See my current system to the left. What if I get this upgrade package ?

http://www.dustinhome.se/product/5010641364/dustin-uppgraderingspaket-intel-i5-3570k-s-1155/#intcmp=searchProvider_dacsa

Will that give me a significant improved FSX performance where I can use complex add on planes and scenery like ORBX together with advanced weather with many clouds with high slider settings ?

What limitations should still remain for me ?

Is it maybe pointless to upgrade Mobo+RAM+CPU without also getting a more powerful video card ?

Will my Corsair 520W PSU be sufficient ?

Does a system that performs significantly better in FSX than my suggested upgrade even exist ?

For the benefit of others the package refers to - Asus P8Z77-V LE Plus, Intel 3570K, 8GB (2x4) Corsair 1600 Mhz.

 

For the OP, you probably will benefit from the upgrade as long as you are willing to purchase a decent aftermarket cooler and overclock the CPU, but no-one has a perfect setup for FSX so you will still need to be realistic about your expectations. The package you link to is OK but if you have more money available it could potentially be improved upon. Also Intel will be releasing their newest CPU (Haswell) in a couple of months time so you might want to wait to see if there is much improvement in performance with the latest CPU / motherboard technology.

 

As for your graphics card I get along fine with my 1GB GTX560Ti on a 1650x1080 22" monitor, I can run pretty high settings and my card isn't fully utilised. If you have a higher resolution monitor or multi-monitor setup then your needs may vary, but at the end of the day with FSX it is the CPU that is most important. So I would suggest leaving upgrading your graphics card until you've proved whether an upgrade is needed or not.

 

I think you would only *need* to upgrade your PSU if you were to upgrade your graphics card, however 520w is a little on the low side, so if you had the money available an upgrade would be worth considering.

I agree with pie-eater and certainly the psu should be upgraded to at least 650 - 800 watt rated as silver, gold or platinum ie not a cheapie.

The GTX 650 should handle the cpu you have posted a link to and the cpu/mpbo/ram combo you have suggested should handle FSX better than your present rig.

With FSX its all about balance between the hardware components and settings within the SIM and what addons you install.

As Pie Eater states, about the proposed specs then the 8GB of Dual Channel DDR3 RAM (1600 Hz) will be a good start for your Win 7 64-bit OS.

Not sure how the OEM Win 7 licence might be transferred to the new rig.

The mobo should allow for overclocking providing you use a better cooling method for the cpu (I use a Corsair H60 liquid cooler and that is excellent) and your case has good airflow with at least 2 x 120 mm fans to promote good air movement.

Good Luck

peterH

 

For the OP, you probably will benefit from the upgrade as long as you are willing to purchase a decent aftermarket cooler and overclock the CPU, but no-one has a perfect setup for FSX so you will still need to be realistic about your expectations. The package you link to is OK but if you have more money available it could potentially be improved upon.

 

I already have a hyper 212+ cooler and my intention is to overclock. That leads me to wonder how can it be improved ? From what I have heard buying an I7 instead of I5 is pointless and with overclocking does not all I5  CPU get to about the same freq?

Not sure how the OEM Win 7 licence might be transferred to the new rig.

 

No it can't be. I called Microsoft and was told that an OEM license is bound to the Mobo. No exceptions.

how can it be improved ? From what I have heard buying an I7 instead of I5 is pointless and with overclocking does not all I5  CPU get to about the same freq?

Haswell may offer better performance clock for clock, baring in mind that it will utilise a new motherboard socket type and chipset which may offer some performace benefits in terms of faster memory support etc. But I don't think anyone knows for sure what speeds the new CPUs will reach through overclocking.

 

i7 vs i5, yes both should reach the same overclocked speed the difference is that the i7 has Hyperthreading. In my opinion if money were no object then you may as well go for i7 as HT can improve performance in some applications, for FSX some people say HT is an issue and should be disabled, others say that it can help performance if set up correctly but in reality you would probably not miss it.

 

The GTX 650 should handle the cpu you have posted a link to and the cpu/mpbo/ram combo you have suggested should handle FSX better than your present rig.

 

You don't think that my system would bottlenecked by my GTX 650 ? I wonder since I remember seing the video card used to 100% most of the time during a FSX session.

Haswell may offer better performance clock for clock, baring in mind that it will utilise a new motherboard socket type and chipset which may offer some performace benefits in terms of faster memory support etc. But I don't think anyone knows for sure what speeds the new CPUs will reach through overclocking.

i7 vs i5, yes both should reach the same overclocked speed the difference is that the i7 has Hyperthreading. In my opinion if money were no object then you may as well go for i7 as HT can improve performance in some applications, for FSX some people say HT is an issue and should be disabled, others say that it can help performance if set up correctly but in reality you would probably not miss it.

 

I get the impression that there exist more powerful system than the one I had in mind but also that they are not significantly better than my suggestion.

For now I5 3570K seem to be the most optimal CPU for FSX. Around summer the new Haswell might change that. But I suspect these new CPU are going to be very expensive.

 

I get the impression that there exist more powerful system than the one I had in mind but also that they are not significantly better than my suggestion.

You might look at faster memory, some say this is beneficial for FSX though others say not, but essentially you are probably correct that spending more money will not yeild much better results.

 

Around summer the new Haswell might change that. But I suspect these new CPU are going to be very expensive.

Generally when the new models are released they are a little more expensive than the older models until demand has died down and then the price goes to about the same. I wouldn't be suprised if the 4570K is about £20 more expensive than the 3570K on release.

Jfri

The GTX650 should handle that PC OK but certainly a better buy would be a GTX660TI or a 670 but they cost more money.

This is my very rough guide on how I choose a video card for a particular Intel cpu and nvidia card. The mobo must be good quality and overclockable and the RAM the fastest the system can handle and is designed for. Single Monitor up to 2560 x 1600 non SLI non HT Water cooled.

GTX 680 – cpu i7 SB/IB OC 4.0 – 5.0+ GHZ

GTX 670 - cpu i7/i5 SB/IB OC 3.6 – 4.4 GHZ

GTX 660Ti - cpu i7/I5 SB/IB OC 3.0 – 3.8 GHZ

GTX 650TI – cpu i5/i3 SB/IB OC 2.8 – 3.2 GHZ

This is just a suggested guide but it should mean minimal bottlenecking of the cpu or gpu.

I would wait for Haswell just to see what improvements it offers over SB?IB and lets hope its not just an improvement on the internal graphics.

pH