I am getting a new computer as a birthday gift. This machine will be used primarily, if not exclusively, for running FSX.Can anyone advise me as to what to look for in a processor or graphics board or anything else except a monitor? Somewhere between 500 and 1000 dollars would be nice.Hoping to make the purchase today, which is March 26.Thanks a lot.

That is a pretty tight budget to stay in. I just finished putting together our general purpose + gaming rig at my home. Granted, I went with some top of the line items, but I spent a lot more than that.What I'd look for:A Core 2 Procesor (E6600 is a good deal right now)A High end video card (Any of the GeForce 8800 series as they support the new DirectX 10 - also will be utilized with SP1 for FSX)A good Motherboard that will handle the above.Plenty of fast memory. Find out what the fastest memory the motherboard you pick can handle and get at least 2GB.Vista if you are brave, otherwise go with XP for an OSA nice sized SATA II hard disk to store everything.That about covers it.hBest of luck and have fun!

Thanks. I've printed your suggestions and will take them with me to our electronics store to see if any of those minimum wage experts understand what I may not.I also will heed your suggestion about probably increasing my price range.Thanks again.

Might want to check out these GAMING PC's at Tiger Direct, several within your budget. Best of Luck and Enjoy it!http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/ca...c.asp?CatId=114

>Thanks. I've printed your suggestions and will take them with>me to our electronics store to see if any of those minimum>wage experts understand what I may not.>I also will heed your suggestion about probably increasing my>price range.>Thanks again.> If you are looking for a gaming machine the LAST place I would go is your local electronics store...assuming it's a big box store. Perhaps a local PC Shop if you are lucky enough to have one. Or even many of the online builders. I bought my original machine before mods at Cyperpower Inc. and have had no issues (except self inflicted:)) with it.Craig ASUS A8N- nForce SLI Chipset SATA RAID Dual PCIe MOBOAMD ATHLON64 3500+ CPU w/ HT TechLG GWA-4161 DVD/CDSeagate ST3160811AS 160GB Barracuda 9 7200RPM 8MB SATA II 3Gb/s NCQSeagate ST3160811AS 250GB Barracuda 9 7200RPM 8MB SATA II 3Gb/s NCQEVGA 7950 GT KO PCIe 512mb nvodngov19147-[Guru3D.com] drivers SB Audigy 22G Corsair PC 3200 400MHZ Dual Channel DDR Super Alien 500W P/STrack IR3 w/vectorCH Yolk & RuddersFS Genesis Terrain MeshActive SkyRC4

Windows XP (not sure Vista is really worth the price and trouble)DFI overclocking motherboard Intel Conroe CPU or even an Extreme CPUsVga 8800 GTXSata drives2 gig of fastest memory24" LCD screenAudigy sound card

The Machine I built for a little over 1,200:Asus M2N mobo- $130.00AMD 5400X2 2.8ghz- $280.002 gigs of Corsair Twin XMS2 PC6400 DDR2 800mhz Ram- $290.00BFG Nvidia 8800GTS- $400.00Western Digital 250G 7200rpm Hardrive- $70.00All purchased online from www.tigerdirect.com , and quite the bang for the buck, if you dont mind building yourself. Also this rig runs FSX very well:)Cases range from $25 and up some with Power Supplies , some without. (without is the best way to go, and buy the PWR Sup. seperately)550 watt Power supply would be the minium I would recommend due to the Graphics card!Also the the AMD 5200X2 may be a better bet as it has 1mb more cache , and just OC it to 2.8ghz, or you could always go higher like a AMD 6000X2 or even with one of the intel eqivelents however AMD's will give more bang for the buck.Chris

Why dont you wait until the SP1 for FSX is released and see what the feedback is. It would give you a better idea of what hardware is being currently used, and what may be best for you based on your budget. Bill

That, and I wouldn't rush in to buy a DX10 card just yet, although the choice is up to you. We still have some months' wait for DX10 to be finalized, so by Christmas, your choices in video cards should be substantially better than they are now. On the other hand, down the line you're going to be replacing a video card that's only a few months old if you buy a DX9 card now. That's the choice I decided on when I recently rebuilt my system. I prefer frequently buying cheaper mid-range cards over splurging big bucks on a cutting edge graphics card that ends up being equal to the mid range cards six months later anyways. Again, though that's my preference, your mileage may vary. And of course, my personal views do not necessarily represent those of Avsim at all.Jeff ShylukAvsim Product Reviewer

My specs are below. It cost US$2400, excluding peripherals, and runs FSX pretty well. I second the call not to buy a DX10 card yet. At least wait until the first DX10 games are out, then you'll have some idea whether they are worthwhile.Cheers,Noel.

Thank you all. You have been very helpful -- I think.I see I have much to learn and think I'll delay my purchase until my know-how catches up. I've saved all your answers and will study them.Thanks again

I think it's wise to wait, for several reasons: - SP1 is designed to improve FSX performance, with a stated goal of at least 20% fps improvement. - DX10 is still in a state of flux, both in terms of hardware and in terms of FSX support (which won't happen for a while). - significantly faster CPUs are expected within the next couple of months, notably Intel's new "Penryn" line of 45 nm processors. If SP1 doesn't resolve FSX performance issues to your satisfaction, then a faster CPU might be worth waiting for. - if you are interested in 3rd party aircraft and scenery enhancements to FSX, some of these may put even further demands on your hardware. Please note that you can ALWAYS make the argument that it's "better to wait" in terms of upgrading PC hardware, because improvements are constantly around the corner. But in this instance, I feel there are so many things in flux that it would be better to hold off a bit, and see how some of the key variables settle out. While it's great to have a fast graphics card, keep in mind that FSX is mainly CPU-limited. The developers have also hinted that RAM latency can also have a significant impact on FSX performance. Finally, there is currently no hardware setup on the planet that is capable of running FSX with all sliders at maximum. Whether this will even be achievable with SP1, the next generation of CPUs, and full DX10 support remains to be seen. But you should know more in about a month than any of us know at the moment.