I have had a discussion with a computer engineer about the best reasonably priced system currently available for anyone wanting to run top add-ons in FS9 at a good level, so I don't know how well it would perform in FS version 10, but here's what he came up with for FS9 Minimum 400 W Silent Power SupplyGiaByte GA-M55SLI-S4 Motherboard(on-board sound disabled)Creative Labs Soundblaster Sound card and speaker systemAMD64 x2 4200Ghz Dual Core CPU, with fan and heat sink2x1Gb x 533 Mhz DDR2 Ram(128bit layout) 2 spare skts250Gb SATA2 16Mb cashe Hard Drive512MbGeForce FX7900GTX Gaphics card PCI Express SLIDVD AllWrite Re-Writer drive & sepaate VD reader driveOn-board LAN connector10 USB-2 portsXP Home Edition SP2Price without sound card and speakers

Shouldn't this be posted in the MSFS Hardware forum?BTW, PMDG forum rules state to put your real name with your post. Cheers,JohnBoeing 727/737 & Lockheed C-130/L-100 Mechanichttp://www.sstsim.com/images/team/JR.jpgwww.SSTSIM.com

I think there is more specific knowledge in these forums and by the way, that is my real name sir!

You might want to separate your name from your system specs and put it at the bottom of your signature. All I saw was a blurb of system specs and didn't pay it any attention.As for more specific knowledge in this forum, this may or may not be the case but there are a lot of knowledgeable people over at the MSFS hardware forum as well. Don't count them out so readily.That being said, this is the PMDG support forum and not a hardware forum, sir!Cheers,JohnBoeing 727/737 & Lockheed C-130/L-100 Mechanichttp://www.sstsim.com/images/team/JR.jpgwww.SSTSIM.com

How about this system:http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Intel-Core-2-Duo-E66...1QQcmdZViewItemCreative X-fi Extrememusic (standard edition) a must!And if you really want the bees knees in addition:http://www.atitech.ca/products/RadeonX1950/index.htmlI would say you should get healthy fps with my recommendations IMO.Total price would be circa 1500GBPBilal

I'd get an Intel Core 2 Duo CPU instead of the Athlon 64 and an Nvidia GeForce 8800GTX instead of the SLI 7900's. A single 8800 is DX10-capable, faster than two 7900's, and you'll save a lot of money. Also get an Asus motherboard instead of the Gigabyte.

I concur ..Michael J.

Some useful comments there, thanks.

. . . and that new Nvidia 680i Intel chipset seems to be the boss. With a new, fancy, $50 CPU air cooler, http://www.tuniq.com.tw/Cooler%20Info/Tower-120.htmthat little 'ol $180, 1.8 ghz, E6300 Core 2 will spool up to 3.6 ghz -- no problem. Can you imagine a 2000 (500 x 4) mhz FSB? http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showth...highlight=e6300This is all getting just completely outrageous . . . . and I agree. Wait for Asus. This new chipset is just several days old.Me thinks the PMDG FSX airplane is going to need all the horsepower we can muster. Things are happening so fast right now that a savy buyer will just hang on just a bit more. If you can, wait 2 more months for the Vista / DX10 capable OS (Jan 30th at last report). That will let you 'start over' just once. It will also let the dust settle a bit more. ATI/AMD has their DX10 capable card coming around then. Maybe that will take a little bit more of the sting off that crazy $600, 8800 GTX video card. Sadly, that thing is really going to be a 'must have.' It literally doubles anything else out there . . . and is DX10 capable. Ugh. What a mess . . . like a kid hip-deep in chocolate!

Hi John, I take on board all you say("You might want to separate your name from your system specs and put it at the bottom of your signature. All I saw was a blurb of system specs and didn't pay it any attention.") and have fixed that.The reason for all the "blurb" in the signature, is so that potential helpers can see my system specs in order they can make a better evaluation of any problems I might ask help on.As far as Microsoft forums go, I believe that Pmdg forums are a much more direct and relative source. M/s are more "game" orientated, Pmdg are all about simulating commercial airliners.I stick to my guns.To all the other posters, I say Thankyou for your very constructive views. Hopefully, they will help anyone thinking to upgrade their systems.