Gaming PC for XPlane

Wats_in_a_name

I am going to bite the bullet and order a gaming pc. Would like to build it myself to save money, Basically it will be used purely for itunes (laptop is linux) & XPLANE.

It will be hooked up to a HDMI projector with a resolution of 1920 x 1080. I only really have 300-400 euro for the pc itself. I have keyboard and mouse etc. Would like it to be as small, quiet and fast as possible!

Wats_in_a_name

Ok. I decided to try it out on my own. But I really need some help. Can someone let me know what they think of the below build. I tried my best but I wouln't be suprised if they weren't even capatible.

Any advice to on how to reduce the cost would be really appreciated!

Samsung EcoGreen F2 1TB Hard Drive SATAII 32MB Cache - OEM £53.08
Intel Core i5 750 2.66GHz Socket LGA1156 8MB L3 Cache Retail Boxed Processor £156.00
EXDISPLAY ASUS P7P55D-E P55 Socket 1156 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard £102.76
MSI HD 4670 1GB GDDR3 DVI HDMI HDCP Out PCI-E Graphics Card £66.62
LiteOn IHAS124-19 24x DVD±RW SATA DL & RAM Internal SATA Black Bare Drive - OEM £13.99
Coolermaster Sileo Quiet Case With 500W Extreme Power Plus PSU *Special Offer Bundle* £79.99
Kingston 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333MHz i5 Memory Kit CL9 1.5V 158711 37 in stock £90.00
Akasa Nero V2 Intel Socket 1366,1156, 775, 939, AM2, AM2+ Processor Cooler £27.96
Arctic Silver 5 High-Density Polysynthetic Silver Thermal Compound Thermal paste 3.5gram £5.69

PogMoThoin

Nothing wrong with that at all, good value and good choices
X-plane minimum requirements aren't that high compared to todays games, that should fly it
http://www.x-plane.com/pg_Sys_reqs.html

Solitaire

That's way overbudget. Most things are, in fact, given you're trying to build a 1080p gaming rig for under €400. But I haven't a clue as to what kind of grunt you'd need to keep XPLANE happy (read: playable) at 1080p. EDIT: Not too bad for xplane9 (at least according to Phoronix's self-bench results posted) but I don't know if you'll jump on xplane10 the second it comes out, not sure if it'll be so friendly.

Here's a build for a bit over €500 including shipping. If you can save some by using your old HDD, DVD etc. then do so! And take a look at the price of RAM - that's why there's so little self-building under the €1000 mark going on!


And if you were wondering why I chose performance-grade RAM for this budget rig, it might have something to do with the fact that the cheap stuff is no cheaper!! :eek:
I'm not sure if you could have gotten away with a HD5670 - xplane9 isn't the heaviest on GPU but I'm not sure that'll be the case when xplane10 shows up! If you're really strapped for cash then just slap in the cheapest HD5570 you can find. No HD4770s about anymore, that would have made things a lot simpler!

Wats_in_a_name

Thanks for the kit really appreciate it. Would there be much of a performance difference in the original one and yours?

Solitaire

Not sure. The first build has a better CPU and more HDD capacity but the second has faster RAM, HDD and graphics, as well as being much cheaper!

I also doubt you'd need an aftermarket CPU cooler, at least for my AMD build, unless you were overclocking. And that would also close the gap a bit between the X3-435 and the i5-750 - although you could overclock the latter much better its already so much stronger than anything else in the first build it could end up being bottlenecked by the weaker memory or graphics card.

PogMoThoin

Has X-Plane 10 even been announced?

Blazer

see link below..
Saying X-plane 10 for Mid 2011 but more likely 2012.

http://forums.x-plane.org/index.php?showtopic=38701

Wats_in_a_name

Does anyone else have any inputs. Still in limbo. Obviously want to get good value but don't want a machine that will be obsolete in a years time.

ED E

I'm no expert but from trawling this forum for a few months there is one thing I'm sure of. Solitaire knows his stuff.

If he says that should do XPLANE 10 then I'd believe him.

Solitaire

Don't say that! :eek: I'm hoping that my build would be a little more future-proof but xplane10 is a long way off if Berkut's right and I have no idea what it'll need in terms of CPU or GPU muscle at this stage - I'm hazy enough on xplane9 performance at this point!

Hornd

Don't be ridiculous! Solitaire is always right:p

Blazer

Solitaire's build will do you fine till -Plane 10 comes out..You'll prob need to upgrade the graphics then but you're prob talking about 12-24 months so no problem there.
I'd honestly go the core i3/i5 route..better upgrade paths as those cpu sockets will be here for a while yet.
I know AM3 is out a few years but maybe Solitaire can clarify if AMD have any new socket types on the way out?

Monotype

You can never "future proof" a system, especially not for two years into the future for a game with unknown specs. The system above is solid enough on a budget for your current needs, and come 2012 (assuming the world hasn't ended), phenom X6s (which that board supports) and the latest series of graphics cards should be able to double your power for much cheaper than it will cost you today.

Solitaire

Berkut wrote: »

Solitaire's build will do you fine till -Plane 10 comes out..You'll prob need to upgrade the graphics then but you're prob talking about 12-24 months so no problem there.
I'd honestly go the core i3/i5 route..better upgrade paths as those cpu sockets will be here for a while yet.
I know AM3 is out a few years but maybe Solitaire can clarify if AMD have any new socket types on the way out?

With a X3-435 and a HD5750 1GB I was hoping to avoid even needing to upgrade then; this build is almost overkill for xplane9, a high-end gaming laptop got a benchmark run of 50fps at 1080p with Ultra settings while a 2.4GHz Phenom with a HD3850 did 58fps at 1600x1200.

And AFAIK a decent AM3 mobo should still be compatible with AM3+ CPUs like the 6-core Phenoms and the next-gen AMD CPUs.

PogMoThoin

I'd go with the more powerful i5 build, it'd last You longer, a gpu can easily be upgraded when needed