Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) technique offers optimal or sub-optimal solution to multi-dimensional objective functions. This paper provides the comparative study of PSO based tuning of integer and fractional order Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) controllers using SIMULINK which is a real time implementation. The tuning of parameters of fractional order and integer order PID controller is based on required specifications of peak-overshoot, rise time, settling time and steady-state error. The characteristic equation is minimized to obtain an optimal set of controller parameters. Results show that PSO based tuning of fractional order controller using SIMULINK is more effective when compared with tuning of integer order controller using PSO and conventional methods.