Hi,
I'm new to this forum and I'm so glad to have found it. I'm planning to re-build my pc which I have build just under 5 years ago. Have done some window shopping at newegg and here some of the components.

CPU: Intel Core2 Duo (E6700 Conroe) 2.66GHz $319.99
MOBO: Intel LGA 775, 975X ATX OEM $199.99
GPU: XFX GeForce 8800 GTS ,320MB,320-bit GDDR3,PCI Express $299.99
PowerSupply: Thermaltake 750W
Ram: Kingston HyperX 2GB (2X1GB) DDR2 800 (PC26400) $118.99
HDD: WD Caviar SE16, 750GB ,7200RPM SATA 3.0Gb

I still have a Mid-Tower Case (ATX) 16'highX 8" wideX18" deep. Also, I have the other components (DVD,etc) which I can still use.
This system will be used for Flight Simulator. I don't want to upgrade to Vista or FlightsimX.

What do you think about this system? Do you think that everything will work well together?
My concern is the video card. There are no dimensions listed with the spec's and I'm wondering if it will fit on the MOBO. GPU is probably running pretty hot. I have 2 extra fans in the case. Maybe I'll need more?
I'll appreciate any input and suggestions you have. Thanks

I recommend an 8800gt, its a little smaller (or so i've heard)
and will perform better for a price equal or less than the 320

drop the 975X mobo, it's pretty much pointless at this point. I'd get a P35 chipset board instead, preferrably one from Asus or Gigabyte. The E6700 is also a waste, as you can get an E6750 for over $100 less at the same clock speed, or you could pick up a Q6600 to have a quad-core processor. Definitely get an 8800GT. Better performance for a lower price.

Yeah, get a P35 motherboard.

You can also drop down to a 500w PSU of a good make and model like Seasonic or Corsair. Your system will not be drawing a lot of power.

If you intend on building a XFire/SLI system then a 750w PSU would make sense.

Agreed. Although I'd probably play it on the same side and go for something around 600W and decent amps. Then again, I like overkill in my psu's...

Thanks for your suggestions. I'm still window shopping at Newegg.

For the MOBO, would you recommend :"ASUS P35 ATX (Intel) $219.00 ?
Processor: "Intel Core2 Quad 6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 $279.99?
Who makes the "8800 GT" Video Card? I have only been finding the XFX 8800GTS.
Again, thank you so much for your thoughts.

anken, my rig is built specifically to run Flight Simulator. Check out Flight Simulator / 8800GTS Benchmarks on Tom's VGA Charts: http://www23.tomshardware.com/grap [...] &chart=291

Feel free to check out my configuration. I'm always glad to help a fellow Flight Simmer.

Comp

That motherboard's proven to be a good one, and the Core 2 Quad 6600's exactly what I was talking about. The 8800GT just came out Monday. Right now prices are high (supply/demand issues), and Newegg's sold out. But all the big guns (EVGA, XFX, Asus, MSI, etc.) are making them, and they do outperform an 8800GTS. And, to top it off, the 8800GT doesn't have the dual-slot cooler of the 8800GTS, so it doesn't block an expansion slot. Once they're back in stock and the prices start leveling off (they should be in the $200-$250 range within the next week or twp), the 8800GT will be the best card you can get for the price, hands down.

Again, thanks for your suggestions. I'll try to wait for the "8800GT" Video Card. It's not easy, 'cause I really miss my Flightsim.
This card is most likely for DirectX 10. Do you think, that it's backwards compatible with DirectX9?
It would fit onto the ASUS P35 ATX Board...Right?
CompuTronix, thanks for the spec's on your system. Do you use Vista and FS10?

anken, unlike most "games" which are primarily GPU bound, Flight Simulator `04 and Flight Simulator X are both very heavily CPU bound. If you check out the above link I provided to Tom's VGA Charts, you'll see that Flight Simulator has less than a 3 FPS difference between the past generation 7600GT and the current generation high end cards such as the 8800GTX.

Flight Simulator benefits very little form high end cards or SLI, although as the Charts show, nVidia based cards perform much better than ATI based cards. This is why I'm running the 8800GTS and a Q6600 overclocked to 3.6Ghz. Although FS`04 doesn't benefit from multiple Cores, frame rate is directly affected by CPU clock speed. FSX SP1 is coded to use all available Cores, which has greatly improved frame rate performance since FSX was first released.

Frame rates scale with CPU clock speed, and since my upgrade from the E6600 OC'd at 3.6 to the Q6600 OC'd at 3.6, FSX frame rates increased by 80%. I presently run both FS`04 and FSX SP1 on XP Pro SP2 because it's less hardware demanding than Vista, and thus performs slightly better. FSX SP2 will be released soon which includes a DX10 upgrade. All the 8xxx series cards are DX9 and DX10 compatible, and will work on any PCI Express ATX motherboard.

The 8800 Ultra and GTX are huge cards, and will only fit into some of the larger computer cases, however, the GT and GTS cards require less space, and will work in most computer cases. Personally, I would not put an 8800GT in my computer until variants become available with dual slot rear exhaust cooling. Since single slot cooling increases computer case temperatures, and in turn CPU temperatures, this is very undesireable for a heavily overclocked CPU.

My suggestion for a Flight Simulator PC is that it's pointless to build around an 8800GT, since it won't make any difference in frame rate over a GTS. Your original build plan is fine, except I would go with the Q6600 G0 Stepping, an excellent cooler, a well ventilated gaming case, and overclock the bejezus out of it as far as safe temps permit.

Comp

How could you honestly recommend a lower-performing, more-expensive card? The temperature difference isn't going to be that big of a difference between a rear-exhausting 8800GTS and a single-slot 8800GT, and it's not going to have much of an effect on a processor OC except for a few hundred megahertz, tops. I doubt whichever flight sim he's looking at is going to have a hard time running on a Q6600 at 2.4, 3.0, or 3.2 GHz. And anken hasn't said anything about overclocking his computer anyway. So basically, you've made an argument out of variables that haven't even been stated in the first place.

Stick with the 8800GT and Q6600. They'll be fine on the P35 board, and DirectX10 cards are compatible with DirectX9. You'll be very happy with the results.

I agree, the 8800GT is the best option for you here, hands down.

I must ask, are you planning on OCing? If not, there's really no point in spending over $200 on a mobo and over $100 for memory. You can get the Gigabyte P35-DS3R, which is also a good OCer btw, for $130 and you can get 2GB of 667 RAM or even 800 RAM for under $60 right now. So to me it seems like you're spending an extra $150.

chedrz, if anken prefers, he can purchase an 8800 Ultra, but it will have little impact on increasing frame rates in Flight Simulator. Overclockability, which is directly affected by case temperature, means everything for frame rate in Flight Simulator, and yes, there is a huge difference in frame rate beteween 2.4Ghz and 3.0Ghz. However, I bow to your insights. I've only been running Flight Simulator 15 years since 4.0, but apparently you know more about it than I do. Therefore, I withdraw my previous recommendations, and suggest that anken should follow your recommendations. I appologize to you for offering my thoughts and opinions.

CompuTronix, I'm not saying that you don't make a valid point with the OC. I'm just saying that it seems pretty rediculous to spend more money on a lesser graphics card. Why pay $300 when you get better performance for $250? I doubt the temperature inside the case will increase much, if any, since the 8800GT is a smaller processor and produces less heat. His case should be able to provide adequate air flow, and I really don't think there's going to be much of an impact on the OC he'd be able to get. Let's say he only gets a 3.2GHz OC. I doubt that there's going to be a huge framerate difference between a 3.2 Q6600 and a 3.6 Q6600. Even FlightSimX would be running fairly smoothly at that point at a decent resolution. If it really seems like a huge difference, then he could go out and buy a better HSF for his graphics card with the money he's saving from getting a GTS and still reach a higher OC.

But, this whole argument is moot if Anken doesn't want to OC. If he doesn't, I'd be interested to know if a 2.4GHz Q6600 would perform better than a 3.0GHz e6850. CompuTronix, you would probably know better than I would at that point. After all, you said a Q6600 beats an e6600 by 80% at the same speed...I'd like to know the performance difference between a Q6600 and e6850 stock.

Chedrz If you are that worried about the card exhasting in the case than why not suggest to anken that he get a PCI fan and drop it right below the 8800gt and that way he can spend less on the GPU and still get good case temps. Then he has the best of both worlds and can follow everyones suggestions (including your overclocking suggestion).