I'm currently running an i5 4670k @4GHZ

 

Would changing to a i7 4670K @4.5GHZ make *that* much difference? 

 

I am currently CPU bottlenecked.

 

Or should I go skylake?

 

Confusion reigns...

 

Any suggestions appreciated.

 

thanks

 

Ian 

 

i5 4670K @4GHZ

16 GB RAM

GtX 770 4GB

I'm fine with my i5 2500K @ 3,3GHz, and the BIG difference was really my new GTX 960 4GB card...

 

BTW, if you're on NVidia, make sure you disable multi-threaded optimization in Nvidia Inspector or Control Panel because XP10 prefers it that way.

Yeah I have that off..... I think also W2XP kills fps.... And introduces stuttering.

 

Whats your settings? 

I am wrestling with a similar dilemma, I have i5 3,4GHz, but 650Ti 2GB, so a limited budget card a few years old now.
I am thinking towards the GTX 960 4GB also.

How is your cloud flying ? Because that is where I get hit mostly.

anything that is GPU relates is perfect for me.... I am limited by objects and water reflections that seem to hammer my CPU. 

 

Oh and i have world draw distance on medium as High causes stutters 

I run a i5-3570K that I normally have set anywhere from 4.0 - 4.2.  Compared to my 980 ti, my CPU is rather low end, but I find it serves me quite well.

 

I run standard 1/2 for vsync, which caps my frames at 30fps, and run HDR on with 4xSSAA+FXAA. Everything else is generally the highest setting, or one notch back from the highest setting.

 

I've been flying mostly Carenado GA through mountainous HD mesh, and my frames never budge from the 30 fps vsync cap depending on weather. Absolutely smooth as well.

 

It's also worth noting that I'm running XP at 2560x1440.

 

The one thing that I've found is that clouds can be a frame rate killer with high levels of SSAA.  In clear skies, or even scattered clouds, I can run 8xSSAA+FXAA with no issues, but in heavy clouds I can't push 8xSSAA without my frame rate dropping.

 

Anyhow, the short version is that even with a so-so CPU, a very good GPU can give you stellar performance.

An i5/i7/skylake CPU wouldn't make much difference, except in your wallet: you will have to buy a new mobo, new DDR4 RAM and the CPU of course.

You can easily hit the CPU-wall with X-Plane in dense areas. That won't go away anytime soon. Vulkan might be a game changer from what I've seen so far, but that's not around the corner.

 

Here's a link to a X-Plane benchmark with different CPUs. Keep in mind that there are different clock speed at work here between i5/i7 CPUs. In practice they will run at almost the same clock speed when overclocked, so the difference between i5/i7 will be minimized. That also applies for the Skylake i7 which runs on a very high default clock speed but is more limited in overclocking.

 

http://www.hardware.fr/articles/940-16/cpu-jeux-3d-x-plane-10-f1-2013.html

 

Flo 

Thank you, very informative.

 

So the short of it is, if I go get a GTX 980ti, I can crank settings up? Or even better a TITAN X?

Thank you, very informative.

 

So the short of it is, if I go get a GTX 980ti, I can crank settings up? Or even better a TITAN X?

 

In my experience, yes, the 980ti has enabled me to push pretty high settings in XP.   One's mileage would vary depending on a whole ton of other factors.  I'm not so sure the TITAN X is worth the extra money.  The main thing it gives you is a pile more VRAM.  But the 980ti has 6GB, which isn't exactly a small amount either.

 

The upside to either card is that you can play pretty much any other modern game with killer performance. :smile:

But that chart also shows that a good processor for xp10 is the i7 6700k !

Thank you, very informative.

 

So the short of it is, if I go get a GTX 980ti, I can crank settings up? Or even better a TITAN X?

It depends. A faster GPU won't help with things that are CPU related (mostly: objects, cars, water reflections, draw distance). But you could crank up shadows, AA, texture resolution, run a 4k screen...). You can't trade one for the other.

 

Flo 

But that chart also shows that a good processor for xp10 is the i7 6700k !

Well, even an i5 4670k, clocked to the same speed, will deliver about the same performance.

 

Flo

I have an I-7 4770K @ 4.5, 16gb ram overclocked, GTX 980ti 6gb and cannot max out X Plane 10 even with my system specs.  One's mileage will vary depending on the other components in the computer.  The 908ti is a great card, but don't expect miracles from the card alone.

I just upped my CPU to 4.3GHZ. idles at 46-50C.... Voltage is 1.270v

 

Seems to have made some minor adjustments, no more stutters unless i'm over MAJOR cities.....

http://www.hardware.fr/articles/940-16/cpu-jeux-3d-x-plane-10-f1-2013.html

That's a nice overview indeed. Thanks for the link.

 

They also state that Hyperthreading isn't necessarily helping the sim so the achievable clock rate, as you say, remains the primary target.

idles at 46-50C.... Voltage is 1.270v

If those are idle temps, they are a bit on the high side. Do you run a small case and/or cooler? Or is dust a problem? Edited: What do you get under load?

That's a nice overview indeed. Thanks for the link.

 

They also state that Hyperthreading isn't necessarily helping the sim so the achievable clock rate, as you say, remains the primary target.

If those are idle temps, they are a bit on the high side. Do you run a small case and/or cooler? Or is dust a problem? Edited: What do you get under load?

 

Under load, around 65C... I have a case with fans blowing, probably do have some dust, and two massive CPU cooling fans.....

 

My idle is around 47C average.....