Which hardware to upgrade in my desktop?

[Team4R]

Hello all,

I was hoping I could give a rundown of my desktop setup and see if anyone had a suggestion on which parts I should upgrade... I'm looking to spend no more than $300 on new hardware.

I built this desktop initially for Flight Simulator X, and it plays smoothly at about 80% of maximum graphics. I'm now also playing TS2010 on the same system, and would say it's also running well at about 80% of maximum demand. In both games I still see stuttering in busy areas, and would like to essentially eliminate that altogether...

Foxconn M7PMX-S Micro-ATX Intel motherboard
Antec 900 Tower w/ 500w power supply

Windows 7 gives the following performance breakdown:

Intel E5200 Wolfdale overclocked to 3.42 GHz
Processor: 6.7

G.Skill 4GB (2x2) DDR2 800
Memory: 6.7

MSI GeForce 9600 GT 512MB 256/bit DDR3 Video Card
Graphics: 6.9
Gaming Graphics: 6.9

Western Digital 320GB 7200RPM SATA 3.0GB/s
Primary Hard Disk: 5.9

Any suggestions on what to upgrade and what I should be looking for when upgrading would be appreciated... Thanks in advance!

 

[BLACKWATCH]

I would upgrade the Intel E5200 Wolfdale.
Have a look at this thread for an idea of what others are running.
http://forums.auran.com/trainz/showthread.php?t=58862

 

[saintjimmy]

If you want to get any more performance out of that, I'd say go for a CPU upgrade and a graphics card upgrade. For the CPU, a Core 2 Quad Q9300 or Q8400 would get leave around $100-130 for a new graphics card, say a ATI 4850/5750 or nVidia GTS 250 (I recommend the ATI 4850 because it worked great for me at 1680 x 1050 resolution). Those upgrades won't get rid of all the stuttering, but most of it will be gone.

If you wanted absolutely zero stuttering however, you'll have to put at least $1,000 on a new system with the latest technology (large solid state hard drive, new motherboard/CPU/RAM, super high-end graphics, large power supply)