New System, same performance???

[pilotman767]

Hi all. I recently build a new gaming computer, but I am actually confused. I still run FSX: SE (will move to P3D V4 when budget allows), and the overall performance (specifically for FSX) is actually not that different from my old system. With any other game, I'm seeing nearly a 100% improvement in performance (in some cases, over 100% improvement).
New System Specs:
Core i7-7700K @4.5GHz
16GB DDR4-2400 RAM
GTX970 4GB Graphics running at PCIe 3 x16 link speeds
1TB HDD
Win10

Old System Specs
Core i7-2600 @3.4 GHz
16GB DDR3-1066 RAM
GTX770 2GB Graphics running at PCIe 2 x16 link speeds
2TB HDD
Win8.1 Pro

I am getting only marginal improvements from old to new.
Example: on the ground at KAPA (ORBX freeware) everything maxed except for autogen (normal), water effects at none, traffic at none, antialiasing off:
old system got around 20FPS, new system is at around 29FPS, fluctuating between 20 and 30FPS most of the time

By my math, and based on other improvements I've experienced, I should be getting around 40FPS...

Also, my GPU usage is all over the place on FSX, ranging from 30% usage to 80% usage.

If anyone has any input, I would love to hear it. Have I reached the limit of FSX Performance, and will P3D V4 be a significant improvement (in terms of performance)?

Thanks in advance! Hope you all are well.

[Blitzer]

Whether or not you could get better performance out of FSX I would not like to say, but I would quite suspect the real issue is largely going to be FSX itself. I moved to P3Dv4 not so long ago and have found it significantly better in appearance, performance and stability. Crucially though it is still being developed.

To be fair for a 11 year old piece of software (warts and all) FSX has served many well through the years, but IMO now really does hold back current hardware to the point where the hardware is simply not being used. I still have FSX:se installed and occasionally fire it up to use aircraft that is either not compatible or I am not willing to purchase a second time for P3D.

Personally I would start considering moving to P3D as the way forward.

Paul

[Tutmeister]

Fsx really doesn't care about your graphics card. It is very cpu focused.
So you have increased your cpu clock speed by around 30% but you also have other minor gains through the newer chip architecture and a small amount from your 970 and that gives you the 50% increase in fps that you are seeing.
So actually you aren't doing badly! All the other stuff you are comparing to will be making good use of your graphics card, fsx really isn't a good benchmark.
Chris

Edited for typos on my phone.

[Scott - A2A]

Pilotman,

FSX is CPU dependent / limited, so I would expect no more than a 33% increase in FPS with the new system.

Other games likely are using more of the graphics processing power.

Scott.

EDIT: double post, same as what Chris said

[pilotman767]

I appreciate all the input!

Thanks for clearing up the hardware usage. I suspected FSX was CPU bound.

And yes, I will absolutely be moving to P3D in the near future.