OT - Video Card Question(s)

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/

On 19 Nov 2006 16:33:23 -0800, 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

I haven't checked the board, but I assume that a NIC is on board.

DDR2 MEMORY 2 GB DDR2 667 MEMORY $426.00

what brand of memory? nd is this before tax? $213.00 for 1 GB sounds rather
expensive to me.

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

(with raid you need 2 drives and the controller)

CD-ROM DRIVES LITE-ON 16X DVD 52X32X52 CD-RW BLK COMBO $60.00

*whow* do they come with golden trays?

PCI-EXPRESS VIDEO CARDS EVGA 7800 GT 256MB PCI-E VIDEO CARD $348.00
SOUND CARD CREATIVE SOUND BLASTER PCI 128 $19.00

a better soundcard (dolby? these little sound systems don't cost that much)

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

this case (at this price) should buy you a decent 420W PSU. For about $120
(relating to our prices) should buy you a very good case and PSU.
so: what type of PSU is included? any brand?

CASE FANS TWO EXTRA YATE LOON CASE FANS $20.00

too expensive.

OPERATING SYSTEMS MICROSOFT WINDOWS XP HOME OEM SP2 $99.00

upgrade to XP Pro
Antivirus?

WARRANTY THREE YEARS PARTS & LABOR

SYSTEM PRICE $1702.20
^^^^^^^^
good god!
--
Enemy Combatant http://itsnotallbad.com/

Check the Dell website...

You can get a Dell E520 with similar options (including FSX Deluxe) for
about half the price...

"Jay Honeck" wrote in news:1163982803.277882.283880
@b28g2000cwb.googlegroups.com:

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"

Check the Dell website...

You can get a Dell E520 with similar options (including FSX Deluxe) for
about half the price...

Interesting. I just went through all the rigamarole of building a
similar system on the Dell website, and ended up at over $2100.

See it he (Only addition is Flight Simulator X)

How'd you come up with less than $1000?

XPS 700:
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E6600 (4MB L2 Cache,2.4GHz,1066 FSB)
MBE66H [222-4389] 1

Operating System:
Genuine Windows® XP Media Center 2005 Edition with re-installation CD
WMCE
[313-7222][412-0688][420-4927][420-5460][420-5476][420-5586][420-5769][420-5924]
11

Memory:
2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 2 DIMMs 2GB62 [311-5030]
3

Hard Drive:
250GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/DataBurst Cache™ 250S
[341-3666] 8

Optical Drive:
Single Drive: 16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write
capability 16DVDRW [313-4304][313-4339][420-5780][420-5791] 16

Video Card:
256MB nVidia GeForce 7900 GS 7900GS [320-4806] 6

Sound Cards:
Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ XtremeMusic (D) Sound Card XFI [313-4307]
17

SYSTEM DETAILS:
2.5MM aluminum thickness Chassis with front & back customizable LEDs
DOZER [465-3640] 147

SYSTEM DETAILS:
7-slot, BTX design motherboard MB7BTX [465-3641] 147

SYSTEM DETAILS:
750-watt Power Supply 750WPS [465-3642] 147

SYSTEM DETAILS:
Tower Six-heat pipe, Copper base Heat Sink with aluminum fans HEATSNK
[465-3644] 147

SYSTEM DETAILS:
Two 120mm x 38mm front fans FANS [465-3645] 147

Mouse:
Dell Optical USB Mouse OM [310-7966] 12

Floppy Drive and Media Reader:
No Floppy Drive Included NFD [341-3764] 10

Modem:
No Modem Requested N [313-3607] 14

Gaming Softwa
Microsoft - Flight Simulator X Deluxe 713261 [A0713261] 174

Warranty and Service:
1Yr Ltd Warranty and At-Home Service S111OS
[950-3337][950-9797][960-8700][980-8190][985-3718] 29
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

You can get a Dell E520 with similar options (including FSX Deluxe) for
about half the price...

I just tried again, using the E520 as a starting point, and got the
price down to $1400.

Better, but still not half price!
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

In article . com,
"Jay Honeck" wrote:

I've spent five hours dinking around with this,

First time I read it I saw "I spent five hours drinking around this,..."
It sounded like an appropriate way to solve the problem.