High everyone,About three years ago at a time when I would never have ventured into building my own computer, I invested a little over $4000 in a Dell Studio XPS 435T/9000, W7 Ultimate 64, i7 965 @ 3.20 Ghz, GeForce GTX 260, and 12.0 GB of RAM (what a waste; the computer never uses more than approximately 4.3 GB). With an 'addonless' version of FSX, this rig did an acceptable job of simulating flying. But like most simmers, I started adding 'stuff' to enhance the simulation in terms of realism and immersion to the point where flying is almost a frustrating experience which really takes the fun out of the hobby.But I kept reading about these 'rats' that run FSX rigs at jaw-dropping speeds that, believe or not, they built themselves! So as a 2012 project, I undertook to immerse myself into research towards a successful FSX build! After several weeks of research and countless hours of viewing videos on 'how to build your own computer', product demos and reading reviews, I decided that I would buy the different components as funds became available and that before buying the 'heart and lungs' of my new rig, I would consult the more knowledgeable members of the appropriate forums of the hardware group of forums. I will be submitting draft system specifications to these good folks in the next week or so. But with all this new knowledge gained recently, I knew I needed a good graphics card and a good power supply. So I purchased these two items and decided that while waiting for funds to become available, I might as well use the GPU in the meantime. So I installed these new components in my present rig: a Corsair AX850 (with modular plugs!) and an EVGA GeForce GTX 580 Classified (3GB). I found the connections to the GPU to be a bit of a challenge but finally managed to do it right, I think (the 6 pin connection was the challenge because the instructions show that out of the six pins, only five should be connected to the GPU).I fired up the computer, checked that I had the latest Nvidia driver (296.10), deleted FSX's configuration file to permit FSX to build a new one which takes the new hardware into account, submitted the newly created configuration file to www.venetubo.com to benefit from ******* 'Bojote' Altuve's knowledge then fired up FSX for a real flying session.This is where the 'just for laughs' come in!I had stutters before doing any of this but the result is a disaster! One flight from Victoria CYYJ to Seattle KSEA in heavy clouds is all it took to convince me that it takes much more than a good GPU to get a smooth ride in FSX. As it is, the GTX 580 is clearly being strangled by incompatible components. I like things to be as close to reality as possible using today's best scenery packages and aircraft such as FTX's PNW, Military Visualizations' C310R and Real Air's Beechcraft Duke Turbine along with a weather engine, Ezdok and someday, PMDG's 737NGX. I had read in this or other forum that a new card likely wouldn't substantially increase FPSs but may result in increased smoothness overall. But I never expected the performance to go in the opposite direction!So I'll reinstall the original PSU and GPU in my present rig to allow me to do reasonably good flying until I have completed my new rig later this year.And to top it all off, after ordering the card last Sunday afternoon from Newegg (Canada), I received a newsletter from them on Monday morning announcing their weekly specials which included the same GPU for $20 less and another newsletter on Tuesday announcing the availability of Nvidia's new GTX 680! And based on what I've seen and read so far about this new GPU, I could probably do away with my Matrox's TH2GO which, according to gurus at Laminar Research, is one of the candidate programs which is preventing some of us to run X-Plane 10!There's no doubt in my mind that this post offers absolutely nothing in terms of new information but I did want to share my recent experience with you folks as 'light' reading in the hope that someone agrees with me that the decision I took a few days ago is probably not the best decision I took this week considering recent developments in the area of GPUs. In fact, it serves as a reminder to me that I should probably reconsider trying to finalize my new system specifications in light of what I've read recently about a new motherboard coming out soon (I forgot which one I read about) and the new i7-3770K "Ivy Bridge".All the best,JJ

Ya... if the parts aren't balanced, performance will suffer. Still I look forward to your report on the new rig (and pics too!!)

I've made just the same stupid decesion as you! Two weeks ago I bought an EVGA GTX 580 for 440 euros. And then the next day the price suddenly dropped to 380 euros! So right away I returned the card and got my 440 euros back. I almost bought the same card at another shop for 380 euros, but then suddenly found out about the GTX 680, which is surprisingly "low" priced, much lower than I thought. It's priced only slightly higher than the GTX 580, around 25-50 euros. So now I decided to wait how the GTX 680 performs in FSX, and if the difference is really massive, ima get it!Btw, buying this Dell pc was indeed quite a waste of money. This proves once again how much scam these pre-built pc's are, like Dell, HP, Acer. 4000$! I would be able to build a similar system for less than 1500$ at that time! Right now you can built the system of your dreams for around 2000$. DO NOT get the Sandy Bridge CPU's anymore btw, they are awesome, but I heard that Ivy Bridge (which will come out VERY shortly) will be awesome CPU's, and some made it to 5 GHz on only 1.2V, without disabling any cores!

So now I decided to wait how the GTX 680 performs in FSX, and if the difference is really massive, ima get it!

I am doing the same.... Although, I will wait for some benchmark results.

Jean-Jacques,Thanks for the account of the upgrade blues. The thing about any system is that performance won't average out to what the components are, but will fall to the performance of the least capable.Kind regards,

but will fall to the performance of the least capable.

My system is a testament to what Stephen is always saying.I have a [email protected] but I have an awful GPU. My frame rate's are seriously lacking. I see people with 920's that get better FPS than me because they are running higher GPU's.The idea that FSX doesn't use a GPU is wrong. When you have a very fast SandyBridge CPU, it is extremely important to pair it with a very high end graphics card.Any SB above 4.8GHZ will need something above a GTX570 to get the best FPS possible. BUT, anything above a GTX580 is useless; Until we have access to CPU's that are significantly more powerful, anything above a GTX580 will provide little to no benefit [when paired with a SB].

Thank you all for your words of encouragement. I considered asking for a refund from Newegg but because the box has been opened, a 15% restocking fee would apply ($569x15%=$85+ . . . plus shipping costs . . . ). I'll live with my decision and continue on with the planning of my new system. After all, the GTX 580 has proven to be an excellent card for FSX . . . with, of course, the proper components accompanying the card!And Stephen, I had in the past read what you're saying but the way you say it really registered with me. This reinforces the importance for me to test with you folks the compatibility of the components of my proposed system when I finalize it. Because I keep up with the discussions, I'm now debating whether to go with what has generally been proven to work rather well, i.e., i7 2700k with a P8Z68 Deluxe/Gen 3, or go with what is, as I read it, yet unproven newer upcoming technology, i.e., Ivy Bridge with a P8Z77-V Deluxe. Cost is not a major factor here but what's been proven to work very well up to now would cost me significantly less for a fluid FSX experience which may not be significantly increased with the newer CPU and motherboard.If you have thoughts, I'm all ears!Regards,JJ

_{I'm adding this to my post in this manner because I can't 'Edit' my post which is strange.　Arjen,I just want to add that I'm not ignoring your advice to me which is to skip the Sandy Bridge step and go directly to Ivy Bridge when available. I'm simply admitting that I'm debating whether the extra costs are actually worth it considering that the 2700K seems to satisfy many very demanding users.Regards,　JJ}