Is an E6600 and 4gb memory worth it for FSX?

pieman109

pieman109

pieman109

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I've Just put a system together for a flight sim system for the local air cadets which I'm a civilian instructor for which comprises the following:

E4300 @ 3.0ghz
2gb ocz pc6400
4870 512mb
MSI G31 nmatx mobo
Nobo o/h projector (1024 x 768 res)
Win 7 os.

I've read that FSX is really cpu dependant rather than graphics card limited, so I'm just wondering if the slightly faster E6600 overclocked to 3.2ghz (also the extra 2mb L2 cache) and 4gb pc6400 would make a noticeable difference in performance?
Any info would be greatly appreciated.
Cheers.:)
 
Don't think i could get the air cadets to stump up for a quad core cpu, reckon the cost will be a bit prohibitive. An nvidia card is easily on the cards, I suppose summat like a GTX 260 and upwards? also, 4gb of memory is dirt cheap so I was thinking of getting some of that anyway. really got to watch the cost of things here, kinda building things on shoe string:p Are there any free addon packs available for FSX as well, I think that would make it better looking, currently looks a bit "basic" as it were when running at 1024 x 768, still looks reasonable though:)
thanks for the suggestions
 
Last time I checked the 9800GTX+/250GTS was still the king for FSX - and the 1gig version would make it even smoother...

The game is very CPU dependant but also quite picky GPU wise.

EDIT: Although at 1024x res on a projector I'm not sure you'd see much difference as you'd prolly be more CPU limited at that res... but if your going for a new GPU then the 1gig 250GTS looks to be the best for it.
 
Rroff said:
Last time I checked the 9800GTX+/250GTS was still the king for FSX - and the 1gig version would make it even smoother...

The game is very CPU dependant but also quite picky GPU wise.

EDIT: Although at 1024x res on a projector I'm not sure you'd see much difference as you'd prolly be more CPU limited at that res... but if your going for a new GPU then the 1gig 250GTS looks to be the best for it.
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This is what I was thinking, due to the res, I don't need an expensive card and it appears the 4870 is doing fine. Like I said earlier, the guys using the sim are more interested in a BIG image and they're gonna be sitting about 6-8 feet away from the screen, so any drop in image quality isn't gonna as noticeable. Different story if I was gonna use an LCD nonitor I reckon. Taking into account costs, do you reckon, as advised, an E6600 clocked as high as it'll go (up to say 3.4ghz-3.6ghz) would be sufficient?
I'm gonna be getting a coupla 2gb memory sticks regardless, probably go for the ocuk branded stuff as its cheap, or even memory from the MM here if thats cheap enough.
 
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mithrandir said:
Overclock that CPU and download the FSX demo to try it out. It'll be the only way to see if it can cope. ;)
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Already have done old boy, got it running last night with an old MS combat sim and FSX deluxe. Appears to run ok, but I didn't have enough time to set it up, (detail levels, resolution, AA, AF, etc). The cadets took one look and it was a bun fight to see who'd be first on it. Never got a chance to sit down calmly and test it out thoroughly:).
I'm basically trying to think ahead and see what me options are for upgrading if needed, hence the opinions are appreciated. I'm looking at getting "Lockon" as well for it as I think that might suit them better.
 
Chong Warrior said:
You might struggle getting any big overclocks with that motherboard though.
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I was thinking that meself, the E4300 is currently at 3.0ghz at stock volts with good load temps but I would like to try for at least 3.2ghz if it doesn't require too much vcore. Its going under a tuniq tower so cooling won't be an issue.
 
Rroff said:
E6600 @ 3.x gig is still a pretty speedy setup and would help loads especially with the extra cache IMO.
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I'm with u Rroff! :)

Really nothing worth getting that's significantly better than an E6600 for gaming. Probably my next CPU upgrade will be for a 4Ghz stock speed. And even then you're probably better off upgrading to a GT400.
 
Would I be right in assuming I'd get a noticeable performance increase going from an E4300 @3.0ghz to an E6600 @ 3.2ghz MINIMUM overclock taking into account the extra L2 cache of the e6600?:)
 
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