Hey everyone. I downloaded the FSX demo. I then added Flytampas St. Maarten. Flying around with the default aircraft with sliders all the way to the left I was getting around 5-10fps. With all of the sliders to the right I was getting around the same fps. There are some add ons coming out that I like so i figure now would be a good time to start using FSX also.My question is what can I do to upgrade my current system myself or am I better off just buying something pre built?Thanks in advance for any help.Specs:Hewlett-Packard Company Compaq Presario AMD Athlon 64 Processor 3500+ 984 MHz, 960 MB of RAM 1 GB Memory 250GB Hard Drive GeForce 7600GT

It would not be worthwhile to upgrade your existing system. You are better off saving up and building yourself. I realize this is not one of the options you gave, but building a PC isn't nearly as difficult as you may think, and most parts have 3-5 year warranties (some graphics cards even have lifetime warranties). If you would like specific advice on what to buy, please provide a budget range and that advice shall be given.

I have around $600 right now but I can build that up as I am in no hurry. I use FS as an airline simulator so I want to use FSdreamteam, Aerosoft, Flytampa, UK2000, and ORBX products and get fluid performance. What do you think would be a reasonable investment? I suppose I start by buying a big enough tower to install the components into?

Have a look at my sig and if you aim for this setup in a self-build I guess it would be considered the "median" build right now. I would recommend you invest into the i7 platform. The 920 last year was considered the best bang for buck. This is rapidly changing of course. This build of mine handles everything with comfort (but it is overclocked).