Prior to starting the install, and for kicks, I ran the Microsoft Game Advisor applet which takes a look at your system, compares it to other users that have participated, and also compares it to the requirements for the game. The minimum requirements for FSX, by the way, are pretty (cough) optimistic: XP SP2, 256MB RAM, 1 GHz processor, 15GB of drive space, DirectX 9.0 w/ 32MB RAM. My Alienware system, while not bleeding edge, was, according to the MS Game Advisor, more than adequate.