Re: Critique please.


"BigH2K" <bigh2007@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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"Synapse Syndrome" <synapse@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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"Richard Colton" <webmaster@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
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I've been asked to spec a machine for around £1000 (not including
monitor) for the main purpose of playing Flight Sim X.

I've specced and built plenty of machines before, but never with this
narrow perspective, and am struggling a little to get the right balance
(especially given that FSX really requires DX10 so Vista will have to be
used).

So far I've come up with:-

Intel C2D E6600
Asus P5B S775 P965 Motherboard
OCZ 2GB Kit (2x1GB) DDR2-667MHz/PC2-5400 CL 4-4-4-12 XTC Edition
Thermaltake Soprano Mid Tower Case Black
Hiper 580W Type-R PSU
Seagate 320GB SataII HDD
2 x NEC AD7170S DVDRW
Enlight Card Reader
Logitech Cordless Desktop S510
XFX Nvidia 8800 GTS 320MB Gfx
Vista Ultimate OEM

That little lot comes in at around £990, but I'm wondering if anyone has
any advice for alternate componants whilst keeping the price around the
same mark?


That all looks fine to me, and nothing out of the unusual for a
medium/high spec PC, apart from a couple of things. nVidea still haven't
released any decent Vista drivers yet, and you will find that there are a
lot of people fuming about this. Some are even trying to sue nVidea.

http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&rlz=1T4GGLJ_enGB213&q=sue+nvidia+vista&meta=

Also, I have a Thermaltake case too, an Armor full tower. The Armor is
the same as the Soprano, except for the front doors. It looks really
cool, but it is basically a crap case. You can get better quality for
the money. The interior metal has rough edges, the screwless drive-bay
system is poor, and the screwless PCI/PCIe slots system is atrocious and
a lot of hassle to deal with. I can't believe these cases get good
reviews as they are not that good. Coolermaster and Lian-Li make much
better cases, and Antec are pretty good too.

ss.


I'll second those comments, I've used that case for a build and found the
whole front decidedly cheap and nasty, very flimsy and the catch was
broken within weeks. Antec P180 is good and Coolermaster get my vote too.

Ok, you've convinced me. The case recommendation will be changed.

Do you really need 2Gb of memory just for a game?

I don't see the point of going any less than 2GB TBH. His current machine
has 3GB in which is complete overkill when compared to the rest of the
system. If he is going to end up running Vista (/fx spit), 1GB is an
absolute minimum and given the amount of data thrown about by FSX I suspect
that dropping the memory will be a big no-no (plus he'll see it as a
downgrade whether he actually needs the memory or not).

By halving that you could get much better specced memory,

Already looked into that and decided to up the memory speed to PC 6400.
PC7200 (and above) starts to look extremely expensive and will break the
budget.

have a nicer case

Yep. Going to do that anyway.

and a much better PSU (Seasonic).

I wondered about the PSU. I've always liked Hiper PSUs and have never had a
failure. I'm just wondering if it's worth going for a higher powered unit?

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