I am sure this issue has been beaten over and over in past years. But the time has come for me to upgrade. I realized this when I was sitting on the ground at RNO and was only getting 7.0FPS Anyway... I have always used intel based motherboards and processers. I have also always went with SOYO motherboards. I have some money to spend on upgrading my current SOYO Dragon P4 1.7. I am obviously leaning toward another Intel based SOYO, but I am open to other ideas. Basiclly what do you all suggest, and what are you currently using. I have been looking at some of the screen shots in the AVSIM forum and I am getting jealousWHERE SHOULD I SPEND MY MONEY!!!!Larry J.Indio, CA

LarryDo I have some news for you. I have been an Intel man forever but I just purchased the Asus A8V board with the AMD3500 and I could absolutely not believe what I am seeing. Just got it last week. I moved from an Asus P4PE with a 2.8 processor. My performance has... and this is no exageration... doubled +. Using Flight1's new ATR on final approach to KSEA R34 with Seattle skyline in view with frames set to unlimited clocking between 30 and 35 FPS. I have recently locked the frames down to 28 and they dont even move!!! I was lucky to get 12 - 17 or so with the old Intel Stuff.Here are my settings and add-ins.FS Genesis 38m mesh FSScene Textures with Justins LandclassFSWaterUltimate Traffic set to 75%AutoGen Density = Very DenseScenery Density = Very DenseDawn/Dusk Texture Blending = checkedExtended Terrain Textures = checkedTerrain Mesh Complexity = 75%All items checked on the Aircraft Tab i.e. shadows etc.Weather Tab = All items set to defaultHardware Tab = 1600x200x32, Render to Texture = checked, Transform and lighting = checked, MipMapping Quality = 4, Hardware Rendered Lights = 6,Filtering = TrilinearAlso just purchased FlyTampa KSFO and rock solid from anywhere.I could not run any of the addin airports because the frames were just too low. If I was using a simple a/c such as Carenados Mentor, it was liveable with the old board. Anyway, I cannot believe what AMD has done. Never Never will I ever go back to Intel. In combination with this motherboard and 1 gig of ram, this baby absolutely smokes. I got 2 512mb ram sticks because of the dual ddr architecture. FS9 is a complete joy and LockOn is through the roof. Get an AMD, you will not be disappointed. RegardsBob Ginn

If your main reason for upgrading is gaming then AMD all the way. If you do alot of multi-tasking, audio/video stuff, etc. then Intel is your choice.Should you decide to go with AMD then you absolutely, positively should go with the recently released Winchester CPU's. They are built on 90mm cores. Two huge advantages to going with the Winchester... 1)less heat generation. Intel was far less successful when they released the Prescott core (the little buggers are great heat generators), whereas AMD has done a nice job of minimizing heat with the Winchesters. Recent tests have shown that the CPU's have great overclocking headroom. 2)The 90mm core means more yield per wafer, thereby cutting down the cost to consumers.The price/performance ratio of the Winchesters simply can't be beat right now.http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc....-103-498&depa=0Good luck,GregP.S. Pretty nice... http://www.legitreviews.com/article.php?aid=118

Greg,Thanks for the quick reply to my post, and for the great information on the winchester CPU's. I think I have found a motherboard to pair up with the CPU you suggested in your link. http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc....y=BROWSE&depa=1I assume this would be the board I would need. Just wanted to know what you think. Also, one other thing. Does ram need to be added in pairs with the A8V Deluxe VIA K8T800. Thanks for all your help..Larry JIndio, CA

*If your main reason for upgrading is gaming then AMD all the way. If you do alot of multi-tasking, audio/video stuff, etc. then Intel is your choice.*Very interesting post. A few weeks ago I heard a short, maybe two minute, business item on one of the TV cable news networks about AMD and Intel. They stated that AMD will probably go the "speed" route and Intel the "multi-processing" route. I don't remember their explanation of why, if there was one.This is the second mention I have heard of that strategy and it seems that it will certainly be a consideration in selection. I haven't done any research on it yet, but plan to when the time for a new rig comes. I currently have Intel.

Hi Larry,While others like VIA chipset motherboards, I have had no luck with them over the years. I've been very happy with the two nVidia chipset boards I've owned. For my money, the best manufacturer of AMD based gaming boards right now is DFI. Great quality, great features, and great overclockabilty. But they currently don't have a board on the market for the 939. Once they do me thinks they won't be able to make the boards fast enough!With reagrd to your memory question, perhaps forum member "michael" will weigh in here. His system is based on the A8V (and I believe he's had good luck with it).Hope this helps,Greg

Whoo, thanks for the heads-up on the Winchester SoarPics. I've just ordered a 64.3500 ( waiting for a Gigabyte mobo )Read your post and made a quick call. He had indeed got me a Newcastle. He's going to swop it for a Winchester. Talk about a post in time. Thanks.Russell.

Intel is being forced into MP because they haven

Hey Bob, great upgrade success story there. What video card do you have powering that puppy, and did you bring it over from your P4 system?Gary

Hey GaryIm using the Sapphire x800 pro. I bought this while I had the old system and there was really not much improvement with just the new video card. A couple of frames improvement and was able to up some of the detail but not much overall with just the addition of the video card. I am soooo happy with the AMD. Bob

I think AMD are doing dual-core Opterons, so I'm not so sure that this Intel vs AMD different paths thing is so certain.I went from a PI-133 to an AMD K6-2 350 and have stuck with AMD since. At the time wanted reasonable priced memory (not RAMBUS) but I also want to see competition in processors and chipsets. An Intel only world would stick it to us (for example, forcing everyone to PCI express). I've had SiS, AMD, Via, and ALi chipsets, and I'm about to go NForce 3 Ultra. They all have their good and bad points. scott s..

After all the research I have done in the last 4 months on AMD,:( I am now a believer. My next rig will be built around one for sure. I was so convinced, I bought a boat-load of AMD stock in early July and got out midday today. $ :9 $ This next rig won't hurt a bit. :-lolThanks AMD! :D