Fellow Simmers,Hello I am hoping to go with this setup for an upgrade in the next week. Will be eating Ramen Noodles for the next 6 months but hey .Any Veteran Input will be greatly appreciated. Oh I have been hearing this system I am looking into is great for overclocking. I am posting a link here from newegg of all the stuff I am planning on purchasing.If any of this stuff will hinder a overclock or modding in the future please advise.P.S. This is a awful alot of money for me and I wanna try to get the best bang for my buck Thank You Kindly,JoshOk.. See if this works...1. eVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail Item #: N82E16814130072Return Policy: Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy Select An Optional Extended Warranty Plan 1 Year Service Net 1 Peripheral Extended Plan -- $49.99 2 Year Service Net 1 Peripheral Extended Plan -- $69.99 3 Year Service Net 1 Peripheral Extended Plan -- $99.99 $30.00 Mail-in Rebate $579.99..2. ASUS P5N-E SLI LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail Item #: N82E16813131142Return Policy: Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy Select An Optional Extended Warranty Plan 1 Year Service Net Replacement Plan -- $29.99 2 Year Service Net Replacement Plan -- $39.99 -$10.00 Instant $149.99$139.99..3. Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 Conroe 2.66GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6700 - Retail Item #: N82E16819115002Return Policy: Processors (CPUs) Return Policy $519.00...I do not know what to go with for RAM I would like to have 2 gigs but would like to find decent 2 gigs for about the $250.00 price range if that is possible I am really cutting it tight.Next thing is a power supply I have gone to CompUSA and talked to some of the techies and they suggest getting a 1000W Power supply :-erks...Could someone please direct me to decent memory and or power supply. I may be interested in playing with overclocking in the future but that is way down the road. But would like to be prepared for it. Thanks, Josh

I assume you are not going to purchase 2 video cards and run as an SLI setup?I spent many hours reading the customer reviews on Newegg of all the available motherboards, and the most stable Intel 975 based board I could figure out at a reasonable price was the DFI Infinity ($154). Upon researching the memory, it turns out that many of the memory out there from the most trusted vendors runs at rather high voltages (>2.1V) or had ridiculous prices. So, after reading DFI's list of suggested memory, I settled on the Kingston HyperX 800 MHz CAS 4 - 4-4-4-12 2.0V KHX6400D2LLK2/2GNhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16820134125at $263 for 2 1GB sticks. In the first machine I built, I used the KHX6400D2LLK2/2G and they worked fine, but DFI suggests KHX6400D2LLK2/2GN which are apparently optimized to run nVidia graphics cards in SLI (not what I am going to do, but I figure they must be more stable).Many people don't recommend Kingston (I guess because they are considered run of the mill), but these sticks ran fine, worked on initial boot up without any bios modification or screwing around and had a good price. The key for the 975 based motherboards seems to be to find memory that runs at 2.0V or less. BTW, the DFI board defaults to running memory at 667, I did have to set the BIOS to run the memory at 800 MHz, but it did it no problem.I used a 650w Antec power supply and it seems to work fine. 700W - 1000W would be a good idea for an nVidia 8800 SLI setup, but I don't think you'll need that much for a single video card setup.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16817371001If money is really tight, I'd suggest going for an E6600 or E6400. Apparently, the E6400s are overclockable to almost the same speeds as the E66/E67 can be overclocked to, and you'll be able to save $300 on that. The system I built has an E6600.I have not yet tried to overclock the system (I built it for somebody else), but it seems to be running fine. He is running it with 2 monitors at 1680x1050, and running FS9 and FSX and Google Earth on the same system at the same time through MyFSGoogleEarth and a connected VistaNav tablet driven by WideFS and it runs very nicely flying around the MetroBoston area.For best graphics, I'd suggest a minimum vertical resolution of 1024 pixels. I purchased a Toshiba laptop with 7900GS graphics running at 1440 x 900, and I really didn't like the resolution. I am used to running at 1920 x 1200 on my Dell D810 (1.86 GHz, 64 MB ATI X300 Mobility Graphics, 2GB Memory, 80 GB 7200 rpm disk - runs FSX ok with reasonable levels of autogen).Make sure to get a good quality DVI cable. I purchased the 6ft one at Newegg for 12.99, and a 10 ft one at CompUSA for $50, and the monitor running from the $50 cable is much brighter, and the video card recognized a difference between the cables, saying the Newegg cable was a 720i cable, and the CompUSA cable was a 1080i cable. Unfortunately, Newegg does not seem to carry good quality DVI cables. Even so, it does work fine. I purchased the Sceptre 20.1 widescreen monitors for the system, btw.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16824112006You'll also need a CPU cooler. After much investigation, I settled on the Zalman 9700.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...N82E16835118019Many people are also happy with the slightly smaller Zalman 9500 as well.For a case, I used the ABS Nighthawk. Seems to be fine, 2x120mm fans with capability for water cooling as well. Kind of gaudy with all the lights though, but it is possible to disable the lighting.For audio, which wasn't super important to me, I chose the $50 Audigy 4 SE. It's supposedly pretty run of the mill, but I wanted a decent audio card to offload the processor. The DFI comes with what seems to be a pretty decent built in audio, but I've always read that the built in audio takes clock cycles.I also chose the WD Raptor 10000 RPM 150 GB drive (one for now).Thomas[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com] http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]I like using VC's :-)N15802 KASH '73 Piper Cherokee Challenger 180

Hello, Gent's I THANK You kindly for your time and patience. I am about to make the move and I am probably gonna have to figure out how I can get all this a computer desk and a sleeping bag in the shed of the backyard after my wife throw's me and this rig out the door.:-rotor She said she will actually cover the bill's for the next couple of month's If I think I need this. (Well Capt I need more power). Below is a list of things I have compiled on NewEgg. Please don't hesitate to burst my bubble or set me straight to prevent some heartache and pain & maybe a divorce. Any and all HighTech Pro Veteran advise will be GREATLY appreciated. I am about a day or 2 from making the move. Please Advise1. Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 Conroe 2.66GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6700 - Retail Item #: N82E16819115002 $519.002. EVGA 122-CK-NF68-AR LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail Item #: N82E16813188009 $519.99 Combo Pkg 2 & 3 together price.3. CORSAIR XMS2 DOMINATOR 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400C4D - Retail Item #: N82E168201451684. eVGA 768-P2-N831-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail Item #: N82E16814130072 $589.99 I am scared sh***ess. I listed the prices incase someone knows of cheaper prices. Will still need a power supply. Please do not hesitate to hurt my feelings if it will make me a happy camper in the long run & stay out of the shed :-laugh1 Thank You, Josh

I'm a little confused. You are talking about the cost being really important to you, but you are spending nearly top of the line. As with anything computer, once you reach the top end, you are typically spending a ton of money for not that much more speed. Wait a couple of months and the top of the line reduces drastically in price. I'm not suggesting waiting (that's stupid, because then you'll only be enamored by what replaced it), but, if cash is important, I definately suggest setting your sight a little lower and you'll be just as pleased with the result.By choosing E6600, 8800 GTS, a 975 board, you can save nearly $800. I don't think you will see any difference in FPS between the $519 motherboard you have chosen and the $154 975 based motherboard I listed above (I assume you are not going SLI, so there is no issue there). I have not yet built a system with a GTX, so I can't vouch for any difference there, but is what I imagine will be a 2-5 FPS difference worth $200 to you? The E6400 and E6600 chips are easily overclockable by all accounts, to speeds much faster than a stock E6700. Now, the E6700 is probably also overclockable, but, ultimately, probably only to not much faster speeds, if at all, than an E64 or E66 will get you.But it is your choice.What is it that you are scared about?Thomas[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com] http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]I like using VC's :-)N15802 KASH '73 Piper Cherokee Challenger 180

Yup if you're going to overclock, I wouldnt pay the premium for the e6700. Much better to save yourself a packet and get a e6600 or even e6300. Motherboard-wise I would recommend the Gigabyte 965P DS3- one of the best for overclocking at the moment.

As I understand it, a problem with the 965 based boards is that there is no integral support for IDE disk drives, so there is a kluge on these boards to support it that causes problems for some. Correct me if I'm wrong here.Thomas[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com] http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]I like using VC's :-)N15802 KASH '73 Piper Cherokee Challenger 180

Thomas, I hear you. I am really torn I have been reading a few posts here and there that the E6700 has potential for some serious overclocking. I have never in my life really owned a top of the line system have always seem to be about 5 yrs behind. Think that is some of it. (grin). As far as for IDE I am not to worried about that at the moment. I currently have 2 sata drives in my old rig at the moment. As for being scared awful lot of money (grin). Thank You Kindly, Josh

>As I understand it, a problem with the 965 based boards is>that there is no integral support for IDE disk drives, so>there is a kluge on these boards to support it that causes>problems for some. Correct me if I'm wrong here.>>Thomas>>[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com]>http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]>>I like using VC's :-)>N15802 KASH '73 Piper Cherokee Challenger 180Correct- you can forget about using IDE hard drives with this board.

So how do you connect up a CD-ROM/DVD? Do they make SATA versions?BTW, the 975 chipset does not have this issue.Thomas[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com] http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]I like using VC's :-)N15802 KASH '73 Piper Cherokee Challenger 180

Thomas, I went with the 6700. But I am thinking about getting that DFI Infinity 975 board. It looks like the memory standard is DDR2 667. Are you able to run DDR2 800 ok? Did you change something in the bios? And if you did is it actually registering as DDR2 800? Oh and do you know if it will do ok when Direct X 10 comes out? Thank Ya Sir, Josh

Yes, the bios defaults to 667, but, as long as you choose compatible memory, it runs the memory at 800 MHz no problem and registers as 800 MHz on the boot screen. In the bios, I just selected 800 MHz and 4-4-4-12 timing (the default timing for the memory I chose), rebooted, and everything was good. Make sure the memory you choose runs at 2.0 volts or less (this is true I think for any 975 motherboard). As I noted, I have not yet tried to overclock it yet, but I read the responses of several who did and the smart ones didn't have any problem.I chose the Kingston memory based on price and because it was recommended by DFI on their website. In fact, the site recommends the 2GN memory, but only the 2G memory was available at the time (both are available at the moment, at least they were over the weekend) and it worked fine.As far as I know it will support DX10. I think that depends more on the video board than the motherboard. Perhaps somebody can correct me if I'm wrong here?BTW, when hooking up the motherboard, there is a 24 pin power connector, an 8 pin power connector, and a 5 volt power connector right next to the 8 pin one to the inside of the board. The power supply I chose had all three connectors available so I used them all. I'll bet that some people who have had problems did not connect the 5 volt connector. Also, make sure to connect the PCIe connector to the video card.Also, as you've probably noted from the user reviews, make sure to download and install the latest drivers for the motherboard. It booted up fine with the drivers that came with the board and I got the system running and on the internet, but I trust the user reviews and followed that advice without issue. I'm using the 97.92 drivers for the 8800 GTS and seem to be running fine.Thomas[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com] http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]I like using VC's :-)N15802 KASH '73 Piper Cherokee Challenger 180

Of course they have IDE. My CD and DVD are connected that way. I think what the previous post means is that the Intel 965 chipset only supports SATA.By the way don't expect performance miracles in FSX even with this set up.

Here's another datapoint suggested in another thread. Take it with a grain of salt, though. Why go with OCZ memory at 5-5-5-12 timings? The Kingston memory is 4-4-4-12 at I think a lower voltage for the same/less money (more stability).http://www.techspot.com/guides/41-highend-...g-guide-200701/But they are pushing the evga 680i board, and it does have more features than the DFI board (i.e. 6 SATA vs. 4) and they are saying much less money than your quote ($250). I don't plan on adding more than 2 disks to my system though, so I don't see that I need it. It does support faster ram than anything else supposedly, I'd have to check the specs on the DFI board to see if it supports the faster (1142 vs. 800 MHz) memory.Thomas[a href=http://www.flyingscool.com] http://www.flyingscool.com/images/Signature.jpg [/a]I like using VC's :-)N15802 KASH '73 Piper Cherokee Challenger 180

HiJust a small thought.It is important to go for the higher bus speeds as this does significantly effect all FS. 800 Mhz is a good target. The SATA disks are good due the high burst rates and good sustainedrates. As you note there is a problem with the IEEE interfaces forother bits, and my machine has a separate board to provide the IEEEinterface for the DVD drive. So you will need to check the provisionfor IEEE.Don't forget to spend money on a good GPU cooler - nVidia run hot,and you really are going to need a lot of cooling - somthing likean artic.Quad core for FS is not useful at the moment.Dual core - although FS2004 and FSX are not specifically writtenfor the dual core systems, there are enough things going on tokeep both chips busy. I typically get 100% and 80% on my Dualcore with FS2004 and 100% and 50% with FSX demo.The big problems as noted by a couple of people is when do youbuild a computer. No computer specs at the moment will handle FSX at full quality, and even then you will only get the fantasticeffects with DX10, therefore Vista - and nVidia are working onthe drivers still. Of course there will always be a bigger andbetter machine in 6 months, but I do wonder if now is a goodtime to upgrade to new hardware. FSX is supposed to be Vistaenabled (patched) and that will give the great effects. Butwe have to wait for the dust to settle with the release beforefinding that out - and the new patch - and the new GPU drivers. Isit possible to wait a couple of months ?Good luck with the machine.RegardsTom