I'm thinking about replacing my old AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+ CPU.My options are:AMD Phenom II X6 1055T 2.8GHz/3.3GHz Socket-AM3 Six-core.orAMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4GHz Quad-core. Target [email protected] looks like the latter is pretty much outdated from the market, so might be hard to get a hold of one. But I was thinking, since FSX is the only "game" for me, that performance with the quad-core and higher clockspeed will give a better result. So, do I really ned six cores with a lower clockspeed? I cannot afford a new mb, so looks like these two CPUs is the only choice.System:MOB: ASUS M3N78-VM, 4GB DDR2 RAM, Nvidia Geforce GTX560 TI graphic card.Thanks for any advice!Thor Kongsteien

Save your money and make an upgrade that's worth while. Otherwise you're effectively squandering your money for a minute performance difference.I hope I don't sound condescending. Just making a point!

ThorZach is correct. IMO you might be better off changing to something like an Intel Sandy Bridge cpu something like an i5 2500K on a z68 ver 3 mobo with 8GB DDR3 RAM running Win 7 64- bit. In terms of grunt in games unfortunately AMD processors are somewhat slower than their Intel counterparts (good in business mind). You'll also find that there is not much difference in cost. A new Intel cpu 'IVYBridge' will be released soon plus new AMD and nVidia graphics cards so you could upgrade now or wait a couple of months to firm up your options.Choose wiselyPeterH

To give you an answer more in line with what you actually say. That you cant afford a new Mobo (or new ram either I guess).The 965 will be faster than the 1055T at stock speeds but both should be able to offer the same performance in FSX if they operate at the same clockspeed. You dont say if you run your 5200+ at its stock 2.3GHz but both processors should be able to give a noticable FPS increase compared to your current CPU. The FPS should scale quite well with the increased clockspeed. They both have 6MB L3 cache that your current Athlon doesn't have. That should also help FPS further but I cant say by how much.The 1055T is availible in both 125W and 95W. The 965 is availible in 140W and 125W. I dont know wich one that is generally the best overclocker but as you are on a tight budget I guess the prices you can find the CPUs for will decide. Remember that you need better than stock cooler for a good overclock.More than 3 cores does not give you any more FPS. But they will provide better texture loading and load times.As many have said. A Sandy or Ivy bridge system will perform a LOT better. But if your budget is very limited both the 965 and the 1055T will give youre current system a very notable performance boost if you are running the 5200+ at near stock speeds now.

To give you an answer more in line with what you actually say. That you cant afford a new Mobo (or new ram either I guess).The 965 will be faster than the 1055T at stock speeds but both should be able to offer the same performance in FSX if they operate at the same clockspeed. You dont say if you run your 5200+ at its stock 2.3GHz but both processors should be able to give a noticable FPS increase compared to your current CPU. The FPS should scale quite well with the increased clockspeed. They both have 6MB L3 cache that your current Athlon doesn't have. That should also help FPS further but I cant say by how much.The 1055T is availible in both 125W and 95W. The 965 is availible in 140W and 125W. I dont know wich one that is generally the best overclocker but as you are on a tight budget I guess the prices you can find the CPUs for will decide. Remember that you need better than stock cooler for a good overclock.More than 3 cores does not give you any more FPS. But they will provide better texture loading and load times.As many have said. A Sandy or Ivy bridge system will perform a LOT better. But if your budget is very limited both the 965 and the 1055T will give youre current system a very notable performance boost if you are running the 5200+ at near stock speeds now.

I feel my answer is very in line with what he said. Upgrading to a 1055T or the 965 will show some benefit, but the CPU will still be the bottleneck. So the point I'm making is this: Why spend money on a dead end upgrade sidegrade? If waiting two to three months means FSX euphoria, wait the two to three months. Sidegrade paths like the one above is what I did when I was new to PC building, young, and impatient. I quickly found out that expensive sidegrades with little to no performance gain made for feeling extreme buyer's remorse.To give a comparison, my 4 year old Q9650 could hold it's own against my friend's 2 year old 1055T. Both were overclocked to 4.0GHz, and both of us were running identical GTX 260s. Keep in mind the Q9650 is a 4 core and the 1055T a newer generation 6 core. Save the money and buy new tech. This will give you more room for decent add-ons and good performance! The 1055T is 2 years old and not a good great performer, the 965 is the same story.To any AMD users, I'm not saying your processors aren't up to handling FSX and making you happy. I'm simply reasoning that it makes no sense to spend money on an AMD rig that's geared towards running FSX when affordable, faster options exist from Intel.OP, if you're reading: Check the Classifieds. I'll give you a huge bargain on the i7 960 and X58 I have for sale. When I say huge, I mean huge. PM me if you're interested.

Edited February 14, 201214 yr by ZachLW

If you can't afford a new CPU + mobo + RAM, I would go with a Zosma X4 960TIt's lower TDP chip that with certain boards (not yours I'm afraid) can be unlocked to X6. Not like you need the 2 extra cortes, but it runs cooler and that helps with overclock. It will also hold a better value if you want to sell it eventually.It's not in your board's compatibility list, but in a quick search I've found several reports of people running that mobo + CPU combo succesfully.If you don't want to take the risk, just get the cheapest X4 955BE and overclock it to some 4GHz.

Thanks for the kind and professional replies :)My 5200+ is running at 3.1GHz with a Corsair H60 water cooler. On average I usually get 15-20 fps with the NGX, sliders midway up, 0 AI traffic and ground vehicles. I can live with that.I have absolutely no experience with Intel so far. All my rigs has been AMD, since the first PC i built over 10 yrs ago. But I'm open to change that, since Intel can perform so much better in FSX.Anyway, I have a bunch of PPL hours to gather now before I commence my CPL this year. So upgrading to Intel, new mb, new RAM, new PSU etc... might be out of my budget for a long while :S But that's another story. So spending a few bucks on a CPU upgarde now is kinda the only option, either that or nothing.Thor

Thanks for the kind and professional replies :)My 5200+ is running at 3.1GHz with a Corsair H60 water cooler. On average I usually get 15-20 fps with the NGX, sliders midway up, 0 AI traffic and ground vehicles. I can live with that.I have absolutely no experience with Intel so far. All my rigs has been AMD, since the first PC i built over 10 yrs ago. But I'm open to change that, since Intel can perform so much better in FSX.Anyway, I have a bunch of PPL hours to gather now before I commence my CPL this year. So upgrading to Intel, new mb, new RAM, new PSU etc... might be out of my budget for a long while :S But that's another story. So spending a few bucks on a CPU upgarde now is kinda the only option, either that or nothing.Thor

I'm more tenacacious than that. A proper upgrade, with mobo and DDR3 RAM, would set you back roughly $200 more than your current AMD budget. We're talking huge performance here!Anyway, good luck with the training.

Edited February 14, 201214 yr by ZachLW

I have decided not to spend more money on my current system, but to save up and wait, to invest in a higher performance upgrade.I have made up a wishlist just to see what approx it will cost:Mobo: ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3CPU: Intel i5-2500K 3.3GHzMEM: Corsair Dominator DDR3 1600MHz 8GBPSU: Chieftec Nitro Series 750W Plus bronzeComes to about 4837NOK = 845USD (About 4 flying hours in the Cessna....)I will keep my GeForce GTX 560TI. And I see that Ivy Bridge will be the same price as SB, if I end up waiting for it Thor

Edited February 14, 201214 yr by kingstone

That's a nice system and you'll be happy with the performance. For fear of being irritating, I'll make this short and sweet. The Asrock Pro3 I use now is the best bargain I've ever gotten. That's after I came from the mobo you've got in your list (I fried the USB headers). It's $100 cheaper and offers many of the same features minus a few rear IO usb ports. Even with the different power phases, I got the same overclock on this current Asrock Mobo I had on the Asus Pro. Of course I also think power phase talk is mostly hype...

Well, long story short, I now have the items in the list above up and running. And it feels and sounds fantastic! Just setting up Windows and everything now.For overclocking, I have done some googeling and find a looooot of information and a looooot of different settings and opinions... But the best I found so far is this YT video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMZoWOpry40Any thoughts on these settings? And what about SpeedStep, Enabled or not?Thanks!Thor

Edited February 20, 201214 yr by kingstone