I've changed my system since I m made my banner.I have different RAM, different drives, and a higher overclock.Currently I am at 5.1. I was at 5.2, but backed of for longevity. I use a Kingston Hyper X SSD 240GB for my operating system AND flightsim. I have a separate 500GB VRap and a 1TB HDD for other programs and files. I lock my frames externally. This means that in FSX, my FPS limit is set to unlimited, and I use d3dantilag to lock my frames to 38 externally. I can achieve this 99% of the time. So 38FPS, NO STUTTERS perfectly smooth. These specs are even applicable at addon airports like FSDT KDFW, Flytampa Midway, ORBX etc. My settings are REX2, GEX, Addon Scenery, 100% Ultimate Traffic 2 traffic. I manually set my texture resolution to 4096 in the FSX.cfg. (the default is only 1024) Scenery resolution 7cm, terrain 1m, water 2x low, autogen very dense. I run FSX on a 24" 1920x1080 display, I also have a second display that I use for Topcat, vroute, etc. If you got a better cooler, you could do more with you overclock.A good air cooler is the noctua nh-d14. It is around 70USD. A good closed loop liquid cooler is the corsair h-80. It is around 95USD. Also, don't forget thermal compound. I use different types on the computers that I build, but I can recommend a high density polysynthetic-silver compound like Arctic Silver.Also, when it comes to RAM, you'll want a higher MHz and a low Cas Latency (CL). A nice, stable, quick RAM would be 1600MHz CL7. Obviously you'll need DDR3 not DDR2. You'll also want to try to find RAM that has a lower voltage. 1.5v is perfectly acceptable. There are some people who run 1.65 or 1.7 volt RAM on a sandy bridge system, but I would not recommend this. It should be easy enough to find 1.5 or 1.55 volt ram.

A supplemental on the memory thing. It isn't uncommon for gskill memory to need slightly higher voltage to achieve advertised latency. I'm running their 1.35v Eco c7 at 1.4 quite happily

Maybe I will however by a 240 GB SSD to install the OS on it. Do you know what space Win 7 Home Premium needs?CheersDavid

Maybe I will however by a 240 GB SSD to install the OS on it. Do you know what space Win 7 Home Premium needs?CheersDavid

I believe 20GB is the absolute minimum space for the 64b version. Remember though, that as time goes on, Windows runs updates, creates backups, and a host of other things that take up space. Right now my Win 7 Professional installation has grown to nearly 40GB. I keep on top of junk though. Use the awesome free tool CCleaner. I also delete stuff like restore points and other stuff that starts to take up space.

Hello!I am on the final now , here are my settings:Intel Core i5 2500KMSI Mainboard PH 67A-C43G. Skill Ripjaws DDR-3 8GB RAMPalit GeForce GTX 570 TiWD Caviar Blue WD 5000AAKX 500GBOCZ SSD 180 GBLG DVD Burner GH22NS70EKL Alpenföhn Matterhorn CoolerCorsair TX 750 V2 PowerWhat do you think of this specs? I will run the OS and FSX on the SSD and overclock the CPU to 4,4GHz.Any experiences?David

Not that motherboard!It has the h67 chipset which is not oc friendly. You need a p67 or z68 to over clock.

So, I can not overclock with this motherboard?David

O.K., little change in my order:I now took a P8P67 Motherboard. Do you think THIS configuration will run well?David

Yeah that sounds good. Just make sure that memory is rated at 1.65v or less. 1.5v would be ideal, but 1.65v will also work well with sandy bridge.Edit: what case are you using? Most of your sandy bridge motherboards are full atx, so make sure it'll fit first if you're reusing your old case.

So, it is possible to use the SSD ONLY for FSX? Because in the computer shop, they told me that was not possible...David

You need to walk away from that shop now. They are not advising you well. Looking at your later posts, you are not a computer expert, which is fair enough, but looking at the equipment they are trying to sell you, nor are they.There are dozens of posts from people talking about their FSX machines. I suggest you read through a few of the more recent ones and pay attention to what people have ended up deciding and why. Then you will be in a position to make an informed choice. Until then, you will be wasting your money, and even if you accidentally end up with a really good setup, you will never be sure you weren't ripped off.

Yeah that sounds good. Just make sure that memory is rated at 1.65v or less. 1.5v would be ideal, but 1.65v will also work well with sandy bridge.Edit: what case are you using? Most of your sandy bridge motherboards are full atx, so make sure it'll fit first if you're reusing your old case.

I will use a Midi-Tower Enermax Staray. I think that should reach.David

I will use a Midi-Tower Enermax Staray. I think that should reach.David

That'll work fine. It may be a bit cramped routing all the cables, but everything (including the cooler you mentioned) will fit.