OKm here's the situation. I'll have available about $2000 to put together a new system. Plan on waiting a few months for some prices to come down though. I want a Thermaltake Soprano case and a water cooled environment ( simple, not some of the rube goldberg contraptions I've seen ) and a monitor is not necessary.So, other than that, what would the consensus be for CPU/Mobo/Ram/PS/Video. I have always had good luck with NVidia and Intel.Thanx!VicVisit the Virtual Pilot's Centerwww.flightadventures.comhttp://www.hifisim.com/Active Sky V6 Proud SupporterRadar Contact Supporter: http://www.jdtllc.com/

Take the $2000 invest it in a 9 month CD or a money market account at 5%+ and revisit this after the DX10 Update.Jimhttp://www.hifisim.com/Active Sky V6 Development Team Active Sky V6 Proud SupporterHiFi Beta TeamRadar Contact Supporter: http://www.jdtllc.com/AirSource Member: http://www.air-source.us/FSEconomy Member:http://www.fseconomy.com/

Sounds like a good idea at the moment - hang on. ATI have not yet released their dx10 cards, but the first lot must be soon (R600s I think) and nvidia may be releasing their second gen cards seeing as their 8800s have been around a while now (well in terms of hardware).Current cpu "king of the hill" is intels core2duo and will probably be for this year seeing as amd was last year plus considering the lead time involved in creating new cpus.Minimum ram requirement will be 2gb (I would be considering 4gb for a vista / fsx spec).HD give the Raptors a check - serial ata but with 10000rpm spin speed - they are not large but are fast and big enough (oldest version is only 36gb, then 74gb and now 150gb).I can definately recommend water cooling - obviously keeps things cool:-roll but is also so much quieter - there are some kits you can consider (e.g. Swiftech) if you dont want to select the different components...Theres lots out there but I think there will be new stuff coming soon, especially after dx10 becomes more popular - just my 2p for what its worth...CheersMike

I must admit, hang on to it, at least to see what ATI bring out (due out in May).Also I assume you haven't ruled out a MacPro which sits right at $1999? Leopard (next Mac OS) is due out March 27th but also heard April 16th -- some of the rumors about Leopard:1. ATI will release a DX10 card for use with the MacPro along with XP/Vista versions2. Installs on any x86 or 64bit Intel compliant instruction set system (aka just about any PC you want to put together)3. Leopard's interface make Vista's interface (including aeroglass) seem old and clunky and slow4. $79 gets you everything, no multiple versions with various price ranges and all is 64bit as it has been for some time nowBut wait and see is good advice, lots of new developments will be coming out from now til May.Rob.

OK guys - makes very good sense. Other than *wanting* to upgrade, I have no pressing *need* to do so right away. A short term CD it is then and revisit later.Visit the Virtual Pilot's Centerwww.flightadventures.comhttp://www.hifisim.com/Active Sky V6 Proud SupporterRadar Contact Supporter: http://www.jdtllc.com/

Hi Rob - Haven't ruled out MacPro but I'd have to do a bit of research down the road. I'm a little leery of buying *anyone's* canned system. I started building my systems from a kit *many* years ago ( can you spell IMSAI?) and have never bought a premade system. I guess when I buy the parts and assemble it I feel more in control of what's happening ( yeah sure! ). Also means I generally have a lot of parts around for swapping to troubleshoot. :)VicVisit the Virtual Pilot's Centerwww.flightadventures.comhttp://www.hifisim.com/Active Sky V6 Proud SupporterRadar Contact Supporter: http://www.jdtllc.com/

>>Also I assume you haven't ruled out a MacPro which sits right>at $1999? Leopard (next Mac OS) is due out March 27th but>also heard April 16th -- some of the rumors about Leopard:>One question: Can I run FS on Leopard?RhettAMD 3700+ (@2310 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2 GB Corsair XMS 2.5-3-3-8 (1T), WD 250 gig 7200 rpm SATA2, CoolerMaster Praetorian case

True, WinXP does work on huge variance of hardware.You'll find the MacPro is not as "canned" as it used to be -- the G4 and G5 and prior days are long gone thanks to Intel and the into of the MacPro. You have many more options these days, but you're limited to motherboard selection -- however, with a little work you can fool the OSX install into thinking it's a compatible motherboard and CPU which opens the doors somewhat on motherboards.I love to assemble my own systems also hence my very extreme thermal electric water cooled setup for my main gaming WinXP rig.But sometimes I just like not think about it and just get stuff done that's where the MacPro feels at home, especially long nights of coding or graphics work or video/audio editing work.But you might find the soon to be release of Leopard install on whatever you might have laying around.Rob.

FS can run on Mac OSX with boot camp right now so I'm sure it'll run on Leopard.I believe the rumor is that you don't have to dual boot any more -- meaning FS will install from within Leopard and you never have to "leave" the Leopard OS environment. AND, running Windows apps under Leopard (again on Intel MacPro only) without going thru an emulation mode -- aka native support so NO performance hit -- it is pretty common rumor that gaming support under Leopard was a high priority feature, so I'd say this is going to be a 85% probability. It sorta makes sense when combined with ATI's new DX10 video card line that will include a MacPro version. Anyway, that is the rumor, not long to wait and find out for sure. I know Apple have carefully positioned the release of Leopard to be before Microsoft release SP1 for Vista in the hope those that have gone the "wait and see" route will have a legit choice ahead of them as to which OS and hardware to go with.Either way, more choice is a good thing.Rob.

>running Windows apps under Leopard (again on Intel MacPro>only) without going thru an emulation mode -- aka native>support so NO performance hit -- it is pretty common rumorHow is Apple going to do that? Wouldn't Apple have to get Windows code, or rights thereof, in order to implement running Win without emulation? Or is the cpu instruction set (in this case Intel) that matters?RhettAMD 3700+ (@2310 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2 GB Corsair XMS 2.5-3-3-8 (1T), WD 250 gig 7200 rpm SATA2, CoolerMaster Praetorian case

Excellent topic - especially the Mac solution. I was gettin' ready to build soon too (April-May) with about the same budget. Think I might hold off awhile..... Regards, KendallDell 8400 3.2 GHZ H.T.800 FSB/2MB L22 GB 533 DDR2X800XT 256MB/Catalyst driver - 6.12's6x EATM AA/16x HQ A/FDiamond Xtreme/Logitech X-530'sDual Monitor: Dell 2405/1905CH Yoke/Pedals

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x86 -- Intel's -- that's all that matters -- instructions run natively.Rob.