In April I intend to buy my new machine for FSX, flying with PDMG and Ariane boeings. Because of stability and other issues I stay with WinXP pro sp2 for now. Du to the SLI issues I stay with one graphic card. I use a 24"screenWhat do you think about the following spec and which CPU and GPU do you choose?CPU: quad core Q9450 ( I will overclock to 3.2) or E-8500 (no overclock),or?GPU: 9800 GX2 (a lot of people say that FSX not benefit the second gpu) or 8800 Ultra or 9800 GTX, or?Other components?ANTEC P182OCZ Power 850 wattMAXIMUS FORMULA X38 (amongst other for the automatic overclock function - I am no IT wizard.)RAM: OCZ Reaper X 4 GB 1066 Mhz (4 x 1 GB in dual channel)2 x Western Digital Raptor X 150GB 10K SATA, RAID 01 x Western Digital 7200/16 250GB SATA for dataBest regards,Errol

Not sure about the GPU, but probably the 9800 GTX/GT (one GPU).CPU...Q9450 for sure. You should have no trouble getting to 3.2--you'll probably get closer to 3.6.I would get 2x2 memory. Two sticks less complicated/stress than 4.Raid is not that big a deal unless you have a good, dedicated adapter (see Nick N on this).Get a 320 gb/platter drive for the non Raptor drive. Samsung F1 320 (available in Europe now, not US but that may change), or Western Digital 640 (not the 320...seek times are bad).

For fsx only, I think you are better off with an ati gpu, nvidia drivers dont always seem to get along with fsx. And remember gpu horsepower isnt going to make a difference.

CPU: either would be fine. If going dual, shoot for a slightly higher target CPU speed than for a quad, to help make up for the slight benefit a quad has over a dual in FSX at the same clock speed.GPU: I'd aim lower myself. An 8800 GT is more than enough to drive a 24" screen, even at high AA/AF levels. Also consider ATI, as their latest seem to have less FSX issues reported than nVidia varieties.Gary

>>GPU: I'd aim lower myself. An 8800 GT is more than enough to>drive a 24" screen, even at high AA/AF levels. Also consider>ATI, as their latest seem to have less FSX issues reported>than nVidia varieties.That's not the best. Go for a overclocked water cooled 8800 Ultra. It's insane but fun to go for the best. Money is all you need.Ulf B Core2Duo X6800 3.3GHz4GB RAM Corsair XMS2-8500C5BFG 8800GTX, Creative SB X-FiFSX Acc/SP2, Vista 32

Of course it's not the best if you use graphics card hierarchy as the measure, but it'll do the job for FSX well enough and that'd be best for me if it was my money being spent.Gary

>Of course it's not the best if you use graphics card>hierarchy as the measure, but it'll do the job for FSX well>enough and that'd be best for me if it was my money being>spent.>Gary,Errol asked for the best card, didn't he. And buy judging from the other components, I'd guess that he is not looking for well enough. But thats my guess and Errol will make his own decisions.Ulf B

Thank you all for the reply and good advice. However I have some questions.1) Du to the Raid0, I do not know what Nick N means with: In FSX RAID0 will kill FS performance unless its professional RAID.. and I mean a card on the PCIe 4-8x port.. not some cheap PCI card either.How can I check if my motherbord (Maximus Formula) is OK for this?2) Concerning the harddisks. Would it be better (or even as good, or most) to have:1 Seagate barracuda 500 GB 7200, 32 mb sata2: for OS1 Seagate barracuda 500 GB 7200, 32 mb sata2: for FSX1 Seagate barracuda 500 GB 7200, 32 mb sata2: for Datain stead of the read) configuration?What would you think is the best type for the 7200 speed?3)Concerning RAM: there are no DDR2 2x 2GB 1000 minimim available at the moment. Its 800 Mhz or go for the expensive DDR3. What would you say obout that?It speeks for itself that when the machine is ready i will let you know some results in fsx!Best regards,Errol

1. Motherboard RAID is what he means. You would want a dedicated RAID card if you do RAID.2. Go with a 320gb/platter disk. WD 640 or Samsung F1 1TB. FSX likes it's own disk. You probably don't need a separate disk for data. Ultimate Defrag can move your OS to the outer part of your disk even if you share the disk with data.3. I have 2x2 gb DDR 1000 (the G.Skill).http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList....1000+(PC2+8000)