<br /><br /><br />The graphics cards are a bit over the top, unless you are keen to play the most recent games as well. FSX is not programmed to take advantage of the latest improvements in Graphics technology. And it is CPU boundIn particular "HIS iCooler V ATI Radeon HD 5850 Turbo 1024 MB GDDR5" would only be needed for a triple Eyefinity multi-monior setupAre there other options from the same vendor for graphics cards?What monitor size are you planning to use?Gerald R

Hi Gerard!Thanks for your response to my hardware question.I am gonna use a 19" monitor. Yes, there are many graphics cards to choose from:-Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5570 1024 MB GGDR3 (does not increase the price of the system, this is the "default" for the config)-Powecolor ATI Radeon 5750 1024 MB GDDR5 (increases the price with around 38 GBP)-ASUS ATI Radeon HD 5770 CuCore 1024 GDDR5 (increasees the price with 53 GBP)-Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 5830 PCS 1024 MB GDDR5 (increases price with 120 GBP)-EVGA Geforce GTX 465 1024 GDDR (increases price with 160 GBP)-and finally, the one I originally picked, the HIS iCooler V ATI Radeon HD 5850 Turbo 1024 MB GDDR5 - for extra 160 GBP.So, according to your response, you would pick the second system I mentioned, the one that is overclocked to 4 GHZ, and not the first, which is "only" 3.60 GhZ. But, according to your response, you would choose a different GPU, not the HIS iCooler V ATI Radeon HD 5850. Which one from the above would do fine?Thanks a lot!Zsolt

Hi Gerard!Thanks for your response to my hardware question.I am gonna use a 19" monitor. Yes, there are many graphics cards to choose from:-Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5570 1024 MB GGDR3 (does not increase the price of the system, this is the "default" for the config)-Powecolor ATI Radeon 5750 1024 MB GDDR5 (increases the price with around 38 GBP)-ASUS ATI Radeon HD 5770 CuCore 1024 GDDR5 (increasees the price with 53 GBP)-Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 5830 PCS 1024 MB GDDR5 (increases price with 120 GBP)-EVGA Geforce GTX 465 1024 GDDR (increases price with 160 GBP)-and finally, the one I originally picked, the HIS iCooler V ATI Radeon HD 5850 Turbo 1024 MB GDDR5 - for extra 160 GBP.So, according to your response, you would pick the second system I mentioned, the one that is overclocked to 4 GHZ, and not the first, which is "only" 3.60 GhZ. But, according to your response, you would choose a different GPU, not the HIS iCooler V ATI Radeon HD 5850. Which one from the above would do fine?Thanks a lot!Zsolt

Knowing the price for HD why one HD. I would use 2 HD, one for the system and general files and the second HD dedicated to FSX.

Hi Gerard!Thanks for your response to my hardware question.I am gonna use a 19" monitor. Yes, there are many graphics cards to choose from:-Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5570 1024 MB GGDR3 (does not increase the price of the system, this is the "default" for the config)-Powecolor ATI Radeon 5750 1024 MB GDDR5 (increases the price with around 38 GBP)-ASUS ATI Radeon HD 5770 CuCore 1024 GDDR5 (increasees the price with 53 GBP)-Powercolor ATI Radeon HD 5830 PCS 1024 MB GDDR5 (increases price with 120 GBP)-EVGA Geforce GTX 465 1024 GDDR (increases price with 160 GBP)-and finally, the one I originally picked, the HIS iCooler V ATI Radeon HD 5850 Turbo 1024 MB GDDR5 - for extra 160 GBP.So, according to your response, you would pick the second system I mentioned, the one that is overclocked to 4 GHZ, and not the first, which is "only" 3.60 GhZ. But, according to your response, you would choose a different GPU, not the HIS iCooler V ATI Radeon HD 5850. Which one from the above would do fine?Thanks a lot!Zsolt

Yes,If you are absolutely sure you are not going to use a larger monitor, putting a very expensive Graphics card in this case is a waste of money.I would settle for one of these-Powecolor ATI Radeon 5750 1024 MB GDDR5 (increases the price with around 38 GBP)-ASUS ATI Radeon HD 5770 CuCore 1024 GDDR5 (increasees the price with 53 GBP)I assume you already have the 19 inch monitor.With the money left, you can even contemplate a 20 or 22 inch monitor (and the same card will handle the resolution) for the future.Please keep in mind that the advice above will not apply if you are considering a 24 inch monitor or higher.As long as the screen resolution is within 1680 x 1050, you'll be OKPlease be aware that a good monitor for gaming should have a response time of 2 milliseconds (5 might be OK). Therefore avoid all those listing 8 ms or higher.Hope this helps.

Yes,If you are absolutely sure you are not going to use a larger monitor, putting a very expensive Graphics card in this case is a waste of money.I would settle for one of these-Powecolor ATI Radeon 5750 1024 MB GDDR5 (increases the price with around 38 GBP)-ASUS ATI Radeon HD 5770 CuCore 1024 GDDR5 (increasees the price with 53 GBP)I assume you already have the 19 inch monitor.With the money left, you can even contemplate a 20 or 22 inch monitor (and the same card will handle the resolution) for the future.Please keep in mind that the advice above will not apply if you are considering a 24 inch monitor or higher.As long as the screen resolution is within 1680 x 1050, you'll be OKPlease be aware that a good monitor for gaming should have a response time of 2 milliseconds (5 might be OK). Therefore avoid all those listing 8 ms or higher.Hope this helps.

Hello!Thanks for your response! No, I do not have the monitor yet. I am going to purchase this one (18.5"):http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct....rodid=MO-043-OK (response time 2 ms)or this one (20")http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct....=948&subcat= (response time 2 ms)I am still not sure which one of the two though. But I am sure I am not gonna buy a larger (22" or more) monitor for now.So do you think one of those two cards will be enough and I don't need the iCooler 5850 Turbo? Because, if NOT necessary, why would I spend more than essential.Thank you so much for your help!Zsolt

Quote "Just to give you something to think about ... Flight Sim X as with most simulators and games do not use quad core technology so you are potentially buying a far too powerful CPU for your needs. As with most gamers you have fallen into the trap of thinking the CPU does most of the hard work for what you are using it for, you are however mistaken. The graphics card does a vast majority of the work so if you are compromising on the cost of the graphics card just to get the i7 you will be doing yourself an injustice. If however you are still going with a top class graphics card you will find that your system will be more than adequate.The basic rule to go by is - Buy the best graphics card and dual core CPU you can for your money, do not compromise on the quality of your graphics card to switch over to a quad core processor unless you are heavily multi tasking or doing multi project rendering/editing.My suggestion would be to go for a Titan Xenomorph with a 5870 graphics card"QuoteIn my opinion the company that you are talking to does not know a thing about FSX and what runs best. The two below links are from Phil Taylor, MS Aces Game Studio. Phil himself states that FSX will use all available cores of a quad core. How much is debatable, read the threads, but FSX will use all four cores, just not at 100% at 100% of the time. http://blogs.msdn.com/ptaylor/archiv...tel-quote.aspxhttp://blogs.msdn.com/ptaylor/archiv...ulti-core.aspxIf you read the formus and talk to any of the FSX hardware gurus most will say that the best FSX CPU today is the i7 9XX series. Will other processers run FSX, yes, will they run it as well, I do not think so. The i7 920 is being phased out so at least get the i7 930. Is the i7 980X worth $700 more than an i7 930, that is up to the person buying it and if they think the extra $700 is worth it for the performance gain.Regarding Nvidia vs ATI. FSX uses a triangle rendering engine that requires a video core which is targeted at CPU bound render code, Nvidia still caters to this, ATI does not. ATI is designed for a shader driver rendering engine. This is why an Nvidia GTX470 is better than an ATI 5870 for FSX. Note that this only applies to FSX. Like I said in an above thread, if you are only interested in FSX then get Nvidia, if you are interested in other CPU/GPU hungry games then an ATI 5870 maybe a good choice.The bottom line is that if you want to be happy with what you get to run FSX then get the best CPU, GPU, Motherboard and ram that you can afford, you will not be sorry later on. When I got my new system last year I got the best that I could afford at the time and I am so glad that I did. At that time people told me all I need was an i7 920, but I went with the i7 950 because I felt that I could get a higher clock and stress the CPU less.Regarding the ram this company wants to sell you, "RAM: Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit". I see two things:1-(PC3-12800C9) looks to me like it is CAS9 (12800C9) ram, that is SLOW!2- The ram is only 4GB and it is dual channel. If you do go with an i7 9XX CPU get 6GB of DDR3 triple channel ram with at least a CAS8 rating, CAS6 or CAS7 is preferable with at least a 1600MHz rating. If you get 6GB then FSX will use upto 4GB and that leaves 2GB for the OS to use while you are running FSX.One last this, if you live in the US and you are going to buy your PC then I bought mine from MaxForce PC and I can highly recommend Max. Email Max the same list of parts you are getting from this other company and at least get him to give you a quote.www.maxforcepc.comRod

Hello!Thanks for your response! No, I do not have the monitor yet. I am going to purchase this one (18.5"):http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct....rodid=MO-043-OK (response time 2 ms)or this one (20")http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct....=948&subcat= (response time 2 ms)I am still not sure which one of the two though. But I am sure I am not gonna buy a larger (22" or more) monitor for now.So do you think one of those two cards will be enough and I don't need the iCooler 5850 Turbo? Because, if NOT necessary, why would I spend more than essential.Thank you so much for your help!Zsolt

If you plan on getting a better monitor in a year then get the best GPU that you can so when you get a better monitor you will not feel the need to get a better GPU. Believe me, when you get a decent system then you start upgrading things like 20" monitors to 24" or 26" monitors as fast as you can! I went from a 20" monitor to a 25.5" monitor.Rod

Hello!Thanks for your response! No, I do not have the monitor yet. I am going to purchase this one (18.5"):http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct....rodid=MO-043-OK (response time 2 ms)or this one (20")http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct....=948&subcat= (response time 2 ms)I am still not sure which one of the two though. But I am sure I am not gonna buy a larger (22" or more) monitor for now.So do you think one of those two cards will be enough and I don't need the iCooler 5850 Turbo? Because, if NOT necessary, why would I spend more than essential.Thank you so much for your help!Zsolt

I would go for the 20 inch http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct....=948&subcat= (response time 2 ms)There is absolutely no need for the iCooler 5850 Turbo, unless you plan to setup a triple monitor sim.

I have found one more system, which is cheaper than the above ones I listed, but because it is cheaper, I could choose a very good graphics card. The only thing that annoys me is that this system has only 4 GB DDR3 and since it is overclocked, the hardware gus said, it cannot accept more RAM - or, if I want 6 GB of RAM, then no overclocking.Well, I don't know how important is the 6 GB RAM, but the below would be the system. I just want to find a good system to run FSX with addons such as UTX, GEX, REX and some complex aircraft and scenery, getting reasonable FPS, with sliders near max. What a hell of a hard decision! Monday is approaching, and still my head is full of systems and I just don't know. I want to spend no more than really needed, but also, I wanna make sure that I buy the best, most powerful system for the money I have. At the very moment I am thinking between the below two systems. The first one would save me aound EUR 150. I don't care about the hard drive, I only do care about performance, I want more FPS, less lag, that's it...System #1- Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit OEM- Case: Antec 300 Gaming Case - Black- Power Supply: OCZ 600W SteathXStream II- CPU: AMD Phenom II X6 Six Core 1090T Black Edition 3.20GHz overclocked to 4.00GHz- Motherboard: Asus M4A88TD-V EVO/USB3 AMD 880G (Socket AM3) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard- Cooler: Akasa Nero V2 heatsink- RAM: Corsair XMS3 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz- Hard Drive: WD Caviar Black 640GB 3Gb/s 32MB cache- Graphics Card: Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 5870 1024 MB GDDR5- Sound: 7.1 Channel Sound (On-Board)- Optical Drive: LG DVD+/-RW SATA DriveSystem #2- Case: Antec 902 Nine Hundred Two Ultimate Gaming Case - Black- Power Supply: Corsair TX 650W ATX SLi Compliant Power Supply- CPU: Intel Core i7 930 2.80GHz Overclocked to 4.00GHz- Motherboard: Gigabyte EX58A-UD3R Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard- Cooler: Prolimatech Megahalems Rev B CPU Cooler with 2000RPM Sharkoon Silent Eagle 120mm- RAM: Patriot Viper 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 (1600MHz) Tri-Channel- Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache- Graphics Card: Asus ATI Radeon HD 5770 CuCore 1024 MB GDDR5 or HIS iCooler V ATI Radeon HD 5850 Turbo 1024 MB GDDR (this one is more expensive)- Sound: Realtek ALC889 7.1 Channel Sound (On-Board)- Optical Drive: LG DVD+/-RW SATA DriveI don't know the AMD Phenom II X6, is it the AMD equivalent of the Intel i7? If I knew that this AMD CPU is not any weaker than the i7, then the only question for me would be the RAM. And if the 2 GB difference in RAM does not really matter, maybe I'd go for the first system, saving some money and spend it on a better monitor, or a good addon....

I just noticed that I did not read two replies, before posting again... Sorry, and at the same time, thanks for all your help ans all the info.So far, I know that I will definitely buy an i7, after reading everything all over again, I ruled out the AMD.In fact, I will buy the below system, the only thing I am still thinking about, is the graphics card. I would go for the HIS iCooler V ATI Radeon HD 5850 Turbo 1024 MB GDDR5, but since you guys say that the cheaper Asus ATI Radeon HD 5770 CuCore 1024 MB GDDR5 would do fine, maybe I'd choose this one, since it would save more or less EUR 130. Is the Asus ATI Radeon HD 5770 CuCore 1024 MB GDDR5 a good card anyway?System Specification- Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit- Case: Antec 902 Nine Hundred Two Ultimate Gaming Case - Black- Power Supply: Corsair TX 650W ATX SLi Compliant Power Supply- CPU: Intel Core i7 930 2.80GHz Overclocked to 4.00GHz- Motherboard: Gigabyte EX58A-UD3R Intel X58 (Socket 1366) PCI-Express DDR3 Motherboard- Cooler: Prolimatech Megahalems Rev B CPU Cooler with 2000RPM Sharkoon Silent Eagle 120mm- RAM: Patriot Viper 6GB (3x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 (1600MHz) Tri-Channel- Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache- Graphics Card: latest DirectX 11 graphic cards (my choice see above)- Sound: Realtek ALC889 7.1 Channel Sound (On-Board)- Optical Drive: LG DVD+/-RW SATA Drive