by vgbaron » Mon Jan 05, 2009 10:16 pm
BP - IMHO you're approaching this in the wrong way. If you slowly get parts, piecemeal, you're going to get in the position where the oldest purchase isn't quite good enough for the newest purchase. You'll be chasing your tail. For example, if you buy DDR3 ram today for a q9650 and later decide to get an i7 CPU - the new mobos require ram that runs at a significantly lower voltage that what you just purchased - it won't be compatible.
Do your research, decide what kind of system you want and buy the parts. Do NOT try to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. Get quality parts at the beginning. If $$ is an issue, then, honestly, save up for the parts until you can buy them at once or within a reasonable space of time.
As to your which quad question - since the object of all this is to get the best out of FSX AND FSX is CPU dependent - get the fastest one you can afford stock. *IF* you are going to clock it, then there are some that start out lower in speed but clock better.
BY now with your reading you've probably seen that there are many different ways to approach the issue. Once you make your mobo/CPU/Ram decisions, then you will have a base to work from. Until then, you're kicking tires and no one answer is really going to suffice.
Good luck!
I7 980x 4.43G P6X58D 6G Mushkin 1612 6-8-6-24 1T EVGA GTX480 826/4200