Spasticatedtoad

It's sad to see this site close. Flankertraining.com is the first place I heard about L.O.M.A.C. I had only just gotten my first computer and the internet at my house ( instead of the public computers at the Local Library ) and when I searched for simulators, this was the first site that changed my life. Thank you for changing my life. :)

That is a very good point. I was originally only going to buy a new SSD as I found once all my software is installed on a secondary HDD, the SSD ends up quite full and has very little free space left. As I only have Windows and DCS directly installed on the SSD and everything else on a second HDD, I didn't want to end up back in the same spot with the new system ( lacking free space ). My line of thinking, was to buy a new SSD for Windows and high demand programs only. The rest of my software would be installed on the new HDD and store files only on my current HDD. As my current SSD and current HDD are quite a few years old, I was concerned about installing software on them in case of a HDD failure and mucking up my registry when I replace those drives. So I was going to use the new SSD and HDD for software installation and old HDD for storage. I really only wanted to put the old SSD in the system as it still works and would be a waste not to continue using it. In my current system, it has been running at 100% for the majority of its life and I was not certain of how much life it has left. I may be just paranoid about sufferring a hard drive failure, but the above solution was the only way I could convince myself it would be OK. I really wish I knew more about computers so that I could be certain of my actions and not be so worried about spending all this money and sufferring a failure shortly after. If that happened, I would be down the toilet pretty quickly as I will not have money to rectify that for some time. I'll give your suggestion a lot of thought and see what I can do. I really would prefer the right cooling solution and the right memory for the system from the start, I just have to be able to make it work for my budget and time frame. As I am also having to replace a $1600 camera body at the same time, my budget is pushed to the very last dollar. All up, I am looking at around $4,000 to try and fit all of this into. The computer is around $2,450 and the camera is $1,599. Any money I can save right now, will make a huge difference. It's really frustrating because in 6 months time, I will be able to afford this build WITH the right parts, but my work can not be put off any longer. I have already taken quite a huge hit in the last 3 months and can not afford to lose any more clients. In my mind, using the above Hard Drive Solution is about the only way I could guarantee I would not need to outlay any more money over the next 6 months, so I could focus on work alone. You're probably chuckling at my paranoid way of thinking and I can't blame you. But if I didn't think that way, I would not sleep at all. :doh:

Awesome! Thank you very much, I will check that out for sure. Ironically, I just found a YouTube video describing How to Mount the H110 on the Crosshair and after watching it, I think when the clerk mentions a 'Bracket' , she might be referring to the Back Plate that is needed if you are going to mount the cooling unit using the AMD3 mounting points. The person who posted the video, describes a back plate that can be bought online that will suit and has provided a link for where to buy it. I think I will have a good look at both that link, and the cooling unit you have suggested as I really would like to sort that out in one go. Although the H60 is not very expensive, it is a waste of money to install that unit for just a few months, only to find it will struggle when the warmer weather returns. Thank you so much for that advice mate, I owe you big time for all your advice. :thumbup:

You know, I am having a hard time understanding that too. The person I am dealing with....has a really strong Asian accent and English is not her first language. And I have a really hard time understanding her at times too. The way she has explained it to me, is that 'the Pad' does not suit the 1700X because it would need a bracket to put it on there. But no-one makes a bracket so the pad will fit. She then said that if it was an AMD3 system, it would fit without a problem, but her supplier is telling her that it does not fit and AMD4 system. When I was looking at Motherboards, I originally selected the X370 Carbon Gaming Pro motherboard, but I wanted liquid cooling. So when I looked at cooling units, most of what I could find was not compatible with AMD4 boards, only AMD3 and below. But when I looked at the X370 Crosshair VI, the specs for it states it has 2 mounting points for cooling units so you can use AMD4, or the older AMD3 cooling units. So that was why I selected the H110 as I could not find any AMD4 units except for a Large heat sink with a fan mounted on it. I have tried to suggest that to the Store Clerk, but she keeps insisting that it will not fit because of 'The Pad' needing a bracket that does not exist. The only thing I can think that she is referring to when she says 'The Pad', would be the pre-applied Thermal Paste on the pump for the H110. My case does have room for a 120mm fan or a 140mm fan, so to me, the H110 should fit fine. As this is the first liquid cooling unit I have ever had, I am not experienced in how they are installed. I have been trying to find reviews or videos of people using the 1700X+ crosshair VI + H110 to try and find out if it is possible or not, but I have not found that combination as yet. My tower case is a CM Storm Scout Gamers Case which should have plenty of room to fit the H110, but the way the clerk talks about the H110, it seems more like a problem with the CPU and Motherboard rather than the Case itself. If you know of any reference that does show the H110 will mount properly on the 1700X and Crosshair VI, could you please send me a link so I can show that to the clerk? ( only if you have it handy, I don't expect you to go chasing problems for me ). I'll keep looking to try and find proof she is mistaken as I really would prefer to build as much of the Final Build as I can, without having to upgrade too many parts in the next few months. I can live with the less powerful RAM for now as that can be fixed in a few months, but I really would like to lock in the right cooling solution from the start. Thank you for your continued advice BitMaster, I really do appreciate your much more experienced advice very much.

Hi BitMaster Thank you for your advice on alterations to my build. Ironically, the parts you suggest were the parts I had originally ordered. I had ordered Corsair 3200mhz Ram and the H110 cooling unit. But yesterday I was advised that the Corsair memory is not compatible with the 1700x, due to the system misreading the Cache size of the CPU. To be honest, I prefer GSkill Ram, but to buy 3200mhz GSkill at the moment will cost me twice the price. And, as for the H110 CPU cooler, I was advised that there are some compatibility issues with that cooling unit and the 1700x when mounted on the Crosshair VI. I'm not certain of how accurate that information is but I do not want to take any unnecessary risk. Personally, I would have liked to be able to postpone the build until these parts could be sourced but circumstances have forced my hand. I applied for a No Interest Loan through an organisation here and was approved. Without that loan, it would be another 6-12 months before I could build this system the way I would like it to be. And the way this organisation works, means that I have limited time to use the loan. If I cancelled the application or take too long to use the funds supplied, I would not be able to apply for another one for another 12 months. As we are now heading into winter, I was thinking that I could get by on the H60 for the next 3-6 months as I live in an extremely cold part of Australia where temperatures are lucky to reach double digits during the day and often below zero in winter. As for the Ram, I may not be able to achieve the full potential of my system using this Ram and will most likely need to replace it ( as you suggested ) in a few months time, but it should allow me to at least use my system with far better performance than my current system provides, so I can live with that for a while. As long as it will be stable for the next 6 months, it will allow me to get back to work and earn some money to afford the replacement of these parts. Gaming with this system is not my highest priority for a while, so hopefully this build will meet my needs until I can further upgrade the smaller parts it needs. Thanks again for commenting and offering your advice. I really do appreciate your input on this. I had concerns that my original build may be too mismatched to be a decent system, but to read your advice and find that you also felt it would be OK, is very reassuring. I have very few people around me who know enough about computers to discuss this with, other than computer store clerks and I find they are usually much more interested in selling the most expensive parts they have on their shelves, than they are in trying to find me a good deal. Once I am back to work, it will be much easier to afford replacing the Ram and the cooler, one at a time, than it is to buy them up front without any work coming in. Photography can be a cruel mistress when you are not a Professional with their own Studio.

I just thought I would update this post. Today my computer is being rebuilt after 8 years of long dedicated service. When it returns home, it will be built as follows:- Windows 10 pro 64bit AMD Ryzen 1700x Corsair H60 CPU Liquid Cooler Asus ROG CROSSHAIR VI HERO X370 16gig Gskill 2400 MHz Gigabyte RX 580 Radeon 8gig 850W Seasonic M12 80 Plus Modular 500GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD 256GB Samsung 830 SSD 2TB HDD 3TB HDD At this point, unless anything fails to work, this is the final build. Any thoughts on the build? All input is welcome.

Thank you so much Bitmaster for your wonderful offer. I would really like to be able to go back to making some DCS videos again. I really enjoyed it when I made all of the others I posted on YouTube. And with the path that DCS is taking, it would be magic to be able to make some more videos and spread the love for DCS. I am really hoping that the new build will be good for both videos and image processing, but will have to wait quite a while to find out now :( Until yesterday, it was looking like I may be able to get my HW upgraded before the weekend, but now it is looking like it will be around 6-8 weeks away. I only get paid every 2 weeks and its not a lot. If I do decided to do the Windows 7 upgrade, I would really appreciate your help. Thank you so much for such a kind offer. :D

Hi Folks. Sorry for taking so long to reply. My internet dropped out last night and my service was only reinstated a short while ago. I have had a good read of the Information and advice you have offered and really appreciate your experienced help. Thank you so much for this reminder. I have been overthinking this process far too much and had myself convinced I was going to lose activations. As soon as I read you Post I realised what a dope I was to think that. I had considered keeping my current PC to keep what I have intact so far, but it is really starting to suffer and is not seeming to be like it will last much longer. And most of the upgrade I was looking at, was to actually be my main work PC and this system would be the Entertainment PC. As I am working to be a photographer, I process a massive number of images and the demand for some of them has increased beyond expectations. This PC was doing ok, up until I started working on it for around 18 hours a day, 7 days a week. As time passes, I am finding it is starting to suffer and misbehave, which seems to be getting worse. Thank you so much for this piece of information. I was not aware it had such a bad reputation. I originally bought that PSU about 12 months ago, to put into my current system but never got around to installing it in my tower. I was hoping I could use it in my HW upgrade to save a few dollars, but after reading your post, I now know I would be better of putting the PSU from my current system in the New system as I would get a lot more Watts of available power. Thank you Bitmaster for your generous offer to help. At this point, after reading all of the advise everyone has offered, I have found that I am not going to be able to afford to upgrade my HW for some time yet. I think I would be best looking at a total rebuild and a clean start with Windows 10. As much as that is not the Path I would have preferred, I have to face facts and admit defeat on this one. My budget will not carry me as far as I had hoped at this point and I may have to wait a few more months until I have a healthier sum of money behind me. I dont know what I will do in the mean time as any money I spend keeping my current build going, will severely impact on my ability to upgrade to a more current build, which is what I ultimately need. Thank you again for your kind offer to help set it up for me though. I very much appreciate that. I agree 100% with this. There is no point building a great system to carry my entertainment and business into the future at the cost of stability. An underpowered PSU would no doubt just add a constant pain in the backside, which I was hoping to avoid. Thank you all for your fantastic advice. As much as I was hoping for a magic solution that would allow me to move forward on this upgrade, I think I am just going to have to pull the plug and try to find a temporary solution that will carry me a little further first. Not really the news I was hoping to hear, but I really do appreciate you experienced advice and help. You have all helped me far more in 24 hours, than I have been able to get for a few months now. I have been stressing about my PC for a while and as I have been watching it degrade over time, I was hoping to bite the bullet and solve my problems all in one go. But without proper funding it deserves, I would just end up wasting what little money I have. At least now, I can keep what I have and hopefully build on it, to do the job right. Thank you all.

Thank you for the handy links and advice. But that is one of things that make me cringe. As that is something I have never done before, it opens up avenues for me to make mistakes , and I would not know what to do if something did not go as expected. I will look into it though, and I really do appreciate you taking the time to help me keep costs down. If I find that is something I can confidently do, I will be all over it, because it would save me extra cash I do not have. Thank you all very much. I don't have anyone local who is computer savvy, except for the people in the place where my PC would be getting upgraded. One speaks with a very heavy Russian accent, and the other has a very heavy Asian Accent. And I have never been really good at understanding people with a heavy accent. Its not their fault, it is totally my fault, but no matter how much I try, some days I walk away from there feeling like I understand less than when I walked in. So I am very grateful for the time you have taken to help me with this. It makes it a lot easier for me, when I can sit and read, then re-read what you have written, until I understand it.:thumbup: As an example of how tight my budget is right now, I have $1200 for the Upgrade which is going to cost around $1,489 without the 512gig SSD , Labour , or anything else that may go wrong. I have to make sure I eliminate as many chances of mistakes or further expense as much as I can, or I cant do any of it.

Sorry for the confusion, you are correct, I did not explain that bit very clearly. I was hoping, that if the Merge of 1.5 and 2.0 occurred before my PC died, and I had to go for Windows 10, then I would only lose 1 activation when I upgrade my system HW. What I was concerned about, was if I took the more cost effective route and kept Windows 7 Pro, Upgraded my HW ( 1 activation ) then found Windows 7 Pro was not working as well as I had hoped and needed to move to Windows 10, that would cost another activation. And on top of that ( this part I am not sure of ) if the Merge of 1.5 and 2.0 was going to require modules to be de-activated again, I would be up to 3 Activation's within a very short period of time. As I mentioned before, I'm not very computer Savvy and I am just trying to weigh up the Pro's and Con's of this HW Upgrade, and I am trying to work out which path would cost me the least amount of Activation's and has the greatest chance of success. Balanced against a clean install of windows and the loss of many software packages that have no Spare Product Keys left and would need to be re-purchased. If I was able to clone my 256Gig SSD over to a 512gig SSD, I would ( in theory ) be able to keep the activated software I already own, upgrade my HW , carry on business as usual and still only lose 1 activation. But the more I looked into the HW Upgrade I was going to make, the more it seemed like I would ( in effect ) hobble my system by keeping Windows 7, which would be a waste of money. In that case, it would be pointless to upgrade so far, if I could not take advantage of many new features my New HW would have to offer. And could not run DCS better than I can now. I am trying to keep the cost of this HW upgrade to a minimum, both with regards to DCS and other software, as well as get the best bang for my buck that I can. The more I can keep from my existing system, the better, but not at the cost of performance or my budget later on. After this upgrade, I will not be able to afford to replace my GPU ( for instance ) for another 6-12 months, maybe even more. And that is as long as everything goes smoothly. I am on a Disability Pension which is not a lot of money. The last time I was able to afford to upgrade my system, was 8 years ago. Then my GPU 4 years later. If I make a mistake on this upgrade, I have to live with that mistake for a long, long time. And also, after this upgrade, if there are any teething problems and I end up using more Activation's than expected, I will lose a lot of money in DCS modules as well which I would not be able to replace them all for 6-12 months minimum. Which would hurt a lot. I was just trying to cover as many bases as I can to ensure that such an expensive decision, went as smoothly as I could, whilst still allowing for unexpected problems which could arise from my built-in stupidity, or unexpected errors on behalf of the Computer Tech who would be upgrading my system HW. :doh: If this process was going to risk too many Activations, then I would have to find some way of delaying this HW upgrade until I was certain that I would not lose everything I have. If I am going to lose a lot of software on my system, there is no way I am going to risk having to purchase any of my modules again as well. As I am building my own business that relies on this same computer, I have to work out the best time to upgrade it, with the least amount of disruption or risk of it expiring before being able to upgrade it. :thumbup:

@ Rudel_chw and @ Bitmaster Thank you for your advice. I appreciate your help very much. I have never trusted Upgrading from one O.S to another as I am not very computer savvy and worry about updating an O.S in case something goes wrong. In the past, I have had problems updating some software ( although, not for some time ) and hate the thought of spending so much money on upgrading my HW, only to not be able to use it anyway cause i mucked it up. It seems that for someone like myself, with limited brain power, I may be better off biting the bullet and buying Windows 10 and starting from scratch. I will give your advice serious consideration though as I really don't have the money right now to Buy Windows 10, but would like the Changeover to go as smoothly as possible. Deactivating DCS is a must in my opinion and will definitely do that as priority number one. Of all my software, DCS is one that would hurt the most to not be able to use it. And with the system I am setting up, that would be a terrible waste. I have plenty of activation's left, so I am lucky in that case. Thank you again for taking the time to help me with this. I really appreciate your advice. Hopefully in a few weeks, I am back up and running and all of this concern will be for nothing. But its best to ask before assuming it will be ok and ruining the whole thing.

Hi All. I am faced with a computer which is about to expire after 8 years of solid use. I was hoping to hold off updating the hardware until after the Merge of DCS 1.5 and 2.0, but I don't think it is going to survive that long. So I was hoping someone may be able to offer a little advise as to which would be the best approach. I currently have Windows 7 Pro and DCS world 1.5 on a 256gig Samsung SSD and all my other games and software on a second drive, which is a standard HDD. Upon seeking parts to upgrade my system, it was advised to me to clone the 256gig Samsung SSD to a 512 Samsung SSD. And keeping Windows 7 Pro 64bit The concerns I have at this point in time, is that with my PC hardware being replaced next week ( Motherboard, CPU and RAM ) plus the SSD being cloned to a new SSD, this will require me to deactivate my modules and activate again after the PC upgrade? Not to mention, could open a whole bucket of worms with other registered software installed on the second HDD. What I was hoping to do, was hold off on the hardware upgrade and start with a fresh install after the DCS 1.5 and 2.0 merge. Going that route, it would just mean 1 lot of deactivation and activations. But if I upgrade my system next week, I could be looking at 2 deactivations and activations if I choose a clean install. What I would like to know, is what would be the best route to travel. If I update my system hardware next week, should I hold off on cloning my drive over to the 512gig Samsung SSD and just make do with the 256gig Samsung SSD as it stands, until after the merge. This would mean staying with Windows 7 Pro 64bit. Or, would I be better off starting with a clean system that will require me to install all of my software all over again? It's a lot of hassle and I may have to re-purchase some of my software, but at least I would have a clean system that is almost brand new and I could maybe install Windows 10. I don't have the budget to replace anything that is not necessary and I don't have any current issues with Windows 7 Pro 64bit, so don't really want to move to Windows 10. But I have read there is quite an advantage to having a Windows 10 system. My current system is:- Windows 7 Pro 64bit AMD Phenom II x4 965 Black Edition CPU 3400mhz 12gig 1600mhz 12800 Ripjaw Gigabyte GA-MA790XT-UD4P Motherboard Samsung SSD 830 Series 256Gig Western Digital 2TB HDD AMD Radeon HD 7950 3 Gig Video Card Seasonic 620W Power Supply My Upgraded System will be:- Windows 7 Pro 64bit ( possible upgrade to Windows 10 64bit ) AMD Ryzen 7 1700 CPU 16gig DDR4-3000C15D GSkill MSI X370 Gaming Pro Carbon Motherboard Samsung SSD 512gig Western Digital 2TB HDD AMD Radeon HD 7950 3 Gig Video Card ( will upgrade at a later date ) Coolmaster EX2 725W Power Supply Which leaves my Samsung 256gig SSD able to be wiped and used as another internal drive once upgraded. If anyone has some advice on what would be the best way to approach this, I would greatly appreciate your advice. I do know that the GPU may end up being a bit of a let down in the beginning for use with DCS , but due to my budget, I am unable to upgrade it at this point in time. But if it is an absolute 'No-Go' with the hardware I am upgrading to, I may have to wait a few more weeks. I would prefer not to do that as no working PC is killing my work with so much downtime, it's been 2 weeks so far and I really don't want to have another 2-3 weeks of sitting on my hands. Please forgive me if this is not the most appropriate place to post this. I felt as it was mostly about SSD's and How to..., this would be better than starting a new thread.

I am also looking to upgrade my system at the moment and I have the same Samsung SSD as you mention. I am using mine as the boot disk with windows, DCS and nothing else installed on it directly. I install all my other games and software to a second HDD. If possible, I would go for a larger SSD if you use it as your boot drive as mine only has around 48gig of free space left on it. I don't save any pictures, videos or documents on that drive either, but of course, software does install stuff on there. This means that my drive does work at 100% quite often when I am working on projects, due to the low amount of free space remaining. I am no expert, not by a long shot, but when researching the potential upgrade for my system, this is advice that is most frquently suggested to me. Hope that helps.

As a massive RC fan, I think this is magic. It would be so impressive to see in person. Thanks for sharing that video. I don't think I've seen anything that cool for a long time.

Awesome! Glad I could help.