hey all, I am in the process of buying a new PC for fs2004.....I have no plans to go to FSX any time soon and will in all likely hood skip FSX and wait for FS 11 as FS9 does everything i want and I have spent too much money on add-ons.....having said this my current system (P4 3.0 ghz, 1 G ram, 256 mb saphire radeon card) really struggles at times to give me good frame rates and I have to dial down most eye candy, AI traffic, weather etc....I would like to build a system that gives me framerates 20-30 CONSISTENTLY with all the sliders maxed out or nearly maxed out.......what can u guys recommend.....I guess dual processors is the way to go???? if you could give me your current specs along with frame rates I would most appreciate it as it will point me in the right direction as to what components I should be buying.....thanks everyone!!cheers, John CYOW

Hi John,I am in the process of planning an upgrade as well.1st question - are you willing to build your own or do you want to purchase a complete system?2nd question - do you have a budget in mind?The Intel dual core processors seem to give the most performance, at least right now. If you are willing to overclock, you can use a E6300. If not, I would recommend the E6600.There are lots of motherboards for the dual core from cheap to outrageous - take a look at Tom's Hardware or ExtremeTech and figure out what you really need.FS9 doesn't really need the latest and greatest graphics board - I've heard of good results from a GeForce 7600 GT, or you can move up to a 7950 series or ATI 1950. If you are going to use Vista and will need DX10, you may want to consider a GeForce 8600 card.I'd recommend a separate sound card to reduce the CPU load. The Sound Blaster Audigy 2 works well for most.You will need a good power supply - I've heard good things about Seasonics M12 and S12.A top-notch complete system of this type will probably run 2 to 3 thousand bucks. (Alienware, Dell Gaming , etc) You get a warranty and at least some support. An alternative is to check out local shops and see what they will charge to build it.I figure I can build a system like above for $1300 to 1500. (not including monitor) Putting the components together is not difficult, but trouble shooting problems and fine tuning for best performance takes time and persistance. If ome of the components is defective, it can be a real hassle (I recommend you buy the MB and CPU from the same source, if possible)Hope this helps,Dale

John could you give more details re you current Graphics card and whether it is AGP or PCI Express. Best and Warm RegardsAdrian Wainer

hi, my current graphics card is AGP but i suspect that the CPU is the bottleneck from reading comments from other people so dual core seems to be the way to go although I have also read that FS9 isn't coded to take advantage of dual core so i am somewhat puzzled....??

What model type is your Graphics card?Best and Warm RegardsAdrian Wainer

Built mine last October FOR FS10, but FS9 is now exactly where I wanted it! :-)This system cost me about $1600 Canadian, and will give 40 - 60 FPS with FS9 highly custom-and-maxim-ized and 20 - 30 with a stock FS10. I have screenshots elsewhere on avsim of the FSX specs (not that it matters if you're not going there, but it's a good measure). The 6600 is very easily overclockable, and it will do it at ordinary temperatures.My only complaint is that I had planned on the 8800GTX instead of the ATI card: ATI doesn't support the Matrox TripleHead2Go 3D (3840 x 1024) system - but in the heat of the purchase I wasn't thinking too clearly. x(Oh well. . .:-beerchug

thanks for the advice....how does one overclock as I have no clue how to do it?

K, let's say you're on a budget and you want to have a real nice PC for FS9 only.First off, ok you're in canada....hmmm newegg won't workBut I'd try to find an old socket 939 mobo and look for either an AMD 4000 or 3800, with 2 GB of ram, and a pcie 7600gt or equivalent ATI card.PSU will be fine what do you have now anyway?MY system runs FS9 maxed except in KJFK with LevelD VC with full AI traffic and in that case I get about 12-15FPS, evrywhere else I get around 20-25 locked (depending on which cities I fly in)If you got more $$$ then I'd suggest going C2D and get the E4300....without OC it will be better than myself but if you learn to OC (come back here for help) it is an excellent OCer....then go with 1GB for FS9 or if you use a lot of complex addons I'd recommend 2GB of decent RAM with a C2D mobo, and maybe a 7900GT PCie or ATI equivalent

Hi Gooper; I'm using the ASUS P5B motherboard, and with that comes ASUS's Utilities Bundle - which includes "AI Booster". It makes this SUCH an easy job.http://enthusiast.hardocp.com/article.html...W50aHVzaWFzdA==There are a goodly number of o/c sites and so, like Avsim for FS - go and spend some time on those sites. I don't know what your system is, but there's probably a tool around that others' have used before. Good luck.Regards,