Help me upgrade please!

thanks , so do you think that gpu will be able to manage?

Looking at these scores - Benchmarks - Microsoft Flight Simulator X. And then comparing the GeForce 8800 with the GeForce 430 - High End Video Card Chart

I would say the GeForce 430 gives ruffly half the performance of a GeForce 8800. The GeForce 430 uses allot less power as well.

do i need to buy heat resisting compound for the cpu , and also i think i have summed it down to these items please tell me what you guys think thank you.
PSU: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=7220649&sku=T13-2510
CPU: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116391
GPU: http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4501857&sku=A271-4858
MEMORY 1GB: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231106
are these all compatible with my system ,
or any other products that are cheaper that will do the same job thanks

I would probably get a radeon HD 5770 or 6770 over a HD4870. They have performance equivelent to a HD4870 but they are more power efficent, run cooler, and support directx 11. SAPPHIRE 100328L Radeon HD 6770 =$114 - $20 rebate so after rebate it is actually $5 less than the HD4870. Otherwise the other components look good, just make sure you have a free memory slot (you only have 2 and it was common to do 1GB as 2x512mb when your computer was built). Yes you will need some thermal compound since the CPU you listed does not come with any, also make sure your current heatsink can handle a Pentium D, since they run very hot you may need to buy a new heatsink and fan.

I usually use Arctic Silver CMQ2-2.7G Céramique thermal compound.

If you need a new CPU Cooler I would probably go with the ARCTIC COOLING Freezer 7 Pro if your case can fit it. At $30 it offers excelent cooling for the money. If your case is too small for that the COOLER MASTER Vortex Plus is the same price and lower profile although I don't really like the fact that it has a sleeve bearing fan.

how about the sapphire radeon hd 4850 512 mb ? seams greats for the price http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4501857&CatId=3670

that's pretty good for the price. Basically a 4870 but with DDR3 instead of the DDR5.

so ddr5 is faster will it help and also will having1gb instead of 512mb make graphics better? thanks

Yes, however given your CPU choices and maximum system memory it likely won't make much of a difference. The CPU and RAM / Chipset will likely max out before the video card. The HD4870/HD4850/HD6770 are right at the point where the other components would be maxed out. Any card more powerful than these would likely be bottlenecked by the CPU/Motherboard/RAM.

so the 4850 1gb wont make a difference?

As long as you are only running a single monitor it won't make much if any diference. The GPU has much more of an effect on performance than the amount of video memory. The only reason I could see for spending extra on a 1GB 4850 would be if you planned to run multiple monitors. Obviously if you can find a 1GB card for the same or lower price than a 512mb card go for it.

Is FSX the only game you are interested in? FSX is extraordinarily CPU dependent, so a faster CPU would benefit that sim. If you are looking to game with other titles, you might want to bump the GT 430 to a mid range graphics card. here is a review;
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gt-430-review/1

in the range of a 5670 would be a good match for your CPU

no basiclly i just want to have the best graphics to run the most games i can within a budget. do you think the gt 430 is better then the 4850?

argueta789 said:

no basiclly i just want to have the best graphics to run the most games i can within a budget. do you think the gt 430 is better then the 4850?

Click to expand...

The 4850 is more powerful than the gt 430, The 4850 is also slightly more powerful then the 5670 but not by much. The 5670 is much more power efficent though. The gt 430 may actually work with your current powersupply although I would probably still upgrade it. What red1776 is basically saying is that FSX doesn't require a very powerful GPU (remember the game was released back in 2007 so it doesn't requre incredibly powerful hardware by todays standards) so if that is the only game you are playing a gt 430 or similar card would be fine. FSX sould run fine on a geforce 8600gt (a circa 2006-07 mid-leval card). If you plan on playing other games with higher GPU requirements a more powerful video card may benefit you however anything above a Radeon 4850/4870/6770 would not be of any benefit given your other hardware.

ok thanks so much , also a 500 w corsair should work on my system right?

argueta789 said:

how about the sapphire radeon hd 4850 512 mb ? seams greats for the price http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4501857&CatId=3670

Click to expand...

I think the 4850 will be a nice pick for your PC.

On a side note, the newer tech uses less power for equal performance. The Radeon 5xxx, Radeon 6xxx, GeForce 4xx, and GeForce 5xx cards also support DirectX 11, if you are using Windows 7. Windows XP does not fully support DirectX 11. Without DirectX 11 support the best you could hope for is explained in this link.

The memory you have chosen is rated for 667MHz, while it should be backward compatible to 400MHz and 533MHz systems, you may want to match the frequency to what is rated in the system specs for your motherboard. The system specs shows compatibility for DDR2 400/533 MHz.

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argueta789 said:

ok thanks so much , also a 500 w corsair should work on my system right?

Click to expand...

Yes, although if you are refering to the corsair builder series I would go for the Antec Neo ECO 520w which is around the same price and is built by a better OEM (the Antec is built by Seasonic vs. CWT for the Corsair).

alrite well iam running xp so i guess it will be the 4850 and also any memory on that list should work?

argueta789 said:

any memory on that list should work?

Click to expand...

Yes, however the 533 will give better performance than the 400.

The 4850 is about twice a 430. and like clifford said, about where you want to be with your P4
http://www.guru3d.com/article/geforce-gt-430-review/14

so what options will open up if i install the intel pentium d 945 presler 3.4 ghz? which card would u recommend then? and i will be buying the corsair 500 w psu. and 1 gb of ram, or will it not matter?

Going up to the Pent D 945 will definately help you with processor intensive tasks, it is basically 2 Pent4s on a single die. However the 4850/4870 would still be around the max you would want to go on video card. Anything much more would be bottlenecked by the CPU / motherboard chipset. The 4850 is a decent card and can still run most current games at meduim settings. Yous should be able to max out an older game like FSX with a PentD/Radeon 4850.

Ok guys thanks so much, I will drop the processor out for now , ill buy that later. so it leaves me more money for the card, final decision between radeon hd5770 and the 6770 , or possibly the 4850, also even tho the 5770 and the 6770 are pcie 2.1 , will they still work with my pcie x16 slot? and i have 3 options for the 6770 1.xfx hd677x http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150540 2. his http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161387 or 3. his http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161378
thank u guys