I have a Dell XPS 730 with a liquid cooled QX9650 processor factory overclocked to 3.67GHz, 4GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz and a GTX 280 1024MB video card, running under Windows 7, 64-bit. While this system is fine with less demanding aircraft/scenery combinations, it slows to less than 10fps on/near the ground with, e.g., PMDG NGX at KPAE with Orbx scenery. Is replacing the MB and CPU with a processor that can be overclocked close to 5GHz a reasonable option (from a cost perspective, compared to buying a new machine)? Short of buying a new machine, is there anything that can be done to improve fps without sacrificing graphics quality? Thanks! Rushad

http://www.venetubo.com/fsx.html. Use an external FPS Limiter such as FPS Limiter 0.2 or antilag.

you should be able to change the motherboard and CPU, yes. Looks like it's equiped with a standard ATX mobo, which also means that you should be able to sell it easier if so you decided toNow the water loop is another story, I guess you'll need a new cooler too

Maybe just the CPU block needs replacing instead of the entire loop.

Dianna, Dario, thanks for the input. I have used venetubo.com to tweak the cfg file and also downloaded the FPS limiter, but have not been able to make the FPS limiter work (so far). Apparently, the Dell cooling system is a sealed system, so it may not be possible to replace just the cooling block. I realize that FSX performance is not that dependent on the video card, but given that mine is over 3 years old, will there be any material gains from upgrading to, say, the 560? My original question revolved more around whether replacing the MG and CPU (and cooler too) would be a cost-effective solution, or by then, one may as well just get a new machine. Thanks! Rushad

To be honest, to upgrade one thing, in your case MB and CPU/cooling, just adds another bottleneck to the system. ie ram, hard drives, graphics card etc. Upgrading should be more of a one off "all-in-one" thing to ensure best result. How about you give us a budget and a location. That way we "know it alls" can research through your local stores and tell you what's best for your budget

yeah, but I don't know how easy it will be to find LGA1155 blocks for that unit

Yeah that's what I was just thinking. and being a Dell, it'll be a loop similar to Corsair's H50. A closed loop and very impractical to modify.