Gents,Looking at a new system for home as my 7+ year old rig just isn't cutting it anymore. Here's what I have put together at N***gg but question if the CPU and/or Graphics card will be good enough. I am running FS9 with REX2, 80% AI Traffic, and use several pretty intensive payware flight models.Here are the specs:OS: Win7x64Mobo: Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD3,LGA 1156 Intel P55 SATA 6Gb/s,USB3.0 ATXCPU: Intel Core i5-760 Lynnfield 2.8Hhz 95W Quad-CoreRAM: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8Gb (4x2Gb),240-pin DDR3 SDRAM 1600 (PC3 12800)GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX470(Fermi)1280MB,32o-bit,GDDR5 PCI-E 2.0x16,HDCP Ready,SLI Support HD: WD Caviar Black 1TB,7200RPM,SATA,6Gb/sPS: Corsair CMPSU-750TX,750W,ATX12V/EPS12V,SLI ReadyCPU Cooling: Cooler Master Hyper 212 PlusI plan to OC the CPU a bit but would an i7 be the better choice? Would the new GTX570/580 be a huge improvement over the GTX470? Obviously dollars are an issue but would I see a significant upgrade in performance by adding the i7 and/or the newer GTX card?Thanks for any and all advice, thoughts, etc....Bill

Looks solid. If you want to overclock it the i5-760 should manage any clock speed an i7 can do but if you want to go the i7 route either wait til next year when Sandy Bridge comes out and the prices on current i7's drop or buy an i7-8XX. The GTX570 is about ~$100 more than the GTX470 but is supposed to offer the performance of a GTX480 which is $200 more than the GTX470 so if you play games other than FS9 or FSX it would be a worthwhile investment but if it's only for MSFS then you'd be fine with a GTX470 I think.Overall if you want an i7 either wait or buy the -8XX series since it'll work with the motherboard you have picked and the graphics card isn't too much a factor in MSFS but it'll future proof you a bit better.

I agree, if you're going to buy soon just wait the new processors.But if cash is burning a hole in your pocket I suggest the i5 660 (stock 3.33GHz), unless you want to run FSX, then go with its quad "sister," the i5 760 (stock 2.8GHz). Or if planning on FSX or the next version get an i7 950. Either way, overclock these puppies as far as they'll go.The cores don't matter as much in 9 as they do in X. FS9 is going to be just pure clock speed, while X may play nicer with more cores at a bit less clock speed. I don't know how X Plane handles mult cores either...Oh yeah, video cards.... I'd probably just get a GTX570 if you plan to run a high res (example 1920x1080) or TH2Go setup. Also the 570 will allow higher AA and transparency AA settings over the 470/460 series.

Thanks guys....much appreciated and system has been ordered.Best,Bill