possible X-Plane build

[hobofat]

Hey guys,

 

So I'm no PC genius, but I need a new rig, and the wife said I could build one, so here are a couple of builds I'm looking at.  One is within budget (under $1500), and the other is over, but the over-budget build has the i7, and the under-budget an i5.  I'm wondering, in terms of future upgradeability, if I shouldn't just dig deep and go over-budget.

 

Just looking for comments/suggestions/ideas!

 

budget-build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1CZos

over-budget build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/1CYfw

[BWolf7]

I am no expert either... but if it isn't a huge financial issue, go for the over budget build, because the i7 will be quite useful, especially in X-Plane. Also get Windows 7

[Orcair]

I have that computer case - like it a lot. Your CPU fan looks quite expensive but I do not know that much about them ... just bought the coolermaster evo 2. I would get Windows 7 64-bit but just a personal preference... And you might consider getting an i7-3770k.. Haswell  has more benefits for laptops for the price however it does improve over ivy bridge too.

Edited September 12, 2013 by Orcair

[OlaHaldor]

I don't understand why Windows 8 get so much bad press. There's absolutely no issues with games or X-plane for that matter. If you want Windows 8 instead of 7, no problem!

You could also think of getting a liquid cooler. I got an Intel Liquid cooler, and I can barely-if at all-hear it.

It's almost half the price of that fan you have set up too.

Edited September 13, 2013 by OlaHaldor

[hobofat]

Thanks for the responses, everyone. I happen to like windows 8, spent the last few wells using it at my dad's place, the dislike seems more reactionary than anything else. Think I might go ahead and just save up a bit more and go with the i7.

[starflight]

I have an i7 3770K auto-overclocked to 4.1 GHz, and after benchmarking 1-screen and 3-screen setups (single XP across 3 screens, and even 3 XP instances on 3 screens), X-Plane performs better when the i7's Hyperthreading feature is DISABLED in the BIOS, which more or less eliminates its only advantage over an i5.

 

The i7 does generally have more cache and slightly higher single-thread performance over a comparable i5, but if I'd known for sure about the Hyperthreading impact on XP when I built my system last year, I probably would have saved the $100 and went with an i5.

 

My system's dedicated to XP10 though, if you're planning to run other things on it then you might still benefit from an i7.