Just my 2cents - not very expensive and works well -CloD, ROF, X-Plane10
Decent rig for CloD - old rig updated
--- Old Parts -- from an Athlon 1800 HP machine repaired over the yrs
Mid-tower : Old HP
Joystick : Saitek EVO Force
Pedals : Saitek
Power supply : 600W OCZ
Hard Drives : WD 7200 SATA3 1 TB
WD 5400 rpm SATA 500 GB
--- New Parts -----
Motherboard : ASRock A55Pro2 AMD FM1 socket -SATA3 $ 74
CPU : AMD A6-3650 2.6Ghz $110
RAM : Gskil Ripjaws x Series 2x4GB DDR3 1600 $ 47
Sound : On-board
Cooler : Scythe SCMG-3000 $ 50
DVD drives : Lite-on SATA iHAS124-04 $ 17
Asus SATA 24B1ST $ 18
Video Card : On-Board -- Black Death Track FPS 8/34/16
Sapphire 6850 HD 1GB - BDTrack 19/57/42 $124
-- FPS in "Landscape Fly-by track high 50s mostly - VSYNC ON (set On at card)
Using most recent CCC 12.2
Most in-game settings High or Medium - Grass OFF & Forest Low
FPS - London sightseeing - mostly mid-30s to mid 40s under 1,000 ft
& upper 30s/40s over 3,000ft
Have had some game freeze-ups with the British Ground-attack mission in
Eastern France 4groups of 3 planes British - 4groups of 3planes German
- mainly if in-cloud and canopy begins to ice-up
This A6-3650 is multiplier-locked and not easily over-clocked as the FSB and video & memory transfer speeds all move together when you change the FSB which can easily be a problem. Some have gotten this stable to 3.4Ghz but I haven't tried any of that - still at 2.6Ghz.

Useful thread, thanks.

I have 2.7Ghz Intel E5300 duel Core with a 560Ti 2Gb and was thinking of going up to a 3.4Ghz i5 2500K but, based on your advice, will wait for the next update before making any decision. Though my ASUS MoBo will support a quad core, it is limited to a max 4Gb of RAM having only two slots. CloD/IL1946 are the only titled installed, from what you say I may be better going for an Hybrid Drive and maybe OC my current mobo.

With a quad core system, Is there any advantage in setting some programmes such as Headtracking, Saitek Profiler, Fraps to run on the unused (or under-used) cores or does the OS decide which cores to use if cores 1 and 2 are loaded by the demands of the game?

If your memory is DDR3 you should be able to get a hold of 2 x 8GB sticks. They're starting to come through in volume and are getting cheaper and cheaper.

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?...ducts_id=18974