Hello and thanks for the help in advance.

I am upgrading my pc from a 1.1 ghz AMD running 5 monitors using Matrox G-450 and G-200. It has seen its day.

I want to fly again with Flight Simulator, and have very fluid motion at max settings. I want to record and edit video to DVD, do Photoshop work, and multi-camera home surveillance. OC to > 3ghz.
I want 3 PCI slots and 2 IDE.

Would this be my best solution, price not much restricted?

Intel x6800
Asus P5W DH Deluxe
Corsair XMS2 2x1GB
Antec 550w power
eVGA 7950GT PCIe - 2 monitors
Matrox G-200 PCI - 3 monitors (possible upgrade to PCIe Matrox for 4 monitors)
Conexant 4 port video capture card - PCI
Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS Platinum - PCI
WD 150Gig Raptor 10K - OS and Programs
Seagate Barracuda 320gig - Data


Thanks! :?

I was going to approach this as just a powerful gaming rig as I was comming into your post, but then as I read it I see you are taking this very seriously. I'll still give you my opinions from a general gaming perspective as far as they go. From what I can see, you need power. The processor you have chosen is the most powerful available right now. I think you will know your video requirements better than I will as I have never set up anything with more than 2 screens and you have been running with 5.

The Audigy card is legacy? If it is, it should be fine. If not, you should consider the newer X-Fi cards. Your HD selections are for performance (the Raptor) and vor value/performance (the Seagate 320 Barracuda - the 7200.10 right?) and so are good choices for a person with the money to spend. The PSU should do for the build, but doesn't leave you much for the future, but that is down to whether you want to re-build or simply upgrade to a new GPU down the line and how far away that is.

You can probably get just as good RAM for less with a different brand, like G.Skill.

Thanks for the input Robo...

Yes the Seagate is the new perpendicular 7200.10 I'll be getting 2 of them using 1 for data backup.

I chose the Corsair memory because of the DDR2 800, decent timings 4-4-4-12, and it is on sale at the Egg.

I don't know how the system will perform with the Matrox G-200 driving the secondary monitors. Flight Sim might need something better. I think the G-200 only has 8 meg per monitor. Could I just shut off this card while using FS as to not bottleneck the playback?

Thanks!

8O [/total amazement]

WOW. what do you do for a living, if you don't mind me asking? money-is-not-important supercomputer, home surveillance... are you a billionaire?

edited

wow, well hey, its cool that you were open about all that. you may wanna like edit it or something so you don't *get raped* or whatever, you know those crazy online stalkers and what not... j/k.

it sounds like your machine will kick butt at all you do... and that wedding thing is like the greatest idea ever! i bet its quite lucritive. man, i wish i was awesome like that... coming up with masterful ideas... being able to afford all that pretty hardware....

best of luck!

Hey thanks for the well wishes.

Anyway I was just looking for some advice from anyone using 3 or more monitors. Will the Matrox G-200 in the PCI slot slow down the overall system so that Flight Sim will be a slug ?

I'm hoping the x6800 will overcome any bottlenecks. Or should I look for a PCI-e x1, x4, x8, card that can handle 4 monitors ?

regards,

jkl

Thats one hell of a system but i would recommend reading a few Flightsim sites and see what users of FSX (presuming you`re going with that) are saying. Theres has been a lot of talk amongst the FS community about the resources FSX needs. I have a 6300 overclocked to 2GHZ and its still nowhere near satisfactory and thats with my sliders in the middle.

Depends how seriously you take the hobby of course, guessing by your rig...very serious! Would be interested to hear how FSX runs on such a system.

I seriously don't think a billionaire but probably well off. He's coming from a 1.1g machine where most users usually update every year or so, and a surveillance setup can be bought for $150. If I was a billionaire I would certaintly have the best of everything, at all times

In regarding to FSX Deluxe which is the flight sim you'll want, and actually releases today in stores, check this link for a good review. Make sure to read his other reviews at page bottom

http://www.flightsim.com/cgi/kds?$ [...] sxprev.htm

This will give you an idea what your system will need to run this program well. It's definetely a high end sim that will test the highly build machines.

On my 64 3400 with 800xl, 2g ram I had to run this sim at low to medium settings, which takes a lot of the extras FSX provides out. Max all settings, and it was very choppy

You've got a good overall machine there. I would suggest one of the Matrox PCI-e boards such as the G550 PCI-e for faster, more fluid screens. It has 32 meg, so should provide a good boost over the 8 meg that the G 200 has. Check it out and see if it fits you machine, requirements.

Also, on the sound card, you might consider stepping up to an X-Fi card. The Audigy 2 was a great card for its time, but has been well surpassed, quality wise. I don't think the Intel 6800 will bottleneck you, and it is good for some great overclocks if you want even more speed.

Hi,

Thanks for the advice. I'll be searching the Flight Sim forums for more help with multi-monitors. It might be easier to cut back to 4 monitors and use the Asus second PCI-e slot with a dual DVI card.

Matrox has a cute splitter that can output to 3 monitors. Will be analyzing that option.

I just want a max setting and fluid Flight Sim. I haven't seen the FS-x package yet, but I bet it is bloated and needs horsepower. I am still with FS-2003, but haven't flown for a while because it just chokes my machine now that I have these 5 monitors running.

Might keep my Sound Blaster Live! for right now. I like the front panel jack setup. If it doesn't sound right I'll replace it.

My big hangup right now is that the quad cores are coming out next month and when they are released the x6800 price will drop significantly. Hmmm jump in now with a 6700 or ignore pricing and jump on the x6800.

I also read the quad-core CPU speed is lower than the 2.93ghz of the x6800, and the apps aren't optimized to use the quad cores. I just hate computers because they lose value soooohhhh quickly. When to jump in.....when to jump in..... ohhhhhhhhhhhhh.....hehehehe

Might pop for another WD 10K Raptor and use RAID 0. I'm sure this will help with realtime Video recording (one of my main requirements).

Is there any reason your old system can't be used as a dedicated home surveillance system and networked into the new PC?

You might want to consider bumping up the PSU from the 550w to the 650w model.

I'm guessing you'll be tempted to jump for a new DX10 video card before too much longer? The DX10 patch to FSX will be out as soon as Windows Vista consumer editions ship - probably near the end of January.

What monitor(s) & resolution(s) will you be using for FSX?

Hey Rutkus,

I would think twice about the supposed X6800 Price drop...

Typically the EE versions of the chips do not drop significantly... They will typically consider the X6800 just part of the EE line...

It might drop given their new pricing schemes "not sure".

My guess is (from trended info) that if the price does drop it will drop very little. Its EE moniker almost guarantees it...


Boy do I hope that I am wrong.

Hi,

Well...I am using a second computer for video surveillance. Got 1 camera on my main PC and 1 camera on a second. I network both together and transmit the one on port 80 and the other on 5190. With a x6800 I should be able to add other cameras. I use Active Webcam.

I dunno on the resolutions to use with FS. Sometimes I crank it up to max 1600x1200??? normally for general use I am at 1024x768. It has been so long since I was able to fly. I miss it.

I'm using a 21inch Sony CRT for my main monitor and the other 4 are 19" swivel Samsungs. Two are horizontal and 2 are vertical. Works great for multi-tasking and reference.

I read the quad core will price around $1200. I would think the x6800 will drop into the 6/7 hundred dollar range. I know what you mean about the EE pricing. The AMD and Intel EEs are holding their prices even though the price bottom is dropping with all the others.

Anyone have the November date for the quad release?

I already bought the Antec 550w supply. I suppose I could use it on another PC. I seem to blow 'em out about once every 2 years.