I have a system that I do rolling upgrades on, which has kept my FSX running just fine. I am looking to do an upgrade, so would be grateful for comments. My current system comprises of:Win7 64 ProIntel Core 2 Quad Q9550 2.83GHzASUS P5QL PRO iP43600GB Velociraptor 10,000 S6150GB VelociRaptor 10,000RPM OCZ 8GB (4x2GB) DDR2 1066MHz/PC2-8500 Sapphire HD 5830 1GB GDDR5 I was thinking of upgrading the CPU, M/B & memory to:Intel Core i7 970 3.2GHz Socket 1366 12MB L3Corsair H70 Hydro Series CPU CoolerAsus P6X58D Premium iX58 Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz CAS8 1.5V Non-ECC Unbuffered I only purchased the drives and graphics card at the end of last year, so don't want to upgrade those. The motherboard is 2years old and CPU 18months old. I get OK frames when using the VC with add-on scenery, but would like it a bit more fluid. Would the above help to achieve that?ThanksMataus

just follow the advise in this thread. I would assume you read it when you posted this here :rolleyes:I5 2500K + ATX P67 board is what you want

just follow the advise in this thread. I would assume you read it when you posted this here :rolleyes:I5 2500K + ATX P67 board is what you want

I did, but i've got a little extra cash and just wondered if the extra was worth it ;)ThanksMataus

I did, but i've got a little extra cash and just wondered if the extra was worth it ;)ThanksMataus

The I7 970 is an older 6 core CPU than the newer I5 2500K quad. Since FSX can't take advantage of the extra cores of the 970, the 2500K is better suited for FSX even though it's cheaper, cause the new architecture sports faster cores. Less cores but faster. It also overclocks better, and the P67 / Z68 platforms will also allow you to upgrade your CPU in the future when Ivy Bridge comes out. X58 is a dead platformI said a P67 board is what you want, but there's this new Z68 chipset that has some minor advantages, so P67 or Z68

The I7 970 is an older 6 core CPU than the newer I5 2500K quad. Since FSX can't take advantage of the extra cores of the 970, the 2500K is better suited for FSX even though it's cheaper, cause the new architecture sports faster cores. Less cores but faster. It also overclocks better, and the P67 / Z68 platforms will also allow you to upgrade your CPU in the future when Ivy Bridge comes out. X58 is a dead platformI said a P67 board is what you want, but there's this new Z68 chipset that has some minor advantages, so P67 or Z68

Thanks for your input and help. I didn't know the i7 970 was older than the i5 2500K. I will invest in this and the later motherboard you have advised. More cash doesn't always give better results, but i suppose it's always better to check.Thanks againMataus