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This will be the first time I will be upgrading a PC for FSX. Considering the amount of time that has gone by since the release of both FSX and Vista, and the impending release of SP1, I am planning on doing a complete system upgrade on my PC using my $6,000 credit account that I was approved for by my bank.

I'm looking to you guys for advice on what's the "recommended" upgrade for a sim like FSX. I'm NOT looking for an end-all-be-all upgrade advice; instead, I'm looking to create a system that can at least run FSX with about 25-30 FPS with most sliders set to about 3/4 of the way [or close to it].

The components I'm planning to buy my rig are:

Motherboard
Processor
Ram
Graphics Card [I prefer NVIDIA cards]
Hard Drive

My current rig is rather big, and by big I mean it's the size of my torso [and my torso is impessive enough to become a chick magnet].

EDIT:

Oh, I forgot to mention that I'm also planning on buying a new PSU.

Something along the lines of this.

ASUS Striker Extreme 680i Motherboard.
Intel Core 2 Duo E6700
4GB (4x 1GB) Corsair XMS DDR2-6400C4
nVidia GeForce 8800 Ultra
2x 150GB SATA150 WD Raptor (10K RPM) RAID 0
750GB Seagate SATA3
EarnMax Galaxy 1KW PSU or ThermalTake Toughpower 1KW
Plextor DVD+-RW drive (Blu Ray?)
Silverstone TJ07, or Lian Li V1200

Thats more or less what I would get if I were buying RIGHT NOW. If I could wait until Q3 or even Q4 I would trade that E6700 out for a Penyn, and also get a 8900 series card (or even a pair?)

Cheers
Cameron

Thanks for the advice. I appreciate that. For now, I'll just wait for more replies to see what others say about this. The more feedback I get, the better.

Can't agree more.

Cheers
Cameron

Something along the lines of this.

ASUS Striker Extreme 680i Motherboard.
Intel Core 2 Duo E6700
4GB (4x 1GB) Corsair XMS DDR2-6400C4
nVidia GeForce 8800 Ultra
2x 150GB SATA150 WD Raptor (10K RPM) RAID 0
750GB Seagate SATA3
EarnMax Galaxy 1KW PSU or ThermalTake Toughpower 1KW
Plextor DVD+-RW drive (Blu Ray?)
Silverstone TJ07, or Lian Li V1200

Thats more or less what I would get if I were buying RIGHT NOW. If I could wait until Q3 or even Q4 I would trade that E6700 out for a Penyn, and also get a 8900 series card (or even a pair?)

Cheers
Cameron

i agreee with all of the above.

but, there is the issue of monitor size.  if ur monitor is fairly high-res, maybe 24"+, then u might consider two 8800s (GTX or GTS) in SLI, which would improve performance on large displays, regardless of whether a game supports SLI...

but otherwise, the above rig is good.

Here is a list of hardware that I am hoping to get from TigerDirect.com. It's not exactly what Ctjoyce recommended, but these were the closest I could find depending on what hardware the company has available in stock. I want to make this rig Vista ready, but I'm only gonna use XP for the time being considering that Microsoft has a while to work the kinks out of Vista.

I have been reading a few other posts regarding SLI and I am starting to have a few doubts about using it for FSX. But then again, if SP1 addresses that issue, then I might consider buying the hardware below. What do you think?

God I hate that eVGA board. Was able to get my hands on one the other day at Microcenter. The layout is horrable, and the front panel connector is really messed up.

Go with the ASUS P5N32-E SLi. Its basically the eVGA board, laid out in a way that makes sense, and uses copper heat sinks insted of aluminum.

Cheers
Cameron

question:

Vista or XP?

If Asus, go for the P5B or P5W. Both are a bit old but still deliver top-notch performance. The P5W is even quad-core ready.

If Asus, go for the P5B or P5W. Both are a bit old but still deliver top-notch performance. The P5W is even quad-core ready.

And neither are 680i boards.

Cheers
Cameron