After 6 years I am finally in a position to buy a new computer and am so excited! I've spent the last 3 hours looking through old posts for comments and suggestions and am asking for your help. These are the two that I'm currently looking at with a budget of around $2000. I will be using it for FS9 and have no intentions of upgrading to FSX. The reason I'm deciding between these two computers is because I'm nervous about making the jump from XP to Win 7. I understand that there is a huge difference between the two but the XP computer is the only one that I can find that you can still buy brand new and customize even though it is the more expensive one. Have any of you gone back to XP from Win 7? Please give me all suggestions and comments on the two as they both are customizable.Jetline hellfireWin Xp 32 bitnforce 790i SLI ChipsetIntel Core 2 Duo E8400 factory o/c 3.6ghz 1333mhz, 6mb Cache4GB (2X2) Corsair XMS DDR3 SDRAM 1333mhz1GB Nvidia GeForce GTS 250850 Watt Corsair power supply1TB WD SATA 7200 32MB Cache750GB WD 7200 32MB CacheHP 9250Win 7 Pro 64 bitIntel i7-860 2.8ghz 8GB DDR3 1333mhz SDRAM1GB NVIDIA GeForce GT220300GB 10K HD640GB 7200 SATA

There are so many things wrong with both of those configurations, especially if they cost $2000! If you're talking American (U.S.) dollars anyway. For $2000 (U.S.) you should be looking at an overclocked i7 system with 6GB of DDR3-1600 (or faster) and a much faster graphics card than either you've listed, with a large high quality LCD (24" or higher). The rest is irrelevant from a performance perspective so I won't address that.

Forced by tight budget I once ventured out into building my own rig, never regretted it, and buying the bits n pieces saved me a lot of money. If you do that your 2K will get you pretty far! I

Thank you both. Guess I'll hold off on the excitement of getting a new computer and look into getting a better deal! Does anyone have an opinion on using XP vs Win 7 for FS9?

How does this one look?i7 940 2.93ghz6GB DDR3-1600NVIDIA GTX 285 1GBASUS P6T MOBO850 Watt Coolmaster Power Supply1TB HD (Primary)300 GB VelociraptorWin 7 ProI wish I had enough confidence in my own skills at building one cause I know I could get it for a lot cheaper.

Looks like a blast! Not familiar with the mobo, but ASUS is quality stuff (just got myself a new ASUS board :( ).For building a new rig yourself, you

How does this one look?i7 940 2.93ghz6GB DDR3-1600NVIDIA GTX 285 1GBASUS P6T MOBO850 Watt Coolmaster Power Supply1TB HD (Primary)300 GB VelociraptorWin 7 ProI wish I had enough confidence in my own skills at building one cause I know I could get it for a lot cheaper.

Much better. That system will deliver more performance than either system you'd mentioned previously. Be careful on the RAM though, make sure you're getting something with a CAS rating of 7 or lower. A lot of the so-called overclocking RAM on the market has a high clockspeed/transfer rate but poor latency.

The memory that I was looking at was the Corsair Dominator 1600 with a CAS of 8. Would it be better to go with the lower 1333 with a CAS of 4 and boosting it to 12GB?

The memory that I was looking at was the Corsair Dominator 1600 with a CAS of 8. Would it be better to go with the lower 1333 with a CAS of 4 and boosting it to 12GB?

1333 @ CAS 4? That doesn't look right. And 12GB is going to slow the memory subsystem down...if you don't have a very specific need for 12 GB of RAM (and most people do not) keep things simple and stick with a quality kit of 3 x 2GB DIMMs. If you're going to spend the money for an i7-940, pair it with some decent 1600 MHz CAS 7 RAM. Better still, I just saw Newegg has Mushkin 1600 MHz CAS 6 RAM back in stock.Also beware of the fact that Intel's OEM processor chips come with the memory multipliers locked, making overclocking them considerably less flexible. If you have someone build it for you, try and get them to put in a retail version of the CPU for you.RegardsBob ScottColonel, USAF (ret)ATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VColorado Springs, CO

1333 @ CAS 4? That doesn't look right. And 12GB is going to slow the memory subsystem down...if you don't have a very specific need for 12 GB of RAM (and most people do not) keep things simple and stick with a quality kit of 3 x 2GB DIMMs. If you're going to spend the money for an i7-940, pair it with some decent 1600 MHz CAS 7 RAM. Better still, I just saw Newegg has Mushkin 1600 MHz CAS 6 RAM back in stock.

Agreed.

Also beware of the fact that Intel's OEM processor chips come with the memory multipliers locked, making overclocking them considerably less flexible. If you have someone build it for you, try and get them to put in a retail version of the CPU for you.

Bob, this is incorrect. This was only true of pre-production engineering samples acquired by some prior to the official launch of the Core i7 9xx series. See this article for more info.

I'd also add that a 64bit OS will be much better that a 32bit. Personally I prefer XP64 over W7 64.Vic

Thanks everyone and your right Bob, the 1333 was CAS 8 so I'll be looking at that other brand you suggested. I would love to go with a XP 64bit but I can't seem to find anyone that still sells them in their packages so I'll probably go with the newer system listed above with Win 7.

Try to get an i7920 D0 instead, its cheaper.Then get some cash to spend on better cooling like coolit domino liquid or elite liquid.The better your cooling , the higher you can raise your cloks. ANd FSx likes OC.