In a month I'm ordering a new PC. I'm currently surviving on a old machine with 600mhz CPU and 128Ram - sad huh!Below are the specs I've been offered by the local shop for the budget I have - but I have another NZ$500/US$250 to spend if necessary (and can justify it to the higher authority). With my limited knowledge of PC's I reckon I'm getting a blimmin good machine, and whilst it's to be used for general purpose use (including by kids), I want it to be a demon for FS, current and future versions.Can anyone suggest something I should have that isn't listed below, that fits in with the $$$ I have left to spend?Also, no "techie" stuff please. Just basic non-geek speak.CheersTimIntel Pentium 4 3000Mhz 800FSB CPU 1024MB DDR 400 Ram ATI Radeon 9600Pro 256MB AGP Video card Creative SoundBlaster Audigy 2 PCI OEM sound card 56K PCI Modem Soltek SL-86PE-L motherboard NEC ND-1300A multi-format +/- DVD Writer Seagate 120GB SATA 7200rpm hard drive 3.5" Floppy Drive Prostation case with 4 x 51/4", 5 x 31/2" bays, front USB/Sound ports & 400W power supply

That unit will be just fine for anything you can throw at it - The processor speed is more than enough and the video card will handle fs9, if reports in these fora are any indication. Make sure you partition the drive so that your file housekeeping will be manageable.Good luck!:-jumpy :-jumpy :-jumpy

"Partition the Drive"Huh? What the blazes does that mean?Is that like one half of the kitchen for me, and the other half for the wife???My current PC doesn't have it, mind you I don't know what it is, but it's not soemthing I've ever done.Is it highly recommended, or nice to have?I'm unlikely to get my new "baby" and start buggering around with drives, so I might leave that for another day....Thanks for your comments though.CheersTim

Make sure you wait until at least mid-February. Intel is releasing the latest version of the P4 "Prescott" chips on 2/1, and there will be a major price drop on all the processors on 2/14 or 2/15. This has been rumored at a few sites on the web, and I have a friend at a distributor who confirmed the pricing for me.Take a look at the link below. These prices should be accurate for the chips sold in bulk, with retail prices being a little higher. My friend quoted $296 for the 3.2 Prescott, vs. $278 on the site (and he is always more expensive than you can find on the web).http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/cpu/display/20030915183339.htmlBottom line, you can get a Prescott 3.2 for the same price as the "old" 3.0 you're looking at now.Aaron

Thanks Aaaron.I'll mention "Prescott" to my store and see if they look at me funny...Cheers

Hi Tim,Those specs look fine, fairly similar to my specs, and I am very happy with the performance of FS.As for partitioning, I would suggest buying 2 smaller HDD's, and use one drive for FS, this way if you upgrade or buy a new system, you can just take the FS HDD out and stick it in a new machine, I have found it also helps when formating your main drive as you can physically disconnect it and aviod accidentally erasing the wrong partition, yes I have done this sigh LOL.CheersDan.

I would actually recommend getting an AMD Athalon XP Barton Core 2600, and overclock it to 3000. That's what I did, and it works GREAT! (It's also cheaper.)

Tim, keep the other PC for the kids and the wife, DON'T let them touch the new one!!!LOL Your performance will go downhill! LOLI agree with the waiting for the price drop and also a seperate drive for FS.Regards, MichaelKDFWhttp://mysite.verizon.net/res052cd/mybannercva1.jpgCalVirAir International VACougar Mountain Helicopters & Aviation[link:www.cgrmthelos.com]Cougar Mountain Helicopters