Appowner

You seem concerned with what it's worth a year or two down the road. Why? If you need a machine for a purpose, the goal isn't future value but rather longevity and future functionality. Or has your cell phone contract trained you to swap out everything electronic every two years? I run a machine until it no longer works. Until 2 years ago I had a 386 DX40 working as my Honey Pot. I couldn't begin to tell you how many machines I've stripped and donated to recycling charities. Hard drives get destroyed however. Disassembled and the platters taken to the range.

So what is Real Flight? A GAME! So build a basic gaming system. (Alternatively a multi media system works too) Surprisingly a game system works well for a lot of other uses too. And you can build decent gamers for anything from 600 to 1500. But you don't need separate video or audio unless you're some kind of techno media geek. A decent MB from a reputable manufacturer will probably have video and audio that will handle RF for versions to come. A bigger power supply won't work as hard and therefore will last much longer if not forever. And the price doesn't go up significantly for that. Unless you want the 30 dollar PS from the bargain bin. Then you get what you pay for.

With the MB however, set your budget and buy the best CPU and most RAM you can afford. And keep in mind, heat kills these things to include the PS. So make sure you pack it all in a small case with no fans and hide it all in a closet surrounded by your other junk. (Sarcasm alert)

16 years on the IT contract directly supporting a government facility in the IC with over 200 servers, 5000 desktops, 35 firewalls and fiber measured in miles. Over 30,000 (yes, 30 thousand) e-mail accounts on just one of over 200 networks and systems in the facility. The Dell desktops were replaced every two years yet the primary hardware failure was......Power Supplies.