Hi All

 

I'm toying with the idea of upgrading my PC to deal with FSX better and was looking for a bit of advice on where to start!

 

Most likely this will need to happen bit by bit, as cashflow permits, as much as I'd love to do it all now!

 

To give a bit of background - my PC was built by a friend of mine, and was initially designed just to ben HTPC, with the option for a bit of gaming built in - it was NOT built as a gaming PC.

 

The spec is as follows:

 

Gigabyte P55M-UD2 Motherboard (MicroATX as this is all the case can take)

Intel i5 760 @ 2.8GHz (not overclocked)

4GB (2 x 2GB) RAM

768MB GeForce GTX460 GPU

400W PSU

 

I was wondering where you would start upgrading this? I know the answer is - in an ideal world - new CPU, more RAM and new GPU, however as I said, it will need to happen in bits and pieces as I can't afford to do it all at once.

 

So where would you start? More RAM seems to be the logical (cheapest!) option, however I'm guessing the biggest improvement in visual quality and FPS gain will be seen through upgrading the CPU and GPU.

 

Is overclocking my current CPU likely to yield much benefit or will I still be limited by the rest of the hardware.

 

As I said, this PC wasn't initlally built for gaming, but I'd like to make the upgrade as cheap as possible - i.e. not need to replace case, motherboard etc where possible.

 

All input and thoughts much appreciated - hardware isn't my forte!

 

Cheers all.

From what I have discovered in my thread this morning, you are going to have to change everything!

Hi,

 

Alright, so upgrading. Let's see. I think the very first step would be to upgrade your case to at least a (normal)-ATX case. If you're planning on upgrading the components one by one, you first need to have the room in your case for it. Make no mistake: things like graphics cards are huge nowadays; my 560Ti is right around the 23cm (9in) mark in length, and in height above the motherboard you're looking at about 11cm (4.5in) in height. You want enough room in your case so that everything can "breathe" as it were.

 

Once you've gotten yourself a new case, I'd start looking for a new motherboard. Most ATX cases that I've come across also support micro-ATX (don't quote me on that, you'll have to do some digging I think), so at least you can still use your computer while you upgrade. The most widely-used new CPU socket is the 1155 socket. Your Gigabyte P55 has an 1156 socket (two or three years old, I think). As for chipset: a *68 chipset (or *77 now) is fine. You can get the Z77 chipset if you want onboard graphics, but why bother? But when you upgrade your motherboard, you'll probably find that your RAM no longer fits, nor does your CPU (of course). I have no idea what type of RAM your using now (DDR2, DD3, how many pin?) but the latest boards all support DDR3 RAM. If you have DDR2 RAM, it's probably not going to fit, even if the pin count is the same, since the notches won't line up.

 

But before I get ahead of myself, let's tackle the CPU. You're probably going to want the i5-2500K. That's what a lot of simmers have (me included) and can be overclocked into the stratosphere with a decent air cooler on top. When you're looking be sure to get the K version and not the regular version. The K version has the unlocked multiplier allowing huge overclocking, the regular version does not. You can also spring for the i7-2600K (I think it's i7 at least), but I've heard that it doesn't overclock as well and the difference in FSX with the 2500K is negligible.

 

Going hand in hand with the CPU is then of course the cooler, but if you're just doing the upgrade one part at a time, it might be wise to stick with the supplied stock cooler until your budget allows an upgrade. There's nothing wrong with that cooler, but just don't overclock your system with it. A new cooler also requires thermal paste (about €3 or 4 ($4 or 5) per little tube which will hold you over for a few years) to apply to the bottom of the heatsink or on your CPU. It's essential that you get the paste!

 

Getting back to the RAM now: you're going to want DDR3 RAM of between 4 to 8GB with a clockspeed of at least 1333MHz. The timings aren't that important for FSX, but suffice to say lower timing values are better. Make sure the motherboard supports the RAM's clockspeed, otherwise you'll have to underclock it, and that's a waste of money. There's not too much to say about RAM. It's pretty much the same all across the board, especially where FSX is concerned (it's a 32 bit application so it doesn't really matter how many GB RAM you put in there, as long as it's at least 4).

 

Your videocard. I personally am fine with my 560Ti. To be honest, I haven't followed the development progression of videocards much since I bought mine, but I think nVidia is up to 680 or 780 for top of the range? In any case, get an nVidia card, since ATI doesn't play well with FSX. It'll work, but it's a lot easier to get a nVidia card. Along those same lines, you don't need a beast of a card costing €500. FSX relies on the CPU a lot more than a GPU, so a mid-range card is fine (like I said, my 560Ti does the trick). If all else fails, the PCI-e 2.0 slots on today's motherboards are where all videocards go anyway, so swapping them out isn't a huge issue.

 

All in all, you can scavenge your hard drive, optical drive, peripherals, and (temporarily) GPU and (possibly) RAM, but you're looking at a full system upgrade. I think you'll need to budget around €500+ ($650+ or so) for your build, so keep that in mind.

 

Lastly, remember that FSX is a terrible piece of coding, efficiency wise. You may have shelled out big bucks for your system, but don't be surprised if you STILL have lagging around a major addon airport in terrible weather with AI planes or when flying online. It's part of the FSX-experience, I suppose.

 

Good luck!

 

Frank