Re: SLi or X-Fire or 1 single PHAT card for FSX?????

[a1]

SLI and other multiple card set ups are just if you are going to be gaming at super high resolutions and super high AA otherwise one good Graphics card properly tweeked and set up would do the job of gaming fine.

[cloud9]

550W is not going to be enough juice

[Slotback]

550 watts is plenty.

That PSU should run any card on the market today minus dual core videocards, 2900XT, any CPU with ease except maybe the higher end quads. My old 350 watt had two +12v rails with 18amps each running into one PCI-E connector. It would run 1900XTX with ease. Amperage is what matters, not wattage. For $50 more you can get this which supports SLI and is extremely powerful.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817703009
I'd look into PC Power & Cooling, but Corsair still makes fantastic power supplies.

I'd change the CPU to get E8xxx series daul core or a Q9450.

Videocard - single 8800GTS 512 G92. Look at 8800GT 512 G92, 3870, 3870x2. I'd go with GTS 512 G92.

Motherboard - P35, X38, X48, or P45 if they're out yet. Read reviews I don't know which ones the best. I'd try and get a board that supports DDR3 & PCI-E 2.0, I THINK the cheapest of which is an X48. Then you can atleast upgrade easily in the future, AND, it should add some points when you sell it... e.g. "Supports hyper fast DDR3 memory!".

RAM - Get DDR2-800 or 1066 with a CAS #4. DDR3 is way faster but expensive. DDR3 vs DDR2.
http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb2 ... 1207153686



From what I understand some true nextgen cards are coming out within the next new months and a awsome CPU at the end of the year. You could wait for either, or upgrade now, I don't know how worthwhile it would be.