It would appear from the graphs at Tom's that Nvidia cards are the way to go as far as FSX is concerned. See attachedGlennhttp://forums.avsim.net/user_files/175731.jpg

Yesterday Tom's hardware came out with a new chart comparison that has the new ATI Cards (2900 series?). The new ATI cards still got spanked.

:( I want an ATI to run FSX... Guess I'll just have to get an Nvidia on my next build, solely to run FSX...

Yes, even the nVidia 8600 value line is up at the top of the list, above the fastest ATI cards. Hopefully, for those who have ATI cards, it is just a driver issue that can be sorted out, because if a 7600 is within spitting distance of what a 8800GTX can do with this title, then ATI's top surely should be in close range also.Gary

That chart attached includes the 2900 series...........

By all means build your computer if you find it entertaining or enjoyable. If researching and ordering different parts from different vendors and troubleshooting weird system glitches does not sound fun, do yourself a favor and buy a Dell or similar pre-built computer.I built a computer a few years ago and I'll never do it again. The costs of the parts including shipping were more than an equivalent Dell. The parts never did work 100% together, but no single manufacturer would take responsiblity for thier part but would instead blame the rest. After about a year I quit using it altogether.

>I built a computer a few years ago and I'll never do it again.>The costs of the parts including shipping were more than an>equivalent Dell. The parts never did work 100% together, but>no single manufacturer would take responsiblity for thier part>but would instead blame the rest. After about a year I quit>using it altogether.But with all due respect that is down to a lack of ability on your part. And unless you make major mistakes such as the wrong type of memory, CPU or graphics card for the particular type of motherboard then there is no reason for them not to work 100% together as long as you put it together correctly in the first place.You can certainly build an equal or better spec machine than any particular Dell for less.

I have this exact computer with Vista also except with 2 MB 1066 ram. It runs FSX at 25 FPS. It was a nightmare setting up FSX on it. It took 10 tries. I still can't set up dual monitors. They flicker on and off for 1 second at a time in FSX, but not with any other application.The computer is realgood, it's Vista I believe that is killing me.If you need more info on this system and performance let me know.

>>Luis ask>The best Dell computer out there is priced for >just over $7K. Would this build make FSX run >smoothly with all sliders maxed out? >Just curious...>As I read through this thread I see a lot of opinionated statements made by some that may have never bought an extreme high end type computer but seem to have many answers on what will and will not work.Microsoft placed in the Learning Center what they consider a Low, Medium and High end computer for running FSX. Start with what MS says is a high end computer for FSX and go up from there.Some of us may very well have 7 to 10,000 dollars for the purchase of a high end computer and some may not. Many like myself purchase high end computers as a long term investment for running a Business and writing Applications but also want to enjoy some of the entertainment software available.Luis, in your signature you have KMIA. If by chance you are in the Miami area then go to the Alienware Store in one of the shopping centers and test drive a Intel ALX extreme computer. One of the programs they test with is FSX because of the demand it places on the system.It may surprize some contrary to popular belief that there are store turn key computers built that will run FSX with all sliders maxed including a full load of 3rd party addon AI Traffic to fill airports such as JFK, ORD, ATL, EHAM, etc.Can I run with all sliders maxed? Yes, but why would I want to do that when some sliders after a certain value add nothing to FSX.Can I run AutoGen set to the Max, Yes, but again MS has made it clear that some of these settings are for future use and also crowds the ground around GA airports in a unrealistic way.Do I have any of the many tweaks published and added to my FSX that are listed for those that need them? No, don't need to tweak what works fine to begin with on a turn key system.Do I have all the problems I see people posting on with FPS, blurries, BOD's, uninstall/reinstall/activation? No.Is Vista perfect? No but neither was any OS that MS released. I will say that some of what causes Vista to be unstable are the Drivers that have been released in beta form. Some computer part manufacturers did not take Vista serious enough and fell behind but are now scrambling to catch up. Could I have built a computer at a much lower price? Yes but then again why should I do that when there are computer engineering people that will design, build, stress and burn in what I purchased including the addition of a high end warranty.If a computer company allows me to test drive their system before making a big investment then there is a good chance they are proud of what they build and are not trying to hide anything from the enduser.

Dual monintor with fullscreen?You have the fullscreen patch for Vista installed?

I'm sure it was due to a lack of ability on my part. I suppose a person with more skills could have used an oscilloscope to find out why the IDE buss was getting random data corruption. But I don't have the time or interest to become an expert in that field.The system I built was a part-for-part reproduction of a recommended system on one of the DIY sites. Maybe I picked a badly specc'ed system to put together, but again, I don't have the time or interest in learning which DIY sites publish well researched system configurations.It really comes down to my first point - if you find researching and troubleshooting to be fun, then building a computer can be a nice hobby. Otherwise it just isn't worth it.

What exactly is the full screen patch?Is it needed for one monitor FSX?Peter Sydney Australia

No, it only affects fullscreen in a multimon config on Vista.

Thanks Phil.Peter Sydney Australia

your right, building a system these days is not cost effective anymoreyou can generally buy from a manufacture for the same cost a pre built system vs building the same machine for about the same amount of money and extra effort involved getting the stuff to work right.The key i think is shopping carefully / and getting rid of the junk that they put on the machines in the first place.I think every computer purchased has software junk on it when new, dell or otherwise.