I am fairly new to FSX ( been using FS9 for years) and would like to see everyone "expert opinion"My systen currently as follows and I am in the process of upgrading the FSX due to issues with FS9 and the latest Nvidia drivers and Nvidia InspectorI5 760 stock speedGTX 460 1GB4 GB Kingston ValuRam DDR32 hard drives - one for OS and programs , dedicated FSX driveBFG 500 watt PSU ( might need to upgrade that also )Asus Maximum GENE iii motherboard.(LGA1156) I am currently running FSX and seems to run quite well ( this is with some FS9 aircraft parted in - the PDMG Beachcraft 1900 series work flawlessly with some minor tweaks). Running 30-50 FPS in default Seattle area with scenery settings at dense. But would like to run some FSX add-ons ( such as the J41, 737NGX when released , REX , and the ORBX ( probably the best scenery ever made for FS ) series. Those need some heavy duty CPU powerI am reading around the upgrading the CPU from the I5 760 to the i52600K should offer an improvement , but maybe not so much to justify spending $500 on a new CPU and mobo.\For FSX i can do the following :1. Keep the i5 760 , buy a high end air cooler or better a water cooling system and overclock to 4GHZ . Next year when Ivy Bridge comes out, upgrade. The ASUS Gene apprantly is a great overclocking motherboard and i really would like to get the maximum overclock i can get since i will be upgrading in a year or so . Would need to upgrade the RAM to a higher quality like this:http://www.newegg.ca...N82E168202314552. Do the upgrade now and upgrade to the i5/I7 2600K and overclock meaning i have to replace the motherboard also.I don't see any point in upgrading the graphics card . I run at max resolution of 1600*1050 and only fly in fair weather - no heavy duty weather or clouds , i mainly do sightseeing in fair weather. Thank you for you suggestions!

This is a hard one, but I'd do this: Keep the processor and wait for Ivy Bridge (20% supposed extra processing power over SB). It sounds like your pretty happy now, so why not just wait? As for graphics, I think you'd really benefit from a GTX560ti, 570,etc. only because you mentioned you were using inspector and when everything is anti-aliased frames can sometimes drop with a card of your stature. I use the GTX 560ti and it's at a great price with great performance. And for the overclock, can't go wrong. FSX responds to overclocks like no one's business, as you already know.

With Ivy Bridge still 6 to 8 months away, I definitely understand the temptation to buy now. On the other hand, several guys have upgraded from 1366 to 1155 and seen great improvements. But that was months ago and now we're getting into this grey area where it's difficult to make a strong argument either way. I think I'm with Ruben, but it's so hard to decide... you can't go wrong either way. Good luck!It sounds like you want Ivy Bridge to be your more long term permanent system. I would probably go ahead and plan on that and in the meantime upgrade the case, monitor, PSU, and other items that often get overlooked in our quest for more CPU power....then again, you can get into a decent Sandy Bridge system for so relatively cheap if you pick your motherboard carefully. $180 for i5-2500k + $200 for mobo isn't bad. I just don't know!

I'd go sandy just now, then when IB comes out all you'll need to do is sell the 2600k and get an Ivy as it'll be compatible with P67/Z68 mobos. You should get a decent amount of money if you sell your currect components as well, so in the end it probably wont cost you that much to upgrade just now. There's also no telling how long IB will actually take; could easily be Q2 2012. Just go for it I say.