Bernoulli wrote on Aug 5^th, 2013 at 11:04pm:

Thanks Mark: Well... I have been doing more research and I think I will have a local computer company build me a computer that is very similar but with a few changes. I have two questions for anyone in the know about this build: 1. Is this motherboard good?:  ASRock Z87 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 2. As far as storage is it enough storage to have windows 7 on a 120GB SSD, have FSX on a second 120GB SSD, and have evrything else on a 1TB HDD? Below are the details of the computer: CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor  CPU Cooler: Corsair H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler   Motherboard: ASRock Z87 Extreme3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory   Storage: Sandisk Extreme 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  Storage: Sandisk Extreme 120GB 2.5" Solid State Disk  Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive   Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 650 2GB Video Card    Wireless Network Adapter: Rosewill RNX-N250PCe 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter   Case: Thermaltake Commander MS-I Epic Edition (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case Power Supply: Corsair Professional 750W 80 PLUS Gold Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply  Optical Drive: LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) (64-bit) Thanks for any replies :)

If you are buying a new rig that you intend to use mostly for FSX, then there are some different choices you should make especially if you have a limited budget. If your budget is wide open then the choice is easy. Now back to the question of what is best for FSX. First of all FSX is CPU intensive, meaning that FSX benefits most in performance with a fast CPU. If you have to choose between a powerful video card, and a powerful CPU, then the CPU is the clear choice, when it comes to FSX. A quad core CPU such as an i7 3770 or better, is a better choice then an i5, because there also other features in an i7 besides speed that are superior to an i5. The video card does not have to be the best, given the fact FSX is not able to use some of the features that the latest, and greatest video cards can provide. FSX is old code that utilizes directX 9c. If you are going to be running 64 bit programs, then Windows 7 professional is a good choice, but if your programs are 32 bit code based, then Windows 7 Premium is a better choice, because Windows 7 premium is cheaper in price. The reason I say this, is because unless you are going to use the professional version for other things besides FSX, and other games, then there is no benefit. Also the best that FSX can access is 4 GB of ram, and that is providing you are using any version of Windows 7 64 bit. The advantage of having Windows 7 Professional over the Premium version is that the Professional version can access a lot more ram then the Premium version can. Of course this ability to access more of your ram is irrelevant unless you have a game or program that is written in 64 bit code, which FSX is not. When it comes to FSX, SSD drives are not going to give you much benefit. If your monitor displays natively 1920x1080 or higher, I believe anti-aliasing is more of a hindrance on performance, and is not worth the small improvement at these higher resolutions. Two separate physical drives is a good idea. An SSD drive is a very good idea for Windows 7, and some other programs, but not so much for FSX. Finally multiple video cards are a good idea for most newer programs, but NOT for FSX. hope this helps. The general thinking is that windows 7 should be on its own drive, and your games especially FSX on another separate drive.