get out of the Q6600 or even a Q9650 on DDR2

To make full use of 1066 and good 1066 product you need to be on these settings:

http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1223693603

2nd post down.

He was onDDR2 1066 and a Q6600 till we got him into a Q9650 and a DDR3 system



Thing is.. FSX is the game that tops all others for resource needs in CPU therefore if you really want decent FSX results you need to clocking the Q6600

What you want out of FSX and what you are willing to pay for that result is up to you

Nick,
Well after much soul searching and gnashing of teeth, I think I have my new system finally nailed down.

First I would like to extend a big “Thank You” to you and everyone else that has taken the time to help people on this forum. I have spend considerable time combing through the back posts and recommendations that you and others have provided over the last year and used those as the foundation for getting my system off the ground. Without your willingness to share your information with others, this would have been an extremely hard process and not all together guaranteed to provide maximum results for the money spent.

This is a general upgrade for me not an FSX dedicated system. I built my current system 3.5 years ago and while it really does everything I need it to do, it doesn’t fly FSX very well. So the new rig is put together as a replacement for my current one, with an eye on stepping into better technology that will allow expansion as prices drop on higher end components, better FSX performance and a $2000 budget.

My current system specs are as follows

CPU: AMD Athlon XP 2700+ Thoroughbred 2.16 GHz
Mobo: Asus A7N8X-E Nvidia nForce2 Ultra 400
Ram: CORSAIR XMS 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM (PC 3200) Dual Channel 2.5/3/3/7
Gpu: Sapphire ATI 9700 pro 128MB DDR memory 256-bit
Hdd: Western Digital Caviar SE WD800JB 80GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive
XP Pro service pack 2

I am not a big gamer by any means, in fact other than FSX the only games I play are older games that my current rig handles fine.


My new system specs

Case: Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129021
(side and rear fan ports dremeled out and replaced with grill vents)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811999204
X-tra Case fans: Scythe S-FLEX SFF21E 120mm Case Fan
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835185005
Mobo: ASUS P6T Deluxe LGA 1366 Intel X58
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131346
Cpu: Intel Core i7 940 Nehalem 2.93GHz
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115201
Ram: OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 Triple Channel
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227365
Gpu: EVGA GeForce GTX 280 SSC Edition 1GB 512-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130368
Hdd: Western Digital Caviar SE16 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s
(1 as a storage drive and 1 as the OS and general use drive)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136098
Hdd: Western Digital VelociRaptor 150GB 10000 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s (FSX drive only)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136296
Psu: PC Power & Cooling S75QB 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI NVIDIA SLI Certified
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817703009
Heat sink and fan: Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme-1366 RT CPU Heat sink
http://www.frozencpu.com/products/8444/cpu-tri-57/Thermalright_Ultra-120_eXtreme...

I think my only concern right now is the hard drive configuration. I am still trying to get a handle on running FSX off its own hard drive. I have always used a primary drive and a storage drive, adding a third drive for FSX is taking some research to get a handle on.

I did go over budget by $91.00 but for what I am getting I don’t think I will complain.

Any comments information anyone would like to comment on is extremely welcome.
Thanks Dennis

Hi Dennis,

Get the 300Gb Velociraptor for FSX.  That 150Gb will fill up fast and you really only have 50% of your drive to use if you want to keep drive performance.  They're going for well under the original $300 price tag they used to have.  You're going to have a real nice sim once you get that chip to 4GHz.   

-Jim

Dennis

it's good to see you have your parts now. it's hard waiting for that cooler knowing you have everything else, isn't it? 

I"ve had my system for about 2 weeks now and it's been running like a dream. I got my i7 920 to 3.8ghz stable and that's without lapping the proc and the HSF yet... once I do I'll be able to get 4ghz easily I hope. I expect you'll have no hard time with that 940 to 4ghz.

your system will run much better than mine I believe... you have the 280 and I have the 260, and still runs games like Crysis very smooth at highest resolution (1680x1050) with AA to ON! I've clocked that sucker from 576mhz to 670mhz easily... make sure you clock that 280 to get the most out of it

the case runs quite cool and the airflow is fantastic, that's me saying that without having modded it (too lazy). if you've got that sucker modded... it's gonna run like the arctic in there 

believe me, you'll be extremely happy you did this upgrade. not only will you be able to play FSX problem-free, but you'll have the ability to play Crysis and Far Cry 2 without having to yell at your computer 

enjoy your new toy, man!

Andy