Its time for an upgrade

[T6flyer]

Hello,

My sim Pc is now getting on a bit and things are starting to fail, so think its about time that I upgraded to something else. As still want to run FS2004 and then perhaps FSX at a later date, have been looking around for something a lot faster. Think have decided to go for a Intel Core i5 2500K (as I read this can be easily overclocked), 4-8gig RAM, but then haven't a clue as to a suitable Graphics Card. So, thought this was the best place to ask and here I am!:)

Don't really want to go over £800 if I can help it, but notice a wide variation on prices, with Ebay sellers being a £100+ less for the Board, Chip and Memory as package than the main parts dealers. All seems a bit of a minefield to me. Might also ask my local PC shop for a quote too.

Best wishes,

Martin

[Tomliner]

I'm in more or less same positiion Martin so will be interested in reading the replies.There is plenty of knowledge available here.Regards EricT

[JohnD]

Have you tried pcspecialists.co.uk? You can 'build your own' pc by selecting from various options and its give you a total at the end so you amend and re-specify it as you go.

I've had one for 2-3 years now and will certainly go there again for my next upgrade.

Regards

John

[speedbird591]

Intel have a new family of Ivy Bridge processors coming out (or maybe are out) which they say are a big improvement on the present Sandy Bridge i5 and i7s, particularly for graphics. And of course, Windows 8 is imminent.

Ben will be along soon to give us expert guidance but I think I'll wait for a few months to see if these will bring benefits for FSX.

Ian

[TSR2]

The current thinking seems to be that the new Ivy Bridge setup offers little improvement performance wise over its predecessor. One of the young chaps in work had been holding out for these and found his wifes PC which is using the i5 2500k almost matches his i7 Ivy bridge and he's gutted. The smart money is pick up one of the bundles of mem / CPU / motherboard using the i5 2500k and a decent branded motherboard. Graphics card wise, the 560ti that a few of us bought earlier in the year is hard to fault in FS and runs the Windows8 preview easily. Hard disks, id get 2, budget will probably rule out sad, but to good spec hard disks, one specifically for FS shouldn't break the bankabd you might have enough left for a nice 24" screen.
I would avoid ebay like the plague as you'll easily get everything you need with good branded pruducts from the mainstream online computer components places

[Nigel H-J]

Hi Martin

As Ben remarked the Nvidia 560 is an extremely good graphic card - I have it installed and runs FS9 fully maxed out - Heathrow for example, 100% traffic and getting around 45fps on the ground!!

Regards
Nigel

[TSR2]

Just had a quick look on Dabs (just to give you an idea) and you'll get..

700w OCZ PSU
Asus P8Z68-V LX MB
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz
Patriot Memory 8GB (2 x 4GB) Viper Xtreme Series PC3-15000 1866MHz
2 x Western Digital 250GB VelociRaptor SATA 6Gb/s 64MB 10K 3.5" Hard Drive
Asus GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores Graphics Card

for approx £780 including VAT and delivery (UK)

[ianhind]

I agree with Ben about the new i5-3750k. People who didn't buy SandyBridge chips because they thought IvyBridge would be more overclockable seem to be disappointed. For the rest of us, price will decide. If the i5-2500k is cheaper, go for it since it's proven. I reckon my 2500k is going to last for a good few years. If it feels slow, I can overclock it - for now it's plenty fast enough.

Hard disk prices are still high compared to last year (pre Far Eastern floods) but are slowly coming down. I'm lucky to be able to wait for a return to the sub £50 1Tb disks. I don't buy 10k HDD - I choose capacity over speed and noise

Ian

[T6flyer]

Many, many thanks to all for replying and giving very helpful suggestions as to what to go for next. Rather than buy the parts and add them to my existing system, think I will go for a complete base unit. Have done some further reading and coupled with what you have told me, found the best option - which ticks nearly all the boxes, being the Chilliblast Fusion Hurricane :

http://www.chillblast.com/Chillblast-Fu ... icane.html

I have a 24in Monitor already, so don't need anything on that front and the new TrackIR, so all would need to do would be to install my FS2004 and then perhaps at a later date.....maybe (ok will) install FSX. Think might only stick to the Horizon VFR, with the relevant Treescape and Airports. But then the Orbx scenery looks tempting too. As am still building the aeroplanes with Messrs Molyneaux and Horsey - FS2004 will be the priority install.

Again thank you very much for all your assistance and hope you approve of my initial choice.

Best wishes,

Martin

[Chris Sykes]

Just had a quick look on Dabs (just to give you an idea) and you'll get..

700w OCZ PSU
Asus P8Z68-V LX MB
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz
Patriot Memory 8GB (2 x 4GB) Viper Xtreme Series PC3-15000 1866MHz
2 x Western Digital 250GB VelociRaptor SATA 6Gb/s 64MB 10K 3.5" Hard Drive
Asus GeForce GTX 560 Ti 448 Cores Graphics Card

for approx £780 including VAT and delivery (UK)

I would be watchful on your case specs if your we getting the Asus 560 Ti cards as they are 3 slot cards, this put me off buying them as i wanted 2 in SLI so i puchased the MSI 2GB 560 Ti's instead.

Also there is some really good overclocked bundles (Mobo, CPU, CPU Cooler and Ram) at Scan and Aria that are really good value.