Dear all experts and FS2004 fans,I need some inputs please for my "to-be-built" system, especially if you have one of the following in your FS2004 system:> ATI X850XT or X1800XL; NVIDIA 6800GT or 7800GT; Sapphire X800GTO2;> Antec Sonata II (with Antec SP-450 Power Supply). FIXED CONFIGURATION (components that I've already bought):> 1*Intel 915PBL Motherboard> 1*Intel Pentium 4 -550 (3.4GHz)> 1*Western Digital SATA 74GB 10,000rpm 8MB cache (reserve for OS and FS2004 ONLY)> 1*Maxtor Diamond Max 10 SATA 250GB 7200rpm 16MB cache (for other games, data and normal applications)> 1*LG GSA-4167 DVD+/-RW DL> 1*LG GSA-8130 DVD-ROM> 1*OCZ Value Series DDR2-533 2GB Kit (2 X 1GB OCZ25332048VDC-K) timing 4-4-4-8> 1*Labtec Arena 675 5.1 Speaker Set> 1*ATI TV Wonder USB 2.0HERE IS WHERE I REALLY NEED YOUR HELP - Here are the other components that I am thinking of buying, please help me to choose:KEY CONSIDERATIONS: This machine will be 80% of the time playing FS2004 with A LOT OF PAYWARES (e.g. PMDG 737TNG, Ultimate Traffic, Traffic2004, Ultimate HK2004, MegaScenery - LA, NewYork, California, Switzeland Professional, Airbus A340 Professional, LAGO F-16, many other LAGO sceneries, etc, etc.); 15% will be for other games (such as Half-Life2, CoD2, King Kong, Battlefield2, Need for Speed Underground, etc),and 5% for normal applications.1. VIDEO CARD: I'm thinking of these 256MB DDR3 PCI-E cards (what would you pick from the price-performance consideration, and why?) - I have NO PLAN to do SLI nor Crossfire at all (also don't really need VIVO or All-in-Wonder as I've already got the ATI TV Wonder USB 2.0): (a) 256MB DDR3 PCI-E Approx. $350 Canadian. ATI X850XT, NOT the Platinum Edition (Sapphire #100106) or NVIDIA 6800GT, not the Ultra (eVGA N376); OR(:( 256MB DDR3 PCI-E Approx. $420 Canadian. ATI X1800XL (Sapphire #100133) or NVIDIA 7800GT ; OR© 256MB DDR3 PCI-E Approx. $250 Canadian. Sapphire ATI X800GTO2

Hi, and welcome to the forums.My first thought is that you state (twice) that you have no plans to do SLI or Crossfire. So, my first concern is how long you intend to keep this new system. If the answer is 18 months or more I believe you should try to build for a possible mutli card configuration now.But to get to your specific questions:1a) Either choice would be fine. Really comes down to which card you prefer (they are both nice gamers). Comes down to how much you want to spend.1b) Same answer as above. The advantage with either of these two is that you might not need to upgrade the VC for a while longer.1c) Yes, the Sapphire X800GTO2 card can be modded. Info .1d and e) ASUS and MSI make top quality cards that cost a bit more and may offer more frills. Sapphire and eVGA make nice reference products. Couldn't go wrong with any of those manufacturers.2) A review of the Antec SP450 [link:www.silentpcreview.com/article260-page1.html]here. PSU's are probably the most overlooked components of all PC's. But a good quality PSU is critical (especially to gamers) to a long and pleasant computing experience. My feeling is that the SP450 will do OK even with the number of components you'll have on board. But should you decide in the future to try a multi card config I would plan on upgrading the SP450 as well.3) This is waaaaay too subjective! Right now AMD based systems offer the best gaming performance, but you've already purchased the Intel components and DDR2 memory. And there is so much more to making a nice gaming rig (OS set-up and game set-up being a couple more critical variables).Good luck with your build,Greg

Hi Greg,Thanks for your inputs. I tend to use this system for may be max 24-months - then give it to my son .. by then I can get better technology.I almost made up my mind: to get the X800GTO2 and mod it to X850XT PE speed. Also looks like the Antec Sonata II w/SP-450 will work fine (even with 7800GT if I decide to do so).However, I still wonder whether it is worthwhile to spend approx. $150 Canadian to go from X800GTO2 (knowing that likely mod to X850XT PE) to eVGA 7800GT N517? Will I see any significant difference in FS9.Regards,Newman

"However, I still wonder whether it is worthwhile to spend approx. $150 Canadian to go from X800GTO2 (knowing that likely mod to X850XT PE) to eVGA 7800GT N517? Will I see any significant difference in FS9."My card is an X800XT running at PE speeds, and it does quite well in this sim. I would tend to think the 7800GT would also get the job done for you.Having said that, the extra power of these top cards isn't seen in FPS. Their best attributes in this sim is the image quality. Having a more powerful card simply affords more flexibilty in configuring the sim.The modded X800GTO2 will certainly save you some money. But you should understand that the mod isn't guarenteed to work 100% of the time (although certainly the Sapphire card has the hardware to make it possible). The 7800GT is a sure thing, while you might be wise to consider the GTO2 a "project" (something to try, but there are no sure things with this type of mod. Even if you open it to 16 pipes you still might not get it to run at PE speeds). Bottom line is do your research before going with the GTO2.Check the reviews at NewEgg. If you do decide to go with the GTO2 I believe this is the definitive guide.Good luck,Greg