hii am considering upgrading my computer and am looking a machine that is ready to go, eg a dell , hp or gateway etc. I do know that this can cost more then buying the parts and putting them together , but time is also a cost factor as well.:) Anyway I currently have a e6300 at the moment, and a 4800 series ati video card and 2gigs ram, the max that my current mobo will support (ESS 945P). Now I am pretty up to speed on the cards, but in terms of the processor, what would i get the most bang for the reasonable dollar without spending more money then is needed to get good performance? I know a lot of folks are hot on the i7 chops, which one has been known to give good middle ground performance in FSX?

i7 920 is the most popular. i7 860 uses a cheaper motherboard and is as fast. I think both processors are about the same price. i5 750 is cheaper, uses the cheaper motherboard and can be overclocked similar to the other two, so it's the best bargain. I have the i7 860 but could have achieved close to the same speed with the i5 750 for less money. None of them will give you optimal FSX performance without overclocking.Of course that was a couple of months ago. Now there are more mind-boggling choices (i3, i5, i7 930).