Again, thanks for all of the info. It sounds to me like two 7200's will do the trick, honestly wait time is not a problem as I have two computers and I am busy setting up all of the other programs while FSX loads anyway.Mark.

What 7200 Rpm HDD is the best then...?Samsung F3, WDC Black , or...?

OK folks, thanks to all of your help, I am ready to push the GO button!!! But I have a few final questions below:Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz ASUS ENGTX560 TI DCII/2DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Noctua NH-D14 120mm & 140mm SSO CPU Cooler Corsair Obsidian Series 650D (CC650DW-1) Black Steel SAMSUNG CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223C ASRock Z68 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit Western Digital Caviar Black WD7502AAEX 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5 (Buying 2 of them). G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-8GBXH (CAS7 7-8-7-24 at 1.6) CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-850HX 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply ASUS VE276Q Black 27 ASUS VE276Q Black 27" Full HD HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor w/Display Port & Speakers1) The Corsair HX850 power supply is $190CDN and the HX750 is $120. It is also fully modular and I am wondering how big of a deal it will be to buy the lower powered unit. I know it will be just fine for this system, but what about future upgrades. Is this shortsighted ??2) The ASUS ENGTX650Ti gets the best ratings of this card in reviews I have read but it is upwards of 50 bucks more than the same card by Gigabyte or MSI. Worth the price difference for FSX ??? You thoughts ??3) Finally, I was planning to upgrade my existing computer (E6850 @3.0 GHz) to Windows 7 64bit from its current XP SP3. This will become my second computer replacing a very old one I am now using and its only job will be FSInn, Weather, ACARS, Internet Charts, etc. Not upgrading saves me another $110 and unless there are networking issues between computers with W7 and XP I am not sure it is worth the upgrade.As you can tell a few decisions here impact the final price by upwards of $230 which is significant (it will almost cover the Goods & Services Tax). You input greatly appreciated.regards,Mark.

OK folks, thanks to all of your help, I am ready to push the GO button!!! But I have a few final questions below:Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz ASUS ENGTX560 TI DCII/2DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Noctua NH-D14 120mm & 140mm SSO CPU Cooler Corsair Obsidian Series 650D (CC650DW-1) Black Steel SAMSUNG CD/DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223C ASRock Z68 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit Western Digital Caviar Black WD7502AAEX 750GB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5 (Buying 2 of them). G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-8GBXH (CAS7 7-8-7-24 at 1.6) CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-850HX 850W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply ASUS VE276Q Black 27 ASUS VE276Q Black 27" Full HD HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor w/Display Port & Speakers1) The Corsair HX850 power supply is $190CDN and the HX750 is $120. It is also fully modular and I am wondering how big of a deal it will be to buy the lower powered unit. I know it will be just fine for this system, but what about future upgrades. Is this shortsighted ??2) The ASUS ENGTX650Ti gets the best ratings of this card in reviews I have read but it is upwards of 50 bucks more than the same card by Gigabyte or MSI. Worth the price difference for FSX ??? You thoughts ??3) Finally, I was planning to upgrade my existing computer (E6850 @3.0 GHz) to Windows 7 64bit from its current XP SP3. This will become my second computer replacing a very old one I am now using and its only job will be FSInn, Weather, ACARS, Internet Charts, etc. Not upgrading saves me another $110 and unless there are networking issues between computers with W7 and XP I am not sure it is worth the upgrade.As you can tell a few decisions here impact the final price by upwards of $230 which is significant (it will almost cover the Goods & Services Tax). You input greatly appreciated.regards,Mark.

When your building your first computer it will cost a lot more because you have to buy everything. In a couple-ish years, upgrading just the mobo/ram/vid card will be tons cheaper than buying everything again.1) Either would be fine with your current parts list. If you want to future proof to say a vid card upgrade to a gtx570 or 580 then the 850 is the better choice.2) What resolution monitor are you going to use? Personally I'd upgrade that to the gtx470 to keep up with the oc'd 2500K.3) I wouldn't think it would be a problem.

When your building your first computer it will cost a lot more because you have to buy everything. In a couple-ish years, upgrading just the mobo/ram/vid card will be tons cheaper than buying everything again.1) Either would be fine with your current parts list. If you want to future proof to say a vid card upgrade to a gtx570 or 580 then the 850 is the better choice.2) What resolution monitor are you going to use? Personally I'd upgrade that to the gtx470 to keep up with the oc'd 2500K.3) I wouldn't think it would be a problem.

For 2), I think he meant 560Ti, which is already beyond a 470...Are you sure the Ripjaws will fit undet the Noctua? The DH14 is pretty long...have you looked it up on Noctua's site?

For 2), I think he meant 560Ti, which is already beyond a 470...Are you sure the Ripjaws will fit undet the Noctua? The DH14 is pretty long...have you looked it up on Noctua's site?

Yes I meant the 560Ti.The Ripjaws are 40mm, and Nochua limit is 44mm. Close but good.Mark.

Corsair HX750W Power Supply Review

As you can see Corsair could have labeled this unit as a 900 W power supply, but they didn’t do this because otherwise they wouldn’t be able to get the 80 Plus Gold certification

Those are SLI PSU's, there's no single GPU that will be too much for a HX750. You actually could add a second GTX560Ti no problem, and I'm talking about OCed CPU and both GPU's OCed too

Yes I meant the 560Ti.The Ripjaws are 40mm, and Nochua limit is 44mm. Close but good.Mark.

Ahh, oops. ment the 570 anyways. The 560Ti is not bad tho. I suffer from "MOAR POWER!!" disease so its all relative. :Just Kidding:

Thanks Dazz, good info.Mark.

Order placed this morning. In the end I went with the 750W power supply. Price was too good plus they had a combo deal with the Corsair 650D case, and with Dazz's information on this power supply it was a no brainer. Mark.