In FS9 I get good framerates with maxed sliders and max weather when flying planes that are somewhat simple, even those with RXP gauges + GNS530It's when I fly something like the ESDG CitationX that I have to back off the sliders, and I have to back them off a lot and the rates STILL arent very good. Things are better flying the 737NG, but still...So I'm here to ask what I should change on my recently rebuilt PC (running XP) that I should change/swap out that will get maxed visuals while running planes with glass cockpits and FMS's.My first guess would be a CPU swap, but I'm not sure about that, and I dont know what I would replace it with?(I should be able to upgrade the CPU without any software/registry issues, correct?) My Current Specs:GIGABYTE GA-MA770-UD3 AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboardhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813128376AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 Kuma 2.7GHz 2 x 512KB L2 Cache 2MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819103300MSI R4830-T2D512 Radeon HD 4830 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814127420G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820231122(Two) Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3250410AS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16822148262Other bits include a LianLi aluminum case, Artic Cooling CPU cooler, and a Rosewill 550w power supply.I started with this case back in 2001 and have rebuilt/upgraded it twice since then. I spent $500 on it ~9 months ago and the leap was huge over the P4 that was in it, but I'd like to go one more step farther with the hardware to squeeze the last bit out of FS9.Thanks for your help :)Rob

With that board youre stuck with the AM2 or AM2+ CPUs. If you're willing to upgrade the CPU and motherboard, I'd suggest getting a e8500 and a compatible motherboard and overclocking to 4.0Ghz. It'll run almost everything you can through at it.

With that board youre stuck with the AM2 or AM2+ CPUs. If you're willing to upgrade the CPU and motherboard, I'd suggest getting a e8500 and a compatible motherboard and overclocking to 4.0Ghz. It'll run almost everything you can through at it.

Humm.. Thanks.New board and chip probably isnt going to happen, chip yes, board no. Will either of the following work, and make a huge difference?http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819103471orhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819103286Anyone have any other go-fast cpu suggestions?And what do you think of the ATI card?

AM3 CPUs also work in AM2+ mobos, so you can buy up to AMD's current fastest chip, the PII 965 BE. See this page for a list of CPUs your mobo supports. You may need to update your BIOS before changing the chip out, though. AM3 chips like the 965 need BIOS revision F9D (or newer).And yes, a 965 BE is significantly faster than your current chip. Also very easy to overclock. All you need to do is adjust the multiplier. You can even use AMD's OverDrive software to do it. Whichever chip you go with, DO NOT BUY AN ORIGINAL PHENOM. They are horrible chips. Slow, hot, don't overclock well, significantly slower than other chips at the same clockspeed, etc. Your current graphics card is a bit lacking, I certainly wouldn't want to run FSX on it, not with high settings at least. FS9 should run pretty well for the most part though. You may observe performance drops when switching views but that should stabilize once all textures are loaded into VRAM.

Thank you much Max.. good info.I light of having to flash the BIOS to F9 to run the 965, I started looking around a little.I think it is currently running F5 BIOS, based on the fact that I'm running the 2.7 Kuma chip.It looks like the 955 chip also runs F5 BIOS (please correct me if I'm headed off course here) Could I save a few bucks and still get very noticable performance gains by switching to a 955 chip, thereby avoiding the risk of a BIOS update... or is the 965 worth it?This is the one I'm looking at.... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819103674Based on the performance description in my first post, am I really on the right track by going after the CPU first (instead of a graphics card swap)? Historically, a new card has always brought me good performance gains, particularly if the memory is doubled along with a 25% gain in GPU speed.Would the following card bring better performance to FS9 than a new CPU? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814102858I guess I'm trying to figure out if its a graphics slow down or raw computing lag caused by heavyweight code and cockpit gauges.FWIW, performance is just fine in 2D... it slows noticably in the VC.Sorry for all the new questions... Thanks again :)

Looking at the list again there are actually multiple entries for some of the CPUs, including the 955, 945, and 925, all AM3 chips. Which implies to me that you probably need to flash the BIOS in order for the chips to work properly. I suggest you do so. There is a marked performance difference between the full-blown AM3 Phenom II chips and anything else in AMD's lineup. If you want to save a few bucks with a 955 that's fine, it's still a fast chip and has an unlocked CPU multiplier so it will be just as easy to overclock as the 965. Bottom line: don't buy one of these AM3 chips and expect not to have to update your BIOS. Don't be worried about updating your BIOS either. I've been building and overclocking systems for over a decade now and have only had one failed BIOS flash. Besides, even if it does go bad, AMD motherboards are incredibly cheap now. You could get a great board for under $100 easily.

TechguyMaxC's advice is spot on, but I'm missing something. You're so keen to fix you problems by upgrading the CPU, but what have you done with the one you already have? Based on the lack of details given, you apparently haven't overclocked it. If you're ready to replace the sucker anyway, why not see what you can get out of it first? Might be a good experience.

I dont really know how to oc it properly... (shrugs)

Despite two degrees in electrical engineering, I never dabbled in OC either. It was mostly a question of time spent and risk versus performance gained, and my idea so far has been to get maximum mileage out my chips. So yeah, I'm a OC weenie too. :( But it's clear that overclocking modern chips has gotten a lot easier in recent years. I expect next year to want to get back into flight simming, and I'm going to want to upgrade. I've already decided that, unless I can find a worthy cause for it, I am going to overclock my current Core 2 Duo chip for experience the few months before buying.Again, in your situation, I think it makes sense to give it a shot. Could really be fun! SpiritFlyer expressed the same concern as you in this thread, and PDX Flyer, a fellow self-professed OC yellow-belly, got great starter advice in his Using i7 without overclocking? thread and decided to go that way. If I were going to try overclocking today, that's exactly where I'd start.

Forgot to mention: You should especially check out the links that idahosurge gives. You can still get significant performance improvement without going for an extreme overclock.Your processor is unlocked, so it's easy to overclock it. In this 2008 review of your CPU, the author got a stable speed of 3.3 GHz. I figure you should be able to get 3.1