Looking to upgrade my system - need suggestions...

[Slick9 24]

Good morning and happy holidays to all -

 

I made a mistake about 3 years or so ago and bought an Alienware gaming PC, the reason I say it was a mistake is because I realized afterwards that I could have built the same system for much less $$.  The system works well and I am able to run it with most of the FSX sliders full right with my PMDG aircraft.  Now when it comes to areas like Chicago or the New York, Philadelphia area, I have to turn AI traffic way down (about 20%) in order to get smooth graphics.  So I'd like to upgrade the system.  I am looking to spend around $400 to $500. Any idea on what my best moves would be are greatly welcome. One thing I thought about doing was just having someone overclock this machine for me, but I'm not sure Dell (Alienware) have made it possible to overclock this PC.  Anyway, since my knowledge is limited in this area, I'm looking for any suggestions from you gurus!!  Thanks in advance for any help - Richard

 

Here are the current specs for my system:
 

System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 12/18/2013, 22:23:19
       
   Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit (6.1, Build 7601) Service Pack 1 (7601.win7sp1_gdr.130801-1533)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Alienware
       System Model: Area 51
               BIOS: Default System BIOS

          Processor: Intel® Core i7 CPU         930  @ 2.80GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.8GHz

             Memory: 12288MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 12278MB RAM
          Page File: 2505MB used, 22050MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\Windows
    DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
   User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
 System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
    DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
     DxDiag Version: 6.01.7601.17514 32bit Unicode

---------------
Display Devices
---------------
          Card name: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460 (I have two of these cards installed - didn't realize FSX can't take advantage of that)
       Manufacturer: NVIDIA
          Chip type: GeForce GTX 460

-------------
Sound Devices
-------------
            Description: Speakers (Realtek High Definition Audio)
 Default Sound Playback: Yes
 Default Voice Playback: Yes
            
            Description: Realtek Digital Output (Realtek High Definition Audio)

[Slick9 24]

Hope you don't mind me bumping after a couple days

[RobdeVries 28]

I have a simular setup. I have just upgraded with to an budget system with:

15 3570k

NVidia GTX760

8 Gb DDR3 1600 low latency RAM memory

ASUS P8P67 DELUXE (REV 3.0) for the LGA 1155 chipset which you need for the 15 3570k

 

Should set you back around 500 dollars if you look around on the usual hardware sites.

 

Good luck!