I'm embarrassed to admit it but i am way out of the loop on the latest PC hardware. I need help building a new system.  Here is the scoop, I have approx. 1000.00 to spend, i will build it myself, use WIN7 and it will be overclocked!  What do you guys think is best bang for the buck to run FSX and the new Flight and maybe, and i mean maybe, XPlane 10

Thanks!
Rob

CPU wise, the i5-2500K scoops every bang for buck award I've seen, bar none. It'll overclock from it's base 3.3Ghz to 4.8Ghz in a breeze.

what about the motherboard? I know they are thee most important next to the processor. Probably go with 80G SSD drive as well

What about these??

http://cgi.ebay.com/INTEL-i5-2500K-3-3GHZ-QUAD-CORE-DESKTOP-COMPUTER-SYSTEM_W0QQitemZ290551696355QQcategoryZ179QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trksidZp5197.m7QQ_trkparmsZalgo%3DLVI%26itu%3DUCI%26otn%3D5%26po%3DLVI%26ps%3D63%26clkid%3D8248475458349102201

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300536298920&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_2826wt_906

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270728720195&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT#ht_1559wt_1140

Definately stay away from pre built systems such as those. They throw the cheapest parts into those to make the best profits which is good for  99% of users but for a system that needs to be tuned nicely for flightsim needs a good combination of parts. Im just about to head out the door for work but take a look at the avsim hardware forum. Tons of information on the latest and greatest parts for a nice build. Will keep you busy studying for the next little bit.

737Nut

None of those suggested pc`s have a separate graphics card. They use an onboard integrated graphics chip which is not good enough to run FSX graphics. I am not versant with the latest graphics cards, however, doubtless someone else can advise. The keys elements for a FSX pc are processor speed, as Sean advised, at least 4gig of memory and a good graphics card.

David

Just to add as well, You cant overclock the cpu on any of these boards. The multiplier is locked on the H67 motherboards. Why they team these up with the K series cpu is a gimmic. To overclock you need the P67 series motherboards.

Just ordered my stuff last night,

ASROck Extreme4 B3
I5-2500K   I will OC it to 4.5Ghz
Cool master 212 cooler
3 fan case
750w PS
Nividia 460 1gb video card
Crucial SSD hard drive
8gb 1600 ram
Win 7

Should work out pretty well. Thanks for all the suggestions,

Rob

Be sure to let us know how it runs FSX. I've not seen any Sandy Bridge benchmarks for FSX yet.

Sean