I really new to computer building, and I want to make a 2009 compaq desktop into a gaming device for Under 200 dollars. I wanted at first to upgrade just the CPU, but I soon found out in order to put in a AMD phenom 2 x4 965 black edition it needs a 125 watt socket and my current one has a 95 watt socket. I found the CPU for 85$ but I need a motherboard, and eventually I'll get a video card. But since I have to buy a new mobo, I'm really torn between buying a new mobo for a AMD or intel CPU. Should I get a the AMD mentioned above or just go with a i7 , and if so , what kind? I'm ally new as I said and I have a very vague idea on how to go about this project.

Btw I want it to be so I can run fsx smoothly with lots of traffic, say 70 percent?

It has to be a a mini atx board and I have 4 gb of ddr3 ram.

Hmmm, smooth running with lots of traffic...is anyone there yet? Just kidding, but new board, cpu, ram and psu for under 200 bucks...you should scour e-bay, and I worry that you´ll be out of money before you have acquired half your hardware. That is if you want smooth FSX with lots of traffic.

I´m for Intel cpu´s so I´m biased towards that, and the i7 3750k would do nicely on an Asus Maximus V GENE board, an easy overclock with the stock cooler. But you should also concider SSDs, at least one dedicated to FSX, and if you want to clock higher you´re facing a cooling issue, more money in the money pit.

Sounds like you are going to need to save up your money and build a new system. I reccomend waiting until June when Intel's Haswell is released.

 

Once Haswell comes out, buy a Haswell CPU, an midrange Nvidia 7XX series GPU and a budget OC motherboard. - This will give you outstanding performance for around $800.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131795

I was looking at this board and has anyone heard about the proformance of the AMD FX-4130 ?

I'm really interested in that but not sure if it will work smoothly with fsx