Hi All,First post! I'm hooked and have been since I bought FS9 last June. I've always found answers to my questions and want to say a big THANKS to all!I'm putting together specs for a new system and need help/recomendations with system memory. The motherboard I'm working with is a Asus A8V Deluxe. I'm looking at 1gb of Corsair Twinx 1024-3200LL and wondered if some other model or manufacturer would perform better. FX-55 processor, ATI 9800PRO video (current system), 2x36gb Raptor drives, Antec case, Thermaltake 480W PS and case fans round out the box along with peripheral drives of my existing system. Anything else I should consider? Thanks in advance for your comments/suggestions.Robert - KCAE

Welcome to the forums, Robert.The hot ticket these days in memory is something that uses Samsung's TCCD modules. These little fellows offer great stability and overclocking headroom as well as low power consumption (they don't require the extra power that BH-5 must have).The following are some of the choices:Apacer PC4000Centon Advanced DDRCorsair PC3200XLCorsair XMS PC3200C2 Rev4.1 2-3-3-6-1TGeil UltraX pc3200 ~ Brainpower PCBG.Skill (the LE is the best choice, but all G.Skill stuff is good)Kingston HyperX PC 3200ULK2Mushkin PC3200 Rev.2OCZ PC3200 Rev.2 ~ Brainpower PCBOCZ PC3700 PlatinumPatriot Extreme Performance PDC5123200+XBLK ~ Brainpower PCBPQI 3200 Turbo 2-2-2-5 ~ Brainpower PCBUltra PC3200 XL 400MhzAnything that uses the Brainpower PCB is a good choice. A Google search will yield a number of tests comparing some of these and other TCCD based memories. Would be useful in assisting you to make your final choice.Your FX-55 will absolutely love the TCCD memory!Hope this helps,Greg

Hi Greg,Thanks and I appreciate the quick reply. I will research the tests of TCCD memories and try to make a selection. Of the choices you gave which would you choose? >The following are some of the choices:>>Apacer PC4000>Centon Advanced DDR>Corsair PC3200XL>Corsair XMS PC3200C2 Rev4.1 2-3-3-6-1T>Geil UltraX pc3200 ~ Brainpower PCB>G.Skill (the LE is the best choice, but all G.Skill stuff is>good)>Kingston HyperX PC 3200ULK2>Mushkin PC3200 Rev.2>OCZ PC3200 Rev.2 ~ Brainpower PCB>OCZ PC3700 Platinum>Patriot Extreme Performance PDC5123200+XBLK ~ Brainpower PCB>PQI 3200 Turbo 2-2-2-5 ~ Brainpower PCB>Ultra PC3200 XL 400MhzWould there be any benefit from going to 2gb instead of 1gb for FS9? Thanks again for your help.Robert - KCAE

I just scored some G.Skill LE, but the stuff is very hard to find here in the states. Check Newegg.com (they seem to be pushing back delivery dates on a regular bases, though). The Patriot and PQI have fared well in tests. Anything with the Brainpower PCB is a good choice.With today's games 2Gb of RAM is usually overkill. 1Gb seems to be the sweet spot, as is the case with this sim. You might think about puting the cost of a secind gig somewhere else in your system.Cheers,Greg

Hi Greg,I think I'll go with the 1Gb PQI 3200 Turbo 2-2-2-5. It seems reasonably priced and has good scores.After researching this and other components I'm wondering if it's worth keeping the ATI 9800PRO. Perhaps I should look at GeForce 6800 Ultra and say a MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum motherboard. Any thoughts? I obviously would like to try and avoid as many bottlenecks as possible. Thanks again for your suggestions.Robert - KCAE

If you're giving serious consideration to buying a new video card then you really should go with a PCI-e combo (both motherboard and video card). I'm in a different position... I want to keep my present video card, so my choices in motherboards only included AGP options. Thus I chose the Neo2 Platinum.Greg

Hi Greg,Any recomendations on motherboard/video card combos? I was looking at a Gigabyte PCI-e 6800 Ultra and MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum board as it is supposed to have a 16x PCI-e slot. Perhaps this is not a good combination? I know SLI is of no benefit to FS9 now that's why I didn't consider that model. Any help is appreciated.Robert - KCAE

"I was looking at a Gigabyte PCI-e 6800 Ultra and MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum board as it is supposed to have a 16x PCI-e slot. Perhaps this is not a good combination?"Throw the PQI memory and 3500 into the mix and you'll do just fine.A good PSU is a must. The Antec Neopower 480 is a good choice: http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc....-103-924&depa=0 Has 3% Regulation (most PSU's have 5% under the best of conditions) and is PCI-E ready (24 pin connector and split 12V rails). Not cheap but a very nice PSU for the price.Greg

>A good PSU is a must. The Antec Neopower 480 is a good>choice:>http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc....-103-924&depa=0> Has 3% Regulation (most PSU's have 5% under the best of>conditions) and is PCI-E ready (24 pin connector and split 12V>rails). Not cheap but a very nice PSU for the price.I'll check that out. Thanks for all your help.Robert - KCAE

Hi Greg,I just purchased a new system today (haven't assembled it yet) running an AMD 3500 Athlon.Are they hard to overclock ??I heard that these CPU's are very well priced for the level of performance you can reach.Regards,Ralf..