I have decided to try my hand at building a computer. My three year old Dell XPS is not able to run FSX very well.Here is a list of components I have come up with after may days of research:Siverstone TJ09-b Aluminum ATX Mid TowerIntel D975XBX2KR Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 975X ATX IntelMotherboardThermaltake W0116RU Complies with ATX 12V 2.2 & EPS 12V version 750W Power SupplyIntell Core 2 Duo E6600 Concore 2.4GHz 4M L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor BFG Tech BFGR79256GSOCE GeForce 7900GS 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video CardKingston HyperX 2GB (2x1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Western Digital Caviar SE WD2500JBRTL 250GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache IDE Ultra ATA 100 Hard DriveSony Black DVD RW CD RWSony Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Disk Drive Model MPF920 BlackMicrosoft Windows XP HomeMy plan with these components is to be Vista ready. I will probably upgrade to Vista, a DX10 second generation card and an additional faster hard drive after MS has come out with the FSX DX10 upgrade.Any suggestions will be welcome. This is my first try at building a computer.Thanks,Dan

Dan,What was you reasoning behind your selection of that motherboard? Not saying, its bad or anything. You must have done your research. Your choice with the other stuff seems to be good and most of them are something I am familiar with. Manny

I like the components you have picked for the most part.As soon as I read your vid card spec I knew immediately what you were aiming for there regarding DX10. :) Smart move.The Silverstone case I am not familiar with but I have used their power supplies before to good effect. With the case just make sure it has good cooling, but you knew that. If it's anything like their p/s's it should be a good case.There is a 16mb cache version of the 250 gig Caviar. That might be something to consider. I *think* the 16mb cache version is made for ATA as opposed to SATA.RhettAMD 3700+ (@2530 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2 GB Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8, WD 250 gig 7200 rpm SATA2, CoolerMaster Praetorian

I think the 16SE Caviars come both PATA and SATA. The one I have is SATA.scott s..

Perhaps have a look ath 320GB Seagate with perpendicular 'something' as well? WD doesn't offer this feature yet. Kind regards Jaap

Sounds like you took a page out of my build ;)Those parts are all good. I don't know about the ram though as i don't trust kingston myself. I would go with TEAM, Super Talent or a higher end corsair for stability and performance. The bad axe 2 motherboard imo is THE best, most stable board on the market at this time and it is little known. It really is the diamond in the rough these days with the likes of the asus, evga and abit boards that are chock full of problems. It is the board that most overclockers now seem to want to switch to due to its performance, its stability, and its lack of compatibility issues. Here is a good thread you might be interested in if you doubt the bad axe 2:http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=124131You will also love the tj09 case but be warned as it is very large, especially in length. I use the perpendicular recording drives but don't see that they are any faster so any drive should work fine as long as its sata2. You also want to make sure you get a good cooler if you want to o/c and frankly even if you don't. I recommend the big typhoon vx cooler as it is very easy to install, requires no back plate, and cools very well. You also need to order some arctic silver 5 paste to use with it. The paste takes about 5 or 6 days to cure but once it does your temps drop dramatically. At 3.2ghz i am idling at 35C now which is much lower than you would idle at with stock cooling.Dave

If you can afford it - sata comes in 150 or 300MB/s, 16MB cache and 7200 rpm, and apples for apples - sata is a much bigger bang for the buck, and is the way technology is going.Check out this one:http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/...asp?DriveID=214and browse all the manufactures sites you can.

Thanks for all of your advice. I'm in the process of revising my list of components based on you suggestions. I'll let you know what I come up with. In the meantime, any more ideas will be more than welcome.Thanks again.Dan

Here is my revised list of components. I have changed the case to a small, less expensive one that will better fit under my desk and has convenient front USB and audio ports. The other changes are based on your ideas and comments plus trying to hold down the cost.Thermaltake Matrix VX VD3000BNA Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer CaseIntel BOXD975XBX2KR Socket T (LGA 775) Intel 975X ATX Intel MotherboardThermaltake W0106RU Complies with ATX 12V 2.2 & EPS 12V version 700W Power SupplyIntel Core 2 Duo E6600 Concore 2.4Ghz 4M sharing L2 Cache LGA 775 Processor BFG Tech BFGR79256GSOCE GeForce 7900GS 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card SUPER TALENT 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop MemoryWestern Digital Caviar SE16 WD3200KSRTL 320GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive SONY Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 5X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 40X CD-ROM IDE DVD Burner SONY Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Model MPF920 Black Microsoft Windows XP Home Upgrade with SP2Any further comments and ideas will be greatly appreciated.Thanks,Dan

>If you can afford it - sata comes in 150 or 300MB/s, 16MB>cache and 7200 rpm, and apples for apples - sata is a much>bigger bang for the buck, and is the way technology is going. I purchased a WD SATA 250 GB with 16 MB cache drive for $130 locally. Later I saw the WD site sells it for $90, but add $9 for the SATA cable.>Check out this one:>http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/...asp?DriveID=214>and browse all the manufactures sites you can. Later, I noted PC Connection has the drive I purchased locally for $80, plus $4 for the SATA cable. Even if one has enough room for FSX and the rest of his files on one HD, adding another drive for pagefile.sys should improve swapfile I/O. Especially if the current drive is on an EIDE port and the other drive on a SATA port. That way, there are two buses for file I/O. Though, two SATA drives on a 300 MHz SATA port shouldn't be bus limited anyway.RAF