Overclocking CPU for Prepar3D

[evm]

Hi,

 

strange, there is no affinity mask setting in there. So I suspect your sim is running only in core 0 and the other 3 idle.

 

I suggest the following:

- Turn all your graphics settings to about half, especially scenery complexity and autogen

- MSAA 2x

- Anisotropic 4x

- Turn off all shadows for now.

- add the affinity mask setting of 14 to your cfg like this:

 

[JOBSCHEDULER]

AffinityMask=14

 

This setting is assuming that you are running 4 cores with no hyperthreading, right (sorry, I don't know the first thing about AMD)? It will utilise three of them, and leave core 0 free for other processes. If you want to try using all cores, then set "15"

 

And while you're at it, set optimize_parts=1

[darryl737]

Hi,

 

Just wanted to share something regarding my MoBo CPU socket it's AM3+. However by default the Phenom II has AM3 socket. So my system is running in AM3+ socket rather than AM3. Can that make a difference in CPU performance?

 

What motherboard do you have?, the fact you are running a incompatible board you are never going to get any type of performance. You really need a change either the motherboard or your CPU.

Nothing you do or change in the settings is going to help your performance.

[evm]

What motherboard do you have?, the fact you are running a incompatible board you are never going to get any type of performance. You really need a change either the motherboard or your CPU.

Nothing you do or change in the settings is going to help your performance.

 

As stated above, if there is a CPU/Mobo incompatibility, the whole computer will be slow, not just P3D.

 

Run the Windows Experience thing, it should give you an idea of general performance.

[loki]

Hi,

 

strange, there is no affinity mask setting in there. So I suspect your sim is running only in core 0 and the other 3 idle.

 

There is no affinity mask setting by default, and it is not needed for P3D to use all available cores. The main reason to use the affinity mask setting is to restrict the cores P3D uses. For many people leaving it out will work just fine.

[evm]

There is no affinity mask setting by default, and it is not needed for FSX SP1 and later to use all available cores. The main reason to use the affinity mask setting is to restrict the cores FSX uses. For many people leaving it out will work just fine.

 

I just don't know if this is true for AMD also, never had one of those. I'd like Arghya to cover all bases before he spends money he seemingly does not really have for little gain.

[loki]

I just don't know if this is true for AMD also, never had one of those. I'd like Arghya to cover all bases before he spends money he seemingly does not really have for little gain.

 

It is true for all processors. AMD processors don't have have hyper-threading, so that won't be an issue though. He should be able to get better performance, but it won't be because the sim isn't using all cores. I would suspect the settings being used.

[arghya052]

Hi Guys,

 

Below is my windows experience rating (on a scale of 1 to 7.9)

 

Processor - 7.0

RAM - 7.5

Graphics - 7.6

Gaming graphics - 7.6

Primary HDD - 5.9

 

The processor rating was even more the last time I did this. At that time it was OC'ed to 3.9GHz. But thinking that the poor performance could be due to a bad overclock, I brought it down to 3.5GHz.

 

Please let me know what could be the issue.

 

Best,

Arghya

[evm]

Hi no issue here, all looking good.

 

But this was to be expected, as I said, an incompatibility on the hardware level will have grave consequences everywhere, and most likely not work at all.

 

How did the tweaking go?

[arghya052]

Hi,

 

I am out of station so couldn't try the tweaks yet. Remotely accessed my system to get these details for your analysis.

 

I will try the tweaks and revert by next week.

 

Best,

Arghya

[evm]

OK, best of luck! Please let us know how it turns out.

 

Your computer looks capable enough according to these numbers, so it should be the settings of the sim causing bad FPS.

[arghya052]

Hi,

 

I did the tweaks suggested, did a defragment on all the drives, lowered all the sliders in P3D to medium or Low. After these steps I should say that I can see a very slight improvement i.e, I am getting around 15 FPS on a default airport in the 737 NGX. But while landing at Fly Tampa St Marteen, I experienced the same stutters and fps drop as before.

 

Note: I checked my CPU utilization, and found that the temperature is spiking to 79C. This temperature is way beyond the permissible limits for an AMD Phenom II. I suspect that this might me causing my CPU to run at a degraded speed to bring down the temperature.

 

Would like to hear your views on this.

 

Best,

Arghya

[arghya052]

Hi,

 

P3D is using all the cores. PFB the screenshot from HWMonitor during P3D gameplay.

 

 

Best,

Arghya

[E-Buzz]

Is it true you're only running 6GB of RAM?

Recommended minimum is 8GB.

This may be one of the major problems.

Which OS are you running?

What model motherboard are you running? Potentially good news is that since it is an AM3+ socket, you may be able to just upgrade the CPU to a more powerful FX model - darryl737 please correct me if I'm wrong -you're the AMD guy :D. Going that route will be potentially less expensive, and physically easier than upgrading to an Intel CPU for many reasons.

Maybe use CPU-Z when P3D is running slow and take a shot of the CPU, multiplyer, and bus frequency to see if throttling is occurring.

If so, then we also need to see the temps (HWMon).

But I still think, unless the 6GB was a typo, the first thing you need to do is get your RAM to 8GB.

Hope this helps,

 

E-Buzz :pilot:

[evm]

Hi, judging from the temperatures that are visible at the bottom, your GPU is not really in the game. Did you set up a special profile for P3D or is it the default one? Can you do a GPU utilization graph with NVI? Did you update the GPU driver recently?

 

Please share your current settings again, the cfg and/or screenshots of your setup pages.

 

Btw, how are FPS with the default planes? And does setting AffinityMask 14 or 15 make any difference? (14 should leave the first CPU core free).

[arghya052]

Is it true you're only running 6GB of RAM?

Recommended minimum is 8GB.

This may be one of the major problems.

Which OS are you running?

What model motherboard are you running? Potentially good news is that since it is an AM3+ socket, you may be able to just upgrade the CPU to a more powerful FX model - darryl737 please correct me if I'm wrong -you're the AMD guy :D. Going that route will be potentially less expensive, and physically easier than upgrading to an Intel CPU for many reasons.

Maybe use CPU-Z when P3D is running slow and take a shot of the CPU, multiplyer, and bus frequency to see if throttling is occurring.

If so, then we also need to see the temps (HWMon).

But I still think, unless the 6GB was a typo, the first thing you need to do is get your RAM to 8GB.

Hope this helps,

 

E-Buzz :pilot:

 

Hi,

 

I am using gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3 board.

 

Yes I am using a 6 GB RAM (2 sticks 1 4GB and another 2GB).

 

OS: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit.

 

I understand that going for an AMD FX model CPU is going to be less expensive, but after reading many posts I have seen that Intel always outperforms AMD CPUs for FSX and P3D. So I am a bit skeptical for doing this upgrade, worried that it might not lead to an increase in performance. Also AMD CPUs have issues with temperatures.

 

Best,

Arghya

[arghya052]

Hi, judging from the temperatures that are visible at the bottom, your GPU is not really in the game. Did you set up a special profile for P3D or is it the default one? Can you do a GPU utilization graph with NVI? Did you update the GPU driver recently?

 

Please share your current settings again, the cfg and/or screenshots of your setup pages.

 

Btw, how are FPS with the default planes? And does setting AffinityMask 14 or 15 make any difference? (14 should leave the first CPU core free).

 

Hi,

 

I have changed the Affinity Mask to 14. PFB the cfg file.

 

[JOBSCHEDULER]

AffinityMask=14

 

[Display]

ChangeTime=4.000000

TransitionTime=4.000000

ActiveWindowTitleTextColor=255,255,255

ActiveWindowTitleBackGroundColor=0,28,140,64

NonActiveWindowTitleTextColor=255,255,255

NonActiveWindowTitleBackGroundColor=24,33,87,64

InfoUpperRightTextColor=255,0,0

InfoUpperRightBackGroundColor=0,0,0,0

InfoLowerLeftTextColor=255,255,255

InfoLowerLeftBackGroundColor=255,0,0,128

InfoLowerRightTextColor=255,255,255

InfoLowerRightBackGroundColor=255,0,0,128

InfoBrakesEnable=True

InfoParkingBrakesEnable=True

InfoPauseEnable=True

InfoSlewEnable=True

InfoStallEnable=True

InfoOverspeedEnable=True

InfoWeaponSystemEnable=True

InfoCountermeasureEnable=True

SKINNED_ANIMATIONS=1

TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=30

UPPER_FRAMERATE_LIMIT=0

WideViewAspect=False

FullScreenExclusive=True

FullScreenAutoFill=True

FullScreen=False

TEXTURE_FILTERING=2

MSAA=2

SSAA=0

VSYNC=0

FXAA=0

TRIPLE_BUFFER=0

[sCENERY]

POP_FREE_AUTOGEN=1

AUTOGEN_BATCH_LOD=2

AUTOGEN_TREE_MAX_DRAW_DISTANCE=9500.000000

AUTOGEN_TREE_MIN_DISTANCE_TO_LOD=2500.000000

IMAGE_COMPLEXITY=2

[Main]

User Objects=Airplane, Helicopter, Submersible, ExternalSim

SimObjectPaths.0=SimObjects\Airplanes

SimObjectPaths.1=SimObjects\Rotorcraft

SimObjectPaths.2=SimObjects\GroundVehicles

SimObjectPaths.3=SimObjects\Boats

SimObjectPaths.4=SimObjects\Animals

SimObjectPaths.5=SimObjects\Misc

SimObjectPaths.6=SimObjects\Submersible

SimObjectPaths.7=SimObjects\Weapons

SimObjectPaths.8=SimObjects\Countermeasures

LabelsSupported=Airplane, Helicopter

Location=532,168,1572,946,\\.\DISPLAY1

Maximized=2

HideMenuNormal=0

HideMenuFullscreen=1

[PANELS]

IMAGE_QUALITY=1

SAVE_AND_LOAD_PANEL_STATE=0

PANEL_OPACITY=100

PANEL_MASKING=1

PANEL_STRETCHING=1

UNITS_OF_MEASURE=0

QUICKTIPS=1

[Weather]

WindshieldPrecipitationEffects=1

MinGustTime=10

MaxGustTime=500

MinGustRampSpeed=1

MaxGustRampSpeed=200

MinVarTime=5

MaxVarTime=50

MinVarRampSpeed=10

MaxVarRampSpeed=75

TurbulenceScale=1.000000

WeatherGraphDataInDialog=0

AdjustForMagVarInDialog=1

DynamicWeather=0

DownloadWindsAloft=0

DisableTurbulence=0

CLOUD_DRAW_DISTANCE=5

DETAILED_CLOUDS=1

OPTIMIZE_DENSE_CLOUDS=0

CLOUD_COVERAGE_DENSITY=6

THERMAL_VISUALS=0

VolumetricFog=0

[CONTROLS]

Controls_Default=Standard

Controls_Current=Standard

KBDAIL=64

KBDELEV=64

KBDRUD=64

[TextInfo.1]

Latitude=1,1

Longitude=1,2

Altitude=1,3

Heading=1,4

AirSpeed=1,5

WindDirectionAndSpeed=1,6

[TextInfo.2]

FrameRate=1,1

LockedFrameRate=1,2

GForce=1,3

FuelPercentage=1,4

[TextInfo.3]

Latitude=1,1

Longitude=1,2

Altitude=1,3

Heading=1,4

AirSpeed=1,5

WindDirectionAndSpeed=1,6

FrameRate=2,1

LockedFrameRate=2,2

GForce=2,3

FuelPercentage=2,4

[slewTextInfo.1]

Latitude=1,1

Longitude=1,2

Altitude=1,3

Heading=1,4

AirSpeed=1,5

[slewTextInfo.2]

FrameRate=1,1

LockedFrameRate=1,2

[slewTextInfo.3]

Latitude=1,1

Longitude=1,2

Altitude=1,3

Heading=1,4

AirSpeed=1,5

FrameRate=2,1

LockedFrameRate=2,2

[DynamicHeadMovement]

LonAccelOnHeadLon=-0.020000

LonAccelOnHeadPitch=-0.010000

RollAccelOnHeadLat=0.010000

YawAccelOnHeadLat=-0.100000

RollAccelOnHeadRoll=0.100000

MaxHeadAngle=5.000000

MaxHeadOffset=0.300000

HeadMoveTimeConstant=1.000000

[VirtualCopilot]

VirtualCopilotActive=0

[uSERINTERFACE]

SHOW_MISSION_CAPTIONS=0

PAUSE_ON_LOST_FOCUS=0

PROMPT_ON_EXIT=1

SITUATION=FLIGHTS\OTHER\Prepar3D

SHOW_SCENARIO_WINDOW=1

RestoreTimeOnMove=0

Map_Orientation=1

[PointOfInterestSystem]

CycleSetting=0

[sOUND]

PrimaryPlaybackDevice={DEF00000-9C6D-47ED-AAF1-4DDA8F2B5C03}

VoicePlaybackDevice={DEF00002-9C6D-47ED-AAF1-4DDA8F2B5C03}

VoiceCaptureDevice={DEF00003-9C6D-47ED-AAF1-4DDA8F2B5C03}

SOUND=1

SOUND_QUALITY=2

SOUND_LOD=0

UISound=1

[GRAPHICS]

TEXTURE_MAX_LOAD=512

NUM_LIGHTS=4

COCKPIT_HIGH_LOD=1

AIRCRAFT_REFLECTIONS=1

LANDING_LIGHTS=1

DAWN_DUSK_SMOOTHING=1

LENSFLARE=1

HDR=1

BLOOM_LEVEL=2

SHADOW_QUALITY=2

TERRAIN_SHADOW_CAST_DISTANCE=0

CLOUD_SHADOW_CAST_DISTANCE=0

OBJECT_SHADOW_CAST_DISTANCE=2

CONTENT_NO_SHADOW=0

INTERIOR_SHADOWS_CAST=0

EXTERIOR_SHADOWS_CAST=0

SIMOBJECT_SHADOWS_CAST=0

TERRAIN_SHADOWS_CAST=0

VEGETATION_SHADOWS_CAST=0

BUILDING_SHADOWS_CAST=0

CLOUD_SHADOWS_CAST=0

INTERIOR_SHADOWS_RECEIVE=0

EXTERIOR_SHADOWS_RECEIVE=0

SIMOBJECT_SHADOWS_RECEIVE=0

TERRAIN_SHADOWS_RECEIVE=0

VEGETATION_SHADOWS_RECEIVE=0

BUILDING_SHADOWS_RECEIVE=0

SHADOW_NUM_CASCADES_LOW=4

SHADOW_NUM_CASCADES_MID=5

SHADOW_NUM_CASCADES_HIGH=7

SHADOW_NUM_CASCADES_ULTRA=12

GROUND_SHADOW_TEXTURE_SIZE=2048

CLOUD_SHADOW_TEXTURE_SIZE=512

SHADOW_LOG_PARTITION_LOW=0.850000

SHADOW_LOG_PARTITION_MID=0.850000

SHADOW_LOG_PARTITION_HIGH=0.850000

SHADOW_LOG_PARTITION_ULTRA=0.850000

EFFECTS_QUALITY=2

EFFECTS_DISTANCE=0

TEXTURE_QUALITY=3

IMAGE_QUALITY=0

See_Self=1

Text_Scroll=1

MIPMAP_VC_PANELS=1

TESSELLATION=1

[TrafficManager]

AirlineDensity=37

GADensity=28

FreewayDensity=20

ShipsAndFerriesDensity=21

LeisureBoatsDensity=20

IFROnly=0

AIRPORT_SCENERY_DENSITY=0

[AContain]

ShowLabels=1

ShowUserLabel=0

ShowLabelManufacturer=1

ShowLabelModel=1

ShowLabelTailNumber=0

ShowLabelDistance=1

ShowLabelAltitude=1

ShowLabelAirline=0

ShowLabelAirlineAndFlightNumber=0

ShowLabelFlightPlan=0

ShowLabelContainerId=0

ShowLabelAirspeed=0

ShowLabelHeading=0

LabelDelay=1000

LabelColor=FFFF0000

[TERRAIN]

LOD_RADIUS=2.500000

TESSELLATION_FACTOR=85

MESH_RESOLUTION=24

TEXTURE_RESOLUTION=28

AUTOGEN_VEGETATION_DENSITY=0

AUTOGEN_BUILDING_DENSITY=0

DETAIL_TEXTURE=1

WATER_REFLECT_CLOUDS=0

WATER_REFLECT_USERAIRCRAFT=0

WATER_REFLECT_SIMOBJECTS=0

WATER_REFLECT_TERRAIN=0

WATER_REFLECT_AUTOGEN_VEGETATION=0

WATER_REFLECT_AUTOGEN_BUILDINGS=0

WATER_REFRACT_CLOUDS=0

WATER_REFRACT_USERAIRCRAFT=0

WATER_REFRACT_SIMOBJECTS=0

WATER_REFRACT_TERRAIN=0

WATER_REFRACT_AUTOGEN_VEGETATION=0

WATER_REFRACT_AUTOGEN_BUILDINGS=0

ENABLE_BATHYMETRY=0

WATER_CLARITY=30

WATER_DETAIL=2

[ATC]

AutoOpenAirTrafficWindow=1

UsePilotVoice=1

PilotVoice=0

[iNTERNATIONAL]

ASLAT=2

ASLON=0

MEASURE=0

[REALISM]

PFactor=0.000000

Torque=0.000000

GyroEffect=0.000000

CrashTolerance=0.000000

General=0.000000

UnlimitedFuel=True

AllowEngineDamage=False

TrueAirspeed=False

AutoCoord=True

RealMixture=False

StressDamage=False

GEffect=False

ManualLights=False

GyroDrift=False

CrashWithDyn=False

CrashDetection=False

OnCrashAction=0

AutoTrim=False

[ATTACHMENTS]

WeaponHighlight=False

HighlightDuration=1.000000

AutoWeaponSwitching=False

UnlimitedWeapons=False

UnlimitedCountermeasures=False

IgnoreAttachmentWeight=True

IgnoreAttachmentForces=True

[RECORDER]

RecordAITraffic=True

RecordAirportVehicles=True

RecordLeisureBoats=True

[sIM]

SYSCLOCK=0

OPTIMIZE_PARTS=1

[sTARTUP]

DEMO=0

STARTUP_DEMO=

LOAD_SIMDIRECTOR=1

LoadWindow=1

[FACILITIES]

COUNTRY=

STATE=

CITY=

GTL_BUTTON=4096

[Misc]

Com_Rate=7

[DISPLAY.Device.NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti.0.0]

Mode=1920x1080x32

[MULTIPLAYER]

condAccoutPassword=0

 

Regarding GPU, yes I have recently updated the driver to version 353.06. But I didn't find any improvement/degradation in performance.

 

Can you share the GPU settings to use in nvidia control panel.

 

Best,

Arghya

[evm]

Hi, I didnt set up anything in the control panel or NVI, just a clean reinstall. But NVI has a handy feature where you can see how much your GPU is being used.

 

Dont know if this still works, but can you rename the p3d cfg and let P3D build a new one?

 

Is there something else running alongside the sim? Addons or other software? And turn off AI traffic, just in case.

[arghya052]

Hi Guys,

 

I was browsing the net for a good AMD processor,found this FX 9590. It's saying it has 8 cores and speed upto 4.7/5 GHz.4.7 or 5 GHz is way more than what most people are using in FSX/P3D. I have seen people use a max of 4.5 GHz in an i7-4790K.

 

Is anyone of you using it for P3D/FSX? How's the performance? Benchmarks?

 

If it's good then I might as well go for it as my Mobo has AM3+ which will support this processor.

 

Please share your views.

 

Note: Just wanted to know if it is true that FSX/P3D run way better in Intel CPU than an AMD one even if both have equivalent clock speeds? Please clarify?

 

Best,

Arghya

[E-Buzz]

Hi Guys,

 

I was browsing the net for a good AMD processor,found this FX 9590. It's saying it has 8 cores and speed upto 4.7/5 GHz.4.7 or 5 GHz is way more than what most people are using in FSX/P3D. I have seen people use a max of 4.5 GHz in an i7-4790K.

 

Is anyone of you using it for P3D/FSX? How's the performance? Benchmarks?

 

If it's good then I might as well go for it as my Mobo has AM3+ which will support this processor.

 

Please share your views.

 

Note: Just wanted to know if it is true that FSX/P3D run way better in Intel CPU than an AMD one even if both have equivalent clock speeds? Please clarify?

 

Best,

Arghya

 

The 9590 is what darryl737 is currently running @ 5gHz in his sig.

There are many others that run AMD CPUs with FSX/P3D with very good results. I used to run a Phenom iix6 1035t @ 3.5gHz with decent results in FSX.

I don't have the article (but, Google is your friend) but, it says clock-for-clock, intel chips are more efficient than AMD chips. Thus, an intel CPU running at a given clock speed is actually faster than a competing AMD CPU at the same clock speed. Is that true? Maybe. I'm no expert.

The only reason I switched to the i5 is because I (want to) run as much eye-candy and high-quality addons as possible with acceptable frame rates and smoothness. And, I couldn't push the Phenom's OC much more than 3.5 without more "exotic" cooling solutions.

Check out some overclocking forums and/or Google your motherboard model with the FX chip you're looking to get - see what results others may have had and what they did to achieve their overclocks. There may even be some references to the kind of performance achieved in P3D. And hopefully darryl737 can chime in to help.

 

Again, I still think you should start with upping your RAM count to at least 8GB (2 X 4GB matched sticks) and see if you have any improvements. I really don't think 6GB is enough and may be why you're getting the performance mentioned. You may not get any earth-shattering results, but there should be at least some improvement.

 

Switching out just your processor, while leaving most everything else intact, should be much easier than going to a new processor/motherboard combo, depending on your version (OEM, Full, etc.) of Windows.

If you have the full (expensive) version, you will definitely have no problems.

From what I've read (and experienced), most of the time the OEM version (license) dies with the motherboard. The OEM version is tied to the motherboard it was first installed on unless you're replacing it with the same type/model/manufacturer because of original motherboard failure.

There have been stories of people calling into Microsoft to reactivate OEM versions when switching motherboards with various degrees of success. But, some don't.

Just switching out the CPU shouldn't cause any Windows activation malarkey regardless of your version.

 

I hope this helps. Good luck!

 

E-Buzz :pilot:

[Rupert]

I spent years using AMD hardware. I just couldn't see the cost differential to Intel. But after getting more and more into heavy scenery, I just wasn't as pleased with what I was seeing. Then I read in several different places that MS worked with Intel when they produced FSX. So I built a rig with the i7 chip and tried to keep all the other parameters as equal to what I'd do with AMD as possible.

 

I can't speak for others, but I was overwhelmed how much better my results were with a basic i7 running at 3.9! I recently built another rig with a 2011 based chip @4.67Ghz. and loaded it up with 32gig of DDR4 2400 ram and it's yet another quantam leap. I'm now an Intel advocate for FSX and P3D.

 

However, I wouldn't suggest you buy more than 8 gig of ram if your primary purpose is for simming. From all I've read, FSX and possibly P3D as well only address 8 gig. I went with the 32 gig just to see how it worked with some other projects I'm trying.

[loki]

From all I've read, FSX and possibly P3D as well only address 8 gig. I went with the 32 gig just to see how it worked with some other projects I'm trying.

 

Since they are 32 bit applications, both FSX and P3D can only address 4GB of address space, no more. Having 6-8GB when running a 64 bit OS will give more room for the OS and any other running background. Any more isn't going to do much for these sims, but may be useful for other applications.

 

As to the Intel vs AMD question, Intel's CPU cores are more powerful at the same clock speed than AMD's offerings. There have been plenty of reviews and benchmarks over the years showing this. AMD really dropped the ball after their Athlon 64 series trumped Intel's P4 series and has been playing catch up ever since. They do perform better in multi-core setups, but this isn't very useful for FSX/P3D. Note also that AMD's top end FX 9590 is a 220W CPU, compared to most of Intel's running at 95W or lower, which means you definitely need a solid PSU and cooling. None of this means that AMD CPUs can't run FSX/P3D, just that you need a faster model to match the Intel side. On the other hand, Intel isn't shy about charging top dollar for their processors.

 

In the end you need to make sure the sim is properly configured (starting with only using the in sim settings and sliders) no matter which CPU you are using.

[darryl737]

I changed from a i7 4790 to a AMD 9590 overclocked to 5Ghz for my dedicated FSX rig, although you can get more out of it but 5Ghz is the sweet spot. The difference is quite staggering compared to the i7. However it comes with a "but" ( there's always a but ). Running FSX and any associated add-ons is fine, I run ORBX global and some country specific scenery, PMDG 737, Majestic Q400, FSrealWX, about 25ish AI packages, with all sliders maxed except road and sea traffic at 50%, however the second that you want to run a applications outside of FSX while FSX is running or if you want to capture video of your flights the performance drop is steep. Also you need some above average cooling ( air cooling wont do the job ) as with all AMD CPUs they run hotter than Intel.

You also should look at bumping up your RAM, 8gigs is fine 16 unless you playing other games is overkill for FSX.

I don't run a top of the line GPU as again anymore than what I have is wasted on FSX. Look at something with 2gigs VRAM.

Now that sounds all very nice and easy to do, which it is but if you are looking at other uses for your rig like video editing, photo editing etc. then that's where you really need to look at a i7, they are second to none when it comes to such applications. If you are just looking for a dedicated FSX rig then I believe you cant get any better than a AMD CPU.

I use AMD almost exclusively on dedicated FS builds.

[arghya052]

Hi Guys,

 

Thanks to all of you for your replies and insights.

 

I will go for a Intel based setup probably an i5-4690K and a Z97 Mobo. Will buy some decent after market cooling to keep down the temps while overclocking.

 

But it will be sometime before I can get all of these as I don't have enough money for the time being to do this upgrade right away.

 

Once I do the upgrade I will definitely post my new rig's FSX/P3D experience here.

 

Once again thanks to all of you. I really appreciate it.

 

Best,

Arghya

[darryl737]

Keep a eye on the prices of the i5s and i7s, with the new gen of Intel CPUs coming out you may get them cheaper in the coming months and I am sure once Intel drop their gen 6 price point after a month or so you should get yourself a sharp price on a gen 5 i5 or i7. Good luck with your build and there is always plenty of willing people on here that will give you some solid advice if you need it.

 

Darryl

[arghya052]

Hi Guys,

 

Can you please suggest a good Z97/Z87 Mobo for my P3D rig? I will be buying the i5-4690K but I am not sure as to which Mobo to go for. I have seen the Asus Maximus VII, but it is too high priced(I personally feel like it will be an overkill for my rig to buy this mobo). I want the best I can get at a low budget.

 

Best,

Arghya