I would scrap the videocard, the 9600GT is fairly old. You can sell it on ebay to get a small amount of cash if you wish. Gigahertz doesn't matter unless you consider the number of cores, hyperthreading, cache, and the design of the chip itself... for example, a 2.8ghz Core i5 will beat a 3.4ghz AMD Phenom II. Anyway, here are the best CPU, RAM, graphics combinations in order of performance (and you get what you pay for). All should run FSX quiet well, and even better with updated cooling and a nice overclock.

Core i7 930
6 gigabytes DDR3-1600 with latency of 6, 7 or 8. Lower is better.
Nvidia GTX 470
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1tb

Core i7 930
6 gigabytes DDR3-1600 with latency of 6, 7 or 8. Lower is better.
Nvidia GTX 460 256 bit factory overclock
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1tb

Core i5 760 or Core i7 870
4 gigabytes DDR3-1600 with latency of 6, 7 or 8. Lower is better.
Nvidia GTX 460 256 bit factory overclock
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1tb

Core i5 760
4 gigabytes DDR3-1600 with latency of 6, 7 or 8. Lower is better.
Nvidia GTX 460 192 bit factory overclock
Samsung Spinpoint F3 1tb

Factory overclock = non-standards speeds guaranteed with full warranty by manufacturer. Standard GTX 460 is 675mhz, you can buy them at >725mhz with updated quieter cooling for like 20$ extra. Worth it IMO.

Any decent case for all of them.

21.5 inch or larger LCD screen for all of them. MUST run 1920*1080, or 1920*1200, or above.

Corsair, enermax, seasonic power supply for all of them as long as they're 80+ BRONZE, SILVER, GOLD, or PLATINUM certified and have two PCI-E connectors. I recommend Seasonic M12-II series, and Corsair HX series.

Any motherboard that can run everything, I'm sure your computer tech can work that out though.

Here is an example:
Intel Core i5-760 Lynnfield  210$
GIGABYTE GA-P55-USB3  120$
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600  $97.99
MSI N460GTX CYCLONE 1GD5/OC GeForce GTX 460 factory oc 725mhz $229.99
CORSAIR HX Series CMPSU-650HX 120$
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB $59.99
Coolermaster RC690 case $60

Those prices are in USD, but the Canadian dollar is very close. All prices from newegg.com

I'm not sure which operating system is the best for FSX. I love Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit though.


Should be WAY WAY WAY better than your current system.

FSX is so CPU dependent, if you have the money to and get the fastest CPU possible. There's Core i7 870 which is a good deal........ it's the same as the Core i5 760, but with an extra 133mhz and hyperthreading. There's also the Core i7 950 and beyond which are even faster but require a different motherboard / RAM compared to the one I listed....

Yes, the Core i7 870 should work fine in that system.

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If it wouldn't be too much to ask, what would you pair this 950 with in terms of all the parts and goodies? I'm looking at spending $1,200-1,500, and I was pretty impressed with what you came up with for $900. I'd really appreciate any input you might have. Thanks!