Hello Guys,Below is a list of equipment I have ear marked for my next rig to be built very shortly. I'm going to set the sytem up dual boot (just in case) but plan on installing FSX under Vista. With all of the vast knowledge and resources in this forum any comments, pointers and or criticisims would be greatly appreciated.Thank you in advance for your input.(1) COOLER MASTER Stacker 830 Evolution RC-830-KKR3-GP Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case Real Power Pro 1000W Power Supply - Retail Model #: RC-830-KKR3-GPItem #: N82E16811119136(1) ASUS P5K3 DELUXE/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail Model #: P5K3 DELUXE/WIFI-APItem #: N82E16813131181(1) EVGA 768-P2-N835-AR GeForce 8800GTX 768MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SUPERCLOCKED HDCP Video Card - Retail Model #: 768-P2-N835-ARItem #: N82E16814130079(1) Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 Conroe 3.0GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E68050 - Retail Model #: BX80557E6850Item #: N82E16819115028(2 ) SUPER TALENT 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model W1600UX2G7 - Retail Model #: W1600UX2G7Item #: N82E16820609237(2) Western Digital Raptor X WD1500AHFD 150GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM Model #: WD1500AHFDItem #: N82E16822136011(1) LITE-ON 20X DVD

Wow that DDR3 memory is certainly EXPENSIVE @ $560 for 2G for maybe 2% better game performance than 800MHz DDR2 @ 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model T800UX2GC4 - Retail Item #: N82E16820609026(1) ASUS P5K DELUXE/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail Item #: N82E16813131182The rest of the stuff looks very good too, but if you are talking optimising for FSX performance only (ie. you don't care about other games), then you can save even more by:1. dropping that 8800GTX back to an 8800GTS 640MB or even 320MB2. going for a more basic X-Fi sound card like the Xtreme Audio 7.1 version3. going for a SATA2 7200 HDDD instead of the RaptorAll these reductions will save you $ 500-700 and you'll lose 5% FSX performance at the absolute max, probably more like 2%. And that difference can easily be made up with the teeniest of a CPU overclock up to say 3.1GHz if you really must have that performance level ;-)Gary

Thanks Gary!Just the type of feed back I've been looking for.

Well, regarding DDR3. Gary has good points about price vs. performance. DDR3 is going to be expensive for a little while. However, with the P35 motherboards (and DDR3) you will be all set up for a Penryn-class cpu.@ Gary/Sargeski:Are you sure you can run DDR2 with a P35 board? I do not know and am asking this question. If you are going with a P35 board because you want a Penryn pretty soon, then DDR3 might make more sense.Depends on if you ever want to run a Penryn. The P35 (Bearlake) chipset is designed to take a Penryn as well as a Conroe.Case: The Stacker is an excellent, excellent case.Power Supply: Never heard of that power supply. Do your homework on it. Make sure it's a good one that really does put out 1000w and not 600 when it's in a warm environment inside your case.Vid Card: The 8800GTS card will give you about the same performance in FS at less cost. Yes, the GTS has 640mb of vidram vs. 768mb with the GTX, but from the user reports here, that does not have any significant effect on FS performance. If money is no object, GTX is fine.CPU: great cpuRAM: Never used "SUPER TALENT" brand of mem. I would do research.HD: The Raptor X 150 gig is what I run for my FS drive. You may want a secondary drive for the OS and storage...I would want to only have FS on the Raptor and put all else on a separate drive.Cooler: Can't go wrong with Zalman in my opin.RhettAMD 3700+ (@2585 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2gb Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (1T), WD 150 gig 10000rpm Raptor, WD 250gig 7200rpm SATA2, Seagate 120gb 5400 rpm external HD, CoolerMaster Praetorian

>Are you sure you can run DDR2 with a P35 board? I do not know>and am asking this question. According to the specs on the Egg's and Asus' website, yes. >If you are going with a P35 board because you want a Penryn>pretty soon, then DDR3 might make more sense.Not for $560 for 2G it doesn't IMO. I bet you'll be able to buy a good DDR3 mobo and 4G DDR3 memory for even less than that this time next year when we are basking in Penryns.Gary

The Asus P5K3 (3 portion of model number indicating DDR3) is a DDR3 P35 mobo. Asus makes 7 different flavors of P35 based boards catering to both DDR2 and DDR3.I opted for this particular board so that I could upgrade to a Penryn if I so decided.Super Talent sells high end hand picked memory modules specifically designed for oveclocking the modules I had ear marked are guaranteed DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900)slightly more robust than what I originally posted.I'm planning on doing some slight (as far as I can go on air cooling) overclocking also.Here is a link for the PSU:http://www.sundialmicro.com/Cooler-Master-..._1941_1036.htmlBob

The P5K is also a P35 motherboard, so it should also support Penryn as far as I am aware.Gary

>The P5K is also a P35 motherboard, so it should also support>Penryn as far as I am aware.>>Gary You are correct Gary.I guess the big question is, is going to really be worth the extra $900 for modest gains.................

Unless you have money to burn, no, and even then actually burning the money would be more entertaining/worthwhile :-lolLooking at your current rig specs, you aren't going to see a huge leap in FSX performance with your proposed upgrade. The C2D @ 3GHz will be the biggest help and the 8800 will give you DX10 capability if and when the FSX D10 come out AND is worth it. Maybe you should consider just a mobo and CPU swap and keep everything else for now. That'll get you about 95% FSX performance of the whole upgrade package we are discussing.Gary

>>Are you sure you can run DDR2 with a P35 board? I do not>know>>and am asking this question. >>According to the specs on the Egg's and Asus' website, yes. >Ah thanks G>>If you are going with a P35 board because you want a Penryn>>pretty soon, then DDR3 might make more sense.>>Not for $560 for 2G it doesn't IMO. I bet you'll be able to>buy a good DDR3 mobo and 4G DDR3 memory for even less than>that this time next year when we are basking in Penryns.>Agreed. What I said went with my question, above...assuming that he *HAD* to use DDR3 with the P35 board. If he was forced to using DDR3 then he would have to eat the cost no matter what. But since that's not so, then DDR2 all the wayAll this talk of P35 boards and DDR3--I may have to shoot for a Penryn in about 6 months. I'll only do it if I can get a significant bump in FS over my 3700+ hotrod though. :)RhettAMD 3700+ (@2585 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2gb Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (1T), WD 150 gig 10000rpm Raptor, WD 250gig 7200rpm SATA2, Seagate 120gb 5400 rpm external HD, CoolerMaster Praetorian

>>I guess the big question is, is going to really be worth the>extra $900 for modest gains.................IMO it's never worth it for 1-5% better FSX performance, because in 6 months that same hardware will be much much cheaper. In the meantime, you could put that $900 into a 6-month CD (certificate of deposit) and make about 30 bucks on it. Then you could drop a Penryn cpu in it, with that money you saved, if you wanted to.Oh, and the power supply looks good, I did not realize it was a Cooler Master p/s, although I should have guessed that since you are using a Cooler Master case. Stackers are awesome cases, I built a rig for a friend into one last year. I have a Cooler Master Praetorian which is the better-looking version of the Stacker. :DRhettAMD 3700+ (@2585 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2gb Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (1T), WD 150 gig 10000rpm Raptor, WD 250gig 7200rpm SATA2, Seagate 120gb 5400 rpm external HD, CoolerMaster Praetorian

Well Rhett, if I can temp you even more, I just recently upgraded my son's rig from an A64 3000+ @ 2.25GHz, 2G DDR400 RAM and X800XT AIW to an E4300 @ 3.2GHz, 2G DDR2 800 RAM and 7900 GTO 512M and WOW what a difference! I'm talking at least 2-3x the perf in FS9 and FSX went from unusable (in his view) mid-low settings with FPS in the teens to mostly high settings and FPS in the thirties+ with the LDS 767. I have never seen such a jump in FS performance in all my time of upgrading (ie. the last 14 years, about annually). I'm sure Penryn will be a boost too, but the clock-for-clock boost I'm reading of so far is only around 10-15% in games. Nonetheless, going from your rig to a Penryn will definately be an eye-popping experience. I admire your self-discipline!Gary

Nice setup...that'll be sweeeeet!If you do get into Overclocking, be sure to get an aftermarket cooler, like the Zalman 9700 or Thermalright something or other... with those you can easily OC on air just fine....For the video card: I would personally go with the 8800 GTS 640mb - better texture loading/performance. But that's only me ;)I'd start with 2 GB of RAM, and then go for 4 at a later date, once you get FSX running. 2GB stock FSX, ie no addon planes - even in vista, will be plenty, but I'd assume once more 3rd party payware planes get added in, Vista users will want more than 2...Good luck with the build, let us know if you need any help!

>I have never seen such a jump in FS performance in all my time>of upgrading (ie. the last 14 years, about annually).How about a P4 1.8 ghz with a GeForce2 to a 3700+ and 7800GT? FS2004 went from a slow DX7 mid-teens fps to DX9 and whatever fps I wanted. :)> I'm sure>Penryn will be a boost too, but the clock-for-clock boost I'm>reading of so far is only around 10-15% in games. Yes I picked up on that too. But I figure 10% is still 10%. Believe me, if I start hearing that Pen's are not overclocking well, I won't get one. I'll instead get one of these higher-end Core2's. >Nonetheless, going from your rig to a Penryn will definately>be an eye-popping experience. I admire your self-discipline!>Hah,hah. I used to have zero self-discipline regarding my personal rigs. I used to upgrade them every year back in the 1990's it seems like. Then I slowed it all down about 01-02. I have a lot more going on in my life than computers and FS now.Really the 3700+ is amazingly good in FSX. I can't see a Penryn blowing it away, but it would be nice if it did. I never intended to keep the 3700+ system this long but I have had no compelling reason to upgrade it. Sometimes we don't know what we are missing, though...RhettAMD 3700+ (@2585 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2gb Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (1T), WD 150 gig 10000rpm Raptor, WD 250gig 7200rpm SATA2, Seagate 120gb 5400 rpm external HD, CoolerMaster Praetorian

Thank you for all the input guys especially Rhett and Gary.I went ahead and got the DDR3 motherboard, the EXPENSIVE memory and the 8800GTX against your good adivce. I know I could have saved a heap of cash and got similar performance out of the right DDR2 and a GTS. Lets hope I don't regret my decision to take the plunge into DDR3 even though I know it could have well waited.Parts are on order should be arriving on Friday. Will keep you posted on how the build runs on stock timings. Then it will be time to crank things up a few notches.Gary...you think you might be available to give me a little insight/coaching when I get ready to push the CPU above 3Ghz and the memory up 1866Mhz.