Building my dream FSX machine

[dtmicro 1]

That's why I'd just stick with an OC'd 5820k, not only does it work better in FSX or P3D (IMO), but it is going to be faster for every other simulator and game out there. I believe over the i7-4790k It's only an extra $250 to $300 even including different motherboard chipset, memory, and CPU.

 

Sure FSX cannot use all your cores, but you'll have a lot more wiggle room overall with the cores you do have.

 

I regret going from an i5 to a 4790k, the difference wasn't as substantial as I hoped, really want those 2 extra cores of the 5820k. Especially since I often have some other things running in the background.

[Chief Cargo 0]

Why buy a 4790K when you can have a Core i7-5775C or the Core i5-5675C?

 

Both these chips will fit in a Z97 board and will be available within the next 30 days, if you are planning a build around current Haswell just wait until these hit the shelves.  They are being stocked right now.

 

These new "C" chips replace the previous "K" lineup/s and are the new "unlocked" parts.  They are also faster clock for clock (higher IPC) for about the same money give or take.

[dtmicro 1]

OK, didn't know those were coming out that soon. I see.

As long as the price is reasonable, then yah that's an option as well.

[PieEater 10]

Would I be correct in saying that in this pic the top fans are intake, front fan is intake, rear fan is exhaust?

 

Heat rises so IMHO any fans at the top of the case should always be exhaust. Rear fan is following the CPU fans as a direct exhaust for the cooler, front fan is intake.

 

I have since revised the fan layout so I have more intakes than exhausts, 2 front intakes, a bottom intake, the rear exhaust and one top exhaust. The fans are controlled by Asus Fan Xpert2 so with the exception of the rear which follows the profiles of the CPU fans they only start working when the CPU is under load (35c+) starting off at minimum speed then spinning up as CPU temps increase.

But I'm wondering about your last sentence -- how many people here typically upgrade their builds "down the road?"

 

Quite a number of folks upgraded from early release Haswells to Devil's Canyon chips !!!!

[AndrewB 7]

Which is better for P3D

 

Intel® Core™ i7-5930K Processor (6-cores, 15MB Cache, Overclocked up to 3.9 GHz w/ Turbo Boost)

 

ntel® Core™ i7-5960X Processor (8-cores, 20MB Cache, Overclocked up to 4.0 GHz w/ Turbo Boost)

 

 

 

 

Cheers

Andrew

[codechris 9]

Mark, seeing as you're in Blighty, may I suggest you pick up a copy of Custom PC. It's a great magazine for this sort of thing. It has a great section every month of different budgets and their recommendations fo4 4 different budgets of computers. It also has another section of recommended components it has reviewed. All recommendations come from their own reviews.

 

It's only a fiver and you'll find in the normal places, supermakerts, Smiths, train stations etc. Not saying you should take it at face value, but might be a good read

[JDWalley 354]

Which is better for P3D

 

Intel® Core™ i7-5930K Processor (6-cores, 15MB Cache, Overclocked up to 3.9 GHz w/ Turbo Boost)[/size]

 

ntel® Core™ i7-5960X Processor (8-cores, 20MB Cache, Overclocked up to 4.0 GHz w/ Turbo Boost)[/size]

Cheers

Andrew

I would guess the latter…if you don't mind paying over $1,000 instead of slightly over $600 for the chip. By comparison, the 4790K is currently going in the low $300s, and the Skylake 6700K will be priced somewhere under $400.

 

That's why I'd just stick with an OC'd 5820k, not only does it work better in FSX or P3D (IMO), but it is going to be faster for every other simulator and game out there. I believe over the i7-4790k It's only an extra $250 to $300 even including different motherboard chipset, memory, and CPU.

Do you have any FSXMark scores to show that the 5820K "work(s) better in FSX"…? I've been looking for such scores, but haven't found them. Other reviews I've seen have observed that, while the extra cores of the 5820K make a big difference with multithreaded apps, when it comes to programs written largely for a single processor core like FSX, the 5820 is actually somewhat slower than the 4790K.

[martin-w 3,235]

Heat rises so IMHO any fans at the top of the case should always be exhaust. Rear fan is following the CPU fans as a direct exhaust for the cooler, front fan is intake.

 

I have since revised the fan layout so I have more intakes than exhausts, 2 front intakes, a bottom intake, the rear exhaust and one top exhaust. The fans are controlled by Asus Fan Xpert2 so with the exception of the rear which follows the profiles of the CPU fans they only start working when the CPU is under load (35c+) starting off at minimum speed then spinning up as CPU temps increase.

 

 

Quite a number of folks upgraded from early release Haswells to Devil's Canyon chips !!!!

The never ending positive pressure/negative pressure debate.

 

I see you were negative, but now positive. My current PC is very negative. Ideally in my opinion, balanced, or as close to balanced as feasible is the way to go.

 

Negative pressure is the most efficient as we're assisted by the huge amount of atmospheric pressure, forcing air into our enclosures. However, these days we have certain components that we like to spot cool, like CPU, GPU, voltage regulators etc. So we end up with more or less balanced pressure.

 

Positive pressure can work, but in a positive pressure environment we have to accept that to achieve such a thing [to minimise dust] we must increase intake and restrict exhaust, thus pressure goes up. Trouble is, heat is retained within the enclosure for longer, thus, not so efficient in terms of cooling.

 

But who knows, none of us are fluid dynamics experts.

 

As for "top fans must exhaust because heat rises". With reasonable air flow front to back and top fans blowing in, heat can escape the case fast enough for it not to be an issue. But yes, ideally out is best.

In fact I watched an Asus overclocking video a while ago, where JJ the Asus rep had his top fans blowing in. The idea was to make sure the voltage regulators were spot cooled, air "blown" straight at them.