OT - Video Card Question(s)

You must use compatible video cards, be sure to check the
specs to be sure that you can run two monitors with
completely different outputs. Often you just split the
desktop, you need two independent outputs.

You may want to look into one of the new computers with a
dual core CPU, PCIe video and plenty of power and cooling.


"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
ups.com...
| Okay, this thread isn't totally off-topic, as my questions
are related
| to making the piloting experience more real in the sim.
It's time to
| upgrade the Kiwi!
|
| (See it he
http://alexisparkinn.com/the_kiwi_is_born.htm ).
|
| I want to add a second monitor (dedicated for the panel),
and use the
| 104" projection screen for the "out-the-window-world-view"
only. This
| means that I need a video card with two video outputs.
"Lesser" models
| seem to have a single DVI output and a single VGA (AKA:
D-Sub) output,
| while "better" models have two DVI outputs.
|
| Our flight sim PC is a Dell Optiplex GX260, Pentium 4,
with a gig of
| RAM -- but only an AGP slot for video card upgrade. The
current card
| is a Radeon 7000, with just 32 mb of on-board memory, and
a single VGA
| port. This Dell system "only" has a 250 watt power
supply, which --
| along with the AGP slot -- pretty much eliminates the
"latest &
| greatest" video cards, all of which need a bigger power
supply and/or
| require a PCI-Express expansion slot.
|
| Compatibility with an older system like this is obviously
a problem. I
| tried installing an ATI X1600 today (from Worst Buy), with
512 MB
| on-board, and the PC wouldn't even boot up with it
installed! I
| obviously had pushed my older computer past its limits.
|
| So, I'm aiming a bit lower, and looking at the EVGA
GEForce 6600LE. See
| it he
|
|
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130262
|
| It's reasonably priced, seems to have decent specs that
are within the
| limits of my PC, and is in-stock. Anyone have any
experience with this
| board? Anyone got a better idea?
|
| I've spent five hours dinking around with this, between
trips to Best
| Buy and time researching on-line, and I'm starting to go
cross-eyed!
|
| Thanks,
| --
| Jay Honeck
| Iowa City, IA
| Pathfinder N56993
| www.AlexisParkInn.com
| "Your Aviation Destination"
|

On Sun, 19 Nov 2006 10:24:48 -0600, "Jim Macklin"
wrote:

You may want to look into one of the new computers with a
dual core CPU, PCIe video and plenty of power and cooling.

the good thing of those core 2 duo machines is that they didn't use this
much power anymore (350W PSU are OK, depending on graphics and other
accessories) and don't produce that much heat than the prescott modells
did. And they also produce less noise, too.

my suggestion:
- motherboard with either raid on board or a extra raid controller
(fasttrack has cheap and good ones)
- 2 S-ATA harddrives with raid 1 mirroring. If you lose one drive you can
still work (fly) and can get yourself a new drive, so you save yourself
setting up the machine again. samsung!
- intel core 2 duo cpu
- min. 1 gig ram, the faster the better (ddr2 667mhz, samsung ... *yammi*)
- graphic card with DVI out (you'll buy new monitors later and will have
DVI-IN), ~256mb ram.
- optical drive (samsung)
- floppy (yes, you'll need one for the raid controller, external usb will
not be recognised by windows during install)

IMHO, RAID will save you a lot of time and hassle, because you'll lose one
drive the monemt you will like it the least (according to Murphy's law).

#m
--
Enemy Combatant http://itsnotallbad.com/

In article ,
Martin Hotze wrote:

- 2 S-ATA harddrives with raid 1 mirroring. If you lose one drive you can
still work (fly) and can get yourself a new drive, so you save yourself
setting up the machine again. samsung!

Another way to increase speed... look at installing Western Digital
RAPTOR HD (spins at 10,000 rpm). Watch the specs to make certain the PS
can handle them.

my suggestion:
- motherboard with either raid on board or a extra raid controller
(fasttrack has cheap and good ones)

What is your opinion of this system set-up? Would a system like this
make FSX fly? If not, what would you change?

INTEL CORE DUO PROCESSORS E6600 CORE 2 DUO 2.40 GHZ 4M / 1066 FSB
$416.00
INTEL CORE DUO MOTHERBOARDS INTEL DQ965GF DDR2 MOTHERBOARD
$153.39
DDR2 MEMORY 2 GB DDR2 667 MEMORY $426.00
IDE HARD DRIVES MAXTOR 160GB 7200RPM 8MB SATA HARD DRIVE $78.63
CD-ROM DRIVES LITE-ON 16X DVD 52X32X52 CD-RW BLK COMBO $60.00
PCI-EXPRESS VIDEO CARDS EVGA 7800 GT 256MB PCI-E VIDEO CARD $348.00
SOUND CARD CREATIVE SOUND BLASTER PCI 128 $19.00
FLOPPY DRIVES SONY 1.44 FLOPPY DRIVE WHT $13.68
MID TOWER CASES EVERCASE WITH FRONT USB2/1394 400W $68.50
POWER SUPPLY INCLUDED (UNLESS DESCRIPTION SAYS NO PS) $0.00
CASE FANS TWO EXTRA YATE LOON CASE FANS $20.00
OPERATING SYSTEMS MICROSOFT WINDOWS XP HOME OEM SP2 $99.00
WARRANTY THREE YEARS PARTS & LABOR

SYSTEM PRICE $1702.20
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

MS is dropping support on XP Home before long, but will
continue support for XP Pro. You should be sure to get the
Vista upgrade coupon, too.

Be sure the game allows you to split out the portion of the
display you want, it sounds as though you want to have just
the panel on one display and the outside world on the other.

Be sure that the video cards are designed for independent
output and are compatible with each other and the software.


A DVD RW 16x dual layer drive also does CDs, being able to
record a 8.5 GB DVD might be useful.


I would be sure the sound card will run a 5.1 system if you
want the "best" sound effects.

PCIe video cards may not work in the standard PCIe slots,
they have PCIe 16x slots for video, be sure about what slot
the mobo has for the second video card.



"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com...
| my suggestion:
| - motherboard with either raid on board or a extra raid
controller
| (fasttrack has cheap and good ones)
|
| What is your opinion of this system set-up? Would a system
like this
| make FSX fly? If not, what would you change?
|
| INTEL CORE DUO PROCESSORS E6600 CORE 2 DUO 2.40 GHZ 4M /
1066 FSB
| $416.00
| INTEL CORE DUO MOTHERBOARDS INTEL DQ965GF DDR2
MOTHERBOARD
| $153.39
| DDR2 MEMORY 2 GB DDR2 667 MEMORY $426.00
| IDE HARD DRIVES MAXTOR 160GB 7200RPM 8MB SATA HARD DRIVE
$78.63
| CD-ROM DRIVES LITE-ON 16X DVD 52X32X52 CD-RW BLK COMBO
$60.00
| PCI-EXPRESS VIDEO CARDS EVGA 7800 GT 256MB PCI-E VIDEO
CARD $348.00
| SOUND CARD CREATIVE SOUND BLASTER PCI 128 $19.00
| FLOPPY DRIVES SONY 1.44 FLOPPY DRIVE WHT $13.68
| MID TOWER CASES EVERCASE WITH FRONT USB2/1394 400W $68.50
| POWER SUPPLY INCLUDED (UNLESS DESCRIPTION SAYS NO PS)
$0.00
| CASE FANS TWO EXTRA YATE LOON CASE FANS $20.00
| OPERATING SYSTEMS MICROSOFT WINDOWS XP HOME OEM SP2
$99.00
| WARRANTY THREE YEARS PARTS & LABOR
|
| SYSTEM PRICE $1702.20
| --
| Jay Honeck
| Iowa City, IA
| Pathfinder N56993
| www.AlexisParkInn.com
| "Your Aviation Destination"
|

If you are going to build locally, work a deal where the local shop is
allowed to plaster any advertising on the cpu case.

Mercy!!!

You don't need all of that to run it. You could spend a lot less than that, on
something that would be just fine. Half that, or less.

Look at the worst buy website, for the day after thanksgiving sales.
--
Jim in NC

In article .com,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:

What is your opinion of this system set-up? Would a system like this
make FSX fly? If not, what would you change?

INTEL CORE DUO PROCESSORS E6600 CORE 2 DUO 2.40 GHZ 4M / 1066 FSB
$416.00
INTEL CORE DUO MOTHERBOARDS INTEL DQ965GF DDR2 MOTHERBOARD
$153.39
DDR2 MEMORY 2 GB DDR2 667 MEMORY $426.00

2 GB is minimum, 4 GB is better

IDE HARD DRIVES MAXTOR 160GB 7200RPM 8MB SATA HARD DRIVE $78.63

160 GB HD is good for reliability; $79 price is high (Maxtor SATA 300 GB
is only $80)

CD-ROM DRIVES LITE-ON 16X DVD 52X32X52 CD-RW BLK COMBO $60.00
PCI-EXPRESS VIDEO CARDS EVGA 7800 GT 256MB PCI-E VIDEO CARD $348.00
SOUND CARD CREATIVE SOUND BLASTER PCI 128 $19.00
FLOPPY DRIVES SONY 1.44 FLOPPY DRIVE WHT $13.68
MID TOWER CASES EVERCASE WITH FRONT USB2/1394 400W $68.50
POWER SUPPLY INCLUDED (UNLESS DESCRIPTION SAYS NO PS) $0.00
CASE FANS TWO EXTRA YATE LOON CASE FANS $20.00
OPERATING SYSTEMS MICROSOFT WINDOWS XP HOME OEM SP2 $99.00

VISTA available 30 January 2007; XP sunset is 2009, Service Pack 3
may/may not deliver in 2008

WARRANTY THREE YEARS PARTS & LABOR
SYSTEM PRICE $1702.20

"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
oups.com...
my suggestion:
- motherboard with either raid on board or a extra raid controller
(fasttrack has cheap and good ones)

What is your opinion of this system set-up? Would a system like this
make FSX fly? If not, what would you change? [snip]

lol...

Yes, a system like that would "make FSX fly". As NCJim says, it's
overkill. But hey...it's not terrible to overkill. Gives you some
breathing room for the future.

That said, the component prices for some of the stuff in that list sure look
steep to me. For example, you can get a Lite-On dual-layer DVD burner for
under $40. Paying $60 for a "combo" drive (ie, no DVD burning capability)
isn't reasonable, especially for that brand. And the video card, being a
mid-range for today's selection, should cost some $100 less than the price
you listed.

I did a quick check on the CPU, and that is also listed on your sheet $100
higher than the current street price.

I don't have a specific reference for the exact motherboard you've got
speced, but $150 is a pretty nice motherboard. It should have on it a
perfectly fine audio interface, obviating any need for an add-on card.

Other things wrong with the configuration, IMHO...

The hard drive is WAY too small. For that price, you ought to be able to
get something in the 200-250GB range, which is IMHO about as small a hard
drive as anyone ought to consider these days. If you can justify the
expense, even better is to go with some 2- or 3-drive RAID configuration.
Depending on how you set it up, you can get data protection (as Martin
suggested), a significant performance boost, or both.

And why bother with the floppy drive? Martin's wrong, you don't need a
floppy anymore. When XP first came out, motherboards didn't have built-in
support for the SATA controllers, and the XP install didn't include RAID
controller drivers. But motherboards today include a lot of new
functionality, including making a SATA drive look just like any other IDE
drive as far as Windows is concerned. No need to install drivers from a
floppy. Besides, unless you're building the PC yourself, OS install and
configuration is someone else's problem. If they need to install drivers
from a floppy drive, they can stick one in temporarily, just to get things
going.

Pete

On Sun, 19 Nov 2006 17:13:13 -0800, Peter Duniho wrote:

Yes, a system like that would "make FSX fly". As NCJim says, it's
overkill. But hey...it's not terrible to overkill. Gives you some
breathing room for the future.

That said, the component prices for some of the stuff in that list sure look
steep to me.

ACK

For example, you can get a Lite-On dual-layer DVD burner for
under $40. Paying $60 for a "combo" drive (ie, no DVD burning capability)
isn't reasonable, especially for that brand.

ACK

And the video card, being a
mid-range for today's selection, should cost some $100 less than the price
you listed.

ACK

I did a quick check on the CPU, and that is also listed on your sheet $100
higher than the current street price.

I don't have a specific reference for the exact motherboard you've got
speced, but $150 is a pretty nice motherboard. It should have on it a
perfectly fine audio interface, obviating any need for an add-on card.

gamers will tell you that the onboard stuff will limit throughput and that
an external card will be better. But IMHO the onboard soundcard will not
let the plane crash :-)

Other things wrong with the configuration, IMHO...

The hard drive is WAY too small. For that price, you ought to be able to
get something in the 200-250GB range, which is IMHO about as small a hard

if you need the gigs, OK, but else I'll go with smaller drives (heat,
noise)

drive as anyone ought to consider these days. If you can justify the
expense, even better is to go with some 2- or 3-drive RAID configuration.
Depending on how you set it up, you can get data protection (as Martin
suggested), a significant performance boost, or both.

And why bother with the floppy drive? Martin's wrong, you don't need a
floppy anymore. When XP first came out, motherboards didn't have built-in
support for the SATA controllers, and the XP install didn't include RAID
controller drivers. But motherboards today include a lot of new
functionality, including making a SATA drive look just like any other IDE
drive as far as Windows is concerned. No need to install drivers from a
floppy.

But during INSTALL windows will need the RAID driver (_if_ you opt for RAID
system). And Windows will not recognise the driver from a USB floppy or
from a CD. You'll need a real FDD.

Besides, unless you're building the PC yourself, OS install and
configuration is someone else's problem.

YMMV. (what if he has to come on site and he has no FDD with him? pull the
PC? [1])

If they need to install drivers
from a floppy drive, they can stick one in temporarily, just to get things
going.

While discussing Jay's total price of $1700something I won't discuss the
extra $10 for a FDD.

Pete

#m

[1] check that the PC is both secured and well cooled
--
Enemy Combatant http://itsnotallbad.com/