I am about to get my new system, which i have carfully configured on a budget.What i have so far isAMD Athlon64 3200+512MB PC3200 *upgrade to 1GB will be done within a month or two when my budget is better*80GB Seagate SATA 7200RPMNVidia 5900Ultra 128MBThose are the basics to my system. At first glance, what will performance be?If you want the full specs on my system, let me know.Just curious on what i can expect on FS9.:-wave

ChaseI'm no expert in these matters but I would say that your proposed system will run FS9 very respectably. Just remember that even with very high end systems you must still adjust the sliders and be careful with what addons you install so as not to degrade the performance of the simulator too much.Good luck with what you buy.David

that should run fs9 just fine. if you're going to upgrade you have to consider whether you're going to be getting any addon aircraft. if so you'll probably need to upgrade more than what you mentioned as alot of addon aircraft need more horsepower that what it takes to run fs9 by itself. william

I'd look into getting a 9800 Pro instead of that FX5900 - the FX's weren't true DX9 cards and it'll hinder your ability to play other new games like Half-Life 2 with all the graphical settings on...

I have 2 sticks of 2nd hand 512mb GEIL pc3200 for sale for $200 if you want. Dual channel is required to run s939 motherboards on its full potential. there are some reviews on 4 motherboards awhile ago that explains this over at OCNZ http://www.overclockers.co.nz/ocnz/review....outamd649390112and i suggest you get a better card then that one as it will bottleneck the rest of your system. 6600GT will be a good choicesorry forgot this was an US based form......lol anyways disregard the first paragraph.

Hi Chase, a few questions... - What kind of mainboard are you getting? - What kind of monitor do you have? - Soundcard or onboard sound? - Full specs would be helpful Generally, try to get the entire RAM in one go. Upgrading RAM can be treacherous. If you could live with 1024x resolutions for now, I'ld warmly recommend a 9600pro as the budget component (ofcourse only, if you don't use 3D-glasses and other apps which require a Geforce). If you can, you should try to get a 120GB harddrive, they're quicker. P-ATA or S-ATA could depend on the mainboard's chipset. If it's a Via-chipped board, I'ld opt for P-ATA. I.e. Hitachis are very good. Hope this this adds to thoughts, good luck and kind regards Jaap

Hi,Check out this site for some qualified advice:http://www.sharkeyextreme.comCheers,Bryan

>Hi Chase, a few questions... >>- What kind of mainboard are you getting? >>- What kind of monitor do you have? >>- Soundcard or onboard sound? >>- Full specs would be helpful >>>Generally, try to get the entire RAM in one go. Upgrading RAM>can be treacherous. >>If you could live with 1024x resolutions for now, I'ld warmly>recommend a 9600pro as the budget component (ofcourse only, if>you don't use 3D-glasses and other apps which require a>Geforce). If you can, you should try to get a 120GB harddrive,>they're quicker. P-ATA or S-ATA could depend on the>mainboard's chipset. If it's a Via-chipped board, I'ld opt for>P-ATA. I.e. Hitachis are very good. >>Hope this this adds to thoughts, good luck and kind regards >>Jaap Hi Jaap,i am capable of picking out a average system i believe, but im not so bright that i know barcodes or serial numbers. lol.The processor is coming on the board allready.What i have is theGigabyte AMD Athlon 64 3200+512MB DDR 400MHZ PC3200Seagate 80GB SATA HD 7200RPMThermaltake SLV Tower w/ 420 PShttp://www.thermaltake.com/xaserCase/lanfire/vm2000a.htm i believe thats my tower on the site. I couldnt flind the exact tower, but that is what it looks like. 4 fans, fan control, temp display.XP HomePhillips 19" *Real Flat* CRTAOpen 5900XT 128MB 8X AGPThanks For your help!:-wave

(someone ought to move this to the Hardware forum)Looks pretty good. If you know the model # of that Gigabyte mobo it would be helpful. If it's a NForce-based board you don't really need a soundcard unless you listen to lots of music.Any reaon in particular why you're going with a 5900? Even a Radeon 9800 Pro would be faster. Even better, try to find a 6800 or X800 (Pro or XT) for a good price - much better performance and more future proof.

Hi Chase, thanks for the infos. Hope you don't mind if we continue in the hardware forum? See ya there Jaap

Depending on your usage, you might consider the new Nvidia 6600GT AGP. It's based on the newest Nvidia architecture, and in most things, blows the 9800 Pro out of the water performance wise.ATI still reigns supreme in image quality and speed for Flight Simulator but the cost of a 9800 Pro is still around $50 to $75 dollars more than the 6600GT. And it's performance for HL2 and Doom 3 are not even close to the 6600GT. I'm getting above 30 FPS in Doom 3 at 1024*768 at High and Ultra quality modes, and this is on a "lowly" 2.0 Ghz Athlon XP 2400+At around $240, the 6600GT is being hailed as one of the best bang for your buck video cards in recent history. Do a google search for yourself and you will see. Toms Hardware has a great review on the card and chipset.I'm using one and it is really nice, and I'm able to get some good detail maintaining 24FPS quite nicely in most areas. (with a 2.0Ghz 2400 Athlon XP, my performance in Flight Sim is purely a CPU bottleneck).Just a thought.

i checked into the 6600GT. They ppl i m having my pc made at do not have the best selection of vid cards on the market. I have taken a few reccomendations by other people on here and i am going with the 9600XT. www.altex.com. thats where my system is being made at. I do understand the 9600XT is a mid range card, but i will be upgrading my system with time. Thats the mistake i made before,not to upgrade. Not going to do it again. I will upgrade my system with time to stay current :-) Altex states that they can special order a computer part for you. That i am also looking at. But for now, i think im gonna go with ATI's 9600XT 128MB. I have been told its a pretty good card and stays consistant at around 20-35FPS. 6600GT is still a option though.thanks alot! :-wave