I am in the market to upgrade my current computer. I am upgrading in an effort to run FSX with higher settings. Of the following components (currently installed), which would you upgrade, and what would you suggest for a product? Thank you very much in advance for your suggestions. I greatly appreciate the help!! CPU: AMD Phenom II X3 720 Black Edition Heka 2.8GHz Socket AM3 95W Triple-Core ProcessorCPU Cooler: Cooler Master Intel Core i5 compatible Hyper TX3 Socket 775/1156/AMD 130W 92mm "heatpipe direct contact"HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard DriveMotherboard: ASUS AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMDVideo Card: EVGA 512-P3-1140-TR GeForce GTS 250 512MB 256-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI SupportPower Supply: COOLMAX 700W ATX 12V V2.3RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (4 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel KitMicrosoft W7 64 Bit

if you want higher performance go i5 2500k with nvidia 560ti and corsair PSU and cooler Master Hyper 212+.or you can use the current cooler it is good. The Phenom's will run FSX fine but with high add ons the i5 2500k will go like a Ferrari. Phenom's are a good budget gaming procs and where FSX is concerned its i5 2500k. Hey do you have FSX installed on the current system ? What is the performance you getting ? Some member will come up with something.

I'd go for a Phenom II X4 980 Black edition and OC it. Also upgrade to a GTX550 Ti or 560

I'd go for a Phenom II X4 980 Black edition and OC it. Also upgrade to a GTX550 Ti or 560

From where did that come ? Did you land at the wrong airport ?

No. He's upgrading his current system, not building a new one. I'd also suggest getting a decent power supply. I've never heard of coolmax. They could be okay but I'm not sure. Look at the Corsair TX750

Ohhhh there again I did not read his post properly. A BE would be good yes. A 650W should be fine enough I feel like the corsair 650HX If his current PSU is a recommended one then should to be still ok for OC'ing.

You didn't give a budget, so I'm going to assume it's tight. If I were you, I would upgrade in this order:1. CPU and Motherboard2. GPU3. RAM4. PSU Your CPU and MOBO should be the absolute #1 priority on that rig as that's where you're going to see the greatest benefit. On a budget, I would recommend the i5-2500k and the ASRock Z68 Extreme 3 Gen 3. The ASRock board is only $129.99 on newegg. It's also compatible with PCI-E 3.0 as well as Ivy Bridge, so it sets you up for future upgrades very nicely as well. If you live near a Microcenter, you can get the i5-2500k for $179.99. ONLY after you have upgraded the CPU and motherboard, then find a better GPU. Your GTS250 has few processors, it's slow, and 512MB is no good! Don't laugh when you see that I'm still running a GTS250... Anyway, the GTX560 would be an excellent starting point.

An upgrade to a Phenom II x4 or x6 won't give you too much in FSX. An almost idle core and a few MHz. I would overclock that x3 and if you need more, then you'll need to switch to P67

An upgrade to a Phenom II x4 or x6 won't give you too much in FSX. An almost idle core and a few MHz. I would overclock that x3 and if you need more, then you'll need to switch to P67

Dazz what's a p67 ?

Dazz what's a p67 ?

Sandy Bridge

Sandy Bridge

I thought it is i 5 2500 K or the motherboard is a P67 ?

Ok, so I should upgrade my CPU and MOBO first. Suggestions would be i5-2500k for the CPU, and ASRock Z68 Extreme 3 Gen 3 for the MOBO... Any other suggestions? BTW, you guys are amazing. Thank you so much for the help. You have no idea how much I appreciate your assistance!

amazing is not the right word we are Ridiculous The i5 2500k is great , but if you are looking to stick to the Phenom then as Dazz suggested OC it. Can you tell us what settings and what performance are you getting on the current machine.

I second the ASRock mobo and 2500k combo. ASRock builds some of the best mobo's for the price. I run the ASRock extreme 4 p67 and 2500k and it makes FSX really fly and is really easy to overclock.

Hey, Ironmaiden, why did you suggest an i5 2500k and not an i7 2500k? Do they both perform about the same with FSX? How about planing for the future when MS Flight comes out? I'm asking because I am building a system, as you may recall from my thread, and I was planing on an i7 2500k so I wouldn't need to worry about upgrades for several years.