Whats the next step?

Howdy! Well... I stuck it out with with my old computer...trying to run FS X.... that all of you said was a hunk of doodoo.. and found this for 900 and some change http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] &CatId=114 Still running my 6 month old LCD monitor at 1920 X 1080 (recomended)
Gateway FX
Q6600 2.40
SLI Nvidia 680i LT mother board
700 watt PS
single 8600 GT
Vista H premium 32 bit

I also purchased 2 matching overclocked 9600 GT's and 4 gigs ( PNY dual channel ) of ram ( Max for 32 bit Vista )to replace the 3 that it comes with it.

Have it up and running both 9600gt's. Nice..........and blows the doors off my old computer.... BUT...

Vista eats a lot of the quad core and thankfully I took the ram to the max 4...as it uses 75% or better during game play....and everything on the vista rating is 5.9 with exception of memory that is 5.0...so FSX sets the sliders all the way to the right but my frame rates average 20 or less ( have seen it get to and hold 8fps) with this setting.... and the q6600 is running at close to 100%. Right now it's at 58%. Now I see why most of you don't like vista.
I can back off the sliders to medium high and it runs fairly well...but I was looking for it to be a top flyer.

What's the next step? Spent 200 bucks for the new 9600 GT's http://www.tigerdirect.com/applica [...] =G458-9602

Should I get 9800's? And what about the processer running at 98%? Will bigger boards take some of the load off it? Gets a little bit better if I shut down almost everything wile it runs but not much.
Thanks! Tim

playing games @ 1080p with 9600gt sli?

even the 9800gt's wont do you good (5-10% faster than the latter especially when those 9600gt's were OC'd).

crossfire may work on that motherboard, 2 4850's will probably give you what you need (will it?).

yeah man go for 9800GTX/GTX+(s) if you can. i heard that FSX is more cpu dependent than gpu dependent so your Q6600 at stock 2.4GHz is part of the fps problem, try overclocking it and take note of the difference in fps. find a speed your comfortable with and stick with it. SLI 9600GT are good but not at/for that resolution. you will be better suited with a pair of 9800GTX/GTX+ or HD4850's depending on your mobo ( i know you posted it but i forgot what it was). right now on newegg.com you can get a 9800GTX for $129. its recertified but i have 2 of them (yes in SLI) and i have had no issues with them (they came like new), i actually recieved 2 GTX+, the cards were re/mislabeled at evga so i got a better card for way less than what it should be (GTX+ cost around $200). and it happens alot, if you look at the reviews of the recertified GTX you'll see im not the only one who has gotten GTX+ instead of GTX. here's the link and good luck.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130403