Athlon 64 4000+ or Athlon 64X2 3800+. The 64X2 is only a little more expensive, but I gather that it wont do me any good until Vista comes out, and even then it is questionable whether FSX will take advantage of it. FOr singe core operations is it safe to assume, based on the number, that the 4000+ is more powerful?Secondly, is this a good middle of the road graphics card? http://www.compusa.com/products/product_in...0_GS_Video_CardI need one or $100 for less to replace the integrated GPU in the machine I am getting.

3800 X2 for sure.....FSX will ABSOLOUTLEY take advantage of dual core technology.There has been a big discussion on here regarding this. tdragger from ACES confirmed it.Hope this helps,Glenn

Have you looked into the new Intel processor called the 'Conroe' Duo Core 2 Extreme X6800 (rather redundant to say the least), but is acclaimed to produce a lot more processing power than the latest AMD Dual Core 64,,,,It also requires a lot less power (wattage-wise) to run.Regards,jack

Definitely go dual-core, if you current mainboard and budget supports it. A good $100 value graphic card would be a Geforce 6600GT or a budget Geforce 7 board. You can find plenty on benchmarks by browsing through tomshardware.com or anandtech.com, just to name a few.Be sure that you order it online via renowned retailers like newegg.com or tigerdirect.com (if in the US), because you'll pay at least 30%-50% more at your retail store around the corner.Good luck,Pat