Hi Bruce, I should also include wine and beer. As for the technical stuf, which I know very little about... Once the HD and SSD are wired to the motherboard in a SATA configuration it runs all on its own. The intel Smart Response is the key and it can all be installed by the people with the know-how. I am waiting for my FS-GS friend to help with the final setup and I will be off to the races, new computer is still a couple of weeks away from running FSX as my wife and I are headed off on a driving vacation. Anyhow, I just wanted to chime in with my setup for your consideration, there are others in this thread and in the forum with invaluable knowledge but it doesn't hurt to get as much input as possible. Good luck with the build.

Intel smart response will never match the speed of a full-on SSD - though an SSD combined with a vrap could be interesting... Also, aside from load times, an SSD has no impact on FSX performance. I think the best use of an SSD is still for your OS and every day programs.

Its a small compromise to pay when you are getting such large capacities with a small price. 1TB mainstream SSDs are still a long way away and the SRT is here to fill the gap while they become cheaper. It isn't really the spped of the HDD that determines the speed of this system with SRT, its how much you use it. so your boot will go to the cache, internet prabably, FSX and your favorite location so those things run of the SSD basically. Everything else, on the HDD. I am still a little confused as to what to do, 64GB quick SSD for FSX (the file is not that big, maybe 50GB ATM) or cache and increase the whole system. Maybe in a year I could get a nice quick 120GB which are only about $200 over here.

You can have boot and some of FSX fast, or you can have all of FSX fast.

IRST really benefits those who can't afford a larger SSD. In fact, I think it's limited to 40GB drives or less. With a 60GB drive or larger, you should have plenty of room for your OS and all your programs (excluding FSX). You can always buy another 120GB drive for FSX in the future.

I don't play any other games. This is strictly a dedicated FS machine. It will be offline almost all of the time. The only other program will be Adobe Premier Elements for video making which will be on the 3rd HD. The os will be the only thing on the ssd and FSX will be the only program on the Vrap. If an ssd would be a better choice in terms of smoothness for FSX I would buy one instead of the Vrap, but from what I have observed here in the past 6 mos is that nothing is really better than a Vrap for a dedicated FSX drive. Correct me if that is not the case ----- leaving for Micro Center in an hour! Thanks for all the input!

Robert --- Copy on the wine and beer! Have fun on your vacation. We're doing a 9 day Mexico cruise Oct 7th. Good luck on your new system as well! Michael and I didn't hit it off so good at first, so I gave up on FSGS a couple years ago. Bruce

It will do nothing for FSX.

It will load much faster though, that's a huge plus for me!

It will load much faster though, that's a huge plus for me!

Certainly, but then a dedicated SSD for FSX is the way to go!

Certainly, but then a dedicated SSD for FSX is the way to go!

I must have missed that part... I thought he was going FSX only on the SSD.

Nope --- FSX is on the Vrap all by itself. Only the os is on the ssd. Now have all the parts in hand except the memory.