I am in the process of building a medium gaming computer , particularly, for FS9. I have searched high and low, and have only gotten more confused along the way. But I have come up with the following components: 1 Asus Striker Extreme 680i (this was given to me about 2 years ago) 2 Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16GHz 3 Nvidia 8600GTS (also given to me along with the Motherboard) 4 CORSAIR 4GB (2X2G) PC6400 DDR2 RAM TWIN2X4096-6400C5DHX 5 1-500 Gb WD Scorpion Black 7200 RPM (O/S) 6 1-300 Gb WD VelociRaptor WD3000HLFS 300GB 7 Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Mid Tower 8 Windows XP Professional 32-Bit 9 Corsair Hydro Series H50 Liquid cooling system CPU 10 Corsair HX750W 750-Watt Modular Power Supply Besides the other obvious, fans, DVD/CW Drives that is about it. I would like to thank you in advance for any worthwhile advice

Get Win 7 64Bit instead of outdated XP. Get the H70 liquid cooling or the Nocuta NH-D14, both are much more effective. Install FSX and all addons ONLY on the velociraptor. Everything else should go in the 7200RPM. Other than that, everything is fine.

Get Win 7 64Bit instead of outdated XP. Get the H70 liquid cooling or the Nocuta NH-D14, both are much more effective. Install FSX and all addons ONLY on the velociraptor. Everything else should go in the 7200RPM. Other than that, everything is fine.

Thanks Chris! That sounds like the plan. But there have be no conflict issues with Windows 7 64-Bit? I presume not, if it is the suggestions. I definitely want to stay with FS9 for as long as possible.

Windows 7 seems to be performing well, with very minimal complaints related to certain hardware types (I believe sound cards had issue with win 7??). For FS9 do the exact se as above. I would expect excellent performance on max settings.

Windows 7 seems to be performing well, with very minimal complaints related to certain hardware types (I believe sound cards had issue with win 7??). For FS9 do the exact se as above. I would expect excellent performance on max settings.

You know, sometimes I write before thinking, I have been running FS9 on my laptop, Lenovo T500, Core 2 Duo 2.5 MHz T9400, Intel Graphics, 2Gb DDR3, for almost two years with Windows 7 Ultimate!!!! Dahh!!! that's what happens sometimes when you "Over Clock" and exceed temps of the brain. Thanks again for your advice, already ordered the E8500 from Amazon, should have it by Tuesday!!!!

I am in the process of building a medium gaming computer , particularly, for FS9. I have searched high and low, and have only gotten more confused along the way. But I have come up with the following components: 1 Asus Striker Extreme 680i (this was given to me about 2 years ago) 2 Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16GHz 3 Nvidia 8600GTS (also given to me along with the Motherboard) 4 CORSAIR 4GB (2X2G) PC6400 DDR2 RAM TWIN2X4096-6400C5DHX 5 1-500 Gb WD Scorpion Black 7200 RPM (O/S) 6 1-300 Gb WD VelociRaptor WD3000HLFS 300GB 7 Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Mid Tower 8 Windows XP Professional 32-Bit 9 Corsair Hydro Series H50 Liquid cooling system CPU 10 Corsair HX750W 750-Watt Modular Power Supply Besides the other obvious, fans, DVD/CW Drives that is about it. I would like to thank you in advance for any worthwhile advice

For an FS9 rig, what you've chosen will perform very well. Re H50, I'm running one right now in an FS9 session with an i7 @ 4GHz and the warmest core is operating at 55C with the cooler fan running at 1400 RPM. Whisper quiet and good enough cooling performance.

For an FS9 rig, what you've chosen will perform very well. Re H50, I'm running one right now in an FS9 session with an i7 @ 4GHz and the warmest core is operating at 55C with the cooler fan running at 1400 RPM. Whisper quiet and good enough cooling performance.

Just swapped my fans around so that my front fan is the intake and the H50 fan is exhausting. This is opposite to what Corsair recommends and I can see why with the CPU temp going up 10C from the switch. The reason I did it was that my case has been getting really warm with the Corsair recommended arrangement, with my GPU running at around 75C with FS9 running, the side of my case warm to touch and the front of the case exhausting warm air. Now, my GPU runs a full 20C lower at 55C, my case is cool to touch and no more warm air out the front. I reckon my case temp must have dropped by over 10C with this change so while my CPU is running a little warmer, my overall system temperatures have dropped quite considerably.