Should I upgrade....?

[WildgooseUK 0]

Is it time for exchange my 8800GT 512MB Graphics card to a newer model like the 460 or a 6850? Will I benefit much if I did. And with today's graphic cards having 1024MB or more, will this help load textures faster on scenery addons like Orbx etc?

I have a AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition with 4 gig of Kingston 800Mhz/PC2-6400 Memory on board at . Plus, my motherboard is a Biostar MCP2P M2+ AM2+ with a 400W PSU. Nothing fancy but does the job.

Will upgrade to a 700W PSU soon as I'm aware that my current 400W PSU is not enough to power the latest Graphics cards.

Any thoughts will be much appreciated.

Many thanks

[IcedUpPitotTube 0]

You need, for best performance, a 750 Watt PSU for the newer cards (560 Ti, 570, 580, Radeon 6800 series, Radeon 6900 series). Minimum 500 Watt.

And yes, I think it's a good time to upgrade graphics cards. The 560 Ti or Radeon 6950/6970 should suit you nicely.

If you want to get a 400 series graphic card, you may, but it's kind of outdated now, even with almost the exact same Fermi architecture as the 500 series.

[WildgooseUK 0]

You need, for best performance, a 750 Watt PSU for the newer cards (560 Ti, 570, 580, Radeon 6800 series, Radeon 6900 series). Minimum 500 Watt.

And yes, I think it's a good time to upgrade graphics cards. The 560 Ti or Radeon 6950/6970 should suit you nicely.

If you want to get a 400 series graphic card, you may, but it's kind of outdated now, even with almost the exact same Fermi architecture as the 500 series.

Thanks for that IcedUpPitotTube :001_th_smiles89:

I hear that the ATI are the ones to go for, but I'm a Nvidia fan and always have been. So, I will find it heart breaking if I were to switch sides. Both Nvidia and ATI have good/bad points,though ATI position is looking far more attractive in terms of better image quality, speed and overall...price. However, I have a fairly small ATX case by Right-Tec with dimensions (W, H, D) 175mm x 410 x 423mm. This will be a tight squeeze for any new graphic card.

[GabethePilot 1]

You need, for best performance, a 750 Watt PSU for the newer cards (560 Ti, 570, 580, Radeon 6800 series, Radeon 6900 series). Minimum 500 Watt.

And yes, I think it's a good time to upgrade graphics cards. The 560 Ti or Radeon 6950/6970 should suit you nicely.

If you want to get a 400 series graphic card, you may, but it's kind of outdated now, even with almost the exact same Fermi architecture as the 500 series.

With your CPU etc. a 5-series GPU is serious overkill.

A GTX 460 1GB at £125 is more than enough, particularly if you play at 1080p or less.

A 560 Ti will get you 30-50% more FPS in games at 1080p however. So, if you are a gamer too, then I agree, get the best you can afford.

Also, a GTX 460 1GB, only needs 28 amps on the 12v rail, and a good 450W from Corsair is enough !

I'm upgrading to a SandyBridge shortly, but plan a 1 GB 460 GTX, as it's "enough" at 1080p and only requires a mid-range PSU.

[WildgooseUK 0]

I can't really afford anything more than £120 at the moment. I did see a 550ti for under £100 at OcUK, but various reports I've read is that the 460 is still a better card than the newer 550.

I'm currently running FSX at a native resolution 1280 x 1024 which I'm more than happy to keep.

[GabethePilot 1]

Trust me when I say you can't go wrong with the GTX 460 - but make sure you get the 1GB version - it is different in anumber of ways.

You can find one for £120 - I just like the Golden Sample at £135 at the moment.

The 460 came out AFTER the 470 and 480 - is built from the ground up and uses a LOT less power. It is more like a stripped down 560.

If you can afford the 560 Ti (note the "Ti" - half-460 and half 570), and you are a gamer, go for it. But if you're not a gamer or cannot afford it, go for the 460. As long as you are not going over 19 x1080p, you'll not see any gain with a better card, especially with an Athlon / Core 2 Quad.

[WildgooseUK 0]

How about this one as I seen one for sale at £90 second hand.

http://www.palit.biz/palit/vgapro.php?id=1340

[GabethePilot 1]

The card itself looks fine.

Whether you want to "risk" second hand is up to you.

If it has a decent warrenty... again, it's up to you I guess.

The new ones usually come with 10 year warrenties of course.

This one has dual slot cooler.... and 1 reviewer has massively overclocked it.

Ebuyer - £131

To be honest though, I think it unlikely you will see any FPS improvement in FSX with your Athlon.

Wait till you have £200 and get an 1156, some DDR3 and a i3 540 or i5 750 (the latter a bit more of course). That will probably give you up to a 50% boost.

[GabethePilot 1]

Just noticed your resolution - a GPU really won't have any affect, other than - possibly - image quality.

See my above post... I'd wait and improve your core system.

I've been without a Quad - and not been using FSX much - for 18 months now. But I've decided that the wait for a SBridge, will bw worth it.

I had very little boost in FPS at 1680x1050, with a Q6600 at 3.4GHz when I changed from a 8800GTS to a GTX 260 !

I can't see an upgrade from a 8800GT to a 460, at your resolution and CPU system, having any benefit. If you download "EVGA" GPU monitor, you'll see that your GPU probably never goes above 50% useage.

[GabethePilot 1]

This is what I was gonna get next week, before changing my mind - again !

Motherboard:

Motherboard £74

RAM:

RAM £40

i3 540 (will o/c to 4GHz easily)

CPU £86

So that's 200 quids - bang on... delivered.

With your 8800GT - especially at your resolution - you should get up to, a 50% boost in FPS... and enhance smoothness... particularly if you use 64 bit "Windows 7".

[WildgooseUK 0]

Thanks for all your replies Gab

What I shall do is to get a 460 card and a 22" monitor. Then, upgrade to a Phenom X6 cpu at a later stage as I don't really want to change mb just yet.

[WildgooseUK 0]

I downloaded EGVA Precision and ran FSX along side. According to EGVA monitor, the GPU usage running FSX reached 90%.

Off topic, I downloaded iGMap for my iPhone and it works wonders. Only downside is it doesn't work with Google Maps as they (Google) charge $10,000 annual to use their software.

[WildgooseUK 0]

I discovered that FSX runs best with Intel chips. So I decided to save and get what you mentioned Gab. More likely get the i5 instead of i3. The problem is that i more than likely have to do a full OS reinstall if I were to change motherboard.

[WildgooseUK 0]

GabethePilot, did some research on CPU performance and discovered that the i3 540 isn't all that different to my current Phenom II X2 550BE.

See here

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/97?vs=143

[GabethePilot 1]

Well, 2 things.

I'm surprised the 8800 is using that much.

Anyway, in terms of CPU, I would imagine that the i3 540 is better, IF you o/c it to 4 GHz with DDR3 and Win 7 64 bit.

As for an i5 750 upgrade... not a great idea. It will cost £150 + 75 + 40 for the i5 750 / motherboard and DDR3 RAM = £265

BUT, a Sandybridge will only cost £150 + 100 + 40 - ie. 25 quid more !!!

And, it will give you around 30% more than the i5 750.

The only beneift of the i3 is the cheaper m/b (around £25, and the CPU only costs £85.

Looks like you're doing the same as me - procrastinating. Hehe... gotta love FSX.

If you're not gonna get much benefit from an i3 upgrade (I'm not really up on Athlons to be honest !), you may as well go for a full SBridge. This is what I've realised. At that point of course, your GPU will certainly be limiting things, especially in busy airports like OrbX stuff.

The Asus P8P67 is recommended by CustomPC magazine, when paired with the i5 2500k. But, you must be prepared to o/c it.

It is only around £100 from Ebuyer, and will actually use less power than your current system!

CONCLUSION:

I'd go for the full Sandybridge setup at £290 or so, and keep your monitor and GPU for now... you will see a great boost in performance.

Then save a few hundred for a GPU and larger monitor later on.

[WildgooseUK 0]

Thanks for all your help and advice GabethePilot :001_th_smiles89:

It's a minefield out there with all these different CPU's, GPU's and Motherboards. There's a real danger of wasting your money for the wrong reasons.

I know that even for today's standard, the 8800GT is still a card to be reckoned with when it comes to FSX. So, like you said, am keeping the card and monitor, and upgrade to a Sandybridge CPU. It will have to be a MicroATX one as I do not think that the ATX will fit my case.

What's your opinion of this bundle?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=BU-035-OB&groupid=43&catid=339&subcat=1803

[WildgooseUK 0]

By the end of the day, I want a PC that will bring joy of flying in FSX for another few years with acceptable fps without having to folk out more money.

I have all the Orbx sceneries, couple of UK2000 Airports add-ons, PMDG 747 and a few Carenado planes. With more on the horizon, I like to know that with whatever PC bundle I may buy - play FSX with ease.