Looking for whole system upgrade.

[Guest Ali]

Hi,I haven't upgraded for a while and feel soon it will be time to do so again.I don;t have much knowledge on what's hot and what's not at the moment.Current specs:Athlon XP32009800 Pro1GB PC3200 DDR400I am a bit confused as to what memory to get at the moment. There seems an awful lot about, all different types. What works best for you and for FS especially?I'm looking at getting an AMD 64 4000 with Geforce 6800ULTIMATE or something and a PCI Express mobo.I don't know where to go for reviews, to see benchmarks, or what works best with what component. So I'm asking for a lil help if that's ok.Thanks a lot.Regards,Alexander Martin.

[Guest Edwin]

Hi Alexander,What budget are you looking at? Obviously, that will be a big factor in helping you choose the right machine.AMD Athlon64 is the way to go and the 4000+ CPU is tremendous value.As for motherboard, I would suggest something based on the nForce4 SLI, for example the ASUS A8N-SLI series or DFI Lanparty nF4 SLI series. Getting an SLI motherboard gives you the option of buying a second video card later to upgrade your graphics capabilities. If you're very sure you won't be getting a second video card, you can get an nForce4 Ultra motherboard but given the US$20-30 difference, I'd get an nForce4 SLI motherboard instead.As for video cards, there are many out there according to price point so you would really have to give us a budget to help you here. The best available on the market now is the NVIDIA GeForce 7800GTX. ATI has just announced its X1800 XT. Benchmarks show the X1800 XT beating the GeForce 7800GTX but they're neck and neck and the X1800 XT isn't available until end-November.Memory-wise, you could probably stick with your current 1GB PC3200 DDR.Just make sure you don't skimp on the PSU. Look beyond wattage (although that is important too) and try to get a brand-name power supply like Antec, Enermax, OCZ, PC Power & Cooling, Zalman etc.You may want to take a look here for ideas:http://www.sharkyextreme.com/guides/MHGSBG...0707_3552841__8Other good hardware review sites I check out regularly:http://www.anandtech.com/http://www.gamepc.com/http://www.tomshardware.com/http://www.hardocp.com/http://www.extremetech.com/There are plenty of others but those should get you started. To be honest, I think we would be of more help to you if you had more specific questions so I suggest you do some research on your own and come back later once you have a better idea of what you're looking for.Hope this helps.Edwin

[Guest Ali]

Thanks that's great will look into those URLs later.My budget is around

[Guest metham]

Currently have 330MHz PC with 8MB Matrox Millenium 3D card. It doesn't cut the mustard with FS2004, NZ 20m mesh, NZ Topo and the rest of NZ photoreal scenery. Have to upgrade but have limited funds. Would prefer not to spend over $1000 at this time. Is Dell a good option at this time? If so, which one? Don't really need new monitor, so is it possible to buy just a box. Would like the option to have multiple monitors later on.

[Guest Edwin]

Hi Metham,Wow, you really need a new computer there! (No offence intended!)Dell: for a computer enthusiast like me, Dell is almost never a great option. First, you wouldn't be able to fully customize your machine as much as if you built your own machine or got a mom-and-pop store to do for you. Second, Dell has fabulous prices but it only got to such prices by skimping on parts that are "invisible" to the user (i.e. not part of the specs normally examined by average consumer) such as the power supply, which can be very important to the overall stability of a machine. Third, Dell sometimes uses proprietary motherboards or cases that can crimp your upgrade options in the future. In all and to be fair, whether you buy Dell (or any other OEM for that matter) depends on what you want. If you're looking for a hassle-free purchase with relatively better support options and you're quite sure you won't tinker with your machine in the future, go OEM. If you don't mind building your own machine or know someone who could do it for you, go build-your-own.As for specific hardware options, take a look here:http://www.sharkyextreme.com/guides/MVGSBG...cle.php/3550661I would go with the AMD config. Not needing a new monitor, you'd have another $148 to spend on the rest of your machine e.g. I'd get a brand name power supply like Antec, OCZ, PC Power & Cooling, Enermax etc. and I would get an SLI motherboard instead, such as the ASUS A8N-SLI. Dual-monitors is very easy to do with current video cards so that's not a problem (most nowadays come with a DVI port and an analog D-sub port, connect a monitor to each and you're set).Hope this helps.Edwin

[Guest metham]

I really appreciate your rapid reply - it's got me thinking. Very helpful indeed. Regards Peter.

[Britannia757]

Hey Buddy If your looking for something abit extreme i'd have to recommened the PC i've just bought it runs Flightsim amazingly. Anyway the spec is- AMD Athlon 64 4000 San Diego (Socket 939) Dual DDR400 CPU- AMD Approved Cooler- Asus A8N-SLi Premium nForce4 SLi Dual Channel PCI-Express Motherboard- GeIL 2GB (2x1GB) DDR PC3200 CAS2.5 Dual Channel Kit - 250GB Western Digital Caviar SE16 16mb cache SATA-2 Hard Drive- 2 x Leadtek GeForce 7800 GT 256MB DDR3 PCI-Express Graphics Cards (SLi Configured)- Pioneer DVR-110BK 16 x 16 DVD