Yes I have been waiting around 6 mounds for Nehalem to buy a new computer, and now that the wait is almost over I know I have a huge luxury problem.The main things I want are running in almost silence and still being able to do a little over-clocking on the processor(s) not the video cards.I know of the good new 4870X2 video card from ATI, but as I will only run FSX, IL2 and LockOn on this new system I selected nVidia for the video cards.Furthermore I also know that three cards in SLI for simulators is definitely overkill, so that's why I choose dual SLI.My choice is to wait until December for Core i7, but Skulltrail also still looks very attractive.What would be your choice.My current system is more than three years old but still able to run at 20 FPS in 1280x1024 at 4xAA 4xAF in not to overcrowded areas and not using a big bird.The new system should be able to run at 30 FPS in 2560x1600 at 8xAA 16xAF in crowded areas and using a big bird.Current SystemCase: Antec P80Power: Enermax 650WattCooling: AirProcessor: AMD FX-55Video: 2x 6800 Ultra in SLIMemory: 2GB DDR2Harddisks: 2x 400GB in RAID-0Monitor: IIYama VisionMaster 512 Pro 22" CRTOS: Windows-XP 32bitsBase for new SystemCase: Zalman GT1000 Titanium black, red LED fan's or Lian Li PC TYR PC-X2000Video: 2x EVGA GeForce GTX 280 HC, 691MHz, 1024MB, 65nm, 2-Way SLI (there is still no sighting of a G200b)Floppy: NEC 3.5" Floppy Diskdrive 1.44Mb, BlackMedia: Lite-On DH-4O1S 4x BD-Rom, Black, SATAHarddisks: 4x Western Digital VelociRaptor WD3000GLFS 300GB, 10Krpm, 16MB, SATAII RAID-0Sound: Creative SB X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Pro, PCIeSpeakers: Creative GigaWorks S750 7.1 THX, 7x70W+1x210W RMSKeyboard: Logitech G15 v2 Gaming KeyboardMouse: Logitech G5 or G9 Gaming Laser MouseYoke: CH Products Eclipse Yoke (I already own various other CH Products devices)Monitor: Samsung SyncMaster 305T+ 2560x1600 30", 6ms, HDCP, S-PVA + Dead Pixel incurrenceOS: Microsoft Windows Vista Ultimate UK, SP1, 64bits, Box, OEMSystem 1 Standard 9770 (order now)Cooling: Zalman Reserator XT Black Hybrid Cooling System (single loop)Power: Enermax Galaxy EGX1000EWL 1000WattProcessor: Intel Core 2 Quad QX9770 3.2GHz OC 3.8/4.0GHz (E0 stepping)Motherboard: Asus Striker II Extreme, S775, nF790i, 4xDDR3, ATX BIOS 0704 (6xSATA)Memory 8GB: 2x Corsair Dominator 4GB(2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-16000 2000MHz, 9-9-9-24, 1.9vSystem 2 Skulltrail 9775 (order now)Cooling: 2x Zalman Reserator XT Black Hybrid Cooling System (dual loop)Power: Enermax Galaxy EGX1000EWL 1000Watt of 1200WattProcessor: 2x Intel Core 2 Quad QX9775 3.2GHz OC 3.8/4.0GHz (E0 stepping)Motherboard: Intel D5400XS, S771, 4xDDR2 FB-Dimm, EATXMemory 8GB: Kingston KTAXE800K2/8G, 8GB 800MHz FBDIMMSystem 3 Nehalem Core i7 (order in December)Cooling: Zalman Reserator XT Black Hybrid Cooling System (single loop)Power: Enermax Galaxy EGX1000EWL 1000WattProcessor: Intel (Nehalem) Core i7 965 XE Extreme Edition 3.2GHz OC 3.8/4.0GHzMotherboard: Asus Rampage II Extreme ROG, X58, S1366, EATX, SLI 16x16 or Tri SLI 16x8x8Memory 12GB: Unsure because of vCore and memory voltage uncertainties(option 1) 3x Corsair 1333C9DHX XMS3 DHX 4GB(2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666 1333MHz 9-9-9-24, 1.6v(option 2) 2x A-DATA D9GTR Tri Channel, DDR3-1600+ 8-8-8-24 2T at 1.65V-1.75VNAS Storage SystemQNAP TS-509 Pro 5xSATA I/II hotswap RAID5+Spare 3TB free (very fast)SATA HDD: 5x Samsung SpinPoint F1R 1TB, 7200rpm, 32MB, SATAII

hmmmm overkill hehe?CPU: E8600 overclocked to 4.0 at least or Q9550 overclockedusingThermalright Ultra 120 coolerhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16835109125Single 8800GTX or GTX260 or radeon 4870x2 whatever you want, just not two cards....waste of moneyFor the mobo either an X48-based one utilizing DDR3 ramOr, an older mobo, with DDR2 RAM (4GB of RAM)And Vista x64Get a decent PSU, something like this:http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817139002And you're set

>hmmmm overkill hehe?>>CPU: E8600 overclocked to 4.0 at least or Q9550 overclocked>using>Thermalright Ultra 120 cooler>http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16835109125>>Single 8800GTX or GTX260 or radeon 4870x2 whatever you want,>just not two cards....waste of money>>For the mobo either an X48-based one utilizing DDR3 ram>Or, an older mobo, with DDR2 RAM (4GB of RAM)>>And Vista x64>>Get a decent PSU, something like this:>http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817139002>>And you're setWhy a Q9550 not a Q9770 at 4GHz?I know the Thermalright Ultra 120 cooler is a good cooler but it's an AIR cooler and also the graphics card you selected are AIR cooled so these changes you propose will make a lot of noise, in fact these changes will make the computer sound like a jetfighter plane.In one line you say NOT to select a dual GPU setup and that I could better select a 4870X2, now I know of this new very nice ATI card and it definitely is a dual a GPU card.What is wrong with my choice of PSU, why is the one from Corsair better than the one from Enermax.What about the short wait for X58 and Nehalem?My main demands for the new system are:It should be able to run at 30 FPS in 2560x1600 at 8xAA 16xAF in crowded areas and using a big bird.It should be as silent as possible.

I answered this duplicate post in another forum here is the dulpicate answer----------------------------------skulltrail = worthless for FSXSLi= worthless for FSX frame performance although being above 2xxx will allow much greater AA without loss of frames but thats it. At the same time the CPU is pounded by SLi so there is a give and take to get that 16-32AA other than that SLI is a joke for FSXThe DDR3 you selected for Nehalem is worthless. In DDR3 2GB sticks your target LOWEST timing vs speed should beDDR3 1400 = CAS6DDR3 1600 = CAS7DDR3 1800 = CAS8DDR3 2000+ = CAS9Those are based on 3x2GB. For 3x1GB lower the CAS by 1 value but normally you will be forced to run the higher CAS with more than 2 sticks in the system... how well Nellie does with that is an unknown at this point and one of the things I am discussing with a Intel engineer this week.DDR3 1333 at CAS9 is no faster than DDR2 566That goes for any DDR3 purchase of 1333 memoryIf it was me and I was going to throw down the gauntlet on the cost, which I will, I would wait for Nehalembe ready.. the motherboard, memory and proc will be 1.5-2 thousand alone-----------------------------------Silent tower with Sli?? HA! good luckLiquid cooling requires a radiator and fans and the Zalman unit you posted although one of the better units wont handle any more than the CPU without fan upgrades.. and, it is NOT silentI know... I tested oneyou still have to cool the tower/chipsetLiquid cooling is a joke in todays world of clocking. The price on top of the radiator fans makes for a silly purchase. Its not like 3-5 years ago when the tech had to be pushed to the brink to get the perf and liquid had a much better perf to cost result.just an FYI: The OCZ Vendetta2 outperforms the 120 ExtremeIf I were you I would wait for Nellie, forget SLi unless I intended to run other games which REALLY take advantage of it and run a single 280GTX or wait to see what may pop up in cards at the beginning of the yearATi is out of the picture if you are looking for the best FSX possible. Although the x2 is not a bad card its still not going to top the 8800GTX Ultra or the 280 in FSX, Sli or not

There you go.... I've never heard of that OCZ cooler, interesting....

Hi Nick,Thanks for the reply.Conclusions1: I will not buy a Skulltrail system2: I will have a second look at water cooling vs air cooling for the CPU and GPU(s)3: I will stay with SLI and try to go for higher AA and AF, I also still think that for a 30" at 2560x1660 SLI is a must4. I will wait two or three mounds for Core-i7My hope is that the GT200b aka GTX290 will arrive in 2008.http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/new...70-290-gx2-rollI know about the Core-i7 (Nehalem) memory the selection I made and this would not be my final selection, but there is not much information about triple channel memory sets that are comming for Core-i7.I hope something like Triple Channel 1600+ MHz at Case 6 or Case 7 will become available for Core-i7 at lower voltages.

The GTX 290 is nothing but a die shrink on the 280... No difference in perf at allIts exactly like the game where Nvidia rebrands the 8800GTX 768 and calls it a 9800GTX 512(in reality the 9800GTX is SLOWER than the 8800 768 in FSX)2 or 3 cards in SLi is going to hit that processor like a rock so although you will get higher AA you wont get higher scenery ability in CPu load situations so if your goal is to have the AA and the scenery you are better off waiting for i7Either way you are putting the eq of a hair blow dryer in the tower and no water cooling system is going to handle that without some major fans, high volume pump and a good size radiator runningSli 3 blow dryers is really not cost efficient with liquid if the goal is noise reductionIf SLi actually provided perf increases for FSX I can see the use. Higher AA is not worth that cost. I have seen the difference in higher AA on 30+ screens.. its not anything spectacularIf ATI manages to get bot sides of their x2 card working in FSX, that would crush the 280 like a bug. The question is 'if' and 'when' that may happen in the driver or if it will take another ATi release to get it right for FSXBesides.. they have both been screwing with the market for years and that 'competition' thing ATi and Nvidia was nothing put a price fixing game http://yahoo.brand.edgar-online.com/displa...25-08-200658%20

Hi Nick,[q]The GTX 290 is nothing but a die shrink on the 280...[/q]A know that but every shrink of any chip is a good thing[q]Sli 3 blow dryers is really not cost efficient with liquid if the goal is noise reduction[/q]I am only planning on only getting water cooled Dual SLII am almost sure that a water cooled GTX280 or 290 must be more quiet that a air cooled card[q]If ATI manages to get bot sides of their x2 card working in FSX, that would crush the 280 like a bug. The question is 'if' and 'when' that may happen in the driver or if it will take another ATi release to get it right for FSX[/q]The same is true for nVidia SLI, but for now if XCroseFire and SLI do not work 100% in FSX a single card GTX290 will be much faster than a single 4870.

Jimcooper who is experienced has worked with 2 of the best video cards you can get for FSX which even today STILL matches or beats the 280, the 8800GTX 768, SLi'd the cards on a QX processor and found out exactly what I saidnot worth itHe took the cards out of SLi and used them to run multi monitor instead with much better resultsBy the way, SLI/Crossfire is all about the driver and with the exception of certain key elements being in the app, which most do.. has nothing to do with the app itself. SLi works in FSX but it only allows higher AA with a CPU cost. The more VC on SLi, the higher the costhttp://blogs.msdn.com/ptaylor/archive/2007...multi-core.aspxHave at it.. but you are throwing money at very little result.. similar to the bill they just passed here in the states to bail out wallstreetIts a Nvida money trap in FSX