I will be upgrading the major components to my FSX system and would solicit your comments/opinions.

 

I will change the motherboard to either an

 

(A) ASUS, P8Z77-V, LGA1155, Intel Z77, DDR3-2600 (O.C.) 32GB /4, PCIe x16 SLI CF /1+1*, SATA 6Gb/s RAID 5 /4, 3Gb/s /4, DP + HDMI + DVI + VGA, USB 3.0 /6, HDA, Wi-Fi, GbLAN, ATX, Retail

 

Or

 

(B)ASUS, P8Z77-V Deluxe, LGA1155, Intel Z77, DDR3-2800 (O.C.) 32GB /4, PCIe x16 SLI CF /1+1*, SATA 6Gb/s RAID 5 /4, 3Gb/s /4, DP + HDMI, USB 3.0 /8, HDA, GbLAN /2, Wi-Fi + BT, ATX, Retail

 

Change the processor to an INTEL, Core i7-3770 Quad-Core 3.4 - 3.9GHz TB, HD Graphics 4000, LGA1155, 8MB L3 Cache, 22nm, 77W, EM64T EIST HT VT-d VT-x XD, Retail

 

Change the cooler to a COOLER MASTER, Hyper 212 Plus CPU Cooler, Socket 1155/1156/1366/775/AM3/AM2, Copper/Aluminum, Retail

 

Retain the ASUS TI-560 graphics card and the memory.

 

I expect to see a performance increase over my current E8500 core duo, and of the two motherboards which will deliver the best results for the foresseable future?

 

Thanks in advance

Dom

The Asus P8Z77-V series of motherboards are very good, I have the Pro version and am very happy with it. As for whether the Deluxe version is worth the money over the standard version you will need to compare the features of both to see if you want to pay the extra. I went for the Pro version as I wanted the extra chassis fan headers.

 

I have yet to be convinced that there is any good reason to get the i7 3770 over the i5 3570 for a FSX computer as most people end up disabling or bypassing the hyperthreading which is the main difference between the 2. Bare in mind that the CPUs that have the k suffix (3570k) are multiplier unlocked and can be overclocked, I would advise getting one of these rather than the standard non k processors.

 

The cooler is fine as a budget option and should allow you to overclock your CPU without any issues, you will undoubtedly be advised to fit a closed loop watercooler but I'm not a fan of these myself as I'm not convinced they have any benefits over a decent air cooler other than easthetics and introduce several points of failure that are not present with air coolers.

 

A SSD is worth considering if you don't already have one.

 

/Edit - You will also have to upgrade your RAM if you are moving from an E8500 setup.