Fellow simmers 

I am currently really into flight simming but I think the experience is becoming a little less enjoyable now that I am running into some fps problems. Before I digress too much first a bit about my specs:

age rig: purchased in december 2016

Intel i5-6600 (not overclockable)

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3Gb

16 Gigs RAM

low end 500W PSU

DELL U3415 ultrawide 1440 monitor

DELL 24'' 1080 monitor as second monitor

 

P3Dv4.5

FTX (Global, LC Europe, LC N-America, vector, Buildings HD)

Activesky for p3dv4

REX texture direct with cloud art

REX worldwide airports

PMDG 737 NGX

QW 787

FSUIPC5

GSX

An extensive list of add on airports (FSdreamteam, Flightbeam, Flytampa, SXAD, Tropicalsim, you name it, I probably got it).

 

Long story short: when I attempt an approach at, say Technobrain's RJTT or SXAD KHOU, I get a staggering 10 fps which makes executing a stable approach and a safe landing nearly impossible. I noticed that changing the settings of P3D doesn't do a lot of good. Most noticable difference is scaling down on autogen but other than than I am not seeing a huge increase or decrease in fps when I toy around with the settings.

I'd like to improve the fps without changing CPU because that will forces me to change motherboard and all that. Currently that is not really a path I'd like to follow.

I'd like to get some advice when it comes to replacing the GPU with something more powerful. I have looked at the GTX 1660 Ti's and the RTX 2060. Would those match with the relatively weak and outdated CPU for instance?

What would be your advice?

 

Thanks for your help in advance. It is greatly appreciated.

Daniel

Sorry to say, Daniel, but your rig is sorely CPU limited.  While you may see some eye candy gains from updating to a higher perf GPU, you will nevertheless be limited by the CPU.  I suggest that you try to find a used i7-6700K, add a better cooler, and then overclock it as best as you can (with good cooling a 6700K can do 4.8GHz all cores).

Your 1060 is a bit limited as well... by the 3GB of memory.  Something with 8GB of VRAM is what to look for with P3Dv4, and as well may prove beneficial with games, but a stronger GPU will not carry your current i5 6600.  In a simulator, FPS gains are almost entirely the result of CPU (processing) power and speed.

HTH,

Greg

According to the latest few test I ran with msi afterburner I am afraid that I have to agree with that. 

For example in in flight I get good frames in an outside view where the gpu is stressed a lot more than in an inside VC view in the PMDG 737 NGX where the load is taken off the gpu back to the cpu. especially when low to the ground (probably due to scenery rendering) FPS fall dramatically. CPU load sticks around 70-80% while GPU load remains 30-40%. 

In areas such as Chicago I had to fly an approach into midway with a staggering 8 FPS. 

I reckon that my choices are to upgrade cpu, cooler, gpu and psu or to get an entirely new rig with the latest of hardware (i9, rtx 2080 etc). 

Any advice would be appreciated.