Hi all. Which upgrades would be most beneficial for improved frame rate and performance of both FlightSim X and X-Plane 9? Specs are below. I am looking to upgrade my graphics card. I picked up a second 8800GT to run SLI and accidentally fried it. Turns out a modem card underneath it was blocking the fan and it overheated and is now dead. Since then I thought I'd be better off getting a much newer card rather than two older 8800GT in SLI, which apparently doesn't improve flight sim performance much anyway. What kind of effect would each of these have for me, and what would be your recommendation? Price/performance ratio is a consideration. Looking to get the most bang for the buck.Processor:Should I OC my processor or upgrade, and what would be the performance difference for flightsim? I think my heatsink is sufficient to OC the processor. The only real upgrade on a 775 processor I can see is this:Intel Core 2 Quad Q9650 3.0GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80569Q9650http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115130 but that is a $320.00 upgrade.Graphics:Thinking of something along the lines of an ATI 4870 X2 or a 5870, or another recommendation. I've read the 5870 is comparable but with one processor core. And DX11. Is this the case or with the 4870 X2 be more powerful. I'm not interested in DX 11 capabilities for now, maybe my next build in a couple years but not now. Simply looking for the more powerful card. Possibly the 5870 will draw less power and run cooler? My power supply is a consideration. Looking to spend no more than $400.00 on graphics upgrade, but can spend less if there's comparable performance for less money.SATA HD:You tell me. Would a different drive show better performance in FlightsimX and X-Plane? Or is mine good enough. Also, what about RAID or striping? OS:Windows 7. I know Vista is an elephant. Will Win 7 improve performance? One thing I hate about FlightSim X is the long delay when clicking on dialogue boxes such as choosing an aircraft or location and whatnot. Wondering if this is a Vista problem.Thanks for the input.MSI P6N SLI Platinum LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboardhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813130081Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115017Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme CPU Heatsinkhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16835109140Patriot Extreme Performance 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channelhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820220144GeForce 8800GT 512MB graphics cardhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814127311Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drivehttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822136073AeroCool ZERODBA S620 620W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Modular Power Supplyhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817331002Soundblaster X-Fi Extreme Gaming sound cardWindows Vista Ultimate SP2

Upgrading the graphics would be a waste of time. The CPU upgrade would help, but if you're going to spend that much you may as well go to a new platform (i5 or i7). The Q9650 is a capable processor but not worth the extra money over a Q9550. I got my Q9550 a few months ago at Microcenter for a mere $169. The Q9550 is only one speed grade down from the 9650 and overclocks about the same. I got 4GHz out of mine on day one and haven't looked back. If you want to keep your platform I'd suggest getting a Q9550 from Microcenter. Otherwise if you're already planning on spending several hundred dollars, may as well get a new i5/i7 platform with DDR3.