I have a very old system

[wdeahl]

I am running a P4 2.8, I am not a big gamer, but I do a lot of flight simulation. I am debating getting a 775 socket or going to the 1366 socket. I am goign to need to buy new memory power supply, Graphics card, etc regardless of which socket I move up to. I know the i7 is the future, my biggest concern is life span and stability of the platform. Please give me your two cents if you were in my shoes?

 

[505090]

Depends on how long till the next big upgrade seeing as you still have a a p4 I'm guessing it's gonna be a while. With that in mind there will be new gen everything next time you upgrade leaving you in the same position you are in now regardless of what you buy. So save the money and go 775, 1366 is still over priced in my opinion anyway.

 

[Crashman]

I am running a P4 2.8, I am not a big gamer, but I do a lot of flight simulation. I am debating getting a 775 socket or going to the 1366 socket. I am goign to need to buy new memory power supply, Graphics card, etc regardless of which socket I move up to. I know the i7 is the future, my biggest concern is life span and stability of the platform. Please give me your two cents if you were in my shoes?

LGA1366 is moving towards servers and workstations, as Intel is releasing a new socket for desktop boards some time this summer. LGA775 has better value, and it will stick around a while because of that better value.

Also, most programs can't even take advantage of four cores yet, my personal system uses a Core 2 Duo (at 4.0 GHz) even though I have four-core systems (both C2Q and Ci7) I could be using instead.

 

[o1die]

Buy a decent power supply, such as antec, corsair, enermax, seasonic, or pc power and cooling. I would also get 2 motherboards if you want to keep your system for several years. You can get 2 g31 boards for around $100 or less, one brand new and one newegg open box. Cpus are generally available long after motherboards are discontinued.

 

[jitpublisher]

Flight Simulators like FSX will use all 4 cores of a Quad. In fact, they are more dependant on CPU power than GPU power.
If I were you, you could put together a decent Quad, 4 gig of memory, nVidia 260, that would run your Flight Simulator like you have never dreamed it would run, for around $500. (Probably less, but you'll have to do your own shopping) For what you do, that type of system would last you for years again.