My First Build

[exiledryan]

http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8160006&CatId=1079 cooler master 500 watts are good about the same amount as ultra crappy psu agreed 8gb ram minimum decide for yourself on other components and if from canada why aren't you just using canadacomputers.com to build your list more selection lest cost

 

[Irony]

Yep, generally Corsair>Thermaltake just avoid Corsair CX series, shit capacitors in there.

I had a CX600 in my first build, its in another little lan box now still running fine, but ya it made dirty power. I could get another 200mhz OC on my 1090T just by changing to my current PSU

In addition what is a APU? Also, is the HD 7850 superior to the GTX 650? How about the GTX 650ti

APU is an AMD kindof hybrid processor that has integrated GPU built into it so a dedicated graphics card is not required. The built in graphics are generally pretty decent, you can even crossfire it with specific dedicated cards if need be. Idk if it would suit your needs, I really dont know how taxing FSX is, but it would be cheaper.

Here's a review of the 7850, you can read through it. Near the end is a comparison chart of overall performance vs other cards including 650
http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/HD_7850_HD_7870/

 

[Octavius]

FX 6300
Corsair GS 600
8GB generic 1600mhz RAM
GTX 650 OR HD 7850
Seagate 500GB HDD (saves a few bucks, no difference to WD)
MoBo, get a generic AM3+ 970FX like a GD55, Extreme3 or something low-mid end
Generic Midi Tower Case, like Casecom stuff

Are we talking about the 7850 1GB or 2GB? Is the HD 78501GB enough for Fs 2004?

 

[thebluebumblebee]

-Motherboard: MSI 760GM-P34 ($49.97) or the Asus M5A78L-M LX Plus AMD 760G ($59.97)

Do you realize that those boards are based on such old technology that they have neither SATA 6Gbs nor USB 3.0? Now, as someone else pointed out, a mechanical HDD will not even tax SATA3, but USB 3.0 might come in handy if you get an external hard drive for backups.
Secondly, think about your storage. How big is your current HDD? Could it be that you could get by with (just) a 120 GB SSD?
As for what GPU, may I recommend that you do some research into which GPU's work best, or at least have the fewest problems with those games.

The hardware requirements for FS 2004 is An 8 MB, 3-D video card, and FSX is a 32 MB DirectX 9-compatible video card.

I'd rather see you buy a good PSU and a better motherboard than a higher end GPU or even more RAM.

As for the idea of an APU, hmmmm....