Guys I went thru Nicks List and tried to pick out the components required to put a system togethor. Well the list and components I picked was almost 2 grand and I need to trim it back. I will be the first to tell you I have a basic (plus a little) understanding of computers. I built one system for my son so I am cofident I can make the build. But when it comes to the componits I sorta get lost on what I need and what is way over kill. So I thought I would show you my picks and see if I can get recomendation on trimming. If not well the system will have to wait. Thanks in advance for your help.

Basic Parts List

Asus P6T Deluxe v2
PKs pick - ASUS P6X58D Premium LGA 1366 Intel X58 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131614
Price-$284.99

GTX 285 video card.. fastest core and memory speed you can afford
PKs Pick BFG Tech BFGEGTX2851024OCBE GeForce GTX 285 1GB 512-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143190
Price-$349.99

i7 950 when they are released (975 if you want the extreme version.. much more expensive.. easier clocking)

Pks Pick-Intel Core i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 8MB L3 Cache LGA 1366 130W Quad-Core Processor 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115211
Price-569.99

WD VelociRaptor 300GB HD dedicated to FSX
PKs pick-Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000HLFS 300GB 10000 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136322
Price-199.99

A good single drive for the OS
PKs pick-Western Digital Caviar Blue WD3200AAKS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136074
Price 49.99


A decent CPU cooler to allow a 4GHz+ clock. The thermalright 120 1366 or the Scythe MUGEN-2 SCMG-2000 is starting to look good too
PKs Pick-COOLER MASTER Intel Core i7 compatible Hyper N 520 RR-920-N520-GP 92mm Sleeve CPU Cooler
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103057
Price 44.99

DDR3 1600 memory..  lowest timing possible:
Pks Pick-Patriot Viper 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model PVS34G1600LLK
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820220285
Price 139.99


PC Power & Cooling S75QB 750W
Pks Pick Antec TruePower New TP-750 Blue 750W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.3 / EPS12V V2.91 SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC "compatible with Core i7/Core i5" Power Supply
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371022
Price 129.99


A good tower that allows a lot of airflow.. the rest of the parts is up to you
Pks Pick-Customer Reviews for COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119137
Price 69.99

PK

Well, I hope I can help you save money, although the parts you picked are almost the VERY BEST stuff one can buy! I would look at this motherboard- the Asus Rampage II @ $219:

http://www.frys.com/product/5863493?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG
There is also an "extreme series" that is $150 more, but meh, and their whole website is a great resource at your disposal. If you live in an area where they have stores,try not to get lost in there. My girlfriend hates it when we go there "just to look for a minute".

Take a look at this CPU @ $280 cheaper:

http://www.frys.com/product/5751812?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG
It's not the 950 you want, but it's new, and the wife may be easier on you for getting it...

Also, look at this combo @89.99 for 3GB:

http://www.frys.com/product/5994634?site=sr:SEARCH:MAIN_RSLT_PG
With that board, you'll be able to change latency timings on these sticks, and save yourself some dough.

Go with a decent PSU, like this one for $199:

http://www.frys.com/product/5278537
It's the one I use. It's cheap, 80%+ efficient, and plenty of headroom for demanding appsand hardware. No video card and CPU combo will need more than that, unless you're running 2 5970's at MAX throttle all the time.

The case I got is the same as IdahoSurge's: the coolermaster HAF (High Air Flow). Lots of fans, vents, room for stuff, and big, goofy, dumb hands to tinker on it. Around $160+-.

Here's the big one. That video card is a great choice. However, I'd go with a newer ATi product. For example the 5850 is the same price, (+- $10) but DX11 ready, 1GB GDDR5 (not GDDR3) and that helps ATi (and their 256 bit bus-width) get around the 512 bit bus-width offered by NVidia. More calculations per second (measured in TeraFlops) and the XFX one has a "black edition" that has a stack of OC and OV options you can tweak to get a better card than you bought as advertised. At least take a look at it. It will suprise you. $359 +-

For HDDs, I would say that having FSX on it's own will help, but just defragging often enough is very adequate. You would get a performance gain, but the $ is better spent elsewhere. Here's an alternative without buying a new HDD-
If you have the original operating system disk, and you have another HDD (or partition your primary), try this (worked GREAT for me):

Save all your desirables to another HDD or partition (take a couple days, just to be sure of the stuff you use often).
Put in the OS disk.
Restart.
When it asks you to "boot from CD", do it.
Somewhere, the OS will ask you where to install, etc, and give an option to format the rest of this HDD.
Do it.
Allow it to do its thang, and when it's done, reinstall FSX and your add-ons first thing.
Then move your desirables back.

Easy and effective. No need for 2 HDDs, just a clean install. If you need to, get an extra HDD for your other stuff, but you will only need 1, really. That's all I use, and it runs VERY well for me.

So now we got a board, some RAM, a CPU, a GPU, PSU, and a new case, lets total:
$219.99-Asus Rampage 2 MoBo
$179.98-Kingston CL9 ($89.99x2 for 6 GB)
$288.99-Intel i7-920
$359.99-ATi 5850 (black edition)
$199.99-Antec 850W PSU
$169.99-Coolermaster HAF (this was the AMD red edition, newegg has the black one for +-$100)
$1418.93, plus tax in your area.

You can find these cheaper other places. I checked Frys.com for all this stuff. Newegg, Amazon, Ebay, etc. may give you better results.
Another point to ponder, if you're going to go with an entirely new build, then it's going to cost you right now. If somebody makes a new processor, then prices will start to fall. However, of course, then we're all going to want the new one, and so on...
If you're using DDR2 now, then the switch means a new MoBo, and RAM to go in it. That's not cheap. Especially building Intel. The proc you're looking at is already $100 more than AMD Ph II. Tri-channel RAM, so 6 stix, etc...

I tried to help, but looks like the price tag didn't necessarily go down that much, hmmm.
I wish you the best of luck with your build, and see you in there!

idahosurge wrote on Feb 16^th, 2010 at 4:24pm:


And again, for clarity:
"This is not a slam at ATI, it is just with FSX more people have better performance with Nvidia!  Some people with ATI and FSX have no problems, reading through the forums though a lot of people with ATI and FSX do have problems."

It seems that after reading those and other posts, the people were having problems switching from an Nvidia to ATi card, eg. driver conflicts, the like.

I've been running my ATi 4870 for 2 years now, and it's the only brand I've ever used. and haven't had any problems EVER with it.

I know you're not trying to slam ATi, and the people that use them. Not to slam Nvidia, either (as they are who's been keeping ATi on their toes) but their cards seem really power hungry, and expensive.

That said, there's only 2 choices for video card architecture, and if you start with either, on a new system, any NEW card is going to ROCK. They have come so far in recent times (this year specifically) that you will be happy with your choice, no matter which one you choose.

Pay attention to these specs:
1. Bus width: ATi uses a 256-bit buswidth. Nvidia uses 512. This # is simply understood by most, as "bigger is better", and it is really true. To work around this, ATi uses GDDR5 (much faster speed, bigger bandwidth, supposedly)
2. RAM: How much on each card? ATi keeps it simple @ combos of 512 MB, 1GB, 2GB. Nvidia uses the same, and others like 768MB, other combos.
3. Power Consumption: Idle vs. Loaded- Correct me if needed, but I think usually Nvidia cards use more power in either condition. I know for a fact ATi's 5970 (dual GPU) uses 50 or so idle, and 290 max. That's a lot, but it's dual GPU. Not bad, really.
4. Calculations Per Second: Don't really know where Nvidia lands here, but the 5970 does 4.64 TeraFlops. Geeze. (I can't help but think that the Cray Supercomputer of yester-year needed a warehouse to keep all the modules in. It was HUGE, and only 1+ teraflops. Anyone else remember reading about that one in Popular Science?)
5. There was nothing else I can think of that makes any real practical difference (at least as far as anything a regular ol' guy like me would understand), but those are the basics. This stuff is anything of any essential value to your system that I've got and can explain.

Again, I just want to say that ATi is no less a performer for FSX as ANYTHING out there. ATi doesn't create problems for FSX, (quite the contrary, for me anyway), has no issue giving me 60 FPS, and sometimes over 200+ FPS in some areas at ALL MAX SETTINGS (packed freeways, buildings, boats in the water, bad weather, add-on AC like PMDG 747, LOADED down). BOTH CARD makers have VERY COMPARABLE products, and don't let anyone tell you different, bud. There is no "better than the other" in this area. Every year, the geniuses at either place get together and figure out how to make theirs better than the last version and the other guy's. Nvidia users pay more, normally, but they have a great product, just the same. You choose, and don't let the dogmatic naysayers tell you something different. (I'm not pickin on ANYONE, just tired of hearing it. I'm the only one I know of standing up for ATi, because mine ROX. Otherwise, I wouldn't recommend one to someone. I will NEVER use an NVidia card. Cooling fan issues, read about how one MELTED, etc.)
Point to ponder: If ATi made problems, wouldn't they be out of business by now? You decide. Then read about that new 5970, and it's HUGE performance gains over EVERY Nvidia card. HOWEVER, remember that Nvidia WILL make one, here pretty soon, that WILL CRUSH it. That's just the way it always goes.
The best advice I can give is this: get THE BEST of whichever brand you like, because you'll always compare a lower model's performance to the one you wish you'd got.

Da end.

[quote author=General_Yeager link=1266171374/5#5 date=1266429782]ALso, @ IdahoSurge, that is quite a powerful system you run in your signature! Good job on that CPU OC.




Thanks, I am thinking about going for 4.4GHz, but I am not sure that I want to stress the CPU that much plus the fact that I am on air cooling and do not want to go to water.

I agree with what you said, the really best advise is to get the best that you can afford of the brand that you like!

I have had Nvidia and ATI.  The only game I play is FSX and Nvidia does it for me, but no matter how good your GPU is, if you do not have a CPU to support it then it is all for nothing.

This PC is my first Intel, all others have been AMD and this is my first OC, I doubt that I will go back to AMD anytime soon.

I am so glad that I went with NickN's advise and did not cut any corners, this PC rocks and everytime I fire FSX up I am so glad that I went ahead with the PC.  Plus the fact that for the next generation of Intel 6 core CPU's all I need is a BIOS update and I am set.  Maybe a nice i7 980 in a couple of years after the price drops at least 50%.

Rod

Thanks all for your responses. This rigg is being built for FSX mainly. I will look at all the recomendations and see what I can slide by the boss  . With a few tweaks though I think Im on my way. Again thanks for all your responses. And for Frys it my fav store and yes my wife hates it to. I bring stuff home she ask "whats that for" and I reply Heck I dont even know what it is, but it looks cool and it was on sale LOL.