I am doing a sanity check here guys... My long time friend (see specs below), died a horrible death this last week and no amount of resuscitation has brought it back. So, what's a normal flight simmer to do? Convince his wife that a dead 'puter is not a good thing, psychologically and physically, for her beloved, of course! Works everytime. The alternatives, in her mind, are totally unacceptable...So, here is what I bought:HP Pavilion HPE h8se series

• • Intel® Core™ i7-990X six-core Extreme Edition [3.46GHz, 1.5MB L2 + 12MB shared L3 cache]
• • 16GB DDR3-1066MHz SDRAM [4 DIMMs]
• 2TB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive
• • 1TB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive
• • 1.5GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 [2 DVI, HDMI, VGA]
• • 600W Power supply

And of course, 64 bit WIN7, 600W power supply (that was a surprise, I would have thought bigger - but reviews say no problem).Will that work?

Tom; Yes, it should work. Hopefully with the 990X CPU, the HP mobo will allow you to overclock...OEM motherboards are notorious for having things locked down, though I would hope that's not the case with a $1000 extreme edition CPU. 3.6 GHz will not give you sky-shattering performance...but that CPU is capable of much better than that. I think 4 GHz is a good minimum for smooth FSX performance with recent add-on offerings.

Tom,that is a very decent PC, but a couple of mistakes:1: Buying a prebuilt system from one of the big boys, you would have got much better deal from a local dealer, including what went in it.2: Being a HP, there'll be no to very little overclocking options on that board3: You'd have got better performance from an i2600k overclocked, than what is just about the most expensive CPU on the market, for a lot less cash.Still a bloody good machine tho, enjoy!

Tom, for a casual puter-guy regular joe, I'd say great machine. Probably no worry thingy.But, that CPU is WAY overpriced. And so is probably HP's offering in comparison to 2600K or 2700K.I am sure there are companies who build your computer with components that you wish to have. And that is what I would do in your place.And mainboards running there are usually cheapest brands - knowing HP, as we sell them in our store too. Prone to defects too...But maybe I misunderstood? You already bought it?

You are throwing money ot the window with that $1000 CPU! You can but three i7-2600K's for that price! Or almost five i5-2500K's! And factory-bultbrand name PCs are way more expensive!Here's what I would do: Get the forum HW gurus to recommend you the parts, buy them from a reputable on-line dealer, and if you are not comfortable building your new PC yourself, why not engage the services of your local PC dealer (and have him also help you with a reasonable OC)?Cheers,- jahman.

Nice system here Tom. Better to beg forgiveness. About $2,100 http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Gamer_Paladin_E810/w/89938

Thanks for the all the input guys. I had already purchased this before I wrote the message opening this thread. So, too late to change horses, so to speak. As for building my own and getting cheaper solutions, I appreciate that all of your input in that regard is true. The only shortcoming in that approach is time. I could do exactly as a couple of you have suggested; build my own with components recommended by members here. The downside to that is that it would take me six months to do. To set some minds at ease, I did get a discount via a corporate arrangement with HP and that helped my decision to go this route considerably. As you might guess,I am anxious to get it and give it a whirl.