Hi all,currently i have a C2D E6750 (2.66 Ghz) at stock speed, 4 gb ddr2, 9800 GTX+, vista 32 bit and am looking at several options for an upgrade:-stick in a C2D E8600 processor (3.4 Ghz)-stick in a C2Q 9550 processor (2.8 Ghz)-toss my current mobo and go for an AMD Phenom II X4 965 with new mobo, retaining my current ddr2 ram.As you can see my budget is limited (max 250 euro's), the three options above allow me to stay within budget with some clever shopping.Which of the options do you consider the best option for improving FSX (actually, is any improvement to be expected at all?) ?I do use stuff like Ultimate Terrain, A2A stratocruiser, Track IR, flightsim commander 8, etc.Currently my system runs ok, but i would like to have some more frames and less blurs/more fluid action in FSX.Intel i7 is out of the question because of budget (need to buy new ddr3 Ram for that).Also, my system is not to be used exclusively for FSX, but also for other games such as COD4, HL2 etc. But really the improvement is aimed at FSX as i am happy with how the rest runs.Any insights are greatly appreciated.grtWillem Netherlands

No question. Get the Q9550 and overclock. I have mine @ 4GHz.

It should go without saying since he's running stock speeds, but if he's to overclock appreciably he'll need to add a non-stock cooling block & fan to the budget.

Even with stock cooling overclocking is by no means out of the question. I type this message on an E5200 running @ 3GHz with the stock cooler and a minor voltage bump. If you want huge overclocks you do need aftermarket cooling, though.

Hi all,currently i have a C2D E6750 (2.66 Ghz) at stock speed, 4 gb ddr2, 9800 GTX+, vista 32 bit and am looking at several options for an upgrade:-stick in a C2D E8600 processor (3.4 Ghz)-stick in a C2Q 9550 processor (2.8 Ghz)-toss my current mobo and go for an AMD Phenom II X4 965 with new mobo, retaining my current ddr2 ram.

I just upgraded the processor. Be sure that your mobo accepts the new CPU. Mine did not (an orphan ABIT mobo) and I finally needed to upgrade the mobo. Instead of spending 180 euros I needed 300 euros. If I knew before hand I would have upgraded to an Intel 7.Roger

Thanks for your comments guys!My mobo does support both intel cpu's. I made sure to check that.So AMD is not a real option here?grtWillem

AMD processors are ok, but given a similar price I'd take an Intel CPU instead, and that includes the Core 2 Quad 9xxx series. I did exactly that last August when I bought my Q9550 instead of an X4 955. I saved a bit of money and hit a solid 4GHz. Performance per clock differential between the two chips is virtually nil, so it would take the same 4GHz on an AMD chip to match performance. AMD chips seem to have a lower average clock than Intel chips when overclocked. It's harder to find an AMD chip that will hit 4GHz than one from Intel.

I've noticed the Q9550 was priced around

What are UK prices on i7s? 200 pounds is way too much for a Q9550. I bought mine for $169 last August. I love Micro Center.

What are UK prices on i7s? 200 pounds is way too much for a Q9550. I bought mine for $169 last August. I love Micro Center.

Q9550 - http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/...productId=30247i7 920 - http://www.aria.co.uk/Products/Components/...productId=35938

Good grief, you guys are even more expensive than Switzerland:http://www.google.co.uk/products/catalog?h...amp;output=nojsvs.http://www.toppreise.ch/prod_132639.html1 CHF = 0.611 GBP, so 250 CHF for the Q9550 is 153 GBP!Time to make some illegal shipments... :(

Even though upgrading the whole platform is a more expensive option, the extra performance and ability to upgrade again in the future justifies the cost, to me at least.

I fully agree, Techguy, which is why I'm putting off upgrading until Feb/Mar next year, several months after Storm of War should be released. Then I should be able to get back into flying. :(

hi guys!Just to leave no open ends here.I decided to dig a bit deeper in my pockets and upgraded to a core i5 750 processor including new mobo and memory (4gb 1333 Mhz ddr 3) of course.I read that the i5 750 is a real world beater and gives more expensive i7's a good run for their money.So the upgrade became a bit more elaborate than expected but imo it was worth the trouble and the money.FSX (not tweaked at all) fps is steadily in the twenties and above now and that's fine for me. No that's not with the sliders all the way to the right, but that's also fine with me. I like things the way they look as they are now anyway.The processor is running at something like 3035 Mhz, using the dynamic overclock software that came with the Asus P7P55 mobo and with stock cooling.I'm still to perform some more tweaking etc so the results should improve over time.Thanks for your advice!grtWillem