My local PC store told me I was probably wasting my time in trying to upgrade my CPU to improve FSX performance (fps). I was planing to install a C2D E6320 775 DC and possibly another graphics card. I will be very grateful for any help.Windows XPIntel®Pentium®4cpu 3.06ghzNvidia Geforce 8600 GT (256mb)2.00gb.ramMotherboard:Sunshine DDR2 (GA-81915PMD Ver0.1) (Socket LGA775)

It all depends on what improvement your are looking for. If you simply wish to be able to fly at 20+ FPS, then I would recommand a CPU upgrade. If you are looking at putting all settings at max and maintaining 20+ FPS then you'll be wasting your money.I upgraded my previous P4 for a C2D and I am very happy I did.My previous system was a Pentium 4 3.6 GHz / 3GB DDR2-800 / 8800GTX 768MB PCI-E, TH2G 3840x1024x32:- FPS was 5-15 most of the time.- Displaying many clouds reduced the FPS below 10.- Had to set scenery complexity to normal or less.- Had to set autogen to sparse (or normal with tweaks).- Had to apply many of the improvement tweaks to get acceptable FPS.- No bloom, mesh 38m, texture 1m, water Low 2X.- AA 4x, AF 8x.- Blurry textures all over the ground.My new system is a C2D8500 3.0GHz, 4GB DDR2-800 with the same 8800GTX, TH2G 3840x1024x32:- No tweak is needed.- I am now running at FPS locked at 24 and it stays there most of the time (unlocked, FPS varies from 20 to 100).- the sim is very fluid.- Running scenery complexity at very dense.- Running autogen at normal to dense.- No bloom, mesh 10m, texture 1m, water High 2X.- AA 8xQ, AF 16x- No blurry texture at all.It required a new motherboard though. The success key seems to be a fast CPU, that's why I went for a fast 2 cores instead of a slower 4 cores (based on what was available at the time vs cost).If you have the money, go for it.

Essentially what you would do, would be to replace the cpu and motherboard (possibly not the RAM, although I can't quite tell from what you posted).That's generally a whole new computer in layman's terms. Maybe that's why they said you would be "wasting your time".But I can tell you, having gone from a Pentium4-class machine to a Core2 machine, that it is worth your time. :)RhettFS box: E8500 (@ 3.80 ghz), AC Freezer 7 Pro, ASUS P5E3 Premium, BFG 8800GTX 756 (nVidia 169 WHQL), 4gb DDR3 1600 Patriot Cas7 7-7-7-20 (2T), PC Power 750, WD 150gb 10000rpm Raptor, Seagate 500gb, Silverstone TJ09 case, Vista Ultimate 64ASX Client: AMD 3700+ (@ 2.6 ghz), 7800GT

That's a 915P chipset and it looks like it supports only P4s. Careful, the Core2 might not drop-in. http://www.intel.com/products/chipsets/915p/index.htm

Hi, Thakyou all for the feedback. 20+FPS would be great!. I will install a 880GTX tomorrow and upgrade the CPU When I get more info on the motherboardWindows XPIntel®Pentium®4cpu 3.06ghzNvidia Geforce 8600 GT (256mb)2.00gb.ramMotherboard:Sunshine DDR2 (GA-81915PMD Ver0.1) (Socket LGA775)