<p>Since you mentioned XPlane - I want to weigh in with some advice.  Buy the most Video memory you possibly can on the Gaming card.  The TITAN (NOT the Titan "BLACK"!) features 6GB of VRAM which is critically important in xPlane, and certainly nothing less than 4GB in any case - because 2GB is a non-starter for advanced graphics in XPlane.  Can you fly with it?  Sure.  Will you be able to have maximum eye candy?  NO.  Since XPlane is ideally suited for multiple pcs and networking- again, more memory across the board is a good thing.  32GB of system ram (XPlane, unlike FSX or P3Dv2, is 64-bit and can address ALL the ram in your system, all the way up to the terrabyte world... so traditional PCs with 16 or less GB, are simply going to limit you.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Yes, I am aware of your 'budget', and I respect that.  However, you need to be forewarned to be forearmed, and buying the wrong video card to begin with is going to cause pain in every game you throw at it.  Not just flight simming.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>That said, at the end of the day, only you know what you are willing and able to spend.  The Titan card alone is in the $1000 world...but a 4GB 970 would certainly work.  FYI, neither FSX nor P3Dv2 can benefit from higher VRAM (video ram on the graphics card) the way that XPlane can.  Xplane was designed from the ground up to take full advantage of modern graphics cards.  FSX is eight or 9 years old and is CPU dependent, not GPU.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>Hope this gives you another tangent to consider.  And of course you need good power supply, I would suggest 650 watts or more.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>The "Titan" nvidia card has 6gb VRAM and ONE GPU chip.  The Titan Black is basically 2 Titans on one card, meaning 12GB Vram and 2 GPU chips, but this is like SLI, you only have 6GB of vram addressable...AFAIK, the Titan BLACK is wasted money in SIMMING, as none of the top 3 sims benefit from SLI afaik.  The Titan Black is significantly more expensive and may have overheating issues, thus the regular TITAN is my recommended card for those with deep pockets.  Titans are reference cards and do not feature the cooling pipes and dual cooling fans of non-reference designs.  If you're going a 4GB 970 I strongly recommend MSI brand.  Their GAMER OC edition is THE card to buy.  GREAT cooling.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>And of course if you are thinking of overclocking, I suggest doing a LOT of research on COOLING solutions.  Ultimately I had to de-clock my ASUS 4.7 Ghz i2600K system as it began to lock up at 4.70 gigahertz (overclocked).  Never a good thing in gaming - especially in the middle of a long cross-country flight!</p>

Did I mention X-plane?? I don't have it (or plan to - if I were 30 years younger, then maybe!), but thanks anyway.

 

 

Did I mention X-plane??

 

That said - mostly this is for FSX, P3D, and XP

 

I think it was for turner112!

^_^

LOL

 

Thanks Robert, great info.

Hmmm, I just bought an ASUS GTX 960 Strix DirectCU II OC  4 GB GDDR5, but I have an i5 2500 :-(   

 

Will it work ? I guess the above table for ideal i5 / i7 and GPUs is just that - best combination - and not really a question of it being incompatible with other ( lower end / older ) processors like my i5 2500, right ?

Right!

Thx Bert  ;-), because while I have it next to the PC, it's still in the box, awaiting free time during next weekend - I hope my PMDG 777 flies even more smoothly with it :-)

Following on to Roberts post, directed at the OP, regarding X-Plane and video memory / VRAM.

 

I just upgraded to an EVGA 980 Ti SC.  It features 6GB of VRAM, and being overclocked slightly from the manufacturer, is on par performance wise with the Titan at a bit cheaper cost.  However, likely still far outside the budget you've listed....

 

My point in mentioning this, however was to point out that with the newer 6GB card installed, I flew around in X-Plane with a monitor showing usage open on another screen.  It was maxing out at 4750 MB of VRAM used.  So, yes, X-Plane can really benefit from the bigger numbers!!

970 4 gig deffo 

 

 

 

I just upgraded to an EVGA 980 Ti SC.

Very nice,  i priced this card myself as i'm thinking of upgrading,  816 Euro delivered (891 dollars)   any recommendations on where to buy or just the usual channels 

 

 

Very nice, i priced this card myself as i'm thinking of upgrading, 816 Euro delivered (891 dollars) any recommendations on where to buy or just the usual channels

 

I couldn't recommend, only because I use a shop local to me, that sounds like it might be an ocean away from you!

I guess the above table for ideal i5 / i7 and GPUs is just that - best combination

 

Yes, you want to match the CPU and GPU to avoid bottlenecks. E.g. My ageing Q9650 overclocked to 4GHz + my GTX780Ti + Aerosoft Heathrow and iFly 737 = 100% CPU and 35% GPU utilisation (+ depressing frame rate)! BTW I was thinking of a multi-monitor setup, with a single display you could also consider a 2GB GTX960, but as Jimmy RFR pointed out newer sims will use more than even 4GB VRAM.

 

i5-4690K + GTX960 2GB + 8GB DDR3 kit (2 sticks 1866 - 2133MHz)      £££

i5-4690K + GTX960 4GB + 8GB DDR3 kit (2 sticks 1866 - 2133MHz)      £££ :smile:

i5-4690K + GTX970 4GB + 8GB DDR3 kit (2 sticks 1866 - 2133MHz)      £££ :mellow:

i7-4790K + GTX970 4GB + 8GB DDR3 kit (2 sticks 1866 - 2133MHz)      £££ :(

i7-4790K + GTX970 4GB + 16GB DDR3 kit (2 sticks 1866 - 2133MHz)    £££ :o Not so light gaming!

WIll my 4.5ghz i3770k be a good match for GTX 960 4gB?

WIll my 4.5ghz i3770k be a good match for GTX 960 4gB?

Yes it will.

I used 970 with 3770 (non K) for a bit and was doing just fine so 960 will be good as well.

IF you can I would upgrade to 970. Better in the long run and best bang for a buck at this point.