Since I respect his opinion this post is directed to NickN and hopefully he has the time to answer.

I am ready to build my first PC and I am doing this for the purpose of an FSX machine.  I know that you have been asked this numerous times and that you have responded numerous times, but things change so fast that what you recommended four to six months ago may still not apply.

I want an i7 machine and since I am going to do this I decided that I might as well go with Windows 7, 64 bit for an OS.  I am okay with spending upto $2,500.00, but I do not need to spend that much if I do not have to in order to get what I want and that is a great FSX machine.

I am thinking of an i7 950 with at least 6GB of ram if not 8GB.

I currently have XP 32bit on one drive and FSX on a 750GB Seagate Barracuda 3Gb/sec SATA drive.  If I can use the 750GB in the new machine fine, if not fine I will get a new drive.  I also have an Nvida GTX8800 768MB video card.

I would like a recomendation for:

-Motherboard

-i7 Processor

-CPU cooler (really do not want to mess with a liquid cooler)

-Ram (6GB to 8GB)  Could even go to 16GB is there is a good reason

-PS

-Video card (Nvida GTX-XXX)

-OS Drive (this drive would also hold MS Office, Quicken, Google Earth and all the other misc stuff.  If it would make sense to have two HD for this then I am okay with a three HD system (1 for OS, 1 for FSX, 1 for all other stuff)

-FSX Drive (I have a lot of FSX stuff - FS Genesis, UTX, GEXn, FTX, FEX, MegaSceneryX, MegaSceneryEarth, SceneryTech, and freeware addons plus freeware airports and scenery to much to mention).  Currently there is 135GB on my 750GB FSX drive and I plan on adding more scenery like FTX when they start releasing stuff for the US.

-Monitor (I currently have a HP f2105 LCD 1680*1050)

-Case

-CD Drive (DVD, does anyone use a R/W CD anymore?)

-Sound Board

Will I need to purchase any cables separately?

I assume that the motherboard will come with USB ports, dsl port, etc.) Will all of this come with directions on how to install and start everything up.  In other words you install the CPU on to the mother board, install the motherboard, PS, video card, CD and HD into the case, plug everything together and then flip the switch, what next?  Do you have to set anything in the bios, does it ask you if you are ready to install the OS, format the HD's, etc. or can you provide a link to a website for instruction like this.

Eventually I will want to overclock this, but I would not do it for six months at least.

Thanks in advance for your response.

Rod