Good morning,I've looked at improving my hardware a bit as my FSX with my current set up is running very slow (see signature).First of all I was looking at the CPU and I was thinking that maybe an overclocked E8500 or E8600 would be a nice solution. However, also the i7s seem to work well with FSX and I was specifically looking at the i7 930, overclocked as well - however, I would only use air cooling.Of course the quad cores might be better, but is a price tag of £250 really worth it? This means I would not be able to invest as much into a graphics card and my HD4650 really needs to retire.Which one would you take if you also had to buy a graphics card and wanted to stay under £400?Thanks in advance,Doc

Well with an i7 you'll likely need a new motherboard... so you must factor the cost of that in.But I'd say the 930 is the best bang for the buck, especially once you overclock it.

Good morning,I've looked at improving my hardware a bit as my FSX with my current set up is running very slow (see signature).First of all I was looking at the CPU and I was thinking that maybe an overclocked E8500 or E8600 would be a nice solution. However, also the i7s seem to work well with FSX and I was specifically looking at the i7 930, overclocked as well - however, I would only use air cooling.Of course the quad cores might be better, but is a price tag of £250 really worth it? This means I would not be able to invest as much into a graphics card and my HD4650 really needs to retire.Which one would you take if you also had to buy a graphics card and wanted to stay under £400?Thanks in advance,Doc

HelloI have an E8600 Overclocked to 4ghz that just about copes with FSX ok, but I do need to be careful with what I fly and from what airports, Heathrow is a bit too slow.Stay under £400 and you will be disappointed going forward, Just under £500 and you can build a Sandybridge i5 2500K system with something like a GTX460 which will give you a better platform for overclocking above 4ghz.An i5 2500K @ £168 is better value than the 930 at this pointhttp://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-368-IN&groupid=701&catid=6&subcat=1275

HelloI have an E8600 Overclocked to 4ghz that just about copes with FSX ok, but I do need to be careful with what I fly and from what airports, Heathrow is a bit too slow.Stay under £400 and you will be disappointed going forward, Just under £500 and you can build a Sandybridge i5 2500K system with something like a GTX460 which will give you a better platform for overclocking above 4ghz.An i5 2500K @ £168 is better value than the 930 at this pointhttp://www.overclock...d=6&subcat=1275

If I then bought the i5 2500, the GTX 460 (£150 as well) looks fine, which motherboard should I buy? I do not know a lot of motherboards, maybe you could advise me which ones would make sense?

If I then bought the i5 2500, the GTX 460 (£150 as well) looks fine, which motherboard should I buy? I do not know a lot of motherboards, maybe you could advise me which ones would make sense?

HelloDon't forget if you are going to OC the i5 it is the K series chip you want.On MB's for the Sandybridge you are best waiting until April while the recall goes on.As for Sandybridge MB's I dont know but I have had a trouble free time with my MSI platinum board with this E8600 so I will probably stick to MSI until I get a dud one.