Hello guys, I'm planning to buy a new machine (FSX + paywares) and i still have some doubts. About RAM, is it enough 4GB? Will I get a noticeable performance boost if I pick a 2x4GB kit? Same question as above but for the CPU, will it be a core i5 enough or should i go for a i7? (i'm a bit short of cash) The last one about the motherboard...what model should i pick? Any good option in the mainstream segment? Thanks in advance for all your answers.

i5 2500k / 4 GB 2x2 / Nvidia 560ti. good PSU. good good

Just my .02, but I don't think you will see a difference with 2x4GB Ram kits, but I think that is the most competitive part of the market now and I think you get the best value with the 2x4. Many folks are running the i5 2500k and with an overclock it should be a viable way to save some money. Personally, I just went with Asrock, but I'm not locked into any particular MB company. I would guess most folks here are on Asus boards, with Gigabyte a second choice. I actually was looking at Gigabyte, but in the end it seemed to cost a bit more for what you get. I can say that I've had Asus boards in the past, and also MSI, and both of those have good support via message boards. One thing about Asus I had in the past (Athlon) is it seemed like they had beta BIOS coming out about every other week and it was kind of hard to keep up. Not sure what the status is with their current boards though. scott s..

Z68 mother board. Try to avoid the LE or LK etc ones as they're not as strong or feature rich as the others. I recommend the Asus P8Z68-V motherboard. As suggested, the 2500K is plenty as the extra features of the 2600K are useless in FSX. 4GB is enough, but 8GB is recommended especially if you're using high quality photo scenery and complex addons. A good GPU, as suggested the 560Ti is a good model for on a budget. Get a decent CPU cooler. The Coolermaster Hyper 212+ is cheap and good. It's recommended you get a 2nd dedicated hard drive for FSX, just helps speed up loading time a bit. A decent PSU is a must. Don't try save money there. If that goes, chances are something else will too. Recommend minimum 700W. Stick all that in a decent case and you're set.

All these cos Asus, gigabyte , Asrock , MSI are good.

I already have a pretty decent PSU (29A @ +12v), 2x SATA2 HDD @ RAID 0, and about the graphic card upgrade...i will have to wait a few months till i can get the money, in the meantime i'll use my old Radeon HD5770 with a single Full HD display. Thanks a lot.

29A won't be enough. What's the wattage of that PSU? some of these 700W PSU's have 75A+ on a single 12V rail. I doubt you'll be able to overclock with that.

520W, right now i'm using a 125W CPU with a +20% OC, never had a problem.

I'm just warning you. 29A is nothing. Once you add a better graphics card in there it won't handle stock never mind an overclock.

yoohoo what's the brand of the PSU ? all PSU do not give the output written on the sticker.

yoohoo what's the brand of the PSU ? all PSU do not give the output written on the sticker.

Topower, i've been using it for years and i'm confident it will be enough, i'll just replace it with the new VGA.

Topower, i've been using it for years and i'm confident it will be enough, i'll just replace it with the new VGA.

The topower is listed with AMD/ATI hd 5770 and which new card are planning on ?

I'm just going to say it straight. I don't really care what it has or hasn't done in the past, but the simple fact is 29A is NOT enough to overclock a sandy bridge on. What's your current system specs?

He's talking of Oc'ing the SB or it's about a new GFX ?

He wants to upgrade to a I5-2500k but he's on a budget so he's using his current 520W 29A power supply. He's also using his current 5770.