Good morning!My FS2004 project for 2006 was to give the PC a bit of an upgrade. In November I decided to go shopping.Here's my old specs:MSI KM7M-V systemboardAMD 2600+ Socket A processor250watt psuonboard 64mb video2x 512mb PC2700 DIMMsSo I went bargain hunting... I knew I wanted to get a systemboard with a 775 socket to rejoin the Intel world. Here's what I got:ABit SG-80DC systembardIntel Celeron 351 (3.2ghz)580watt psuGeForce 6800XT DDR3 256mb (AGP)stayed with the 2x 512mb PC2700 DIMMsI was VERY reluctant to go celeron but at the time that's all I could afford. The graphics, as you can imagine, are WAY better now... but there are some 'shutters' and pauses and all that other stuff that people want to get rid of. I've decided that it's likely the processor.Here's what I can choose from to upgrade my processor in the near future:Pentium D 805, 820, 920 and 930.My question is... if I got the 805 which only has 533mhz FSB as opposed to 800mhz FSB will there be reduced performance? There are quite a few 805s on my local computer store but the 820, 920 and 930 seem to be hard to find. I believe with the increased cache my fs2004 performance will be much better and will show off what the video card is made of.Thank you in advance for your assistance!Regards,Dan PergauPP-SEL

The 805/820 are Smithfield CPUs made on the old 90nm process, versus the Presler 65nm process for all the others. The older Smithfields run a lot cooler. I just saw an ad for the Presler that described it as "sizzling." They're not kidding... :-)Four-year old RAM isn't helping much...that DDR-333/PC-2700 RAM is pretty limiting.If a RAM upgrade isn't doable, I'd just go with the 805, since any more CPU and cache is kinda wasted with such slow memory.I think a good compromise next step-up would be a 2.8GHz Pentium-D 820 ($99 in stock at NewEgg) and 1 GB of DDR-400 (PC-3200) CAS2 RAM, probably another $110 or so. Or you can get the CPU now, before the Smithfields all disappear, and upgrade the RAM later when more $$ frees up. But that CPU/RAM combo seems a good match for your other system components...everything should be able to work to its limits in FS9. CheersBob ScottATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VSantiago de Chile

Bob,Thanks for the suggestions! The 820 processor does seem to be vanishing rather quickly so I definitely plan to grab it when my aviation/computer account gets its monthly deposit.As for the memory, I agree... a purchase for down the road.Thanks again!Regards,Dan PergauPP-SEL