Koyo and Richard Hi again,
Thanks for the work you put in on my question. I feel kind of odd having to cry for help on computer issues. My wife and i started the first Prompt Computing Ltd., as far a we could find out at that time, the first use of that name in the world. The play on words was of course to do with the DOS promt. We quickly became a cad specialist company, with close ties to Roland . It was a great time, with huge profit margins ---- the upgrade to a full height hard disk was £1,000 ! 150 Mb though, serious stuff.
I even used to turn up in uniform after a night flight, with those customers that knew me well.
Nowadays i'm totally lost. The kit that my friend demonstrated to me yesterday was beyond belief, 1600 res with images that looked as though they had been lacquered by a craftsman. I come from an era when i took my clients out to lunch while St Paul's had it's hidden lines removed. 1:23 mins on a file of 23k
I'm in Texas at the moment, and trying to live in two countries means that I must be cautious about cost, so coming back from the cutting edge is a must.
I intend to buy the latest FS with the intention of flying jet transport aircraft for the most part, though i got my mits on a pals Cessna Aerobat a while back, and it wasn't long before i showed him how badly behaved the British can be when let off the leash, so it would be fun to practice some of the maneuvers in the comfort of home.
As it happens, my computer pal looked at monarchcomputer.com and recommended the Abit NF 7 nForce 2 v.2 with XP 2800+ (with Barton core what ever that is ) 333FSB The vendor suggests a Gig of Corsair, and i agree with you about the maker...i used to be so careful when i was ordering my one meg of dil chips.
This is a pre tested combination and is priced at $442
He has suggested a MSI ATI RX 9800 Pro 128 Mb DDR $ 194
The strange thing here is that if its ordered out of state you don't pay state tax. :-) Bewildering.
Do you approve of Corsair ? And the manufacturer of the HD's is an issue ... he suggests two 80's ghosted config. Any strong opinions.
Anyway, thanks for your help, because it does seem to tally with the suggestions here ----- this gives me confidence that i wont buy a pile of kit that would have the experts in hysterics. RB