Community Built Computer

[NIARTcar]

I have, for a majority of my time here, run Trainz programs between a gaming HP laptop, and a general desktop CP.
Now the time has come to upgrade to a custom system, one that I would like to start completely fresh
(not just upgrade the existing platforms). I have unfortunately been out of the PC tech business for a while,
but is seems that there are a multitude of opinions for working the best out of the Trainz program which leaves
me a bit confused. It seems everyone is usually in a situation where they need something for 500 usd only, but I would
like to go further into the imaginations of all you brilliant community members and search for a configuation that works effortlessly.
Just as a start though, funds have been set aside allready, so far I am looking at $1,000-3,000 for a range, but that can and
will change if performance can justify the price.

My question is as follows: Given a fairly open budget (price being of no real concern) what would be the most idea compilation of parts for a computer (from the ground up)?


I am looking to buy within the next few weeks, so this is going to likely be the blueprint for my final computer, one hopefuly built by the opinions community to be ideal in every way.

Cheers :wave:

 

[bunkerrattmk2]

AMD fx4170 cpu quad core unlocked /zalman cnps9700 cpu cooler
ASUS m5a97 motherboard
8 GB crucial ballistix tactical tracer ddr3 1600
HIS radeon 6790 iceq x turbo
WD veliciraptor 10.000 rpm 74 gb trainz only
nzxt 2m sleeved led kit blue
creative x fi extreme gamer sound card
ultra lsp 750 watt psu
asus dvdr rw
2 x 100 gb maxtor sata 7200 rpm hdd's windows 7 64 bit\raid 0
thermaltake full amour all steel case/250mm side intake/2 120 mm front intake /1 120mm rear exhaust/1 90mm rear/1 90mm top exhaust fan's
razer death adder usb mouse
saitek eclipse keyboard
logitech 5.1 speakers
acer x213h 22inch wide lcd
1 wd 2tb external storage drive usb3.0

 

[kin3]

Here is what I built earlier this year;

CPU...........Intel Core I5 3570K
Motherboard...Asrock Z77 Extreme6
Graphic.......EVGA GTX 670
Mem...........16mg Gskill 8Gx2
PSU...........Rosewill Capstone 650
SSD...........Plextor 128G
HD............1Tb
DVD...........LG
OS............WIN 7 Home Preium
Case..........Cooler Master HAF 932 full tower

P.S. you might check out some of the web sites and get some ideas.
http://www.anandtech.com/
http://www.tomshardware.com/
http://www.techspot.com/
http://www.extremetech.com/
http://www.pcmech.com/
http://www.bit-tech.net/

 

[whitepass]

What other things will you use it for and what size is your monitor?

 

[NIARTcar]

Thanks all for the help so far, I'm going to start looking into the posted suggestions.

@Whitepass The computer is going to be strictly for recreational purposes: Trainz, perhaps a flight simulator,
maybe even something like Portal 2 at some point (Trainz is really the only confirmed game at this point). That and content creation. My laptop will probably be
wiped to serve as a work computer, which would free this computer to be fore games. I do have a screen allready that I use, its a 1920x1080 resolution one,
and I would like to remain fairly HD. This rebuild has come at a time that my game computer has run out of space in the drive, and is struggling to run my routes
being as large and detailed as they are (Stockton Ca to San Jose Ca).

Thanks again

 

[johnwhelan]

I'm finicky and prefer ecc memory so I'd go with a workstation motherboard and a xeon processor. If you're happy and content with non ecc memory then I'd go with a high end ASUS motherboard or possibly Intel, an i7 processor but accept that the i5s aren't bad. A big SSD will gain you perhaps 1 frame per second they are still expensive so I'd just go raptor, but I'd put in an SSD for the boot drive. Triple channel memory is just one of my preferences, the performance gain isn't much but you can go with 6 gigs of memory rather than 8 so its easier on the power supply and the cooling.

GPU the quietest, biggest ugliest one I could afford, sort of maybe there are contradictions and trade offs in there, tomshardware and check the TDP. AMD tend to have the ones that draw less power for a given level of performance.

Cheerio John

 

[bunkerrattmk2]

get the biggest case you can ,and STEEL ,not painted tinfoil.sounds like you build your own ,so you can respect the room to work and install cards,memory ect. it's also great for lot's of airspace for cooling fans.and aftermarket cpu/gpu coolers,and dual slot cards.

 

[bunkerrattmk2]

right now copmpusa has a sale going on cpu's and some cpu mobo combos

 

[robbiehanson]

Most important suggestion would be some sort of high end GPU with an Intel i5 or higher. While I'm an AMD fanboy, Intel's CPUs are so far ahead of AMD in per-core performance to not go for one.

Probably go for a Radeon HD7950 or Nvidia GTX 670 if possible. Though I have Crossfired Radeon cards myself, I'd recommend against using dual video cards for either FSX or Trainz, as neither seems to use more than one.

 

[NIARTcar]

So far, I am considering these parts, I am still a little confused with the rest (all the brands and types confuse the hell out of me)
I dont remember computer parts being this comprehensive years ago . Perhaps I need to start keeping up with these things


Intel Core i7-3770K Quad-Core Processor 3.5 GHz 8 MB Cache LGA 1155
Motherboard
EVGA GeForce GTX670 FTW 2048MB GDDR5 256bit
2x 16mg Gskill 8G
PSU
SSD
Drive
WIN 7 Home Preium
Computer Case


So I am looking for parts that may compliment these thus far, or feedback on whether these are appropriate for the ussage.


thanks for all the input!

cheers

 

[KenGreen]

Why not go for a GTX680 card isn't this a better GPU.
In a few years time anything less than a i7 will be underpowered. 5 years ago I bought a desktop PC with a Q6600 CPU and a 8600GT GPU now it's less than the TS12 recommended spec.

Ken

 

[RRSignal]

So far, I am considering these parts, I am still a little confused with the rest (all the brands and types confuse the hell out of me)
I dont remember computer parts being this comprehensive years ago . Perhaps I need to start keeping up with these things


Intel Core i7-3770K Quad-Core Processor 3.5 GHz 8 MB Cache LGA 1155
Motherboard
EVGA GeForce GTX670 FTW 2048MB GDDR5 256bit
2x 16mg Gskill 8G
PSU
SSD
Drive
WIN 7 Home Preium
Computer Case


So I am looking for parts that may compliment these thus far, or feedback on whether these are appropriate for the ussage.


thanks for all the input!

cheers

Well, the missing factor is your budget! If you have or are willing to spend alottaf...I mean, alottacash, then go for it.

There isn't much difference between the i5 and i7 as far as Trainz is concerned, even going forward.

16Gb of memory is way more than Trainz uses. If the next Trainz is an appreciable overhaul, you might be able to use more, but don't bet on it. 4Gb is all you need; since the cost is virtually the same right now, get 8Gb.

Get a good motherboard. I'm a big fan of Gigabyte myself, z77 series.

That's a nice video card and pretty future-proof, but at almost the price of a good Trainz machine itself, it's severe overkill. a GTX560 is a good complement to an i5 or even an i7.

Get an SSD, see a post I made a little while ago in this forum for recommended models.

P.S. Be sure your Win7 is 64-bit! Trainz, however, will not benefit from DX10+ regardless of OS.

 

[NIARTcar]

Well, the missing factor is your budget! If you have or are willing to spend alottaf...I mean, alottacash, then go for it.

There isn't much difference between the i5 and i7 as far as Trainz is concerned, even going forward.

16Gb of memory is way more than Trainz uses. If the next Trainz is an appreciable overhaul, you might be able to use more, but don't bet on it. 4Gb is all you need; since the cost is virtually the same right now, get 8Gb.

Get a good motherboard. I'm a big fan of Gigabyte myself, z77 series.

That's a nice video card and pretty future-proof, but at almost the price of a good Trainz machine itself, it's severe overkill. a GTX560 is a good complement to an i5 or even an i7.

Get an SSD, see a post I made a little while ago in this forum for recommended models.

P.S. Be sure your Win7 is 64-bit! Trainz, however, will not benefit from DX10+ regardless of OS.

Thanks, My budget is pretty open, which is why I am asking for the help... I would rather build an efficient computer than waste
money buying the most expensive parts and throwing them together, but I still can afford to splurge in areas to make the computer
viable to use if an major overhaul ever happens for Trainz. If I had to put a number on my budget, it would probably be upwards of $
2,000 usd, but I can go over if it is justified (again, its been a while since I have dabbled with computer building so I have no barings of
what I should spend).

So then, the i7 would be a waste of extra money in this case? What reasons would justify the i7 over the i5 then? If there is no need for the jump,
I would be perfect happy with the i5, the immediate goal is to run Trainz completely smooth at full visual settings and draw distances. Routes I work on
often have yards and trackwork that look like this, and I would like to be able to fill it comfortable with JR level content and still se smooth high fps.

I'll look into your SDD post right away, memory space is very important too. The reason I am prompted to start this build is due to my current setup running dry on
mem due to my Trainz usage (last time I checked my folder for the game was upwards of 130 GB a few months ago).

On the topic of memory, is safety. Would I be smart to utilize an external hardrive to house the Trainz files? OR are there any tricks I should use to create a safety net should the unthinkable happen?

Updated specs:

Intel Core I5 3570K
Motherboard?
EVGA GeForce GTX680
6mg Gskill 8G
PSU?
OCZ 512GB Vertex 4
2nd Drive?
WIN 7 Home Preium 64
Computer Case?

Not sure what to look for in terms of motherboards, I am fairly open still. Also, are there any suggestions on some good computer shells?

Thanks again!

 

[KenGreen]

Look at the In Win 101 BUC case.

Ken

 

[N33]

Intel Core I5 3570K
Motherboard?
EVGA GeForce GTX680
6mg Gskill 8G
PSU?
OCZ 512GB Vertex 4
2nd Drive?
WIN 7 Home Preium 64
Computer Case?

Your budget depends the motherboard. If you are willing to splash out, then get a high end Asus board or something similar. If you are not wanting to spend too much then have a look at an MSI board. I've run/built several computers with MSI boards and I've never had one fail.

Power supply based on the current specs will need to be 1KW if you are running a 680/690. For your second drive, I'd recommend a 2-3tb drive for backup purposes. Computer cases depend on what cooling you want. For fan cooling, some of the lower end coolermasters such as the scout 2 are good. For liquid cooling, you'll need something big to hold the radiater so a high end coolermaster or corsair would do the trick.

I would recommend going for Professional Windows 7 64 as it can take a lot more memory if you want to upgrade.

Just my 2 rubles worth.

Regards

Johan

 

[whitepass]

You can not fill that yard up, it is way to big, Trainz will be removing cars at one end while you add them at the other due to 32 bit limits.

 

[BD1]

placemarker

 

[RRSignal]

I'll look into your SDD post right away, memory space is very important too. The reason I am prompted to start this build is due to my current setup running dry on
mem due to my Trainz usage (last time I checked my folder for the game was upwards of 130 GB a few months ago).

On the topic of memory, is safety. Would I be smart to utilize an external hardrive to house the Trainz files? OR are there any tricks I should use to create a safety net should the unthinkable happen?

Updated specs:


Not sure what to look for in terms of motherboards, I am fairly open still. Also, are there any suggestions on some good computer shells?

Thanks again!

I agree with the others - a yard that big full of JR content will probably earn you single-digit framerates even on the fastest machine.

That said, Gigabyte is good for the mobo. I recently built a system around the GA-Z77-DS3H and that i5. It runs great.

Yes, get an external hard drive for backup purposes. They're cheap. Also, I wouldn't get a 680. That's overkill. Maybe a 660.

 

[NIARTcar]

Perhaps "fill" wasn't the right word:hehe:, I do see what your saying though with the limitations of trainz. This is my problem though, I have this route at a completely proto level, and I would like to give the computer a fighting chance at running a reasonable frame-rate with a fair amount of content present to convey real life operations that one would see.

So, I'll drop the 680 down to a 660 then if its not needed, I'll see if I can get a little more decisive with the rest of the specs and post a final list to be judged

thanks for all the help!

cheers

 

[BD1]

placemarker