I am about to purchase hardware and need some advice. After Mikes glorious posts on the 3870x2 I have purchased one. I have decided to go with an Asus Maximus Formula running 1066 DDR2 ram. My quandry is what cpu. I had planned to get the Q66oo and o/c it to 3GHz. My local hardware and geek shop has the new E8400 which they will warranty and o/c to 4.2. Which way to go? More cores or raw speed?Thanks for the help.Kevin

If your building the system specifically for FSX, go for the RAW SPEED. If your are "future proofing" with your build go for the quad core.

Kevin,I've just ordered the bits for a new PC and I too have chosen the E8400 because FSB speed and clock speed are the two most important things for good fps.Good news that it can reach 4.2GHz. :-)I've ordered the 3870X2 too (the MSI has the fastest clock speed of 850MHz) but they're in short supply so I may have to wait a week or so.Enjoy your new system. It should fly! :-lol

Thanks for the advice. I ended up getting the P5E, it was recommended over the maximus formula and matched it with the E8300. FSX is nice and smooth, gotta love the 3870x2 card!Kevin

Hi Kevin,Glad you're enjoying things with that kit! I switched to the Asus 3870X2 as MSI was unavailable.Everything is arriving on Monday with the exception of the E8400. No-one seems to have stocks here in the UK except for one retailer who is charging far too much for it. I can bide my time for a week or so.