I've been researching a new system for my dad now that his old P4-based laptop is terminal. He hasn't been able to fly even FS9 on it, and wants to build a new system that in addtition to doing his office work will let him fly. Of course, he's eager to try FS X, but doesn't want to over or underspend. I've gotten good starting advice on a hardware forum, but feel like I need help from people with experience building systems for FS X. Of course, the final performance he gets will be dependent on his willingness to tweak FS, but for now I'm concentrated on maximizing hardware potential.He has no starting components except some peripherals, but the monitor and most software can be considered separately. The budget has increased to about $900 for the case, psu, cpu, mobo, ram, hdd, optical drive, and OS. One reason for this is the Dell XPS 9000, an i7-920 based system. I'm sure there's no need to go into detail about how Dell builds limited, custom-designed systems in an effort to get you to buy again as soon as possible. Nevertheless, my dad has never built his own and I'm not in a position to help him build except by phone/network. So I need to come up with a system that will give him good reason to roll up his sleeves and have some fun. (He's that kind of guy, just not usually with computers.) Notably though, he has no notion of overclocking and will want max lifetime from the system anyway.It's clear that serious FS system builders go with an i7. On the other hand, they are trying to get performance at max game settings and aiming for overclockability. The goal here is rather reasonable performance at reasonable settings; interpret that as you will. My current idea is that a system built around the i5-750 is a reasonable compromise for this semi-flexible budget. The Dell XPS 9000 does have an i7-920 system, but offers only 3 GB DDR3 RAM, the (for me) unproven GeForce 310, and a 475 W supply. Plus, its expandability seems limited to bays and slots, as it has only one PCIe x16 slot. Anyone up to helping me beat it? :( It's best to start with something concrete. If the basic approach is solid, I can balance the parts from there; if need be, I can with help start from scratch. Again, the monitor is calculated separately, but since it's not irrelevant, we're looking at a 22" to 24" monitor

Looks fine, but get a GTX 260 or higher instead of a 4850. The only ATi cards worth buying are the 5850 and 5870, which are both over-priced right now due to lack of DX11 competition on Nvidia's part.

My personal choice would also be more likely the Socket1156 as opposed to the Socket1366. Dual channel DDR3 RAM performs well, and I haven't seen the real advantage of triple channel over dual channel...Go for the fastest stock clocked i5/i7 you can get...Get a third party recommended cooler, the stock coolers will not cut it if you wish to overclock the CPU at all...Thermalright, CoolerMaster, etc have many suitable models for the socket, just make sure that the mainboard you use is compatible with the cooler, and that RAM slots for example are not blocked...ATI or nVidia... hard to say, go with what you know works for you. There are those that swear by ATI, and those by nVidia...I am probably going to be in a similar situation soon, as I am getting "itchy fingers" since PNW was released by FTX... :)Andrew

Thanks to both for the recommendations. Andrew, overclocking doesn't seem at all likely, and a third-party cooler can always be bought later.The system seems to represents good choice for the budget (too bad the i5 doesn't hyperthread), but the graphics card is not optimal? I've been reading up more on the graphics cards. ATI is leading in performance and features in this price range, and I was considering bumping up to the 5770. There are threads though lamenting image-quality difficulties with ATI cards (except let's say the 5870, which is way above price class). That's too bad, considering DirectX 11 support, although future DX 11 games will probably eat a 5770 for breakfast. At any rate, it seems that any card needs careful configuration for FS, hmm...I am still not quite clear on the recommendation to move to the GTX 260/5770 level instead of the 4850. Looking at some of the curves on this TH article does give me some basis for comparison if I take the Q9550 as the closest to an i5-750

The problem with the ATi cards in MSFS is that once you get into heavy weather scenarios the performance falls off a cliff, unless you have one of the new 5850s or 5870s, which are much more expensive than the cards you're looking at now. A GTX 260 costs less and would not have this same problem, although a GTS 250 might.

I didn't want to overclock so I went for an i5 660 (highest clock speed I could afford - went for dual core over quad) with a GTX260. I'm very happy with it.

Hi all, I'm resurrecting this thread, because I'm still helping build the system; there were just some delays.If I modify the following system to use a GTX 260, I suspect some incompatibility with the planned PSU:

GTX 260 requirement: Minimum of a 500 Watt power supply. (Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 36 Amp Amps.) Two available 6-pin Molex hard drive power donglesAntec EarthWatts EA650 650W output: +3.3V@25A,+5V@25A,+12V1@22A,+12V2@22A, +12V3@25A,[email protected],[email protected]

The Molex dongles are a concern, I don't see that the 6-pin connectors are available on the Antec EA650. Would this supply do with the GTX 260? If not, what PSU would you recommend?Now I'm suddenly unsure: Have I made any blindingly obvious compatibility errors among the main components? Here is the proposed system for reference:CPU: i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz (LGA 1156, stock fan), $195http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115215Mobo: ASUS P7P55D LGA 1156 Intel P55 ATX, $150http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813131404RAM: G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800), $106http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820231277Graphics: XFX GS250XZDFU GeForce GTS 250 1GB 256-bit DDR3, $155http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814150439 OR Graphics: EVGA 896-P3-1255-AR GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit GDDR3, $215 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814130434HDD: WD Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB, $56http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822136073ODD: Sony Optiarc Black 24X DVD/CD rewritable, $27http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...1682711%38%3030Case: Antec Three Hundred Black Steel Mid Tower, $60http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16811129042PSU: Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W, $80http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16817371015OS: Win7 64-bit Home Premium OEM, $100With shipping, this is either $941 or $1002, depending on the graphics card (somewhat over budget), and subject to changes of the PSU and mobo.In case anyone has been comparing recently and would like to share: The mobo has gone up $15 in price since last month, any guesses why, or, more importantly, whether there is now a better choice in that price range? Any other deals on components open up in the last month?Thanks for your help.

With the GTX260 the system components are balanced. That Antec PSU does have two 6pin connectors (see specs tab), one of which is an 6+2 pin incase you needed that as well.

Now that you mention it, I had looked right at this in the specs and not recognized it. The "Overview" description on Newegg, however, says something else:

The three 12V rails provide added system stability as they power the 6 SATA connectors and the 6+2 PCI Express connector.

:( Can't tell which is true from the pics, but more below.What about the min requirement for "36A on the +12V rail"? The spec reads +12V1@22A, +12V2@22A, +12V3@25, which the Antec site confirms. The 12V supply splits its current over three rails. Since a single 12V rail isn't allowed to run 36A (432W), I take it this is the total amperage supplied by the combined 12V rails. That is the only thing that makes sense to me

The battle to beat the Dell XPS 9000 is turning into a rout. Yes, the Dell battle lines have broken, and eradication is at hand.I'm actually pretty satisfied with the i5-750 system above, but after browsing several i7 threads and discovering the miracle of Microcenter prices (thanks to this board), I grew curiouser and curiouser about what a low-end i7 system with quality parts might cost. I wanted to ask about the tradeoff of using an i7 with a cheaper graphics card, but I knew that would be a mistake. Final inspiration came from audiohavoc's $1200 build in ryanbatcund's "i7 Dream Build" thread. Pretty amazing prices, and Dad lives within range of two Microcenter locations. Here's my variant; you'll excuse the extravagant titles:Here's a more permanent version:

		 Newegg system											   Microcenter system		  description										  price  description					   price   CPU	  i5-750 2.66GHz LGA 1156								195  i7-930 Processor Boxed			  200 (!)   fan	  stock													   stock   mboard   ASUS P7P55D LGA 1156								   153  Asus P6T LGA 1366 X58			   240   RAM	  G.SKILL Ripjaws 2x2GB DDR3 1600 F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL	 106  OCZ Gold XTC 6GB DDR3-1600 CL8	  190   graphics EVGA 896-P3-1255-AR GTX 260 Core 216 896MB 448-bit	 215  BFG GTX 260 OC MAXCORE 55 896MB	 160 (!)   hdd	  WD Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s   56  same								 50   odd	  Sony Optiarc 24X SATA DVD/CD Rewritable Drive		   27  Samsung OEM LightScribe 22x DVD

My $1200 price was after $60 in rebates, the actual total was right at $1260. Also, I bought an open box ASUS P6T for $177, which helped out the bottom line. I am well past $1200 now (around $1700 now) as I swapped to a BFG GTX 275 and two Kingston 64GB SSD drives (haven't installed them yet).

How was your experience with the open-box Asus? They're listing one now for $183 in one store, but recommending my dad buy a vital component as open box seems risky.

How was your experience with the open-box Asus? They're listing one now for $183 in one store, but recommending my dad buy a vital component as open box seems risky.

I have not had an issue. The boards are sent out and tested, and they come with a warranty. I would buy an open box board again if I had to build another system. If you have the money, buy what you really want the first time.