Have you cheked the power supply in your computer...It sounds like that may be the problem...Steve Brown

Soarpics :-beerchug I know very well what OS you where talking about we are just not agreeing on the release date ;)The last news I heard on the Longhorn I read is that MS first noticed that the market for the 64-bit op systems isn

hi Steve,the power supply shouldn't be a prob. it's an Enermax 430 Watt PS. happy flyin, fm

I've been very satisfied with my AMD 64 3200+. I've really been throwing a lot at it in FS9 and it has held up well.I think the 3200+ and even the 3400+ are a great deal and benchmark close to the FX chip in several areas, yet they are hundreds of dollars less. The large 1 Meg. cache and high-speed integrated memory controller seem to make up for any lack of dual channel support. Plus, there are now some good overclocking boards available.I quite sure that the 3200+ opens up interesting upgrade paths. The last I heard, Win XP 64-bit will be released around June. They're probably fine tuning for the AMD 64 and associated equipment as we speak because the AMD 64 is the only mainstream desktop 64-bit chip out there and it has been out there during the Win XP 64-bit development cycle. With strong Win XP support, we'll probably see 32-bit to 64-bit application software ports soon thereafter.I would not overlook the various distributions of Linux optimized for the AMD 64-bit either, especially if you're into games like UT 2004 for 64-bit Linux. I'm thinking about throwing another HD into my system and creating a dual boot WinXP/Linux system. I'm not even sure I'll get around to UT 2004. I've always wanted to explore Linux more and getting a 64-bit operating system optimized for my CPU out of the deal is a real incentive to do so.

yeah dual channel is way overrated. Max 5 % performance increase really and that is only memory performance of course.

hmmm I don

Hi Guys,Thanks for the feedback. Sorry I haven't responded in the past couple of days. Been busy taking care of the lawn and sprinklers and so forth.I'm still debating what to do, even after having changed my mind and all! It is a very hard decision. Arrggh.>hi Jim,>>i would kindly suggest that if you can get your hands on an>Asus P4T533-C mobo. then grab it and stick with it. mine bit>the dust... (as a matter of fact 2 of them) but after seeing>fs9 on an Intel 875PBZ mobo. with DDR ram (PC3200 btw) i'm>wishing now that i'd told Alienware to send the system back>after the 2nd one went "kaput" and took my chances with a 3rd>one because my performance in FS9 went downhill with the>875P/DDR setup compared to the 850E/RDRAM setup. the>Mobo./Memory being the only differences between the 2 systems.>oooppps. almost forgot, the WD 80GB HDD with 8MB cache that>came with the system initially bit the dust b4 the 1st mobo.>did. however, it was replaced with a Seagate 80GB HDD with>8MB cache - (both 7200RPM drives). i doubt seriously though>that the new HD has anything to do with the performance hit.>it appears that the current DDR ram just isn't as fast as the>ole Rambus ram. i don't think you'll be happy with an 875/DDR>setup. i know i'm not.>>>>> happy flyin, fm Thanks FlyinMisfit. What you've said here is something I was worried about. Back when I got my P4T533-Cbased Alienware system, I chose it because I had researched it and everything I read told how the P4 relly liked RDRAM. But now it would seem to be very difficult to find a P4T533-C motherboard. The only one I found is on E-Bay. A place in Bangkok Thailand. It says they have four of them. But I don't know if I really want to go that route. I've never bought anything on E-Bay before and I'm thinking I'd rather buy my new mobo from a regular Computer parts dealer. Such as Newegg or ComputerHQ or other such place. Too bad my local Microcenter doesn't have a P4T533-C. Then I wouldn't even have to wait to get back up and running. But it would seem the P4T533-C is obsolete. I certainly get the idea that it's not being manufactered anymore, which stands to reason. I also have to wonder just how realiable the P4T533-C is anyway now that mine has gone out and FlyinMisfit says that 2 of them bit the dust on him.As I pretty said before I have changed my mind and decided to go ahead get an Intel system. Although I have not entirely ruled out going with an AMD64 system, I am still leaning towards an Intel at the moment... lol. I'll make some kind of decision on what to do before too long as I miss being able to fly!Cheers,Jim

Hi Again,For anyone, like Greg, who was waiting to see what I'd order, here it is...Motherboard - Asus P4C800-E Deluxe (875P Chipset)CPU - Intel P4 3.4C (Northwood Core)RAM - Mushkin DDR-PC3200 '222 Special' Dual Pack (2 x 512MB = 1 GB total) Timings down to as low as 2-2-2-5.CPU Heatsink/Fan - Zalman CNPS7000A-Cu Pure CopperThermal Paste - Artic Silver 5I was authorized to spend $1600. I ordered it all at Newegg.com and with what I ordered it came to $1000. I should have fun putting it all together and I'll think it'll be real nice for FS2004. I hope so anyway.Now, as Steve Brown mentioned it is possible my entire problem could be with the Power Supply(PSU). I found out that my PSU is an Enermax 550, not a 430. So I hope the PSU is not the problem 'cause I'd sure like to be able to use it for a long time to come. Somehow I don't think there is anything wrong with my PSU, but you never know. All the case fans, cpu fan, hard drive light, ect. turn on when I power up my broken system. I don't have any way that I can think of to test it. I think I'd have to go out and buy a voltmeter if I wanted to. If I find out my problem is the PSU then I'll have to order a new PSU. Then I could put the P4T533-C back together and still put the newer system together, thereby giving me two nice computer systems.Jim

hi again Jim,congrats. on the new system. sorry about your Asus P4T533-C (i feel your pain). let me know what you think about your new system with FS. happy flyin, fm

Congrats on the new system, Jim. Sounds like it will be very nice."Somehow I don't think there is anything wrong with my PSU, but you never know."I'm inlcined to agree. PSU's are a bit of a black science for most of us, but Enermax makes a nice product. I have one in my wife's computer... 3 years old and nary a hiccup from it.Have fun with your new box of bits,Greg

Hi,I would like to say thanks to everyone for their input. I finally got my system working ok. I've had it built for several days, but I was trying to troubleshoot a problem. The System was very unstable. I tried all kinds of BIOS settings for the memory timings and a couple voltage settings for the memory. But it was just very unstable. So I downloaded Memtest86+ v1.11. I tested with both memory modules in and got errors. Then took out memory module #2 and tested. Still got errors. So then I took out memory module #1, and put in memory module #2 all by itself. Then tested. Everything was A-OK. Luckily, Mushkin, the maker of the memory, is located in the same city I live in... Denver, Colorado. So I called them up on their 1-800 number and they offered to have me come down so they could test it and exchange it. Well, they tested it and confirmed what I had discovered, that the module was bad. So they tested a new module, said it tested good, then gave it to me in exchange for the bad one and it all works good now! So here is my new(and old) system:P4 3.4C GHz on Asus P4C800-E Deluxe1 GB Mushkin '222 Special' MemoryZalman Pure Copper heatsink and fan.Western Digital 2500JB 250GB Hard DriveRadeon 9700 Pro Video CardNEC Multisync FE2111(SB) 22" MonitorI'm going to be busy over the next several days. So it'll be a bit before I can get back to FS2004, but at least it looks like I'm back in business!!Cheers,Jim