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TLDR: The red numbers in the jpg are the bottom line percentage performance gains. I wanted FS2020 but had a good inkling it would most likely be a bit of a mess on release so I waited for feedback before purchasing. IMO sure enough, seeing how 1/2 done FS2020 currently is, and how it will be for a while, I have not yet purchased it and won't until the study sim tubeliners are sorted. So instead, seeing as though I have hundreds of $$$ invested in FSX, I decided it was finally time for me to upgrade and see if I can stretch FSX's legs a bit more. The end result is the below accurate as possible personal benchmarks I have done before and after an upgrade of cpu, motherboard and memory. Hopefully this is helpful for other FSX owners. I've tried to keep it apples to apples as possible. The graphs I now see are upside down, oh well, deal with it. 🙂 Both cpu setups were run on reasonable fresh win10 installs. Used 4 distinctly varied scenery/location save points. Recorded 35 seconds of stabilized info with MSI Afterburner. This is bare bones stock FSX retail with Acceleration. (nice to see the MS activation servers are back online, used to have to phone in the code) Important fsx.cfg Settings: AffinityMask=14 BLOOM_EFFECTS=0 TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=40 UPPER_FRAMERATE_LIMIT=0 WideViewAspect=True TEXTURE_MAX_LOAD=1024 NUM_LIGHTS=8 AIRCRAFT_SHADOWS=1 AIRCRAFT_REFLECTIONS=1 COCKPIT_HIGH_LOD=1 LANDING_LIGHTS=1 AC_SELF_SHADOW=0 EFFECTS_QUALITY=2 GROUND_SHADOWS=1 TEXTURE_QUALITY=3 IMAGE_QUALITY=0 See_Self=1 D3D10=0 CLOUD_DRAW_DISTANCE=8 DETAILED_CLOUDS=1 CLOUD_COVERAGE_DENSITY=8 LENSFLARE=1 DAWN_DUSK_SMOOTHING=1 IMAGE_COMPLEXITY=5 SmallPartRejectRadius=1.0 AirlineDensity=100 GADensity=100 FreewayDensity=100 ShipsAndFerriesDensity=100 LeisureBoatsDensity=100 IFROnly=0 AIRPORT_SCENERY_DENSITY=5 LOD_RADIUS=5.500000 MESH_COMPLEXITY=100 MESH_RESOLUTION=25 TEXTURE_RESOLUTION=29 AUTOGEN_DENSITY=5 DETAIL_TEXTURE=1 WATER_EFFECTS=7

Hello everyone. I plan to build a new gaming pc for P3D, however i am extremely stuck in trying to find the right specs. I do not wish to spend anything over 450 pounds ($673) for my CPU and GPU, yet i am unsure which i should spend more on. I am looking for 30 fps at most airports with addon scenery. Does anybody know which is more important and / or has any specs recommendations? Yours Sincerely, Kamil Nasser

Hi guys, I know this topic has been discussed before but I can't quite find the answer I am looking for. People say Haswell processors work better than Ivy Bridge, but is it right when it comes to FSX or is it the other way around? The reason I am asking because an i7 4770K and i7 4820 costs same amount but the second one can be overcooked to 5.0 GHz and above where as the Haswell chip can only be over clocked to 4.3 Ghz I suppose. I am looking for high resolution with high frame rate so which processor I should go for? Many thanks, Ronnie

Greetings all! I need your help in recommending what to upgrade to get FSX running smoothly with the NGX and upcoming 777. Currently with my setting nearly maxed I can get roughly 45-50 FPS with a default c172. As soon as I switch to the NGX it drops to a mere 12-14 FPS. Here are my specs: Intel i7 920 @ 2.67GHz EVGA X58 motherboard 6GB(3x2GB) RAM DDR3 Tripple channel at 2122.6 MHz NVIDIA GeForce GTX 550 Ti 2GB So, I have a Newegg account and plenty of credit to spar with them. What needs to be upgraded in order for me to have a steady 25-30 FPS with the NGX? I run REX, TacPack and the Warthog GUI software in the background. Thank you all in advance. Best, Kurt Collins

Hello, im looking into upgrading my hardware, and while id like to think I know a lot about computers the choice of processors never fails to baffle me. Right now I have 2 processors in mind. - AMD FX-4350 4.20 GHz Quad-Core AM3+ CPU 4MB L3 Cache & Turbo Core Technology - Intel® Core™ i7-3820 Quad Core 3.60 GHz 10MB Intel Smart Cache LGA2011 The AMD looks better with the with the 4.2 GHz, but I know that a higher clock speed doesn't always mean better performance. The AMD is cheaper, but I don't want to sacrifice performance for it if the intel would be better. So which processor would be best for running Fsx? Other specs: 16 GB of Ram Nvidia 660 GTX 2GB video card Thank you.

Hi Simmers, I currently have a Phenom II X6 1045T that cannot be overclocked because of my weak mobo. I want to upgrade this PC so it is dedicated to flight sim. Yes I know its best that i get a i5 or i7 K processor, but i simply cannot afford that due to shipping cost from America to here I live. So which should I get? Budget at absolute peak for CPU and Mobo is $210US AMD FX6300 + Mobo = $201US Intel i3 3220 + Mobo = $185 US Any opinions ????? I only want fsx to run PMDG's, REX, and GEX smoothly enough. I will NOT be using any payware airports or scenery and will be using WOAI traffic. I also dont plan maxing out the sliders. The only one that will be maxed are LOD. The rest will be middle to middle-high Thanks

Hi, Just need to get a few opinions. I currently have a phenom II X6 1045t 2.7ghz cpu that i recently bought. Will it be worth it if i purchase a Cooler Master 212 cooler and overclock to 3.2 - 3.4ghz using addons such as the pmdg737, rex, and gex?

Hey there, I am looking to build a new rig around my 980ti and I was wondering where processors are for p3d. The jury around the web is that the higher clock speed of the 6700k is best for gaming, however, we still use a very cpu intensive sim. If I were to build a pc would having more cpu cores (intel 5820k) be more future proof and better for P3d over the skylake 6700k? Kind regards, Alex

So after flying on FSX for the past few years, I've decided to update my tank of a laptop and invest in a new Desktop to run P3D. So far I've roughly built up these specs, trying to keep in mind that i don't want to spend to much and also get the best for the buck. Intel Core i7-4790K @4.0Ghz ASUS Z97-A EVGA GTX 970 FTW ACX 2.0 Corsair 750D Western Digital Blue 1 TB HDD Samsung 850 EVO 120GB SSD Kingston 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 Mem. Asus 24x DVD-RW Serial-ATA Internal OEM Optical Drive Corsair H80i Hydro CPU cooler With these specs in mind I stumble to find a cheap Power supply that gives me at least 750W. I'd like to have everyone opinions on computer parts you recommend and what power supply would be best for me. Thanks you!

Hey guys, I've been thinking about upgrading my PC. I mainly use it for Flightsimming (and office stuff, but that's irrelevant in this case). But probably my system differs a lot from the system a lot of simmers have, because I'm a proud AMD user, never was disappointed by AMD, my CPUs kept running and running. Great pieces of hardware. Speaking of hardware, here are my specs: AMD Athlon II X4 @ 3.4GHz 4GB DDR3 RAM AMD Radeon HD5670 Asus mainboard with AM3+ socket (not the cheapest and not the most expensive but does its job) and an SSD with Win7 64bit installed Now as the title tells you already, I'm considering upgrading my CPU to a FX8350 (and doubling the RAM to 8GB). Is this a reasonable step? Consider this: I'm flying FS9 only... until now at least. However I have some stuff installed... various addon sceneries (Aerosoft, FlyTampa and a bunch of freeware stuff), as for the aircraft I mostly use the IFly B737NG series, Level-D B763 and PMDG B744. Weather engine is ActiveSky Evolution, Performance calculation by TOPCAT and I'm flying online on Vatsim (so Firefox is always open for airport charts etc.) Standing at the gate at Frankfurt (MAF by Aerosoft installed) sitting in the standard Cessna under medium rain and heavy clouds in the sky I usually get about 24fps in average. With the IFly that value drops to around 20 in average with ASE running. However my sim just does not feel "smooth" when I'm taxiing on airports like that or when I'm on approach into those airports. I've done some tweaking... recently I've tweaked too much and now my sim crashes all the time, which is why I'll freshly install him again tomorrow. Now what do I want to achieve by buying a FX8350? I want my FS9 to run smooth as silk. No (or almost no) stutters at all, no significant framedrops, neither standing at the airports nor flying through clouds. Is it possible to nail 35fps with an FX8350 when I use as much software as stated above? For the future I plan to migrate to P3d. This could be in half a year or maybe a year... I'm not sure yet. Sometimes I think about buying P3d and the C172 trainer by A2A simulations right now and have some fun with it, but I really like my FS9 and buying all the addons again would hurt my wallet a lot. Assuming I choose the FX8350 and maybe get a newer gfx card with P3d and have 8GB RAM by then, what will the performance of P3d be like? Will I have fun with P3d? Is this system still too weak to run P3d (+ A2A/PMDG/IFly aircraft addon + ASN + FlyTampa scenery)? Rumours that I've heard say that P3d simply "works" better than FSX, meaning it is more stable and its performance is more solid compared to FSX, how big is the difference in FPS between FSX and P3d with the same addons running? Also I've heard that P3d uses multicore technology while FS9 does not. Is it possible that P3d even runs better than FS9 on an hexacore like the FX 8350? I'm absolutely aware that actually Intel processors are the way to go for flightsimming. However this is not an option for me as upgrading my system to make it compatible with an Intel CPU, that easily can be double the price of an FX8350, is far too expensive for me. There simply has to be another way, hasn't it? So I hope you can "answer" my questions. Maybe there's someone running his FS with a FX8350? Please reply to this post, I'm looking forward to hear your experiences! Maybe there's someone that tested a lot of CPUs with FS9/X or P3d and, by accident, you've also tested a FX8350 or similar CPU? Share your insights! Have a great sunday and hope to hear from you soon!

Hi, i´m loooking to buy a new laptop, because mine runs fsx pretty bad, it doesnt get any better than 10 fps. so here i am, looking for recomendations asking if any of you know of a laptop tha can run fsx decently. please take in account that the computer shouldn´t exceed 450 dollars, because i´m from argentina and here buying dollars is too expensive. 6 pesos equals 1 dollar!! thanks in advance, tatin 98

Hello. I have a Dell Inspiron 580 with a dual core Intel 3.2ghz processor. I would like to upgrade to the best possible CPU that will work with the motherboard. Does anybody know what the best CPU is that will work? I already have a 700w supply installed and 8gb DDr3 ram. I am also running a GeForce GTX550Ti video card. Any help and advice will be greatly appreciated! Thank you!

Hello forum- Over the past years, I have spent hundreds of hours on the phone with Microsoft, and I have spent hundreds of dollars on new computers the were supposed to "be fast enough." And it all has been a big waste. It wasn't until a few weeks ago, I really understood what it takes to run FSX with the performance many of the big simmers have today. I currently have a AMD FX 8320 Eight Core processor, and my performance in FSX (w/ pay ware planes at pay ware airports) is atrocious. So I looked through Youtube at all of the big names, IFlySimX, iFlyMax737, and I saw that they have- Intel i7 (around) 4770K, processors. And I have found exactly that. An Intel i7 4770K 3.5GHz. Should I get this? Would my standard fan be enough cooling? Is it only the processor that gives FSX good performance? Is FSX better with AMD or Intel, why? Thank you so much! I am planning to get this soon, I just wanted to check with the forums before I make another possible (expensive) mistake. -ValleyDeer.

Hello all, (I'm afraid this is another one of those computer upgrade help threads...) With a birthday and the holiday season coming down the road in a few months, I'm starting to do some research on some systems upgrades I may treat myself to as my system is about 4 years old. I'm still primarily an FS9 user, dipping my toe occasionally in FSX for a few FSX-only aircraft (never got the smooth performance in FSX that I sought). With that in mind, if I could upgrade 1 or 2 elements on my system, what suggestions would people have? I'm not the biggest expert on hardware and compatibility, and I'm not a huge fan of overclocking either (*dodges thrown tomato*). I guess I like warranties and extending the life in components. I've modestly OC'ed my i7 975 last month to 3.5 from 3.33 with stock case/CPU fans (and average about 75ish C during stress testing, 50-55ish at close to idle). I'd also like to keep my system on air, something about water near $3000-4000 of electronics always bothered me. Obviously, I'm leaning toward upgrading the CPU (need to research what my mobo and power supply support), but maybe I'm missing something glaring. I can't quite go overboard (maybe $300-500-600ish), I did just buy a house last month Thanks! My specs are below: OS Windows 7 Home Premium (x64) Service Pack 1 Processor 3.33 gigahertz Intel Core i7 975 Socket 1366 LGA 32 kilobyte primary memory cache 1024 kilobyte secondary memory cache 8192 kilobyte tertiary memory cache Mobo Board: ASUSTeK Computer INC. Rampage II Extreme Rev 2.xx Bus Clock: 133 megahertz BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 1704 12/30/2009 HDs ST31500341AS ATA Device [Hard drive] (1500.30 GB) - games/photos/music drive WDC WD3000HLFS-01G6U0 ATA Device [Hard drive] (300.07 GB) - OS/system programs drive Power supply Corsair HX 1000W RAM 6x2 GB DDR3 GPU nVidia GTX 570 1280 MB Thanks again.