Hi guys,My high-end Nvidia graphics card burnt out, and I need to replace it. Here's the thing: Considering that now I only use FSX, and FSX is not very GPU intensive, could I skip paying 300 bucks for a GPU, and get a lower end model? I'd get a reliable brand, but just not such a great card. Would it be too absurd if I just replaced it with a much less expensive 9500 GT with 512 MBs? I know this is a big step down, but any idea how bad it'd be?

512MB is bare minimum for FSX + any addons. The NGX textures are pretty high res and take up video memory. I'd get a GTX460 1GB if you want cheap but still good - that card is less than $200 now.

Okay, thanks. I said 512 I meant 1gb. I wasn't planning on going that low. :POk, well I am really trying to crape together all the money I can so I can do a computer upgrade which I havn't done in three years. This means that all of my stuff is reletively out dated. So, I want so save as much money on stuff like gfx card so that I can really get what I want in other areas. Right now I'm looking at an EVGA 1GB GTS 450 GDDR5. I like the specs, and it is very inexpensive. Your opinions?http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814130572Also, I'm looking at upgrading my Core2 Quad Q6700 (yes I know I'm an it tech and I have a processor like this. But hey ive got bills to pay!) to an i7 950. I'll of course overclock this. Now, I will need a new CPU cooler to keep up with the OC on the i7. How about the Zalman CNPS9700? Looks pretty sweet. Also, I've currently got the EVGA Nvidia 760i MOBO. It's socket 775, so I'll need to change to a board with socket 1366. I was looking for a new board anyway. I'm now looking at this. http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813128423I like the fact that is has 6GB/s SATA ports. My current HDD has this capability, but I can't utilize it. I was also planning on getting 8 gigs of G.SKILL Ripjaw DDR3 ram. I was also going to switch over to Win 7 prof 64bit. I am currently running xp cause vista was always too unstable for we to switch. Finally, I will get another HDD just for FSX. I'm thinking about a WD 500 gig drive with 6GB/s transfer speeds.Thoughts?

. Right now I'm looking at an EVGA 1GB GTS 450 GDDR5. I like the specs, and it is very inexpensive. Your opinions?

For what it's worth, I am using an EVGA GTX 285 with 1GB and I am very satisified accross the entire gaming board. For FSX, it seems to be completely adequate, and with an overclocked i7 920 (oced to 3.4 ghz) and 6GB RAM using Vista Ultimate, I'm very satisified with frame rates.

Ethan,I'd still get a 460 1GB, it's not that much more expensive and it's a GF110 core which is MUCH more powerful than the GF106 that's in the GTS450.For coolers I don't think the Zalman is going to get you very high. You need a heatpipe tower based design to get an i7 to ~4GHz. The CoolerMaster Hyper212+ that I'm using is decent for it but you'll have to disable hyperthreading, there's just too much heat with it on. A high end cooler like the Prolimatech Megahalems will do it with HT on. (I'm gonna order one of these soon I think) Be aware that the high end coolers usually require you to buy separate fan/fans, they don't come with them.

Ethan,I'd still get a 460 1GB, it's not that much more expensive and it's a GF110 core which is MUCH more powerful than the GF106 that's in the GTS450.For coolers I don't think the Zalman is going to get you very high. You need a heatpipe tower based design to get an i7 to ~4GHz. The CoolerMaster Hyper212+ that I'm using is decent for it but you'll have to disable hyperthreading, there's just too much heat with it on. A high end cooler like the Prolimatech Megahalems will do it with HT on. (I'm gonna order one of these soon I think) Be aware that the high end coolers usually require you to buy separate fan/fans, they don't come with them.

Hey there,I just updated my pc this weekend, with very similar specs... i7-950, EVGA X58 FTW3 mobo, 6GB 3x2 DDR3 2000's, and an ASUS ENGTX460 1GB and am using the Coolermasters V8 CoolerAll in all its very impressive and never goes above 33 degrees C... I'm getting around 20FPS solid in areas I would cluck away at 1-3 FPS before ([email protected], ATI 4870HD 1GB)... that's with almost everything maxed including traffic. I'm planning on trying to take it to at least 4GHz, but maybe as high as 4.2GHz.The only issue I'm having is that my mobo bios doesn't see my memory correctly, as it thinks they're 667MHz instead. But I think that is becuase of the Turbo booster on my mobo which boosts the cpu to x24 (3.2GHz) automatically.~Justin Shivas

The only issue I'm having is that my mobo bios doesn't see my memory correctly, as it thinks they're 667MHz instead. But I think that is becuase of the Turbo booster on my mobo which boosts the cpu to x24 (3.2GHz) automatically.

You need to change the "ratio" or "memory divider" setting in the BIOS (it'll be named that or something similar) to control how fast it's actually running in relation to the bus. Remember that DDR memory actually runs at half the speed of it's number name too, so you're really at DDR3-1333, which is actually the "normal" speed for an i7 system's RAM. 1000MHz would be the actual speed for DDR3-2000 sticks. The real reason you get RAM that fast though is so that when you overclock, you're not also overclocking the RAM. It helps with stability because you know that the source of any instability is the CPU itself and not the RAM.

Okay, I've narrowed down the coolers.Prolimatech Megahalems w/ 120mm fanThermalTake Bigwater 760i Liquid cooling systemCorsair H70Which would provide the best results? There are pros/cons for each. To me the H70 looks like the best choice because it is liquid cooling with no maintenance, AND I hear that it never lets the water get hot. I've heard that the Bigwater, although it is a real-deal LCS, it still lets the coolant get hot, thus increasing the CPU temp slowly.Ryan, any input?