Taking a different tack to off-the-shelf PCs at DELL in my endless quest for a serious FS rig, here's an e-mail I got today from a gaming PC maker (not Alienware!) in response to whether they could build me a "killer" PC for FS2004:" I recommend the FX55 chip (the most powerful in the world right now), 2 gigs of ram and *at least* dual nVidia 6600s powered by the Enermax 660w power supply. You would be better served performance-wise with two nVidia 6800 gts or ultras. However, that can be really expensive and I'm not sure what kind of money you want to spend on this. If you go for the "ultra" version of the card then you will have selected the most powerful configuration available in a PC anywhere. We guarantee that this PC will perform better than any other hardware configuration you can find anywhere else because it is simply the most advanced hardware on the market at this time. We guarantee you will not meet anyone with a faster computer graphics rendering machine (assuming you get the ULTRA version of the cards). It simply impossible until the next generation of hardware comes along. TestingWe test each of our PC with Doom 3 for 24 - 48 hours before it ships. Doom 3 was made for next generation computers. So, maxing out the detail on Doom 3 actually pushes the computer farther than any hardware should be expected to work at. We leave it running on that mode for 24 hours. If it doesn't crash, then we know everything is in pristine working order."This would cost around $4,000. The SLI set-up costs a great deal. I cannot figure out if SLI is worth doing for FS. (I play no other games and have no interest in any "games" other than MSFS. The rig would be 100% for FS, nothing else at all.) Would this be worth doing or is it going way overboard for FS2004? Would it squeeze the max out of FS2004 or would it just be wasted on the sim beyond some certain point ?Appreciate any views.JS

If the only game you're interested in is MSFS then dual SLI videocards would be a waste of money. It will be of little or no benefit in this sim, and there is no way of knowing now if it will be useful in the next release of the sim (I recall all the hoopla about Hyper-Threading before the release of FS9 yet it is more of a hindrance than a help with the sim).With regard to the FX-55, it is indeed the most powerful CPU available to gamers today. But it is better suited for serious overclockers and system tweakers. It practically demands great memory (goes like a bandit with Samsumg TCCD module ram sticks and top quality gaming motherboards) and overclocking. If you're not into overclocking then the AMD 64 4000+ is a better choice and about 60% of the cost.Do indeed try to get a motherboard that is SLI capable. Though not much faster than AGP 8X right now, the SLI videocards are the future. But install just one card.Hope this helps,GregP.S. If you told your builder that the only game you play is MSFS and they still suggested dual SLI cards, then you should consider another builder. A good builder would know that dual cards will not offer this sim much (but it will make them richer with your money).

Greg:Superb post, thanks a lot. Helps a lot. No point shelling out if FS doesn't use all that hardware.Appreciate your advice very much, thanks.JS

We don

As an FS2004 enthusiast, I appreciate all the great information about the super systems that all of you provide.I am also into video capture and DVD creating. My question is which processor would be best for a combination of FS2004 and VIDEO?Would appreciate any feedback.Thanks.Abe

Can I have four monitors from the two cards.. two a piece?:)

Video encoding has always been a strong area on the Pentium CPU:s. How much windows 64 would change that I don

Par:I specifically said the quote was NOT from Alienware! It's actually from a company called WidowPC; I never even heard of them till this past week. They claim to build true gaming PCs and for considerably less than Alienware and DELL.I must say actually that for folks like me who do not build their own PCs, DELL has a remarkably interesting selection of P4 machines in their "Outlet" store at very good prices that I think anybody would be hard pressed to beat even if they built the stuff on their own.JS

Okay missed that :)Dells budget machines are reasonable prised. But look at their XP 4 dimension gaming computers or what their name is. They are extremely expensive for what you get :)

They are not expensive PCs if you consider that they are well made and rarely ever go wrong. In addition, apart from this latest nasty experience with upgrading, I have been able to fix them and upgrade previous generations myself even as a total amateur with little to no knowledge of things like bios flashing.I don't know why DELL gets such a bad rap from gamers as being too expensive. They make great PCs for the money. A friend of mine has just bought their latest XPS 4 with 3.80 Ghz, Radeon 850XT, 2x160GB HD @7200 rpm, and with a 19" DELL LCD, he paid $2,500. That is cheap at the price. I bet the components would run you $2,000. Heck, the Radeon card alone averages $600 in the U.S.Anyway, not to "advertise" for DELL....!JS

>>They are not expensive PCs if you consider that they are well>made and rarely ever go wrong. In addition, apart from this>latest nasty experience with upgrading, I have been able to>fix them and upgrade previous generations myself even as a>total amateur with little to no knowledge of things like bios>flashing.>>I don't know why DELL gets such a bad rap from gamers as being>too expensive. They make great PCs for the money. A friend>of mine has just bought their latest XPS 4 with 3.80 Ghz,>Radeon 850XT, 2x160GB HD @7200 rpm, and with a 19" DELL LCD,>he paid $2,500. That is cheap at the price. I bet the>components would run you $2,000. Heck, the Radeon card alone>averages $600 in the U.S.>>Anyway, not to "advertise" for DELL....!>>JSWell that particular machine I have tried pick a system myself that is as fast or faster and I saved 800$ :). That is quite a difference. However as for those budget 130$ machines or what they are those are really hard to get cheaper by bying yourself :)Anyway the parts in those aren

"There has to be drivers written for each game to benefit from SLI."Too bad it's not that simple. A number of factors regarding game programming come into play, most notably whether the game is written for Alternate Frame Rendering (AFR) or Single Frame Buffering (SFR). Certainly driver support for specific games is important but another factor is the fact that some games do better with ATI cards and others do better with nVidia. This too will effect SLI performance.Bottom line is that when the consumer is looking at the expense of upgrading to an SLI capable system he/she would like to know that the technology will indeed work as well as it can in their favorite games. Simply put, all games are not created equal.More info here: http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=Njk2LDI=Greg