I need some advice. My system is P4 3ghz with 2 gig ram, 256meg 7600GT. All I do with this is run FSX and net. It is my understanding that upgrading to new motherboard and CPU I will see big performance boost in FSX. I know just throwing a bigger graphics card in will not do it. Any suggestions would be appreciated. I plan to keep my 2 gig memory and video card.....on a small budget here. CPU and motherboards would be appreciated and noticed TIGER Direct has some good combos but need some recommendations. By the way my FSX runs good for the system i have. Thanks, Randy

Keeping the memory may not be the best move unless it's DDR2 and 667MHz or better? What memory do you have? Also what's your budget?Jim

The cpu/MB in my 1st system ran me around $265 and made a huge difference in FSX. I would also check Clubit, Newegg, Fry's and Mwave as they have good deals too. There are several cheaper P35 MB's out there from MSI (Neo-FR2, SLI capable) and Abit (IP35E) right now. Slap in a Core2 or quad, OC to 3.2 on air and your 7600GT will look a whole lot better.Regards, Kendall#1: [email protected]/Coolermaster HyperTX2 Gigabyte P35-DS3L 4GB Crucial Ballistix Tracers PC6400 Seagate 250GB 7200.10 SATA2 Gigabyte X800XT -Cat 6.12's CH Yoke/Pedals/Saitek Throttle Dual Monitor: Dell 2405/1905 #2: Dell 8400 3.2 H.T. 3GB PC4200 Diamond Xtreme/Logitech X-530's

The memory is Corsair DDR2 533mhz. My budget is around 300 dollars. From most posts I have read one gets the impression that an upgrade from a P4 to one of the newer dual core processors provides a great gain in performance. I would just try a new CPU but my Dell motherboard...skt775.....will not accept the new CPU and just going to a P4 3.4 or 3.8 will not do any good. The bus is only 800mhz. I have a decent video card and a new 600 watt power supply. I had intended to keep the hard drive..even though it is only 80 gig. But if I have to purchase new memeory as well as CPU and motherboard it would be too much money and I don't think a new video card alone such as an 1950PRO or 7950GT would do me much good. Thanks

>The memory is Corsair DDR2 533mhz. My budget is around 300>dollars. From most posts I have read one gets the impression>that an upgrade from a P4 to one of the newer dual core>processors provides a great gain in performance. I would just>try a new CPU but my Dell motherboard...skt775.....will not>accept the new CPU and just going to a P4 3.4 or 3.8 will not>do any good. The bus is only 800mhz. I have a decent video>card and a new 600 watt power supply. I had intended to keep>the hard drive..even though it is only 80 gig. But if I have>to purchase new memeory as well as CPU and motherboard it>would be too much money and I don't think a new video card>alone such as an 1950PRO or 7950GT would do me much good.The 533MHz RAM will bo OK as will the Graphics card (you can always upgrade these later if necessary) You might want to invest in SATA Hard-drive also to give you a bit more speed.An MSI P35 motherboard coupled with either an E6600 or Q6600 will be your best option if on a low budgetRegardsJim

Thanks for the info. To throw a new wrinkle into the mix I turned on hyper threading in my bios this morning. I had always had it turned off using FS9. After turning it on this morning I have a 25 percent increase in frame rates...still testing though...am even able to turn on light bloom....lens flare and still get decent frame rates. Now I am all messed up. When running FSX without hyper threading my cpu always runs at 100 percent...when HT is enabled cpu usage is about 70 percent. I don't understand that. In FS9 it was always 100 percent no matter if it was on or off. I had never tried it using FSX. Now I am wondering if all I need is a new video card. In a small town...rural area I get a constant 28 FPS with GEX and FSG mesh all sliders to right except autogen which is set to normal and water is at 1 High. At Seattle Tacoma I get much less FPS but still acceptable. I still get the texture popping...autogen objects...but from everything I have read this is normal with everyone and is part of the way the program runs according to Phil Taylors blog. I still have small blurries where the terrain is catching up but nothing I can't live with. I will probably try the cpu/mb layout you suggested. If I purchase from Tiger Direct and it does not giver me what I a am looking for I can return it and go back to my old one. Once again thanks for the feedback...it is much appreciated. Randy

The 70% load you are seeing with HT enabled is actually out of a 2 core total. In other words, your FSX is using 100% of your main core and 40% of your HT unit. All is good :-)Gary

Make sure that your video card is PCI-E and not AGP bus or you'll need a new card.

Randy, if you sent me an e-mail, be aware that your return address does not work... Suggest you pose your question here in this forum and you'll get some more opinions! For what it is worth, here is the reply I attempted to send:My best guess is that it will work fine, and that the "for Dell only" simply means that this copy of XP can notbe legally sold separately. If there is a local computer store where you live, you might also pop in and ask themfor their opinion. I have re-used my XP copy across several computers without incident.. After installing, you'llhave to go on the Internet and download all the new service packs and fixes, using Windows Update.

>Randy, if you sent me an e-mail, be aware that your return>address does not work... Suggest you pose your question here>in this forum and you'll get some more opinions! For what it>is worth, here is the reply I attempted to send:>>My best guess is that it will work fine, and that the "for>Dell only" simply means that this copy of XP can not>be legally sold separately. If there is a local computer>store where you live, you might also pop in and ask them>for their opinion. I have re-used my XP copy across several>computers without incident.. After installing, you'll>have to go on the Internet and download all the new service>packs and fixes, using Windows Update. Thanks Bert...made that update to my account for proper e-mail. Since installing GEX I have become an addict for this program. Your response always seemed to be cordial and thought I would mail you about the problem. As you well know some folks on this forum can turn on someone for asking what seems like an valid question...that really bugs me...I am almost sure that I read an answer you gave to someone that better hardware is the only way to make this program better. No Tweaks have ever done anything for me. Lightning hit my home and the surge took out a DMA channel on my motherboard. I have 2gig DDR2 mem but suffice to say it is now set up to only run at single rate. Don't know what that cost me performance wise but I am sure some. Thus the question about XP and a new motherboard. Dell is no help. But on the Dell forums many posts speak of dong that will make one have to purchase a new copy of XP because Microsoft put a stop to that when you get your XP from the computer vendor. Rambling here but I guess there is no cheap way around this. Thanks for all your help. Regards, Randy