Hello, I was wondering if this is OK for FSX and the PMDG 737: Intel® Core™ i7-960 Processor- Socket-LGA1366, Quad Core, 3.2Ghz, 8MB, 130W, QPI: 4,8GT/sec, Boxed w/fan Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R- ATX, Socket-1366, DDR3, 4xPCI-Ex(2.0)x16, SATA 6Gb/s, USB 3.0, Rev2.0 Kingston DDR3 HyperX 1600MHz 6GB- Kit w/3X HyperX 2GB DDR3, CL9-9-9-27 ASUS Xonar DG- PCI, 5.1 Channel, GX 2.5 gaming audio engine, on-board headset amplifier Seagate Barracuda® 7200.12 1TB- SATA 6Gb/s (SATA 3.0), 32MB Cache, 7200RPM, 3,5" Ace Ecco 420 Midi Tower Sort- Vifter: 1x 120mm Bak, mATX, ATX, 2x USB, I/O: AC97, HD Audio Chieftec Nitro Series BPS-650C 650W PSU- ATX 12V V2.3, 80 Plus Bronze, Modular, 2x 6+2pin PCIe, 6x SATA, 140mm Vifte ZOTAC GeForce GTX 550Ti 1GB AMP! ®- PCI-Express 2.0, GDDR5, 2xDVI, HDMI, DisplayPort, 1000MHz Is this a well balanced rig, or do I have a weak link somewhere that should be upped at the expense of something else?

You would be better off going with a new Sandy Bridge 1155 socket. These run FSX a lot better and overclock a lot higher. Look at the i5-2500k or the i7-2600k with either Z or X 1155 socket mobo. That graphics card will be a major bottleneck. Get minimum a 560Ti. For ram, 8GB low latency, low voltage 1600MHz is best. It would be better to get a Western Digital Sata 6GBs 1TB HD as it has a 64MB cache. That case is.... Terrible. 1x 120mm fan is never going to be enough. A cheap(ish) case with great space and airflow is the Antec 902. You'll need a CPU cooler to OC. I believe the Noctua NH-D14 is still the best air cooler and corsair's H60-H100 liquid coolers are best. A sound card isn't really needed as most boards have pretty good integrated audio. Finally, that PSU is...I don't know actually. Never heard of that brand. I'd stick to a well known brand like OCZ, Corsair, Antec, thermaltake, enermax, seasonic etc.

Better?I'm unsure if the CPU is a Sandy Bridge, but the numbers fit with your description otherwise: Intel® Core™ i5-2500K Processor- Socket-LGA1155, Quad Core, 3.3Ghz, 6MB, 95W, Boxed w/fan ASUS P8Z68-V PRO, Socket-1155- ATX, Z68, DDR3, 3xPCIe(2.0)x16, CFX&SLI, SATA 6Gb/s,USB3.0,FW, VGA,DVI,HDMI, EFI Gainward GeForce GTX 570 1280MB PhysX- PCI-Express 2.0, GDDR5, 2xDVI, HDMI, DisplayPort, 732MHz Corsair XMS3 DDR3 2000MHz 8GB CL9- Kit w/2x 4GB XMS3 modules, CL9-10-9-27, for Core i3/i5/i7, 1.65V Western Digital AV-GP 1.5TB- SATA 2.0, 1 million hours MTBF, 64MB, 4.5W, 24x7 reliability, Whisper quiet Antec Nine Hundred Two V3 Miditower- Vifter: 2x 120mm Front, 1x 200mm Topp, 1x 120mm Bak, Blå LEDs, Vindu Corsair TX V2 750W PSU- ATX 12V V2.3, 80 Plus Bronze, Standard. 4x 6+2-pin PCIe, 8x SATA, 140mm Vifte

Much better. But the Hard drive you've selected is one for a server that's run 24/7. It's a Western digital caviar black 7200 Rpm 1TB 64mb. You'll also need an aftermarket cooler to overclock the CPU. I recommend either a notcua nh-d14 or the corsair H100 extreme liquid cooling.

So the above mentioned rig with this HD: Western Digital Caviar® Black 1TBSATA 6Gb/s (SATA 3.0), 64MB Cache, 7200RPM, 3,5", Dual processor That'd be OK? I'll have to wait with the overclocking bit, this is already streching my budget as far as it'll go for now. I've got nothing against overclocking, but on the stock fan I don't suppose there's much to gain?

then get an ASUS P8Z68-V, a GTX 560 Ti and put what you save towards a cpu cooler

So would this be good:Intel Core i5-2500K Processor, Socket-LGA1155, Quad Core, 3.3Ghz, 6MB, 95W, BoxedCorsair XMS3 DDR3 2000MHz 8GB CL9, Kit w/2x 4GB XMS3 modules, CL9-10-9-27,Antec Nine Hundred Two V3 Miditower Fans: 2x 120mm Front, 1x 200mm Top, 1x 120mm rearCorsair TX V2 750W PSU ATX 12V V2.3, 80 Plus Bronze, Standard. 4x 6+2-pinWestern Digital Caviar® Black 1TB SATA 6Gb/s (SATA 3.0), 64MB Cache, 7200RPM, 3,5"Noctua NH-D14 CPU cooler Socket 775/1155/1156/1366, AM2/AM2+/AM3, 1300 RPMASUS P8Z68-V, Socket-1155 ATX, Z68, DDR3, 3xPCIe(2.0)x16, CFX&SLI, SATA 6Gb/MSI GeForce GTX 560Ti 1GB PhysX Found an Antec 902 + Noctua NH-D14 build on a forum. It looked like the Noctua cooler will fit, but only just.

Yeah the D14 is a beast of a cooler.

You are probably better off going for quicker timings than higher speed. I recommend Ripjaws from G.Skill. they are a good cheap brand that are very reliable.A H60 with an aftermarket fan will do a great job for cooling. my CPU at 4.5GHz reaches 67 degress max after 2 and a half hours of stress testing.

+1 on that. Although the D14 is slightly better than the H60 but not by much

I don't think so with the scythe 1900RPM fan. Its loud a 29dB but it does the job really well. I also put the corsair fan on the other side for push-pull. I haven't used any descent air coolers so I don't really no but Noctua's are sooo ugly. look like 777 cockpits but that is an insult to the cockpit of the 777.

Personal preferences.

Agreed. They say that a closed loop water cooler should perform like an good high end air cooler.