Hi all, looking for your help in deciding whether this upgrade will benefit FSX over what I am running now. I have numerous add-on's, including PMDG 737NGX, Aerosoft sceneries etc, all hard on the system! I average anywhere between 7 to 25 frames when locked to 25.

 

Take a look at what I have now and what I'm looking to change in the hope of overclocking and gaining some performance increase. This system is just about 2 years old.

I can only get my current system to overclock to 3.85Ghz max before it becomes unstable. Also, would the current memory suffice?

 

Any reasonable suggestions of bits to change gladly received. Let's say my budget is not too restricted, within reason! :smile:

 

CURRENT SYSTEM:

 

1 x ASUS RAMPAGE III EXTREME MOBO

 

1 x Intel Core i7 960 3.2 GHz Socket 1366 8MB L3 Cache Retail Boxed Processor

 

1 x EVGA GeForce GTX 570

 

1 x Corsair H70 Hydro Series CPU Cooler For Socket Intel 775, 1155, 1156, 1366 AMD AM2, AM3

 

1 x Corsair 1000W HX PSU - 6x PCI-E, 10x SATA - Modular Design with 5 Year Warranty

 

OCZ 12GB (6x2GB) DDR3 1866MHz/PC3-15000 Reaper HPC Triple Channel Memory Kit CL9 1.65V

 

 

Looking to upgrade to the following components :

 

1 x Intel Core i7 2700K 3.50GHz Socket 1155 8MB L3 Cache Retail Boxed Processor

 

1 x Asus P8Z77-V Socket 1155 VGA DVI DisplayPort HDMI 8 Channel Audio ATX Motherboard

 

1 x Corsair 8GB (2x 4GB) DDR3 1600MHz DOMINATOR Platinum Memory Kit 8-8-8-24 1.5V

 

Thanks in advance.

Alan Springett

Thanks Word Not Allowed for your reply. Do you think changing the memory from what I have now to what I have suggested is a worthwhile move, as I read your report it prefers 2 sticks of memory, up to 8Gb? Also, what about Ivybridge as I am changing the M/board?

I will consider the 680GPU.

Thanks again.

Alan

You can save a lot of money for going for an i5 3570K instead of an i7. For most uses - especially gaming - you'll notice no difference. i7 comes into its own for multithreading applications but unless you're planning to do lots of high end video editing and the like then you won't see the benefit.

 

RAM is cheap, so 8GB minimum. I've just built a new system and put 16GB, just because it was inexpensive and I sometimes use high memory music software. But 8GB is a good figure to go for.

 

As far as the GPU goes it really depends on the resolution you are planning to use. For 1080p then you don't need to go above a 660ti - the MSI Power Edition version of that card runs a mere six percent below a 670 for much less money and can be easily overclocked to match a 670. Good review here. If you are planning to run over 1080p with lots of full screen anti-aliasing then the 670 may be beneficial. Read the review I linked to and look at the benchmarks as it includes the 670.

Thanks Grumpy, I'll look into that link and make a decision on the GPU. Again thanks Word Not Allowed, yes overclocking was my intention, can't be bothered with de-lidding the IB, so the I5 or 2700K looks to be the one as suggested.

Best get this stuff ordered and start building :good:

 

Alan

Hope you have fun with it.

 

Really enjoyed building my system a couple of weeks ago. Not done it for a while.