Hi,

 

I am about to invest in some new hardware for my homecockpit running P3Dv3 and PMDG B737NGX.

 

My question :

 

Can I expect any improvements in FPS, smoothness, loading times of textures when going to an I7 [email protected] from an i7 [email protected] including the motherboard and memory changes.

 

I will also update my motherboard to an Asus Z170 Pro Gaming with 16gb DDR4@3000 from an Asus P8P67 Pro with 8 gb DDR3@1600.

My Asus GTX 780 Strix OC will still be used after the change to i7 6700K.

 

 

Smoothness and loading times are the most important issues.

 

I have monitors running 1920x1080.

 

 

 

I am very happy with the I7 2600K solution I have today, but it almost 5 years old now.

Hi,

 

I am about to invest in some new hardware for my homecockpit running P3Dv3 and PMDG B737NGX.

 

My question :

 

Can I expect any improvements in FPS, smoothness, loading times of textures when going to an I7 [email protected] from an i7 [email protected] including the motherboard and memory changes.

 

I will also update my motherboard to an Asus Z170 Pro Gaming with 16gb DDR4@3000 from an Asus P8P67 Pro with 8 gb DDR3@1600.

My Asus GTX 780 Strix OC will still be used after the change to i7 6700K.

 

 

Smoothness and loading times are the most important issues.

 

I have monitors running 1920x1080.

 

 

 

I am very happy with the I7 2600K solution I have today, but it almost 5 years old now.

 

For simming I think you are better of going with a I7 4790K, but I don't know about an I7 6700

I did exactly the same step last weekend and my impression is that it has improved the simming experience quite a bit. I am, however, most of the time on X-Plane 10.50 but also did a test flight with P3D and was impressed how the "new" system handles that.

 

Please keep in mind that you need the 6700k if you want to OC the CPU. Mine is still running not over clocked but with a turbo speed of 4.2 Ghz.

 

For me the new experience is well worth the costs and efforts.

*Should mention I'm running FSX:SE, not P3D*

 

I went from a 4.5ghz 2500k to a 4.6ghz 6600k. Very noticeable improvement in the amount of headroom now available. I lock fps to 30, but I used to see dips down to 25 at times with the most intensive addons. It has never budged more than .5 of a frame on my new system, and I'm also able to turn up autogen and scenery complexity a notch. In the times where I took off the limiter, I would see 40-60fps at Flightbeam airports with the PMDG NGX, whereas the old system would be ~28 to 35 but stuttery. After finding my sweet spot between NVinspector, settings, and tweaks (like FFTF), my locked 30 fps looks so smooth that I actually can't tell a difference between the sim and a 60 fps video. 

 

It could help your loading times a little (possibly texture loading), but getting an SSD for the sim would be the true answer to that. 

 

If you are happy with your current setup, then you could hold off and continue to let prices trickle down. But if you're ready, I'd definitely be able to recommend a Skylake 6600k or 6700k, as it's currently the best of the best. Since upgrading, this is the happiest I have ever been with flight sim

*Should mention I'm running FSX:SE, not P3D*

 

I went from a 4.5ghz 2500k to a 4.6ghz 6600k. Very noticeable improvement in the amount of headroom now available. I lock fps to 30, but I used to see dips down to 25 at times with the most intensive addons. It has never budged more than .5 of a frame on my new system, and I'm also able to turn up autogen and scenery complexity a notch. In the times where I took off the limiter, I would see 40-60fps at Flightbeam airports with the PMDG NGX, whereas the old system would be ~28 to 35 but stuttery. After finding my sweet spot between NVinspector, settings, and tweaks (like FFTF), my locked 30 fps looks so smooth that I actually can't tell a difference between the sim and a 60 fps video. 

 

A Skylake CPU would certainly improve the smoothness, at least it did for me. There's always potential for the GPU drivers and whatnot to cause stutters though. It would help your loading times a little (possibly texture loading), but getting an SSD for the sim would be the true answer to that. 

 

If you are happy with your current setup, then maybe hold off and continue to let prices trickle down. But once you're ready, I'd definitely be able to recommend a Skylake 6600k or 6700k. Since upgrading, this is the happiest I have ever been with flight sim

Yes that is my experience as well.

 

And I agree: If you want to cut your loading times then you should invest in a SSD. These are quite cheap at the moment. I have my main sim on a dedicated SSD and that realy is great. the initial loading times are considerably shorter than from a HDD. Well worth the 60 Euros I spend on that SSD :smile:

Can I expect any improvements in FPS, smoothness, loading times of textures when going to an I7 [email protected] from an i7 [email protected] including the motherboard and memory changes.

 

Texture loading times, yes. Skylake runs on PCIe 3.0 (as well as your GPU), while Sandy Bridge runs on PCIe 2.0. So the textures will load into VRAM faster, resulting in less gray textures in VC (or other places).

 

Your GPU will spend less time waiting for things and more time rendering.

Texture loading times, yes. Skylake runs on PCIe 3.0 (as well as your GPU), while Sandy Bridge runs on PCIe 2.0. So the textures will load into VRAM faster, resulting in less gray textures in VC (or other places).

As a side note it should be mentioned, that the 9xx series gpus doesn't use all of the bandwith of pcie 2.0

(https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Impact-of-PCI-E-Speed-on-Gaming-Performance-518/)

The upgrade should be noticeable , but don't expect miracles

As a side note it should be mentioned, that the 9xx series gpus doesn't use all of the bandwith of pcie 2.0

(https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Impact-of-PCI-E-Speed-on-Gaming-Performance-518/)

The upgrade should be noticeable , but don't expect miracles

 

FSX can't really be compared to a game though. It's a completely different animal.

 

It's not some hand-tuned level (like most of those games) with a small viewing distance. It's a huge open world with a 120 km+ viewing distance. So the amount of things that need to be rendered and loaded at any one time is a lot more than those games.

FSX can't really be compared to a game though. It's a completely different animal.

 

It's not some hand-tuned level (like most of those games) with a small viewing distance. It's a huge open world with a 120 km+ viewing distance. So the amount of things that need to be rendered and loaded at any one time is a lot more than those games.

Surely we can agree, that there is an finite amount of resources available? Whether you chose to use it on fsx/p3d or some other game doesn't change that.

 

So, as in my other post, the speed of the gfx card doesn't limit the bandwith of PCIe 2.0, and shouldn't be factored into the considerations... And this is not to say, that he won't have any benefits of the upgrade at all.

I have now been running P3D v3.5 with my new rig([email protected], MSI GTX 1070, SSD for P3D) for a couple of weeks.

 

I have had a very notisable inrease in both FPS and specially smoothness. Loading times has also decreased some.

 

Running PMDG's B737NGX and B777 with REX Texture, Active Sky, ORBX, Megascenery and detailed airports at high setting is now superb. No stutters, only butter like flying

in all sceneries.

 

My homecockpit's 7 screens are smooth and very playable. All from ONLY 1 PC.

 

Well worth the money spent. 

Texture loading times, yes. Skylake runs on PCIe 3.0 (as well as your GPU), while Sandy Bridge runs on PCIe 2.0. So the textures will load into VRAM faster, resulting in less gray textures in VC (or other places).

 

Before they get on that PCIe bus, they need to get loaded from storage, which is several orders of magnitude slower. Whether the speed limit on the Interstate is 55 or 85 doesn't matter much if you first have to drive 20 miles on a two-lane road.

 

Cheers!

 

Luke

For simming I think you are better of going with a I7 4790K, but I don't know about an I7 6700

Why?

I have now been running P3D v3.5 with my new rig([email protected], MSI GTX 1070, SSD for P3D) for a couple of weeks.

 

I have had a very notisable inrease in both FPS and specially smoothness. Loading times has also decreased some.

 

Running PMDG's B737NGX and B777 with REX Texture, Active Sky, ORBX, Megascenery and detailed airports at high setting is now superb. No stutters, only butter like flying

in all sceneries.

 

My homecockpit's 7 screens are smooth and very playable. All from ONLY 1 PC.

 

Well worth the money spent. 

 

You spec is the same as mine other than my 1070 is a zotac.  Your findings are identical to mine, while FPS doesn't seem much different, the smoothness and lack of stutters is a completely different story.

 

Only running one screen, but performance is night and day from what my 4790k @ 4.5ghz and 970 was