Alright so all i do with FS9 or FSX is low level helicopter flying, no AI, no complex scenery or addons but i am finally upgrading on a budget. Currently have a AMD Athlon 3000xp @ 2.1gh with a Geforce 7800GS AGP card, 2 gigs of ram. This what i have so far.CPU: I5-650MB: ASUS P7P55D proVideo: GTX 460?? Someone want to suggest what best matches?Case: Antec 300Memory: G.Skill 4gb ripsaw 1600Fan: Zerotherm Core 92 HDTHD: Western digital 640GB 7200rpm sata 3New egg shows somewhere in the $760ish range. Im sure this will cover my needs, but i want to make sure everything works well together, everything fits in the case etc. Also what brand for the video card?

BrentThat's not a bad configuration for simple FSX flying - it should work well.The GTX 460 (get the 1 GB version) will be fine on that spec (use nVidia Inspector for the settings). Any of the good brands will do and unless you play other games choose one without added bloat software.You may need a faster HDD but try and get at least a 1TB as they can sometimes be 'faster' than a smaller drive. :Batting Eyelashes: You really do need a separate HDD drive for FSX and you could look at another 1TB or a 300GB VRAP. An SSD would be best but they are expensive.Make sure that the board supports USB 3.0 and SATA III (6GB/sec.The default settings that FSX (SP2) sets after installing are usually the best ones for your particular rig!Good LuckPeterH

Alright so all i do with FS9 or FSX is low level helicopter flying, no AI, no complex scenery or addons but i am finally upgrading on a budget. Currently have a AMD Athlon 3000xp @ 2.1gh with a Geforce 7800GS AGP card, 2 gigs of ram. This what i have so far.CPU: I5-650MB: ASUS P7P55D proVideo: GTX 460?? Someone want to suggest what best matches?Case: Antec 300Memory: G.Skill 4gb ripsaw 1600Fan: Zerotherm Core 92 HDTHD: Western digital 640GB 7200rpm sata 3New egg shows somewhere in the $760ish range. Im sure this will cover my needs, but i want to make sure everything works well together, everything fits in the case etc. Also what brand for the video card?

Any particular reason for the i5-650? I would have thought an i3-540 or i5-750 and clock the hell out of it would be better bet? AFAIK the i5-650 is just a slightly higher clocked i3-540??? Rest of it looks spot on, I'm after a GTX460 to complete my system.

For $20 more you can get the i5-750 which is a quad core so you'll get much more bang for your buck.

Why don't you wait another month for the release of Sandy Bridge? It may cost a little more, but at least you will be buying brand new architecture rather than dumping money into a dead socket. That and it will certainly put the i5-750 and even some of the i7 chips to shame. And of course you will get support for USB3 and SATA3. I would recommend something like the following:CPU: i5-2500kMobo: Gigabyte P67A-UD4 or Asus P8P67 ProI agree with the suggestion for a larger HDD. Consider the Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB. You can find it as low as $50 if you catch it on a really good sale. Just don't pay more than $60 for it. Finally, I've never even heard of that CPU cooler you chose - and while that doesn't necessarily mean it's bad, I would recommend something with a 120mm fan. You'll get better cooling and a lot less noise. The best known budget cooler is the Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus. You can find it as low as $25-ish if you shop around.

Ok so I've been reading and shopping and have a new layout.CPU:I5-750MB: ASUS P7P55D-E-ProFan: Cooler master hyper 212 plusPaste:Arctic silverCase: Antec 300Memory: G.Skill 4GB ripsaw 1600mhzVideo Card: EVGA Geforce GTX 460 1GBCD Drive: ASUS DRW-24B1STHard drive: Crucial 128GB SSD Sata3Power Supply: Corsair 650 wattMonitor: ASUS 23.6 inch WidescreenNewegg total of around $1304. Things look ok? Case is shown to be 8.1 inches wide and the heatsink setup around 5.It's a little bit more than i was thinking, but my last computer went for 8 years and i think should be good for along time.

Looks solid. You gonna overclock it?

Yes i do, i dont plan on pushing it to far though, maybe 3.7 or so. Of course i realize i have completely forgetten about an operating system. Windows 7, but home or pro? I plan on 64 bit but reading reviews people have issues with 64 bit and simple things like youtube. Any advice?

Not long gone over to win7 64 bit, seems fine here not had any issues

Good, which version do you have? Home or Pro?

If you don't get 64bit you'll lose 750mb of your RAM since it will only recognise 3.25gb of it at the most. As for the case you may want to look and see if the GTX460 will fit into it, it's not a particularly large card but I think it's about 7in long so make sure that your case can fit it along with cables snaking around it.

HiSimmer makes a good point - do make sure that the mobo is NOT a micro ATX mobo but is a full size ATX mobo otherwise you may have issues fitting the video card, cables and the RAM, etc. Unless you want to encrypt everyting win 7 64-bit Home Premium offers the best bang for your buck. It is rock solid and FSX runs fine.I still suggest separate HDDs for FSX and the OS if possible.Regards PeterH

Ok so 64 bit home premium it is, and yes the case is full atx and the board is full atx. No worries, i have a WD500AACS 500gig sata 3 HDD sitting around that i plan on putting the OS and everything else on, the SSD will be reserved for FS9, FSX and xplane.

Well placed the order today. I upgraded to a I5-760.I5-760Asus P7P55D-E ProHyper 212 plus coolerAntec 300G.Skill 4GB 1600EVGA 460 GTX 1gbCrucial 64GB SSDCOrsair 650 watt23.6 ASUS widescreenWindows 7Arctic silverAdditional case fans with dust filters.Right now my entire Xplane, FS9, and FSX folders total 36 gigs. I'll have a 500GB sata drive for the rest.I think this will do me very well and will report back. I certainly dont push my system, no photo scenery, no AI, no complex addons, no additional programs running in the background, just basic VFR helicopter flights.