ASUS P5K-E/WIFI-AP LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel MotherboardIntel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHzCORSAIR CMPSU-750TX ATX12V / 750W Power Supply orOCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI ATX12V 700WSeagate Barracuda 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/sTuniq Tower 120 P4 & K8 CPU Cooler?Antec Nine Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer CaseMicrosoft Windows Vista 64-Bit Home PremiumKingston HyperX NVIDIA SLI-Ready 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500)x2 = 4GBMy first home build, would appriciate any advice, any incompatable or better deals, thanks in advance.Jerry

The P35 is only 24/7 stable up to a 400Mhz FSB (I have that same board). Above that, you'll want to go with a better bin'd chip-set (X38, et al). That'll cost. Point being . . . That 9 multiplier will only take the E84 to 3.6Ghz. I see No excitement with any dual E8X00 beyond a quad Q6600 at 3.6Ghz. None at all. The E8400 and the Q6600 can only be used in Single core mode for any FPS result. FSX's FPS performance will be exactly the same. However, the extra cores the quad brings on board will get you better texture loading. Unless you are willing to spend $1.1K on an unlocked CPU, get yourself a Q66 . . . then honker down and wait for Sandy Bridge in 2010 (sounds scary, but that's only ~ 20 months).In this case, later did not end up being greater.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_Bridge_(CPU_architecture)However if you go with the E8400, here's the drill (Q6600 mobo bios, manual settings are identical) . . . The E8400 uses a 9 multiplier on a default 333 FSB to get the preset 3.0Ghz CPU speed. That P5K-e mobo will run a 400Mhz FSB, no problem. So, bump your CPU volts up to ~ 1.35v and reset your FSB to 400mhz. Leave the rest in auto. I have the same board and it runs at 400mhz, 24/7.The system will initially boot with the CPU at 6X400 (or 2.4Ghz) because of the mobo's Speed Step function. Load it with Prime 95 and watch the action with CPUZ. The multi will pop up to 9X. The CPU will then run at 9x400 or 3.6Ghz and the DDR2-1066 ram will run at 2x (DDR) X 400 (FSB) = 800mhz.In this case, DDR2-1066 serves no purpose. DDR2-800 would have been fine, because . . . The CPU O/C Will make a difference, but the ram's speed is just along for the ride and will make No difference. FSX needs all the Single Core Mhz it can get. The second (or 50th) core will not help FPS. In-flight, extra cores only help loading textures. 800mhz vs 1066mhz ram speed does not matter.In Any case, the CPU O/C is magical, free performance. You might as well use it.

This seems to make the case for 2 cores rather than 4...because of the current situation.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