Advise please

[toriu 7]

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)

[NBouc 54]

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.

[Mace 1,896]

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

[Guest D17S]

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

[toriu 7]

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)