Upgrade path to play Xplane 11 better

[Thebobo]

My current gaming PC is getting old and I've recently gotten into flight sims and I want to get a tracker. My current systems plays X Plane with a few stutters now and then so I am looking to either upgrade or possibly replace the entire system.

Current set up
Intel I5 3570 3.6
Asrock MB Z77 Pro 4
8 mb ram
125 SSD for OS
225 SSD data
Win 7
Geforce Gtx 670 4mb - I had a better card in it but fried it, didn't have $$ at the time to get better.

So was thinking if I upgrade the GPU I can always switch into another PC later. Thank would that give me a good boost and maybe adding more ram?

Worth trying to upgrade CPU on MB? And if so upgrade to to 16 mb ram? Or just upgrade entire MB CPU

Of course I'm trying to save some money so I don't really have a straight budget. I want to do whatever allows me to play X Plane flawlessly. I wouldn't mind trying it out first with a new GPU, but getting more ram won't transfer to a news PC? I would rather not go full new build because of my current playability with X Plane. I also play Wot and some older game which run fine now.

Thanks in advance

 

[whm1974]

I wouldn't bother with upgrading the CPU, but adding more memory should help as will getting a new GPU. You are correct that you can use the new video card in a new system later but the memory you can't. This is due to the old RAM being DDR3 while the current standard is DDR4.

 

[daveybrat]

The recommended specs are quite a bit over what you currently have:

X-Plane 11 Recommended Requirements

• CPU: Intel Core i5 6600K at 3.5 ghz or faster
• CPU SPEED: Info
• RAM: 16 GB
• OS: Windows 7, 8, or 10, 64-bit
• VIDEO CARD: DirectX 12-capable video card from NVIDIA, AMD w/4 GB VRAM
• SOUND CARD: Default
• FREE DISK SPACE: 20 GB

Most flight sims love fast single core performance and a good GPU with as much Vram as possible.

 

[Thebobo]

The recommended specs are quite a bit over what you currently have:

X-Plane 11 Recommended Requirements

• CPU: Intel Core i5 6600K at 3.5 ghz or faster
• CPU SPEED: Info
• RAM: 16 GB
• OS: Windows 7, 8, or 10, 64-bit
• VIDEO CARD: DirectX 12-capable video card from NVIDIA, AMD w/4 GB VRAM
• SOUND CARD: Default
• FREE DISK SPACE: 20 GB

Most flight sims love fast single core performance and a good GPU with as much Vram as possible.

Yea I saw that but they also have different requirements on their website. But that could just be a copy from, X Plane 10 lol. Seems pretty low.

CPU: Intel Core i3, i5, or i7 CPU with 2 or more cores, or AMD equivalent. (Dual-core CPUs slower than 3 GHz should try the demo before purchasing.)
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Video Card: a DirectX 11-capable video card from NVIDIA, AMD or Intel with at least 1 GB VRAM
If your system is borderline, we encourage you to try the demo first. The full version of the simulator will perform exactly the same as the demo—neither better nor worse.

I downloaded the demo first and it played flawlessly. Notice they last say the demo plays exactly the same as the full version. Not true. At least on my system but its very small. The small problem I'm having is a slight stutter when i am launching (glider), Might be SSD access or not enough ram?

So what's a good mid to high end graphics card that could carry on when I do a full upgrade. I can upgrade the ram I have two 4mb sticks now should I go with two more sticks of the same or should I get two 8?.

 

[whm1974]

Yea I saw that but they also have different requirements on their website. But that could just be a copy from, X Plane 10 lol. Seems pretty low.



I downloaded the demo first and it played flawlessly. Notice they last say the demo plays exactly the same as the full version. Not true. At least on my system but its very small. The small problem I'm having is a slight stutter when i am launching (glider), Might be SSD access or not enough ram?

So what's a good mid to high end graphics card that could carry on when I do a full upgrade. I can upgrade the ram I have two 4mb sticks now should I go with two more sticks of the same or should I get two 8?.

Adding in the two 4GB sticks will be fine. Which high end GPU? Well that depends on your budget and how much you are willing to spend. A 1060 6GB at minimum I would think, while a 1070 or 1080 will be better of course.

 

[Thebobo]

Was thinking about the 1060 but that's a couple years old and I see that Nvidia is supposed to release new cards in august? I think I can wait until then if that's true.

 

[Ken g6]

Intel I5 3570 3.6

It looks to me like you're not maxing out your four bins of overclock. Do you need a better CPU cooler? CPU coolers are one thing that carries over many generations.

Was thinking about the 1060 but that's a couple years old and I see that Nvidia is supposed to release new cards in august? I think I can wait until then if that's true.

It's hard to know at this point. There are rumors that Nvidia has an overstock of old chips, and AMD isn't providing much competition, so they might wait even longer.

 

[Thebobo]

It looks to me like you're not maxing out your four bins of overclock. Do you need a better CPU cooler? CPU coolers are one thing that carries over many generations.

It's hard to know at this point. There are rumors that Nvidia has an overstock of old chips, and AMD isn't providing much competition, so they might wait even longer.

Stock cooler, I have running at 3.6 (norm is 3.4) since I built it. I tired 3.8 but was worried about it overheating and it was playing everything fine at 3.6 at the time. But that was years ago. I am using Asrock's OC utility not the bios. I'm no OC expert but I guess that could be one things I could to stretch this CPUs life if I got a better cooler.

 

[Thebobo]

Got two sticks of ram coming, now I'm looking into OC a bit more. Been reading up and this looks like a decent cooler, Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO. Think thats a good one for the MB?

Those are the two cheapest upgrades and then after that we'll see how the simulator plays and whether to get a new GPU for now.

 

[whm1974]

While a new GPU would see the most benefit, doubling your memory should boast your performance enough to be worthwhile to do.

 

[Thebobo]

Got the ram and its running great with no more stutters. The in-game frame rates show like 60 to 70/sec so not going to upgrade the GPU for now. Over all I am happy with the with just the ram. I'm getting a IR head tracker kit, cheap web cam, LEDs and tracking software is free we,ll see ho much that taxes my system.

One thing that concerns me is according to the As-rock software the CPU in running at 168 F yikes. But according to CPU-Z its 122F which is still hot? And this is after lowering the CPU to the normal 3.4 and cant tell any difference in the game but it still seems hot? Maybe I should re-seat the CPU?

 

[Thebobo]

It looks to me like you're not maxing out your four bins of overclock. Do you need a better CPU cooler? CPU coolers are one thing that carries over many generations.

It's hard to know at this point. There are rumors that Nvidia has an overstock of old chips, and AMD isn't providing much competition, so they might wait even longer.

I added a Hyper 212 EVO and what a difference it made. I was able to get to 4.0 and its cooler than the original cooler at 3.6. A lot of it might of been do to my horrible overapplication of thermal paste with the stock cooler.

So now I need a GPU and it looks like a bad time to purchase one? I was thinking about this EVGA 1070ti at $429 or waiting for the 1100s series to come out but they will probably be $$.