I would just like to share some of my experiences, my trials and errors, in the hopes that it will help someone that is not very knowledgeable about the computers and simulators that we have come to enjoy. I did have at one time FS2000 and FS2002. I now actively fly FS2004, FSX SE, X-Plane 10 SE, and Prepar3D. I personally enjoy all the sims for personal reasons. The real journey started when I bought a Rail simulator disc, which I wasn't aware of at the time, it introduced me to steam. The computer that I had could not even move the trains. I was to start learning the importance of the key components for good simulation. A friend of mine helped me to construct a computer that would run relatively smooth. It consisted basically of a AMD FX-8120 Eight-Core Processor, GTX560, and 8 GB Ram. The computer ran well with the trains, and then I decided to get a copy of FSX Gold. That set everything back to the drawing board. If there is one thing I must have is smoothness, to me this is essential. I then discovered the FSX Bible by NickN. Figuring I could upgrade and maybe save a few bucks I purchased the GTX760 card. This helped, but I was not achieving the desired results. I went through step by step the best that I could with the computer knowledge that I have and achieved better results. I was still being stubborn about the hardware. I finally made the plunge GTX780TI, Intel 4770K (Haswell), 16GB Ram, MSI Gaming Board, and Windows 7 (Home Edition). 100% improvement. Its been over a year and a half (and I still haven't over-clocked)since the rebuild and I have almost every bell and whistle that you can get for add-ons. With the knowledge that I have now I am able to branch out and try different avenues to keep up with the times. The other components I mentioned are now my second computer. I am now operating with windows 8.1. My latest additions have been a Seiki 39 inch UHD (3840x2160) monitor with a add-on program called Display fusion which divides the screen into separate monitors (really cool), ActiveSky Next, A2A c182 for P3D, and GEX North America version 2. I'm a big fan for the eye candy, but again my real importance is in the smoothness. Nothing worse than trying to make a smooth landing and having your computer break down. So if your new to this take into consideration the hardware that's involved. Some of this eye candy needs a lot of power to display it and have that smooth landing. The tweaks are not that many if you have the right equipment. I have only one tweak in my Fsx.cfg file. That being the wide aspect set from false to true. So if I can leave you with one thing. Start with the basics, with a good machine, read a lot on the forums and slowly build the simulator for the results that you want.