Hi, I´m catually runnibg 4Gb of RAM, the rest of my system is in my signature down below. I´ve seen much of you guys, who have 6 or 8GB of RAM. Now I´m questioning wheather it would give me any performance boost if I had 6 or 8GB.Despite that my system is getting somehow good performance, does such "upgrading" makes sense?

Well, with your relatively old system, the best upgrade would be for you to upgrade to a 1156 or 1366 socket processor and mobo. As FSX is a 32bit application, it only supports a max of 4GB.

Or go straight for a Sandy Bridge CPU/MB! The 4x Core 17-2600K (K = Unlocked multiplier, $307, available as of January 5, 2011, i.e. in one week!) is supposed to almost reach 5 GHz on air alone. Sandy Bridge is the new Intel CPU microarchitecture, and historically each new microarchitecture brought a 10-15% increase in performance for the same clock speed, so you do the math.As for RAM, go for 6 GBy, i.e. 3x 2 GBy sticks (the 17-2600K is a triple-RAM channel CPU, so RAM access is fastest in multiples of 3.)While it is true FSX is a 32-bit app only able to address 4 GBy of RAM, having 6 GBy means most of your Windows operating system (especially non-FSX related stuff) can sit in the extra 2 GBy RAM.Cheers,- jahman.

4 GB memory is the sweet spot. Any more for dual channel configurations will make little difference. Just be sure to have a matched pair of 2 GB modules.

I agree with Art 4GB is more than enough. Maximum RAM I've seen FSX taking up was 2.5 GB. And jahman, that I7 2600K is a socket 1155 CPU, so it's dual channel (it's not like it matters all that much anyway) but I agree with you, that's what I'd go with if I was planning to upgrade

Unless money is no option, then a 980x is still the way to go...

As for RAM, go for 6 GBy, i.e. 3x 2 GBy sticks (the 17-2600K is a triple-RAM channel CPU, so RAM access is fastest in multiples of 3.)Cheers,- jahman.

I thought the i7 2600k was a dual channel, not triple? james

It is. 1155 socket.

Well, with your relatively old system, the best upgrade would be for you to upgrade to a 1156 or 1366 socket processor and mobo. As FSX is a 32bit application, it only supports a max of 4GB.

Is my system so damn old? Bought it April 2010 with no thinking of playing FSX as I do it now.I think I was a fool, cause I didn´t take an i7 CPU, as I would do it now. But sadly I do not have enough money to change my CPU into i7. Actually not, but...

You bought that this year? I didn't realise those CPUs were still being sold! Well with that In mind, the best you can do is OC your CPU or get a higher spec'd graphics card.

You bought that this year? I didn't realise those CPUs were still being sold! Well with that In mind, the best you can do is OC your CPU or get a higher spec'd graphics card.

I´ve allready overclocked my CPU, more than 3,00GHz won´t come out.

Well a new GPU is the best upgrade for you. Extra ram won't make a difference for FSX, but a new graphics card will, and it will help in many more games too. I recommend a GTX460 or above. 460 is great value for money in my opinion.

Unless money is no option, then a 980x is still the way to go...

better option than a sandy bridge? I don't think so. SB are slightly faster clock for clock and overclock better

Well a new GPU is the best upgrade for you. Extra ram won't make a difference for FSX, but a new graphics card will, and it will help in many more games too. I recommend a GTX460 or above. 460 is great value for money in my opinion.

Just checked the GTX 460. Looks good and affordable, even with 1GB RAM.What´s with the GTX 295? she has also graet performance, but I think she´s out of my money range.The GTX 460 seems to be somehow good and "cheap". BTW: I just discovered in my dad´s old PC a MS-8818 grafic card with an nVidia GeForce 2MX GPU. Is she some money worth or ready for the waste?

GTX 295 is dual GPU. Pointless for FSX, and expensive. I recommend the 460GTX. I doubt if that old card will be worth anything, lets face it, who's going to buy a very old graphics card?