Well, I'll be offline for a few day becuase in a few hours I will meet my NewEgg parts at the front-door and begin the long, arduious task of re-installing everything. I haven't done this in almost 18 months. Yes, I am going to reinstall FS9 (as well as FSX) so I can continue to use my PMDG, MD80, and LVL-D for the time-being.Here's the plan:MS Windows XPSP2x64 -> MS Windows Ultimate x64AMD4000 -> Intel E6700Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe -> Asus P5B Deluxe (Better Raid bandwidth than NF 680i)3GB Corsair XMS(PC3200C2) -> 2GB XMS2(PC8500C5) Dominator 1066-FSB (C4/800 wasn't available at time of purchase)Evga 7900GT OC (256Mb) (Failing) -> Evga 8800GTS (640Mb)19" Viewsonic CRT -> 22" LG L226WTQ-BF (Widescreen)Nforce4 Raid-0 WD 2x320GB -> ICH8R Raid-0 WD 2x320GBWD 150GB Raptor for FS9/X )(Will raid with another Raptor later)Zalman 9500 HSFThat'll keep me busy for a few days... I'll let 'ya know how it goes on the flip-side.

I'm sorta curious as to why you chose x64?As of now there isn't much of a benefit for vista x64 at all... They are still working out the kinks in vista x86 hehe...but let us know how it goes....Lucky you!I love newegg!

I've been runnig XPx64 since it went final in '05. I think it has better memory utilization and drive-access (less FS9 stuttering). I just have had a decent experience with it in the past so I'm going to continue with what-works. Since I don't have any very unusual devices, why not...

>Well, I'll be offline for a few day becuase in a few hours I>will meet my NewEgg parts at the front-door and begin the>long, arduious task of re-installing everything. I haven't>done this in almost 18 months. Yes, I am going to reinstall>FS9 (as well as FSX) so I can continue to use my PMDG, MD80,>and LVL-D for the time-being.>>Here's the plan:>MS Windows XPSP2x64 -> MS Windows Ultimate x64>AMD4000 -> Intel E6700>Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe -> Asus P5B Deluxe (Better Raid bandwidth>than NF 680i)I'm glad you picked up on the RAID issues with the 680i boards. !!Good move.>3GB Corsair XMS(PC3200C2) -> 2GB XMS2(PC8500C5) DominatorWow, you are going DOWN in mem size. Most people don't have the guts to do that. I bet you'll get better speed with the two matched pairs though! Again, I think that's a good move, really. I suppose 4gb in two matched pairs would be best but then that's a price premium for that last 2% of performance.Let us know how you like the Dominator XMS2 ram. That stuff should o/c well if you decide to do that at some point.>Evga 7900GT OC (256Mb) (Failing) -> Evga 8800GTS (640Mb)Probably wise also...considering that if you spent the extra money on an 8800GTX, you'd get maybe 1 extra fps. Not worth it imo unless money is no object.>19" Viewsonic CRT -> 22" LG L226WTQ-BF (Widescreen)I am going to get a new monitor in a few months. You can give me advice! I guess I'll have to get an LCD. I am not sure about widescreen, I kind of lean towards a square monitor. ?? I don't know how widescreen would be for FS.>Nforce4 Raid-0 WD 2x320GB -> ICH8R Raid-0 WD 2x320GB>WD 150GB Raptor for FS9/X )(Will raid with another Raptor>later)Same here. Got a 150gb Raptor for FSX. Tentative plan is to raid a pair of Raptors eventually.>Zalman 9500 HSF>Ah, so you ARE going to overclock.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

I too am leaning towards Vista 64 whenever I rebuild late this year.I figure by then driver, etc. issues will be better; of course that all depends on user reports, particularly my fellow FS'ers reports.Not that I have any compelling reason to go to Vista...ever; it's just that it will essentially be a given for me considering that I will want DX10 + FSX at some point...and I can't have that with solid low-footprint XP.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

Got the first night under my belt. Got the Raid-0 stiped and the OS installed. A few pics for 'ya...Ah, the 'ol A8N-SLI Deluxe - Lasted me nearly 2-1/2 years. Might be record...http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/171068.jpgHoly crap! Now that's a video card! Somewhat bigger than I expected... I like the heatpipe through the second PCI slot.http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/171069.jpgThe Zalman was easy to install. Screws instead of a crow-bar normally required with my previous Thermalright's...http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/171070.jpgGot it all put back together... Will she fire?http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/171071.jpgAhhhh, we have reached critacal mass... LOL...http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/171072.jpgNo complaints with the new 22" widescreen either. No dead pixels and sharp graphics so far. Can't wait to get some D3D pumpin'...http://forums.avsim.net/user_files/171073.jpg

Cool! Play some games play some games!!!

and what happened after that?more than 10 days later and no news...

Clayton;From the look of that thing he built.....all glowin' and stuff...hemight be sick with radiation poisoning:-vuur Or maybe the dam thangreached critical mass and propelled him into the next century:-spacecraft

Oh, sorry, I spent the next four days trying to get Vista-64 stable to no avail because of driver issues. So I went to Vista-U x86 and it's been great ever since, after the very first install.I've done some mild-overclocking to date but nothing drastic. Now that FSX-SP1 is installed, I'll spend the next two years tweaking this, and tweaking that. So far, with SP1, I seem to average about 30FPS locked with 16AF, 8XAA-GameAssist, high-quality, and most sliders further to the right, but no AI aircraft at the moment.

LOL, you never know.... :-laugh1

>Oh, sorry, I spent the next four days trying to get Vista-64>stable to no avail because of driver issues. So I went to>Vista-U x86 and it's been great ever since, after the very>first install.>>I've done some mild-overclocking to date but nothing drastic. >Now that FSX-SP1 is installed, I'll spend the next two years>tweaking this, and tweaking that. So far, with SP1, I seem to>average about 30FPS locked with 16AF, 8XAA-GameAssist,>high-quality, and most sliders further to the right, but no AI>aircraft at the moment.>ALI had a tough time at first installing Vista U-64. I tried to load the 64 bit drivers during installation when doing a clean install, didn't work. What I'm saying is pointing to the 64 bit drivers didn't work.What did work was doing a clean install with the 64-bit disk (of course), without pointing to any drivers. It will install!AFTER it was installed I simply upgraded all the drivers to 64-bit.NVidia video, chipset (680a) in my case insalled with no problems. Fraps too.In other words it will install without 64-bit drivers, upgrade drivers later.I have no idea why the select drivers option during install wouldn;t work for me. It seems Vista-64 installs fine under XP, after booting with XP?FSX,SP1 runs like bear. With everything maxed I frames bouncing off 75 FPS at times. it sees all 4 gig of memory and it rates itself at 5.9 using Vista performance gizmo.

Noted, but I had tried installing it both with the default raid driver and the latest off the web. Specifically, I think my problem was the Intel ICH8R raid drivers were pretty raw on the 64-bit version. I was experiencing data corruption on my raid-0 and very poor raid performance/bandwidth. Also, in the 64-bit verson, if the driver isn't signed, you can't install it, no matter what. This was also an issue for trying beta drivers which I tend to do quite often. After four days of tearing my hair out, I just decided to revert back to 32-bit and enjoy the new rig for while.

>Noted, but I had tried installing it both with the default>raid driver and the latest off the web. Specifically, I think>my problem was the Intel ICH8R raid drivers were pretty raw on>the 64-bit version. I was experiencing data corruption on my>raid-0 and very poor raid performance/bandwidth. Also, in the>64-bit verson, if the driver isn't signed, you can't install>it, no matter what. This was also an issue for trying beta>drivers which I tend to do quite often. After four days of>tearing my hair out, I just decided to revert back to 32-bit>and enjoy the new rig for while.I keep reading that guys cant install NON (unsigned)WHQL drivers?I don't understand. I get a dialog box warning/asking me if I'm sure I want to install the NON WHQL driver. Just like you do with XP.I don't for the life of me understand why I get the warning and opportunity to install regardless and others say they do not???Honestly, I just don't know why.

>I keep reading that guys cant install NON (unsigned)WHQL>drivers? I don't understand.From your signature, it appears you are running Vista 32.Vista 64-bit has enhanced security code which *requires* all drivers to be digitally signed. Microsoft did this claiming it would increase the safety and security of the operating system. By allowing only signed drivers to be installed, it is their thought that you wouldn't be installing any beta or tampered/altered drivers, which may introduce instability. Most professional 64-bit users are sticklers for system stability and security, so this was probably why it was put in place.Microsoft did *not* implement this with Vista32, likely due to the massive number of "home" users who have both no idea what the driver signing means, AND who have a good number of devices for which no signed drivers exist!-Greg(Microsoft did create a workaround for using unsigned drivers, but that requires you as a user to hit F8 at bootup EVERY TIME you want to allow the use of non-signed drivers. This isn't practical for daily use)