Well, I finally ordered all the upgraded hardware for my Computer and should have it all ready by May 10th. The big delay is in getting the new ATI Radeon 9800 PRO video card. Seems no one has it in stock until the early part of May.I should be able run the new simulator with this new setup when it comes out in July.It is rediculous how much money we spend on this hobby, but i should not complain, since I used to spend more on Golf when that was my passion.

Sounds like a great new computer! Mine is on it's way, I've been waiting about 2 weeks so it should be in transit through multiple airports to get up to the remote city of Grand Forks, ND. I must be lucky because I was able to get the Radeon 9800 Pro. Here are my specs:Area51Intel

Hi Charlie,Since you're on backorder for the Radeon, you might rethink the choices of your P4 3.06 and Asus P4PE. You're spending top dollar to get the very best, so might as well do exactly that. A great replacement choice would be the (800Mhz FSB) and the [link:www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.html?i=1814|Asus P4C800] (or any other [link:www.anandtech.com/chipsets/showdoc.html?i=1811|Canterwood i875P] based solution that you like). I linked to AnandTech for those, but any good hardware site will show you the qualities of the new P4 and 875P combination (HardOCP, Toms, etc). The new P4 was put on hold for a late bug, but it has of today been fixed and is now released again. By the time your Radeon comes in, both the new P4 and Canterwood should be available.If you do switch to the 875P route, make sure you change your DIMM choice to a pair of 256MB DIMMs (Corsair's TwinX bundle in your case). i875 is a full dual-DDR solution.Regardless of what you decide, I have no doubt you'll be happy with your purchase.Take care,Elrond---[link:forums.avsim.com/dcboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=177]MS Flight Simulator Tips and TricksEnthused AVSIM Peon - with minor Bucket and Mop duties (they only let me roam near the AVSIM toilets!)

Eric! Long-time no see buddy! I see you're still up at UND... Looks like quite a nice system you've got there. Can't go wrong with Alienware. I'm still working on my FS system (specs in sig) and I just got an Epox 8rda+ Nforce2 board for it (more overclocking potential, features, and memory bandwidth than my current board). I'm buying a couple 512MB sticks of PC3500 RAM to replace my 512MB PC2700 RAM I've got in there now, as well as getting a cd-rw drive (52x24x52). I'm hoping to get my AXP 2400+ running @ 2.3-2.4GHz on a 200MHz bus but only time will tell on that one. Oh yeah, I'm waiting for the NV35 to come out before I get a new video card ;)drop me a line some time: [email protected] Cowgill

Why is everybody building new computers for FS9 now? You will be better off waiting until close to, or soon after, the release of FS9 before buying new hardware. That allows two or three months for hardware prices to come down, and when FS9 is released you will soon find out what hardware it runs best on and whether you should invest in a better CPU/mobo or a better video card, or a certain type of video card etc.So what if you have to wait an extra week or two after the FS9 release until you can turn the sliders up to max, you may regret not waiting.

Elrond, I'd recommend against using Corsair's Twinx memory in an 875 mobo... I've heard directly from Corsair not to use their Twinx/LL series memory with this chipset. They said the timings were too aggressive for the chipset to cope with. Of course, that doesn't mean that every 875 mobo out there won't be able to use Twinx memory, I'm sure there will be some success stories but I wouldn't be shocked if we start hearing horror stories from 875 owners trying to use Twinx memory as well. I'm sure Corsair will start selling "875-approved" PC3200 or better, as it would make the most business sense for them to do so.-Max Cowgill

That very well may be true: but at the moment I'd take any warnings like that with a grain of salt. It is a motherboard design (and its associated bios) much more than a specific chipset that determines stability with any one type of memory. ASUS has been pretty good at releasing new bios's to help with the stability problems of most major manufacturer high-speed ram (Kingston in particular).In the end, you may be right. But I would still bet on ASUS + Corsair TwinX if I were purchasing for myself today - regardless of the chipset. Your comment is definitely stored in the back of my head however, so thank you.Take care,Elrond---MS Flight Simulator Tips and TricksEnthused AVSIM Peon - with minor Bucket and Mop duties (they only let me roam near the AVSIM toilets!)

Eric,I'm at 2+ weeks and have been told by Alienware to expect maybe another week... how long did yours take to make it to the ship stage on their website order tracking?Best,Joel

Yep, I'm going to be upgrading soon myself.Cheers.

Maxter P!Tim-may! I was wondering if you would resurface in the General Forum if I put my specs out. I dropped a good amount of cash on the Area 51 but I think it'll be well worth it. I bet you're as excited about FS2004 as I am. I really hope they improve the ATC sequencing and with Radar Contact and the ATC SDK being released with FS9, it will be slammin! There's a new product coming out from Flight1 called Ultimate Traffic, which looks very promising. Put the two together and I'll be trapped in the FS cockpit forever! I'll drop you a line soon!EricArea51Intel

Joel,Perhaps I'll be waiting a bit longer too. I check the order tracking page daily and it's still in the build stage so I'll be patiently waiting! Perhaps Alienware has been waiting for the 9800 Pro's as well. They said 14 days so I hope they deliver on that promise. Otherwise it would be nice to get a call explaining any delays. All in all, as long as it arrives before May, I'll be happy. By the way, let me know about your system specs and how it runs when you get it.EricArea51Intel