I'm running P3D v2.5, and while it's pretty smooth in certain circumstances I'd still like to be able to up the graphics settings and maybe get it to run a bit smoother. Right now I'm using a GTX 560Ti with an i7 2600 (non-k) overclocked to about 3.9 Ghz. I'm considering an upgrade to a GTX 970, but I've see conflicting reports here as to whether or not it's worth it- I recall one post saying it turned P3D into a whole new sim while others say they barely noticed a change. From what I understand, it seems to be tied to the CPU. Will going from a 560Ti to a 970 while retaining my i7-2600 give me any type of performance boost? Or should I spend my $400 on an i7-4790k or something instead? 

Go with the video card first when you can afford the 4790k do it asap - thats what I would do - flightsim needs all the cpu and gpu you can throw at it so you need both but considering V3  has put more on the gpu side you might make out better

 

Oh and get V3

I have a similar setup and went from a 580 to a 970. It works great for me with v3 I would recommend it.

 

But remeber everybody's setup is different so go with what you feel would work.

Go with the video card first when you can afford the 4790k do it asap - thats what I would do - flightsim needs all the cpu and gpu you can throw at it so you need both but considering V3  has put more on the gpu side you might make out better

 

Oh and get V3

 

 

I have a similar setup and went from a 580 to a 970. It works great for me with v3 I would recommend it.

 

But remeber everybody's setup is different so go with what you feel would work.

Thanks guys. I was already heavily leaning towards upgrading my GPU (my GPU loads are always higher than my CPU loads), but just wanted to make sure I wouldn't risk being disappointed. Also, V3's on my wish list, but first I need to get that GPU, a new CPU, the NGX for P3D, the Aerosoft CRJ, and the Aerosoft A330! This hobby is way too expensive.

I'm in the exact same situation the only difference is my 2600 is the K and running at 4.3Ghz. I also have a 560Ti and want to upgrade to a 970 and retain the 2600K until I can afford to do the CPU and board.

My main aim is to keep the smoothness I currently have but increase the graphics and details a little bit. Thanks for bringing up this topic.

 

Matt

You will definitely see a performance boost in moving to a 970 from a 560Ti. Since you are running a 2600 CPU, most likely your existing motherboard's video card PCI slot will only support PCI 2.0, rather than 3.0 - so the 970 won't run at the full data transfer bandwidth of which it is capable, but that is not a major issue. When you are eventually upgrade to a 4790CPU, your new GPU will perform even better.

I had the exact same card and went to the GTX970. Definitely a performance increase. A lot of people stand by the 980 so it must be the best but I went to the 970 and I am happy. I will soon upgrade my 2600k to something better but thats after I finish my IFR rating

I went from a 770/4VRAM to a 970/4VRAM and noticed an increase in performance. I would say get the video card over the cpu. 

Should help with shadow performance. The 970 has more shader units compared to the 560 Ti

 

If you plan on upgrading the CPU later, I would get a Skylake i7 6700K.

I would not mind testing out v3 vs fsx on my old system - 2500k with a 560ti, she's been a good work horse these last 3-4 years Im not expecting the world but could I expect it to look nicer than fsx or at least run the same ?

 

cheers.

V3 comes with a 60 day money back guarantee so you can find out without risk. But realistically, I wouldn't expect too much with that card.