My homebuild:Mobo: Asus A8N32-SLI-DeLuxeCPU: AMD 64 3500+ Graphics: NVidia GeForce 7800 GTX 256MBRAM: 1 GB DDRXP ProMain question is if I can make a worthwhile (cost-effective) CPU upgrade. This machine will almost certainly not be used for FSX! I just want to make FS9 run even better and hopefully banish the shimmers and jaggies. Thanks.John

"I just want to make FS9 run even better and hopefully banish the shimmers and jaggies."That is a two part goal... "I just want to make FS9 run even better"This could be achieved for the most part by a processor upgrade...However...Your videocard tweeks may play a part in this also(see Below)..."and hopefully banish the shimmers and jaggies"You have Plenty of videocard...Shimmers and Jaggies typically are controlled by the videocard driver and it's settings...Along with settings in FS it's self...If you havn't done so already...I would recommend you update your video drivers to the latest nVidia Forceware 91.47 drivers...I personally like to keep up to date with the latest drivers...Here is a link to Guru3D 91.47 download page for the 32bit drivers...http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1474Here is a link to a super set of "Driver Swap" instructions...I use them everytime I swap drivers...http://forums.flightsim.com/dc/dcboard.php..._id=17587&page=Now as far as settings...Those kinda vary depending on an individuals system...I can give you my settings which may be a good starting point and you can tweek from there...With the following settings, I have very little/no shimmering or jaggies...Everyone's Videocard and Set-Up is different...However these are my current settings on my 7950GX2...I still have some tinkering to do but I like this OK...(also using on a 4000+/7800GTX set-up)Using nVidia forceware 91.47's...Also using the "New" Control Panel...I choose "Advanced Settings"...Select 3D Settings/Manage 3D Settings..Then click on the "Program Settings" Tab..Under "Program" Scroll down and find "MS Flight Simulator 2004"...I am using these settings under that profile:Anisotropic filtering: 16XAnisotropic mip filter optimization: OnAnisotropic sample optimization: OffAntialiasing settings: 8xConformal texrure clamp: Use HardwareExtension limit: OffForce mipmaps: TrilinearGamma correct antialiasing: OffHardware acceleration: Single display performance modeMulti-GPU performance mode: NVIDIA recommended (Multi-GPU)Negative LOD bias: ClampTexture Filtering: High Quality(Test)Transparency antialiasing: SupersamplingTriliner optimization: OnTriple buffering: OnVertical sync: Use the 3D application setting Now I'm still tinkering around here...But that may give you a decent Referance Point to start from if you wish?? Also I'm running the GX2 card so my Multi-GPU performance mode setting will be different from yours...In FS9 I'm currently trying:FS9 Weather: Sight distance=80. Cloud Draw distance=40. Cloud coverage density=MaximumFS9 Hardware: Target frame rate=30. Screen res=1600X1200. Render to texture=Off. Transform and Lighting=On. Anti-aliasing=Off. Filtering=Trilinear. MIP Mapping quality=4. Hardware rendered lights=6. Global max texture size=MassiveMy "TERRAIN" setting in fs9.cfg are:TERRAIN_ERROR_FACTOR=95.000000TERRAIN_MIN_DEM_AREA=10.000000TERRAIN_MAX_DEM_AREA=100.000000TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL=21TERRAIN_TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=8TERRAIN_AUTOGEN_DENSITY=4TERRAIN_USE_GRADIENT_MAP=1TERRAIN_EXTENDED_TEXTURES=1TERRAIN_DEFAULT_RADIUS=9.5000000TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS=4.500000TERRAIN_EXTENDED_LEVELS=1AndTEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=399I have to thank noell and psolk for setting the ground work for me to start with...I have done some tweeking on my own to...But allot of this stems from their information...Now once you've spent a little time working on the videocard driver/FS settings..If your still yearning for more...You could do a pretty nice inexpensive processor upgrade to a 4000+ San Diego...It would basically drop right in place of your 3500 with little to no effort at all...I made the same swap a year or two ago...The 4000+ is currently $135 at newegg....If you really wanna wake things up...Put a little overclock on that 4000+...You should be able to get 2.6ghz out of it without breaking a sweat...I bet you'll be suprized with the results...You could do that OC with the factory supplied CPU cooler with no problems...Or you could get a fancy..aftermarket CPU cooler if you wanted to trick things out...You may be able to get a little better OC out of a nice quality aftermarket cooler if you wanted to push farther...Up to you...I highly recommend using ArticSilver5 thermal compound if you do an aftermarket CPU Cooler...The FX-57 processor is right around $400...To me that wouldn't be worth it...It's a great price for the top of the line single core AMD processor...But my overclocked 4000+ system does a really nice job...It will definatly hold a candle to the FX-57 at stock speeds...Of course you could take the FX-57 a good bit higher...I plan to boost mine up to 3.0 or 3.1 soon...These are my personal opinion's:I would not buy a socket 939 dual core cpu if your goal is to increase FS9 performance...If I were going to go dual core I'd consider a new build using a Core2Duo...Since you already have a really nice 939 set-up...You could easily boost it a bit with a single core 4000+...I posted these opinions in a similar thread somewhere in this close by in this forum("CPU upgrade opinion please" by windycloud)...Sorry for the redundency....Good Luck with your decisions!!

You could get an Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 for around $200 and a mobo that will take both your existing AGP graphics card and memory for $90 and get much better performance than a comparable AMD CPU setup.Gary

I'm sorry I must be missing something here...I thought that "My Homebuilt" were specs of your existing system?? Sorry I'm confused...

Thanks, Chuck, for your very detailed and helpful reply. Yes, I was referring to my existing homebuild. I think you got confused by Gary's post. I'm already running the 91.47 drivers - now I will do some tweaking! Re. overclocking. I already use a Zalman high spec cooling fan for the 3500+ but I've never overclocked and am not too sure how to do it. Maybe I should experiment with the 3500+ before going to the 4000+ San Diego. My previous AMDs ran hot hot! This one idles nice and cool at 38C and around 50C when working flat out in FS9. Gary, I don't want to go Intel at the moment as I can't be bothered changing mobos. But, I might change the habits of a lifetime and build a new Intel machine for FSX. I take your point though!

My Favorite OC Guide:http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.as...7&enterthread=yOf courst there is tons of info if you google..he he...But here are some more I have bookmarked:http://forums.extremeoverclocking.com/show...ad.php?t=138046http://www.madshrimps.be/?action=gethowto&howtoID=58http://www.tweaktown.com/guides/18/amd_ove...uide/index.htmlhttp://forums.amd.com/index.php?showtopic=16788http://www.overclock.net/overclock.php?fil...cking-guide.htmhttp://www.neoseeker.com/Articles/Hardware...des/athlon64oc/http://www.amdboard.com/ocspecial.htmlA little tinkering..You'll probably see OCing isn't all that scary or anything...I never attempted to OC my 3500(I was scared at the time)...I do know the 4000+(San Diego) absolutly loves to be tuned up...I suspect the 3500 will react about the same...Hopefully the tweeking will work out well for you...Would love to hear how it goes!!Have Fun!!

Hey Chuck.thanks bud for those links.. I have been looking for something like that;. very educational.Manny

U-R Welcome!!Have Fun Hot Rodding!!

Thanks Chuck! These are great links. I've printed out some and will gen up while I'm out of town next week. When I get back I'll be all fired up an' ready to hot rod! Hope I don't set fire t' me self. Har! Har!John