cpu recommendations

[imchief]

I am contiplating a new cpu. I have been researching the amd 4200 x2 toledo and the opteron.

[BenF23]

Imchief,
I too am looking at getting a new cpu for my machine and had some of the same questions as you.  I wanted to add a question to yours, that hopefully can be answered by others.

For FSX, what is the better choice for a processor...a single core with higher processing speed or a dual core with slower processing speed?  An example:  single core processor at 2.6 ghz vs. dual core at 2.2 ghz.  Which is the better choice for FSX?

Right now, I have a 2.2 ghz single core cpu as you can see below.  FSX runs alright now, but I no it could be better.  I am not going to rebuild my entire system though.  The only thing I want to buy is a new cpu, but with a 939 mobo I am limited on choice.  Also, I will add RAM if it would make much difference, but I already have 2 gigs as is.  Any help for imchief or myself would be greatly appreciated.

[Ivan]

FS goes about 2 things: CPU power and IO speed. Video performance is third place

Processor advice: Get new mobo with AM2, S939 Duals are rare (got mine almost a year ago and that was one of the last ones they had in the shop) and you will almost certainly get a cache crippled one.

What mobo are you running right now? If it supports SATA, get a big SATA drive with 16MB cache and put FS on that

[BenF23]

Ivan, I assume that most of those suggestions were for imchief.
In regards to what you wrote...I am not looking to do anything more than get a better cpu for my existing mobo and/or add RAM.

[Celtman]

First off, you are better sticking to FS9 with the new CPU than FSX, you will probably get better results.

Anyway, with regards to your question, you have not stated which Opteron you are looking at, so that is hard to answer, but the Toledo core 4200 X2 is a good S939 CPU. I had one, and it worked flawlessly for quite a while before I upgraded - I don't think you'd be disappointed with it.

As Ivan said, S939 CPU's are rare now, best bet is probably eBay. This site has it in stock in the UK at a very reasonable price:

http://www.yoyotech.co.uk/product_info. ... ts_id=4720


NOTE - That cpu is OEM - processor only, no fan/heatsink.

With regards to BenF23's question, FSX supports dual core (with SP1 - not sure about before this). Therefore, a dual core with a slower core speed will easily outperform a faster single core. It's simple maths really

e.g.  1x 2.6Ghz = 2.6Ghz

      2x 2.2Ghx = 4.4Ghz

Simple

Without knowing exactly what opteron you are looking at imchief, it is hard to give a full answer to your question, but as I stated before, the Toledo is a good CPU. As Ivan mentioned, it is "cache crippled" (L2 = 2x512Kb - Total 1Mb).
If you are looking to run FSX well, and any future PC games, you really want to upgrade to AM2 (Or Intel - they way outperform AMD at the moment). Also, this would allow you to upgrade to DDR2 RAM (much better in gaming - DDR2 speeds start where DDR speeds end). A decent motherboard, cpu and RAM upgrade can be got for a fair price these days, so I would advise that.
With your system, even with the new RAM and CPU, you will probably get better results with FS9.

Hope I've helped
If anything needs explaining, drop by and PM me, I'll be happy to help


Regards,
celtman

[BenF23]

celtman,
Thanks for the answers.  That info is very helpful and I think it will stear me in the direction I will go.  I assume that I have already updated my FSX with the SP1, but if not then I will do that.  Is that something that I can do just by going to microsoft's website?  I have FSX deluxe which I bought and installed within a week of it coming out.  I paid about $20 more than what it would cost to buy today, but as I said earlier, I am impulsive.  If I were a rational person, I would have bought FS9, especially after reading reviews about how much computing power FSX required.  But I also read how amazing FSX was, even compared to FS9, so that is why I chose it.  I figured, maybe in a couple of years I would replace my mobo, VC, and processor...at which time I will be able to take full advantage of its abilitiy.  As for today, I just want to slightly improve my flying experience, especially in multiplayer.  I will probably go with an AMD Athlon 64 X2 4200+ (2.2 ghz each core).  That should cost me around $75 and will be a big improvement over the single core 2.2 ghz processor I have now.  
After the new Direct X 10 vid cards have been out for a while, and any kinks have been worked out, I will upgrade everything again.  But as those of you who are married know, convincing your wife (or husband) that it is a good idea to invest $500 to $1000 in building a new PC when the current one does the important stuff fine (non gaming tasks) is not an easy task.  Even though it is my money, the wife will definitely be mad if I did that after just putting $600+ into a machine that is already outdated.  You have to fight the battles you can win...and that is one I cannot win.  Speaking of that, I have noticed lately that it is beginning to cost almost as much to build a good computer as it is to buy one already built...even when buying components on ebay or other discount websites.  Any advise as to where to shop for computer parts, to ensure that I get the best deal?  I buy most of my stuff from Newegg...but I am starting to question if that is a good idea.
Thanks for the advise and information!

[imchief]

Thank you all for the advice.  I will have to do some comparisons.  I am putting this stuff on my christmas list for my parrents.  They insist on buying me and my wife stuff even though we really don't need anything.  Therefore I decided to put down all the pc upgrades I want and some other music recording hard ware.  I thought they would have a cow at the prices but they really didn't say much except how to buy stuff online.  My mom is "Scared" of the internet.  Anyway thank you all againg for the info.

[congo]

[quote] It's simple maths really

e.g.