Hi Jimmy, the money for the RAM should be in your account now.
I've been saving $20 per week ($80 per month) for however long it takes to have $2200. Must be two years. This might seem like a long time but that time has flown,really. I am always wondering about beefing up my 2.4 gig CPU system. I do buy stuff that can be later put into a new PC such as hard drives etc... I don't know exactly what you're doing or trying to acheive with the system you have that you seem to be constanly tinkering with! I have decided to always keep this current PC always a working computer, as opposed to having bits and pieces that become spare and relatively worthless once you've upgraded. I will buy a whole new system built to my specs one day in the future and have my current one as part of my network. Networks and FS are made for each other, the more PC's the merrier!
I fear that you may end up anyway with a new PC by buying a part here and a part there and one day you'll realize you've replaced your whole computer and have a pile of 'old parts' that if it was left alone could've been a good running PC for your network! And you end up with an upgraded PC that you still are not entirely happy with and end up wanting to go out and buy a whole new system!
Remember what you have already is what it is. There's an old saying that says 'You can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear'! I understand all this upgrading you have going on is so you can play FSX. Why not just wait and save in the meantime like slot of us? Another saying that springs to mind is 'Fools rush in where angels fear to tread' I'm not for one minute suggesting you are a fool of course, I just want to remind you and myself too that people like us that have to save hard for our PC gear can't afford to be making expensive mistakes by buying things we later regret. In about a year FSX will be well on the way to being sorted out and the hardware to run it will be too and will be alot more affordable too. I'm already hearing stories of people going out and telling a shop to 'build me an FSX machine" only to be quite dissapointed when it won't do what they wanted it to do! And that is after spending $4000! I know how hard it is to wait, especially when you are young and think there's no tomorrow and nothing happens fast enough. But if you can, and be happy with FS9 with all it's great addons in the meantime, this patience will pay off and you'll be very happy in the long run that you waited.
You want a 3.4 gig CPU right? FSX will still struggle with that too. Especially if the rest of the system is not up to speed as well as there will be a 'bottle neck' somewhere. Graphics card GPU, RAM and CPU all have to work together as you know and of course you have to power all that too! I will be going for at least 650 watts myself when the time comes in that department and a 4.8 gig CPU. So when I start thinking that way I'm really thinking of a whole new rig, case included. And this one can be retired to number 2 in the network.
While I was waiting for FSX to come out (which I still don't have) I was impatient to buy some FS stuff so I went and got the CH Products range when that opportunity presented itself as it wasn't going to become obsolete, it enhanced my FS experience alot. I'm thinking maybe Track IR4 might be next on the list and as always a projector is a big ticket item that is still on my list. I'm reasonably sure that all of these things will enhance my simming experience more than a new computer would for the same sort of money.
When I was your age and a bit older there wasn't PC's to pull to bits and modify and rebuild, it was bikes and cars and motorbikes. The time and money I wasted on those things that I should have just left alone was phenominal! I didn't know then that 'If it ain't broke, don't fix it'!
Also remember that AGP stuff is going to soon be obsolete and twin PCI-e graphics cards is the way it's going so it's that sort of mobo I'll be going with when the time comes. Oh well that's me run out of steam! I'm writing this to myself too as I need to remember to take my own advice at times! I'm as tempted as the next guy to want an FSX ass kicking machine now! but I'm not sure they exist yet, but I'll be waiting untill they do and are within my budget. In the meantime my FS9 is quite sufficient and I still enjoy it as much as ever.
Kind Regards Stephen
