Please Advice: Upgrading DELL XPS 720

[h.uslar 0]

Hi guys,I was thinking about upgrading my system. I am planning to purchase a video card (MSI N480GTX-M2D15-B GeForce GTX 480 (Fermi) 1536MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card), but i don't know if this action alone will improve my system or if a need to do other upgrades. My current system specs are as follows:XPS 720 - Red x XPS 720 Red Intel® Core™2 Extreme QX6700 (8MB L2 Cache,2.93GHz Factory overclx Memory 4GB DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz x Video Cards 768MB Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTXx Hard Drive 160GB - WD Raptor 10000RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cachex Sound Cards Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ XtremeGamer (D) Sound Cardx Office Productivity Software (Pre-Installed) No Productivity software pre-installedx 2nd Hard Drive 320GB - Seagate 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cachex Windows Vista™ PremiumJust the video card is 499$... I plan to use Fs9 (which i astill do, very well, but it may be improved, specially display quality), and making FSX more playable!Regards,Henrique

[bushpilotwannabe 0]

You probably wouldn't see an appreciable improvement just by upgrading to a GTX 480, as the CPU is probably a bit of a bottleneck as well. FS is much more dependent on processor speed than the video card, so I think you'd be disappointed by getting the 480 and nothing else.If you're upgrading on a budget, you might consider getting a GTX 460 and applying the money saved towards a Core i3 processor instead, as that will fit the motherboard you currently have. However, you would want to overclock it like crazy, and since it's a Dell, the BIOS probably won't let you do that. If you can find a different motherboard on the cheap that supports DDR2 memory and Socket 775, you would want to grab that too.If you're not on a tight budget, this is an excuse to build a whole new system!

[h.uslar 0]

You probably wouldn't see an appreciable improvement just by upgrading to a GTX 480, as the CPU is probably a bit of a bottleneck as well. FS is much more dependent on processor speed than the video card, so I think you'd be disappointed by getting the 480 and nothing else.If you're upgrading on a budget, you might consider getting a GTX 460 and applying the money saved towards a Core i3 processor instead, as that will fit the motherboard you currently have. However, you would want to overclock it like crazy, and since it's a Dell, the BIOS probably won't let you do that. If you can find a different motherboard on the cheap that supports DDR2 memory and Socket 775, you would want to grab that too.If you're not on a tight budget, this is an excuse to build a whole new system!

MikeThanks for your short reply. I'd love to build a new system but this one still does a great job (at least with fs9)... and when i got for the first time 3 years ago it wasn't cheap at all :o !!! But now that you suggest it, for how much you could get a super system at this time... or in toher words, is there a configuration that will run FSX full (including full traffic, complex add ons?Or... how much imporvement could i get with a full upgrade and how much could it cost me?Sorry for so many questions!Rgds,

[luckyman 0]

If you want to run FSX on really high settings you proably need a custom made or gaming PC from a real company that makes those kind of PC i.e. not dell.you would need Intel i7-980X, GTX480, 6GB DDR3 CL6 (case latency) or CL7 RAM. An SSD would be good and 1000W PSU. If you don't built it yourself howver it will proably end up costing a lot!

[bushpilotwannabe 0]

I built the system you see in my signature in August and it set me back about 1,150 USD for a new case and everything inside of it (i.e. no new monitor or anything), although I did take advantage of a handful of sales and rebates. This was a bit of a budget build, but I am able to run FSX full on with framerates that rarely dip below the 20s and are usually well above 50, although I only have a few add-ons.The upgrades I suggested would probably be in the neighborhood of 400-500 USD, but may be more complicated since they'd be going on an existing system.

[Guest simmer9304]

If you're upgrading on a budget, you might consider getting a GTX 460 and applying the money saved towards a Core i3 processor instead, as that will fit the motherboard you currently have. However, you would want to overclock it like crazy, and since it's a Dell, the BIOS probably won't let you do that. If you can find a different motherboard on the cheap that supports DDR2 memory and Socket 775, you would want to grab that too.

I agree with the part about settling for a GTX460 since that costs about $180 but an i3 will not fit into your processor socket. You have socket 775 and an i3 is socket 1156Now about an FSX super system build here's a quick rundownCPU: the best would be an i7-980x but the 950 is the most bang for your buck, $299.99GPU: 480GTX $469.99RAM: Corsair XMS 3x2GB DDR3 $179.99Mobo: Asus Rampage III Formula $299.99Case: Antec 1200 $159.99Cooling: Air- Noctua NH-14D $89.99 Water- not sure but I guess Corsair H50 $79.99PSU: ~1000W from $150-$250HD: Western Digital VelociRaptor 10000RPM $139.99SSD: ~$200This is only a quick rundown you should research more but the total cost is around $2200. The cost of a great i7 build I've heard is closer to $4000 but that's using an i7-980x and the most expensive GTX480's along with a couple hard drives and SSD's. So throw in some miscellaneous costs and there you have it.

[bushpilotwannabe 0]

I agree with the part about settling for a GTX460 since that costs about $180 but an i3 will not fit into your processor socket. You have socket 775 and an i3 is socket 1156

D'oh! My mistake. For some reason I was thinking the i3 is an LGA 775, but you're right. That throws everything I said about the processor out the window. Sorry about that!In that case, if you wanted to go the i3/i5/i7 route, you would probably just want to build a new system entirely. I don't think any LGA 1156 or 1366 motherboards support DDR2 memory... and if you're going to replace the CPU, motherboard, video card, and memory, you might as well just get a whole new system and keep the old one around for some other purpose.