Let me begin by saying that I never really believed that my machine would even begin to handle fsx. I began with a (XP) Dim 9200, Intel Core 2 Duo Processor E6320,(1.86GHz,1066FSB) with 4MB cache, 2GB DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz, 128MB NVIDIA GeForce 8300GS. Since I knew that I would eventually have a machine that would run FSX, I went ahead and purchased and installed the game on the above computer. The Total cost of the computer was 789.00 including tax and free shipping. It also included Dell's lower end 20" widescreen monitor. I was surprised to see that the Sim would run at all, let alone very flyable at very lowest settings. Frames of about 20 to 30 fps. I then decided to try a video card upgrade and after doing some research wound up with the newer 8800 GT from Best Buy. After installing the Card, I had a phenominal increase in performance. I could now enjoy 30 + frames on the high settings (one notch below ultra) : on the Ultra settings I could get 6-9 FPS. I then discovered the Service pack upgrade ,downloaded and installed it. A significant increase was noticed. Still not the performance that I was looking for. By the way, my 30+ framerates would fall to 17-23 on the High setting at Seattle, DFW and the New York airports.I have been reading the suggestions to add memory for increased performance so that was my next step. Added 2 more gig DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz thinking I would be much better off. Not true, The framerate showed no difference at all which makes me conclude that in some cases extra memory is overkill unless you are running other programs simultaneously. 2 Gig of memory is at least enough and maybe more than enough but I wouldn't go less than 2gig.I also purchased a 24" monitor so I could read the labels in the cockpits. And to my surprise again, the framerate doesn't change from low to high resolution settings like they used to in the older games.I'm very satisfied with with 24" monitor.Even though I'm completely happy flying the missions on the high (not ultra) settings, I would like to do free flight at any airport and keep the frame rates above 30. I'm convinced that I've maxed out this computer so my only option is a different machine. Since I already have a super fast video card, All I need is a computer with a faster CPU and higher grade memory without spending a fortune on a game machine. I have just ordered a new Dell XPS 420 with vista for DX-10 and 3 Gig DDR 800 Ram and Core Duo 6850 3.0 gig (1336) speed. It comes with ATI lower end card which I will deposit with the other Voodoo 2's and Misc hardware on the Shelf. If it works as planned I won't have to look any further. I will report the performance of the new setup some time in the near future. The cost of the upgrade 999.00 without monitorI forgot to mention that I did try a friend's 8800 GTS (320 meg) prior to my buying the 8800 GT (512 meg) and found that the GT has a little more speed than the GTS. However the difference is very small. So if you have a 8800 GTS, don't expect to see any big gains by going to the 8800 GT. Albeit the GT is cheaper anyway.Summary of observations.1. More memory is not necassarily better in some cases. With Vista, I understand that you may need a little more, hence the 3 gig.2. Big screen Hi-res monitors does not degrade the frame rates in FSX.3. You only need the basic tools for FSX. Speedy Processor, Memory and a high end video card. a. If a person already has an 8800 GTX he has the best. But by a very small margin.

regarding 2,that is true if you have a decent video card, with my card, if I upgraded to a large monitor like that I would get a large hit...

>2. Big screen Hi-res monitors does not degrade the frame rates>in FSX.As long as you use the same resolution as on smaller screen monitors.Changing from 1280x1024 to 1600x1200 will definitely give you a performance drop since many more pixels need to be rendered (1920000 instead of 1310720, that's almost 1,5 times as much).With your 24" I'd expect even higher native resolutions than 1600x1200...Andreas