Hi there,In light of PMDG's release I decided it was time for a new system. I've been reading posts here for days and learned that I'm not the PC wiz I used to be, that's why I'm asking my fellow avsimmers for help. I saw that Nick posted a video in the PMDG NGX forum with the following specs (video was super smooth in the 30 FPS range despite fraps:Processor: i5 2500K @ 4.4GHzVideo Card: GTX 480RAM:8GB Corsair 8-8-8-24300GB WD VelociraptorCorsair HX850WI found this system on newegg http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883229262&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-Desktop%20PC-_-CyberpowerPC-_-83229262&AID=10440897&PID=3087823&SID=And was wondering how it would stack up to Nick's over clocked system? I once made the mistake of buying state of the art system 5 years ago and I don't (and can't budget wise) want to make the same mistake twice. I'm hoping the newegg system can handle FSX, as it will be a flightsim only PC.Here are some questions I have:1) is the power supply enough (I have a ton of go flight modules, yoke, pedals etc.)?2) newegg's system doesn't come with the velociraptor, is that a big deal?3) how about newegg's MB, memory and video card?4) is FSX worth getting an I7 2500 over the I5?5) is onboard sound not a problem these days anymore and doesn't decrease performance?I'm sorry for asking the same question a million people have already asked but I'm afraid I'm getting to old to keep up with technology. I would appreciate any suggestion, links to fully configured systems etc. I'd like to stay in the $1,200 price range. Thanks in advance,Peter

I know you didn't ask about it but I can only speak to the case of that Newegg system, because that's what I have. It only comes with 1 case fan (front intake) and cable management is a nightmare. It's a budget case and should only be used for budget builds. I think I paid $39 for it after rebate. I'll let others speak about the other hardware.

1) is the power supply enough (I have a ton of go flight modules, yoke, pedals etc.)? Plenty 2) newegg's system doesn't come with the velociraptor, is that a big deal? It is a never ending battle with FSX and the amount of money you can throw at it. Is it a “big-deal” no. What I would highly recommend though is add a second dedicated 1-TB drive or add a small SSD drive to capitalize on the z68 cache and dedicate the existing 1-TB to FSX. It is all about the money and what you want to spend. 3) how about newegg's MB, memory and video card? Good enough. 4) is FSX worth getting an I7 2500 over the I5? The i5 is fine. Again it comes down to the money you want to spend. You can turn this $1k computer into a 2 or 3K computer real quick. How much do you want to spend? 5) is onboard sound not a problem these days anymore and doesn't decrease performance? No problem. If you are going to overclock you will need a better cooler. In general terms for a thousand-buck off-the-shelf rig this is fine as is. if you want to upgrade it the sky is the limit. Really needs a dedicated drive for FSX and a cooler to overclock.

Thanks for the tips guys! I went to cyberpower and configured the following system/changes (full tower, 2 HDD's - one will be dedicated to FSX):This is quite over my original budget of 1,200. This is now 1,549 but I might be able to make that work.....CAS: Thermaltake Chaser MK-1 Full Tower Gaming Case W/ Side Panel Window [+57]CASUPGRADE: NoneCD: 24X Double Layer Dual Format DVD+-R/+-RW + CD-R/RW Drive (BLACK COLOR)CD2: NoneCPU: Intel® Core™ i5-2500K 3.30 GHz 6M Intel Smart Cache LGA1155 (All Venom OC Certified) [-104]CS_FAN: Default case fansFA_HDD: NoneFAN: Asetek 510LC Liquid Cooling System 120MM Radiator & Fan (Enhanced Cooling Performance + Extreme Silent at 20dBA) (Dual Enermax Enlobal Silent High Performance 120MM Fans (Push-Pull) [+29])FLASHMEDIA: INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer (BLACK COLOR)FREEBIE_GLASS: NoneFREEBIE_VC: NoneGLASSES: NoneHDD: 750GB SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 64MB Cache 7200RPM HDD [-46] (Single Hard Drive)HDD2: 750GB SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 64MB Cache 7200RPM HDD [+61] (Single Hard Drive)IEEE_CARD: NoneIUSB: Built-in USB 2.0 PortsKEYBOARD: Xtreme Gear (Black Color) Multimedia/Internet USB KeyboardMB_SRT: NoneMEMORY: 8GB (2GBx4) DDR3/1866MHz Dual Channel Memory Module [+65] (Corsair Dominator [+96])MONITOR: NoneMONITOR2: NoneMONITOR3: NoneMOTHERBOARD: * [CrossFireX] GigaByte GA-Z68A-D3-B3 Intel Z68 Chipset DDR3 ATX Mainboard w/ Intel Smart Response Technology & 7.1 Dolby Home Theater Audio, GbLAN, USB3.0, 2x SATA-III RAID, 2 Gen2 PCIe, 3 PCIe X1 & 2 PCI (All Venom OC Certified)MOUSE: XtremeGear Optical USB 3 Buttons Gaming MouseMULTIVIEW: Non-SLI/Non-CrossFireX Mode Supports Multiple MonitorsNCSW: NoneNETWORK: Onboard Gigabit LAN NetworkOS: Microsoft® Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit Edition)OVERCLOCK: Ultimate OC (Ultimate Overclock 30% or more) [+99]POWERSUPPLY: 700 Watts - XtremeGear SLI/CrossFireX Ready Power SupplyRUSH: NO; READY TO SHIP IN 5~10 BUSINESS DAYSSERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORTSOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIOSPEAKERS: NoneTEMP: NoneTVRC: NoneUSB: NoneUSBFLASH: NoneUSBHD: NoneUSBX: NoneVC_PHYSX: NoneVIDEO: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 1.2GB 16X PCIe Video Card [+86] (EVGA Superclocked)Any additional comments/suggestions?Thanks again,Pete