Hi,I'm planning to buy a new rig mainly for FS9 and then of course FSX when it hits the market.Below is a computer I'm thinking of buying, any comments/suggestions? Sorry for some Swedish in the text but I hope you'll be able to understand anyway ;-)http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/154302.jpgAlso I'm wondering if it's maybe stupid to buy a new PC at this time before Windows Vista and the new version of DirectX are on the market since the present graphics card don't have support for that, guess FSX will use the new DirectX version for example? But then again...maybe it will take some time before we see graphics card with support for the new DirectX version and I'm a bit eager to get a new and more powerful rig for FS :-)Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

If you are building from new (which it looks like you are) it really makes no sense to go AMD AM2 route, unless you are going for the super cheap X2 3800+ For the same money as the X2 4600, you could get a Core 2 Duo E6400 which equals the X2 5000+ at stock speed and with a little overclock will even beat the FX-62 without breaking a sweat!Up until recently the motherboards for Core 2 Duo have been very expensive. Now we are seeing models with the P965 chipset that are being released for around $120 (MSI Neo P965)On another note, why buy an SLI capable motherboard (paying extra for the chipset) and then get an ATi GPU? Kind of limits your options if you want to use the SLI feature at some point.Glenn

Glenn is 100% correct! I second everything he said.WebMaximus: 2 main points, which is what Glenn said:1) If it were me, I would not buy an expensive graphics card right now. When DX10 comes out, THEN I would buy a top-notch card.2) If I were building from scratch, I would buy a Core 2 Duo at this time, as they give the most performance for the money right now. FS will need all the cpu it can get.Rhett

This is a whole package, haven't picked out the parts myself so your input is greatly appreciated - thanks Glenn!Not sure what this Core 2 Duo E6400 is but I'll guess I can find all info needed on the Internet ;-)Best,

Thanks for your comments Rhett!When it comes to your first point this has been my though as well but I'm just wondering how long it will be before new DX10 compatible graphics cards hit the market - anyone who has an idea?And another thing that has crossed my mind, wouldn't it be possible to add support for new DX versions with a firmware upgrade in the same way lots of other products other that GPUs can be upgraded for new functionality that way?And for the second point...has just started reading about these new Intel CPUs, guess I have some tecnical catching up to do ;-)As for the graphics card and the never ending story ATI vs Geforce, who's in the lead at the moment and is one of them better suited for Flight Simulator?

I would certainly not blow $$$$ on a ultra high end DX9 card right now. Mid to high range will tide you over until DX10 hits and usually the first generation of cards for a new Direct X are not really capable of utilising the new features without a serious performance penalty. It usually takes some time (2nd or 3rd generation) to get the performance AND new DX features. If I were you (and I am to a certain degree as my computer in the sig has gone to the PC god in the sky) I would get either a X1900 GT or a 7900 GT.Neither are overly expensive, yet are powerful enough to deliver in most recent applications. Good 'bang for buck' so to speak.(If you are reading up on the new Intel's you should see that it would be worth getting the E6600 if your budget can stretch to it. The extra 2mb cache is sure nice....)Glenn

Thank's again for all your feedback Glenn, most appreciated!

Regarding the vid card. I don't know what the 7900GT's are going for right now, but I personally would not spend over $200 right now on video. Temporarily you will be a little shy on vid power in FS/FSX but it will really pay off. You'd just be throwing $$$ away--you will thank yourself early next year when you will want that DX10 card for FS. I think DX10 cards will appear around Q1 of 2007, probably Feb/March-ish. I doubt there will be "firmware" type upgrades for existing DX9 cards. Hence the reason not to spend too much on one right now.If $300+ isn't anything for you, then by all means get a 7900GT or something similar, to "tide you over".Regarding ATI vs. nVidia/Geforce. ATI has recently been bought by AMD, and AMD is expected to NOT keep the ATI moniker. So it'll be AMD vs. nVidia :) . nVidia has fixed their clouds/AA problem they had in earlier cards 5900/6xxx series and with the 7xxx series cards, the AA seems to perform much better in FS. I can't really say which is better. I like nVidia's driver setup better than ATI's Catalyst setup , though. Good nVidia vendors are BFG, XFX, and eVGA. For ATI cards, I have had good results with Sapphire.Regarding the cpu scene, the E6600 version of the Core 2 Duo is the one with 2 megs of cache. There is also an E6400(?) version of the Core 2 Duo that has less cache. The E6600 is generally considered to offer the most performance for the $, and the most performance per watt. Right now the E6600 is hard to come by, but that will change in the next few weeks. Consequently, the E6600 is a little more expensive than Intel said it would be. Things will settle out in the next few weeks. More motherboards will appear that support the Core2 Duo also. That will drive down the motherboard costs for those cpu's.Good thread, unfortunately I could talk about this stuff all day...Rhett

Sapphire Radeon X1900 GT is $229 at newegg.Its a great deal at that price and only $29 over Rhett's suggested budget.It depends if you were planning to jump on the DX10 bandwagon right away or wait for second generation to see how it plays out.If you are going to jump right away, I would just get somethng like an X800XL or a 7600 GT for around $120 to tide you over.as for the Core 2 Duos:E6300 - 1.83 ghz 2mb cacheE6400 - 2.13 ghz 2mb cacheE6600 - 2.40 ghz 4mb cache **** sweet spot for price & performanceE6700 - 2.67 ghz 4mb cacheX6800 Extreme - 2.93 ghz 4mb cacheChoices, choices, choices.......

Rhett,Thanks alot for your very detailed comment, think I will hold my horses for a while - maybe I will start with just a new mobo and CPU (and guess I will have to a not to expensive GFX-card as well since I have an AGP card today which won't fit on a new mobo) or maybe I will keep what I got right now and then buy a totally new rig instead when the new GFX cards with support for DX10 hit the market.Again, thanks for all good advice so far in this thread!

>Sapphire Radeon X1900 GT is $229 at newegg.>Any idea how much better performance I will get with such a card (is it worth the money) compared to the Sapphire Radeon X800 PRO I have today? And also, is there any adapter/converter that would let me use my old card which is an AGP card with a new mobo that I belive only have PCI Express slots?

The X1900 GT is significantly better than an X800 pro.Check out the interactive VGA charts at Toms Hardware for a comparison.http://www.tomshardware.com/2006/08/09/a_tale_of_two_gts/I think you already know, there is no convertor from AGP to PCIe.ASRock do a 775 Conroe motherboard though that has an AGP and a PCIe slot. It has limitations, but its cheap ($90) and offers an easy upgrade path. It also allows use of DDR memory instead of DDR2. Do some research on it....you might like it.http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2814I decided on my new spec below.....had to buy now as old PC died. VERY pleased so far.....Glenn