John writes, "I am a very avid flight sim enthusiast, and I would like to build a gaming computer that would be able to handle this type of program. Would you recommend the Crossfire Dragon from Cyberpower?"

One of the good things about flight sims is that they generally don't require a lot of video processing power, but they DO require a whole lot of memory and CPU power (unless you're one of those enthusiasts that uses 20 monitors to mimic a real cockpit).

The Dragon CrossfireX series by Cyberpower is a beast of a machine (at almost $3000 it had better be). Its highlights include:

• 2x ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 2GB DDR5 in Crossfire mode, for top ofthe line performance.
• AMD Phenom II X4 940 Quad-Core CPU, which nets you more than enough processing power to handle todays flight sims.
• 1TB SATA-II hard drive, which providers enough storage for all of your gaming needs.

So, what's the problem here? The lack of memory. 4GB is great for a 32-bit computer, but this is a 64-bit gaming computer, and with a flight simulator, you can almost never have enough system memory. If you're going to buy this product, then I'd recommend you upgrade the amount of available memory to 8GB (or more), and possibly up the memory speed from DDR2-800 to DDR2-1066.

Unfortunately, with the motherboard that is included on this machine, you won't be able to add a third graphics card to the machine, so any additional graphics power will have to come from the next generation of video cards.

Another sticking point is the motherboard itself: it's a bit dated (though not by much). The TA790GX A2+ doesn't support AM3 or DDR3 memory, so in a few years it will be obsolete and in need of replacement should you want to upgrade to the latest and greatest technology of the time.

Beyond those points, though, this is a solid computer. You'll need to pay special attention to the memory type and processor that your motherboard supports (DDR2, and AM2/AM2+ CPU types only), but you'll get some solid gaming out of it for a few years.

If you have a question please e-mail me, lordkat@gmail.com

Be safe,
Jason