Thinking of upgrading my desktop, so I can run FSX. Looking at the quad core HP with 3 gigs of memory. I will also upgrade the video card to a 8800 (Nivida) or a 8600. As far as the card choice is concerned, the only difference between the two is HD something. Need advice on this overall choice and whether I need the more expensive HD card.ThanksRegards,Ed

Ed,The difference between the two cards is far more than HD-something. The 8600 is a "lite" version of the 8800, and performs considerably slower performance-wise. Having said that, FSX is nearly as CPU-bound as previous FS versions, so the video card plays much less a role than it does in first person shooter type games. Unfortunately, there are not many benchmarks out there that show the effect of video card on FSX performance. Tom's Hardware does have VGA charts using FSX as one of the benchmarks, but it does not include the 8600 at this time. I have read in a few forums that the 8600 is supposedly very roughly equivalent to a 7900, so the following link provides a rough guide to the difference in performance you could expect: http://www23.tomshardware.com/graphics_200...2=706&chart=293In terms of system balance, an 8800 would be a more appropriate fit than an 8600 for the other components you have stated for your proposed system.Gary