Intel(R) Core™ i5-6500 which is currently about 6 years old,
GTX 1070 graphics card 8 GB
32 GB RAM
I was thinking of upgrading my CPU to something like i7 processor. At the moment upgrading whole system is out of my budget but CPU processor seems reasonable.
On my current system the sim runs just fine however when it comes to running fenix A320 I run into occasional stutters/hang up.
Is it worth upgrading to i7?
Please note my motherboard can only support i5/i6/i7 processors.
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I think the increased core count of the i7 is a non-issue right now. FS2024 is supposed to make it relevant.
Selecting a CPU that’s compatible with your motherboard, with the highest base/boosted CPU frequency (and especially CPU cache size) is much more important.
The i5-6500 (base 3.2GHz/ boosted 3.3GHz) uses the FCLGA1151 socket, and the Intel 300-series chipset, so you’ll need to find an 8th/9th generation i7 CPU that also uses that socket/chipset.
The best one is the i7-9700K (base 3.0GHz. boosted 4.7GHz.) The ‘K’ means the CPU is unlocked to allow overclocking. The non-K version is locked, and can’t be (easily) overclocked. The i7-9700K is slightly faster than the i7-9700 (non-K) version, even without overclocking.
I wouldn’t worry about overclocking (but it’s better to have that option and not need it, then to want it and not have it.) Just make sure Turbo mode is enabled in BIOS.
You would definitely want to upgrade your system BIOS with the i5 CPU in place, as an older BIOS with the new i7 might not boot. Trust me, finding out your system won’t boot because you have an old BIOS and a new CPU installed is NOT fun.
The i7-9700K is discontinued, so a NIB unit might be hard to find. But unless you want to buy a new motherboard, that’s the best (compatible) CPU you can buy.
I find that MFS is both gpu and cpu intensive as well.
Flying complex aircraft is one of the things that give the cpu a hard time so a cpu upgrade will likely show a noticeable improvement over your current model, which, venerable as it is, its already starting to be outdated.
I would go for the fastest cpu your m/b can handle and i would stress the importance of having your ram in dual channel mode. It is a cheap fix and it does make a difference.
back in the day i was squeezing the game out of a gtx 1050 and was amazed at how much i could get out if it. With the side cover off and a fan blowing into the case, that little card really held its own. Good stuff.
To begin with: there isn’t an i6 cpu.
It would be nice if you tell us what motherboard you are using atm.
The thing is that a not all intel cpu’s will fit on every motherboard.
Furthermore: balance between CPU/GPU/RAM/ MB/ PSU/SSD is key.
In my case: ASUS Z790 plus WiFi motherboard, intel i5 13600K, Geforce RTX 4070ti,
32 GB/ 5200, 1100 Watt PSU, and a 4K 32" monitor.
It has set me back about € 2500 in total a year ago but… you only live once.
In short: upgrading only 1 component is no guaranty for success…
That’s a tricky question to answer. What would you like to see happen - increased frame rates… better visual rendering at a distance… less stuttering when flying into a large hub airport…?
If the response is: “Take off & land the fenix A320 from a large hub airport with better FPS and fewer or no stutters”, then I do not think you will see a significant improvement, as you only have 8 GB memory on your graphics card.
The answer also depends on the price you’ll pay for the new CPU. If it were free (perhaps given to you by a friend), then obviously it’s worth it. Conversely, if it were $10,000 (a ridiculous value to illustrate my point) most definitely not!
Having upgraded previous PCs in years past with better CPUs & GPUs with the specific intent of improving performance of MSFS (FSX, FS9 & earlier versions), I always was disappointed with the results. Because MSFS places such a heavy demand on nearly all the resources of a PC, I’ve learnt that upgrading just a single component did not provide “value for money”. So, for me, it was not worth it.
You have an old PC. Looking at your specs, if you were to just upgrade the CPU, I think you would come to the same conclusion (I think you would need to upgrade your GPU at the same time, which would only add to the cost), but it depends on how you determine “worth”. If I was in your position, I would be patient, wait for the MSFS 2024 specs to be announced (hopefully later this year), and keep on saving my $$. Then, once the 2024 specs are announced, see if I could purchase a new PC that could run either 2024 (if you want that), or 2020 with whatever future performance improvements are made between now & then.
Many thanks for your response - Yeah I had a look, it looks like not much options available.
My current motherboard I have is H110M PRO-VD which I realise is NOT a gaming motherboard. It does not support overclocking or any other advanced settings. I bought this back in 2017 and at the time I didn’t have much experience with PC specs or anything.
I guess my best bet would be to just wait it out - get a new PC when I can but this time I will buy it from PC builders like PC specialists or Chillblast PC.
My current motherboard I have is H110M PRO-VD which I realise is NOT a gaming motherboard. It does not support overclocking or any other advanced settings.
I would like my sim to run just about okay with reasonable FPS and reducing stuttering especially when on approach. I am not saying Fenix does not run at all on my current specs - It just that when I fly into addons airports, Lets take Heathrow for example I run into stuttering problem. This can especially annoying when you are in middle of final approach and touchdown.
That’s why I was considering to upgrading my CPU processor, Ideally I would also like to upgrade my GPU but then I’ll need new motherboard and then it just makes sense to just upgrade whole PC.
I agree to your last paragraph - presently we don’t know what MSFS2024 will bring so I guess I will just have to wait & see and then make the decision. But yeah definitely for MSFS 2024 I’ll need new PC
A wise choice!
In the meantime, if you have not been following any “New PC” threads, read through some of the many threads on this forum from members who have been through the build-a-new-PC process to get some ideas of what others have built recently. You could also create a simple spreadsheet listing each component. When I built my latest PC, I put these in column 1:
Case
Case Fans (May be included in some cases)
Power Supply
Motherboard
System Memory
Processor
Processor Cooling
GPU
SSD Drive #1 (for Windows 11)
SSD Drive #2 (for MSFS, if you choose to put on a separate drive)
HHD Drive (for archiving & non-MSFS stuff like general documentation, pictures, etc.)
Monitor / TV
Peripherals
Cables
Other
And then each component I looked at would get entered in columns 2 through “n”.
After reading through a number of threads, you’ll get an idea of what components are more recommended by community members than others. If you see one that is specifically not recommended, add it anyway, but highlight it in red as a reminder as one to avoid!
Come up with an estimated budget for your new PC.
Start compiling a list of any hardware preferences you either have or are leaning towards (e.g. AMD vs. Intel vs. NVidia), based upon what you read.
Go to the company’s website for each component you are interested in and download any spec sheets or manuals for further reading.
Then use one of the many on-line PC-build tools (perhaps others can chime in here with recommendations) to build your new PC & cost estimate. You may end up with multiple builds - I “built” 3 configurations: high-end, medium & low-end, priced accordingly, and the components within these 3 catagories got changed many times.
You can share these builds here & the community will, I’m sure, give suggestions to improve your choices based on their experiences, and better yet, point out if component X is totally incompatible with component Y.
If you start now, you can do this in a relaxed & stress-free manner over the next few months, as you squirrel those $$$ into your bank account.
When the specs for 2024 are released, you can adjust the components in your builds if required, and, for the high-end build, perhaps look at the latest hardware that has been released between now & then.
Finally, for the time being, you might find some improvement in flying the fenix A320 into Heathrow when SU15 is released. I signed up to beta test it and found v1.37.7.0, to be noticeably better than the current released version when flying over Manhattan & into airports such as LAX (read my post here if interested). No promises - my PC specs are very different from yours, & others have not reported the same performance gain that I’ve seen, but maybe you’ll get lucky!
Your board does not support 8700K, 9700K or 9900K.
You could swap your CPU for a 7700K (supported).
I’ve seen one offered for 32 Euros on Ebay. In theory it’s about 30-40% more single thread performance than your current chip.
It could be an interim solution, whilst you wait for MSFS 2024 specs to be announced and invest in a more modern motherboard/CPU.
If your budget is tight, a possible option is to hunt for a 5800X3D and matching motherboard on the used market. I would guess it would set you back around 350 dollars, depending on your location.
Normally you should be able to reuse your existing sticks of DDR4 RAM if you go that route.
I’m going to use this thread as a learning experience.
I made a mistake recommending the i7-9700K. I based that on the little research I did that showed the socket (correct) and chipset (WRONG!) used by his current CPU, then extrapolated to recommend an incompatible CPU upgrade.
I should have asked what his motherboard model is.
I should have done better research.
