February 7, 200719 yr >I guess I am still undecided on going with the faster memory>as of yet, but I think I will definitely go with 4 Gigs of>memory. I just think Vista is going to use a ton of memory,>and I am already a FS Add-On freak running all kinds of>background programs when I am running FS.I think you'd be better off to try with 2GB at first, and if you really think you need more you can add 2GB more.I have 1000 MHz rated RAM, but run it at 800 MHz with the timings set much lower at CAS 3. Running the RAM synched with the FSB on the eVGA 680i mobo makes a significant difference...more so than just raw RAM speed.RegardsBob ScottATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VSantiago de Chile Bob Scott | President and CEO, AVSIM Inc ATP Gulfstream II-III-IV-V Sys1 (MSFS20+24/XPlane12+11): AMD 9800X3D, water 2x240mm, MSI MPG X670E Carbon, 64GB GSkill 6000/30, nVidia RTX4090FE Alienware AW3821DW 38" 21:9 GSync, 2x4TB Crucial T705 PCIe5 + 2x2TB Samsung 990 SSD, EVGA 1000P2 PSU, 12.9" iPad Pro Thrustmaster TCA Boeing Yoke, TCA Airbus Sidestick, Twin TCA Airbus Throttle quads, PFC Cirrus Pedals, Coolermaster HAF932 case Sys2 (P3Dv5/v4): i9-13900KS, water 2x360mm, ASUS Z790 Hero, 32GB GSkill 7800MHz CAS36, ASUS RTX4090 Samsung 55" JS8500 4K TV@60Hz, 3x 2TB WD SN850X 1x 4TB Crucial P3 M.2 NVME SSD, EVGA 1600T2 PSU Fiber link to Yamaha RX-V467 Home Theater Receiver, Polk/Klipsch 6" bookshelf speakers, Polk 12" subwoofer, 12.9" iPad Pro PFC yoke/throttle quad/pedals with custom Hall sensor retrofit, Thermaltake View 71 case, Stream Deck XL button box Sys3 (DCS/P3Dv4/ATS/ETS): AMD 7800X3D, MSI MPG X870E Carbon, Noctua NH-D15S, 64GB GSkill 6000/30, EVGA RTX3090 Alienware AW3420DW 34" 21:9 GSync, Corsair HX1000i PSU, 4TB Crucial T705 PCIe5 + 2TB Samsung 970Evo Plus, TM TCA Officer Pack, Saitek combat pedals, TM Warthog, TM RS300 FF wheel/pedals, Coolermaster HAF XB case
February 7, 200719 yr >I have 1000 MHz rated RAM, but run it at 800 MHz with the>timings set much lower at CAS 3. Running the RAM synched with>the FSB on the eVGA 680i mobo makes a significant>difference...more so than just raw RAM speed.Hi Bob !I've been reading on your great and encouraging posts.I'm getting exactly the same system as yours with the following differences:800 Mhz DDR2liquid cooled cpuSo, do you suggest I go straight to verclocking the FSB to 400 with mult 8 ? What kind of reasoning goes behind keeping the FSB and RAM speed synced ?My system will hopefully arrive in friday ! :)Thanks for the feedback in advance !Frank
February 7, 200719 yr Author Commercial Member Frank,Regarding overclocking, it is something that should not be taken lightly, its a delicate process where you could literally fry your computer if you jump up the FSB and voltage too much. I would suggest following this guide.http://pc.ign.com/articles/747/747606p1.htmlThe way I did it is exactly described in that article. There are other articles like this over at EVGA's great forums, extremely helpful stuff. www.evga.com/communityIts best to take baby steps as you go higher in FSB frequency and voltage, too much at once, you'll start smelling the sweet smell of electrical and silicon burning :-) Thats the mistake most people make assuming they can just jump up voltage and FSB frequencies, thats not the case with every computer regardless of identical hardware, every computer overclocks different. I'm not trying to scare you away from overclocking, it is definitely the best way to get more bang out out of your hardware without spending massive amounts of money on faster hardware :-) Remember, baby steps first until your system becomes unstable then go back to the previous setting that worked. It takes alot of patience, I spent a good 4 hours overclocking my system, I would do it again. So far my computer is stable at 3.5GHz with an FSB of 388GHz at 9X multiplier giving me 3500 GHz even. You probably will go higher considering you have liquid cooling, I'm on air cooling with a Noctua NH-U9F heatsink. 3.5 is plently fast enough for me, considering the E6600 has a default of 2.4GHz, I gained 1100GHz for less than half the price of an E6700 :-)Let me know how it goes for you.Cheers,Jason Jason Brown - Exterior Model Engineer,http://www.precisionmanuals.comSpecs: MSI Z97 Gaming 7 | Intel i7 4970K OC @ 4.6GHz | Gigabyte GTX970 G1 4GB | 16GB (2X8GB) G.Skill Trident | Corsair Air 540 White Case | Corsair AX750 750W PSU | 27" Samsung SyncMaster 275T+ | 27" Samsung S27D850 | 13" Wacom Cintiq | Windows 10 Professional x64
February 9, 200719 yr Hi all,Firstly thanks for taking the time to read this. My boss has asked me to purpose build a PC and buy FSX for his son as he absolutely loves FS. He wants it done as a surprise. His son is quiet technically minded so I want to put a bit of effort into the build and get a wow factor when he opens it up.Now I have been on the net for the last 3 days and everyone has different opinions so I said I'd ask about the following spec and will it be an EXCELLENT system for FSX. DUALCORE PREBUILD (1) INTEL P4 3.8GHZ LGA 775 CPU & COOLER (1) 1GB PC2 3200 DDR2 MEMORY (2) 250GB SATA HARD DISK DRIVE 720 (1) DVD RW IDE BLACK BEZEL (1) MS VISTA HOME PREMIUM 32-BIT OEM (1 GAINWARD BLISS 8800GTX PCX TV DUAL DVI - GRAPHICS ADAPTER - GF 8800 GTX - PCI EXPRESS X16 - 768 MB GDDR3 - DIGITAL VISUAL INTERFACE (DVI) - HDTV OUTAny thoughts guys, will this do the trick for FSX, where should I improve.many thankstim
February 9, 200719 yr >Hi all,>>Firstly thanks for taking the time to read this. >>My boss has asked me to purpose build a PC and buy FSX for his>son as he absolutely loves FS. He wants it done as a surprise.>His son is quiet technically minded so I want to put a bit of>effort into the build and get a wow factor when he opens it>up.>>Now I have been on the net for the last 3 days and everyone>has different opinions so I said I'd ask about the following>spec and will it be an EXCELLENT system for FSX.>>> DUALCORE PREBUILD (1)> > INTEL P4 3.8GHZ LGA 775 CPU & COOLER (1)> > 1GB PC2 3200 DDR2 MEMORY (2)> > 250GB SATA HARD DISK DRIVE 720 (1)> > DVD RW IDE BLACK BEZEL (1)> > MS VISTA HOME PREMIUM 32-BIT OEM (1 >> GAINWARD BLISS 8800GTX PCX TV DUAL DVI - GRAPHICS ADAPTER ->GF 8800 GTX - PCI EXPRESS X16 - 768 MB GDDR3 - DIGITAL VISUAL>INTERFACE (DVI) - HDTV OUTFSX really needs 2 GB of RAM to work well. And PC 3200 is dog slow in any current system. An "Excellent" FSX machine should probably have at least 2GB of DDR2 6400 (800 MHz) RAM at CAS 4 or lower.A Dual Core CPU, even a lower end one like the E6300 or E6400, is going to be much faster than that P4, and probably not much more expensive. An "Excellent" system will have an E6600 or faster.Vista is a bit of a risk right now due to driver support, and it's 10-15% slower than WinXP for 3D games like FS. And I can't speak with authority on which version of Vista is most appropriate for FSX, but some of the Home versi9ons look watered down to me. Windows XP Pro with an upgrade option to Vista would be best of both worlds.No mention of power supply, but with that 8800 in there it needs to be 600W or larger.RegardsBob ScottATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VSantiago de Chile Bob Scott | President and CEO, AVSIM Inc ATP Gulfstream II-III-IV-V Sys1 (MSFS20+24/XPlane12+11): AMD 9800X3D, water 2x240mm, MSI MPG X670E Carbon, 64GB GSkill 6000/30, nVidia RTX4090FE Alienware AW3821DW 38" 21:9 GSync, 2x4TB Crucial T705 PCIe5 + 2x2TB Samsung 990 SSD, EVGA 1000P2 PSU, 12.9" iPad Pro Thrustmaster TCA Boeing Yoke, TCA Airbus Sidestick, Twin TCA Airbus Throttle quads, PFC Cirrus Pedals, Coolermaster HAF932 case Sys2 (P3Dv5/v4): i9-13900KS, water 2x360mm, ASUS Z790 Hero, 32GB GSkill 7800MHz CAS36, ASUS RTX4090 Samsung 55" JS8500 4K TV@60Hz, 3x 2TB WD SN850X 1x 4TB Crucial P3 M.2 NVME SSD, EVGA 1600T2 PSU Fiber link to Yamaha RX-V467 Home Theater Receiver, Polk/Klipsch 6" bookshelf speakers, Polk 12" subwoofer, 12.9" iPad Pro PFC yoke/throttle quad/pedals with custom Hall sensor retrofit, Thermaltake View 71 case, Stream Deck XL button box Sys3 (DCS/P3Dv4/ATS/ETS): AMD 7800X3D, MSI MPG X870E Carbon, Noctua NH-D15S, 64GB GSkill 6000/30, EVGA RTX3090 Alienware AW3420DW 34" 21:9 GSync, Corsair HX1000i PSU, 4TB Crucial T705 PCIe5 + 2TB Samsung 970Evo Plus, TM TCA Officer Pack, Saitek combat pedals, TM Warthog, TM RS300 FF wheel/pedals, Coolermaster HAF XB case
February 10, 200719 yr Jason,:-waveThank you so much for your post!:-beerchugI have been putting off purchasing a new system for some time now.Before, I read your post my mind was set on the :-madIntel
February 11, 200719 yr >Do you really think the 2GB Corsair Dominator 8500 @ 1066MHz>makes a big difference over 2GB Corsair Dominator 6400 @>800MHz?Based on the white paper I pulled at the nvidia site I am left with the following conclusion.The dominator 8500 memory offers the advantage of faster transfers than the 6400 and since it is rated as nvidia epp memory (memory designed for overclocking) you can even expect more speed.Why might this be important other than the obvious data transfer ability? If you are overclocking the additional speed may be needed to overcome certain instabilities when overclocking the CPU and the rest of the system.I suppose the answer in short is how far do you want to push your system? It seems to me that FSX is pretty much dependant on raw processor and system speeds including memory and GPU. Of these items it appears that the CPU is the most critical.Please note I have not yet built my system however I have done a considerable amount of research, which is ongoing, over the configurations discussed in this thread. I would say don't count entirely on my input alone and that others hopefully will chime in and add to or even correct something I have written here.Personally I am going with the highest speed Nvidia 'epp' (extended performance) certified memory. I am also going to push the processor, memory, and GPU as high as I can and maintain reasonable stability.One thing I would add is my thought on buying memory. I always try to buy the highest capacity memory stick I can for a machine. If there are 4 memory slots and the machine capacity is 8GB then I would want to purchase at minimum 2GB memory sticks. It just makes adding more later much easier to accomplish you will not have to pull some memory out to put some higher capacity memory in.I didn't proof this so I hope the spelling and grammer is ok. I think you will get the message intent ok. :-roll . Monty
February 11, 200719 yr >I can recommend the Noctua NH-U9F cpu cooler, thats what I>currently have installed and the performance is impressive and>its nearly half the cost of a comparable Zalman cooler.> They have 2 models, the -U9F and the -U12F which is a bigger model,>however it will not fit the EVGA mobo due to the northbridge>heatsink, however the -U9F will and the difference in>performance is hardly any different. As long as you have good>airflow in the case, thats all that matters.>>Monty, I would suggest go with the E6600, you can overclock it>to 3.4GHz effortlessly and you get pretty much double the GHz>for less than 1/2 the cost of the X6800 or E6700. I have read>that the X6800 and E6700 don't have a wide margin of>overclocking potential, highest I've seen the X6800 push was>3.8GHz but thats a 400MHz increase over the E6600 which>doesn't make a difference in FS.Jayson,I have looked at your spec's and one thing comes to mind. Not everyone will get the performance from the CPU (hope I am not wrong on this) and have a stable machine as you have with the E6600 CPU. This leads me to believe that the E6800 Extreme may be my best bet for guaranteed performance plus it provides a CPU multiplier which can be adjusted during overclocking which the lower model CPU's have locked (non-adjustable). The is explained in the Nvidia guide to overclocking. I can not tell you why this matters other than it does not place all of the pressure on voltage settings alone to speed up the CPU.I have come to think I will go with an initial 850 watt or higher Nvidia certified SLI power supply and not do a later upgrade. This will eliminate any power supply confusion in the event I may have to replace the mobo at some point.I am also strongly leaning toward an aluminum case (very costly $350.00 plus) which has thick wall construction. This should help dampen some of the noise and provide better absorbtion of case heat to the outside. I really like this case which was designed by one of the top world gamers, It is made by Zalman, looks great (did I say FANTASTIC?), seems to be very functional, and easy to enter. I just hope it does not live up to it's name which is "FATAL ONE THANK YOU" or does that acronymn have a different meaning LOL. :( The link to it is here http://www.xoxide.com/zalman-fatal1ty-fc-ze1.htmlI am also strongly considering water cooling the entire box, CPU, HDD, GPU, northbridge, southbridge and anything else which heats up. I will be pulling the air cooling that is in the case currently and replacing it with liquid as long as it does not void the warranty. A good example of the type of water cooling I want to use is here http://www.voodoopc.com/whyvoodoo/galleria...ID=1&albumID=40 I am not sure where I will mount the radiator (I may use two instead of one) but It might be placed on top of the case exhausting the heat up and away. For this I will have to have a piece custom made to mount the pump, radiator and fans neatly. Unfortunately I will not know until the case arrives how the final approach to mounting the hardware will be done.Now that I am moving off from the blue glow I presently have in the room from Saitek X52 and keyboard I will have to get the latest Saitek X52-Pro. I like the radio controls externally available anyway. Makes changing the radio settings much easier and the blue parts on the X52 are lighted in red on the X52 Pro model which will match the new computer case.The more I read and look around the more I am fine tuning the final result. When I am done I believe I will have the best of the best and plenty of room to easily grow into the future without another complete system purchase for several years. This is almost un-heard of the way things are changing today.I will post pictures of the built system when it is completed with an explination of the complete in detail process including how it was overclocked. It will not be soon but I will clue everyone in on the details. Who knows this may lend some insight which will save time or money for another system builder. If it does either it will be worth doing.This system well become my entertainment center and gaming PC so the extra horse power will be well welcomed. I wonder if I should go with a QUAD 2.66GHz CPU for it all to run simultaineously?Ok, Jayson it is time for you and everyone else to jump in here and set me straight once again. Bob you would be one I would especially love to hear from on this system plan.MontyTampa, Florida
February 11, 200719 yr You shoud re-think that 4GB of RAM on your new system.Although WinXP and Vista can address 4GB, they will map some of the addresses in that 4GB range for hardware devices...this has nothing to do with the amount of RAM on the PC.The video RAM is mapped in this manner, so with a card that sports 1 GB of VRAM, you've already lost a gig of your address space to the video RAM array. You can physically place the RAM into the PC, but the entire last gig (plus some more for other devices like sound card and controller hardware on the mobo) is going to be unreachable by the OS or any program, since its address has been mapped to hardware rather than RAM.For that reason, 3GB looks like a much better option, and even then you're going to lose some of the 3rd GB to address-mapped hardware.Also, if you're buying RAM that needs 2.0+ volts to operate, be aware that you may need a small stick of low-voltage DDR2 RAM, like maybe 256MB of PC-4200, because the eVGA (and presumably other 680i) mobos may not be able to boot into the BIOS with the memory voltage at its stock 1.9v and with 2+ volt high-performance DIMMS installed. I just went through this last night...tweaked a memory timing, and the computer wigged out. Had to clear the CMOS, which resets the Vdimm to 1.9v, and for the first time ever it wouldn't talk to my 2.2v PC-8000 RAM modules. So I had to pop the RAM modules out, put in a 1.9v Kingston PC-4200 DIMM, boot into the BIOS and set the memory voltage back to 2.2v, then shut down, swap the fast RAM back in, and I'm back in business. Hopefully the nVidia guys will fix the bloody BIOS to prevent having to do that...makes memory tweaking a real PIA sometimes. Just finding a stick of PC-4200 RAM in a south american city on a Sunday is challenge enough. So anyway, if you don't have another PC that uses 240-pin DDR2 DIMMs handy, you'll want to have a backuo plan when build day comes.RegardsBob ScottATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VSantiago de Chile Bob Scott | President and CEO, AVSIM Inc ATP Gulfstream II-III-IV-V Sys1 (MSFS20+24/XPlane12+11): AMD 9800X3D, water 2x240mm, MSI MPG X670E Carbon, 64GB GSkill 6000/30, nVidia RTX4090FE Alienware AW3821DW 38" 21:9 GSync, 2x4TB Crucial T705 PCIe5 + 2x2TB Samsung 990 SSD, EVGA 1000P2 PSU, 12.9" iPad Pro Thrustmaster TCA Boeing Yoke, TCA Airbus Sidestick, Twin TCA Airbus Throttle quads, PFC Cirrus Pedals, Coolermaster HAF932 case Sys2 (P3Dv5/v4): i9-13900KS, water 2x360mm, ASUS Z790 Hero, 32GB GSkill 7800MHz CAS36, ASUS RTX4090 Samsung 55" JS8500 4K TV@60Hz, 3x 2TB WD SN850X 1x 4TB Crucial P3 M.2 NVME SSD, EVGA 1600T2 PSU Fiber link to Yamaha RX-V467 Home Theater Receiver, Polk/Klipsch 6" bookshelf speakers, Polk 12" subwoofer, 12.9" iPad Pro PFC yoke/throttle quad/pedals with custom Hall sensor retrofit, Thermaltake View 71 case, Stream Deck XL button box Sys3 (DCS/P3Dv4/ATS/ETS): AMD 7800X3D, MSI MPG X870E Carbon, Noctua NH-D15S, 64GB GSkill 6000/30, EVGA RTX3090 Alienware AW3420DW 34" 21:9 GSync, Corsair HX1000i PSU, 4TB Crucial T705 PCIe5 + 2TB Samsung 970Evo Plus, TM TCA Officer Pack, Saitek combat pedals, TM Warthog, TM RS300 FF wheel/pedals, Coolermaster HAF XB case
February 11, 200719 yr >Jayson,>>I have looked at your spec's and one thing comes to mind. Not>everyone will get the performance from the CPU (hope I am not>wrong on this) and have a stable machine as you have with the>E6600 CPU. This leads me to believe that the E6800 Extreme may>be my best bet for guaranteed performance plus it provides a>CPU multiplier which can be adjusted during overclocking which>the lower model CPU's have locked (non-adjustable). The is>explained in the Nvidia guide to overclocking. I can not tell>you why this matters other than it does not place all of the>pressure on voltage settings alone to speed up the CPU.I think you've reasoned it out well...the E6600 would probably get you where you want to go, but if you get one that won't get to 3+ GHz, you can't take it back to the dealer and complain that it wouldn't exceed specs enough... One has to believe that binning of these CPUs is going to start resulting in less overclockable units in the retail channels at some point, too. I find the ability to adjust the clock mult very important, too. But it certainly isn't cheap, and not recommended for those on a tight budget.>I have come to think I will go with an initial 850 watt or>higher Nvidia certified SLI power supply and not do a later>upgrade. This will eliminate any power supply confusion in the>event I may have to replace the mobo at some point.I use the PC Power and Cooling Silencer 750W supply...I chose 750W to give the ability to go SLI with a second 8800GTX if some day I want to, but doubt I will. It has a single common high-current rail that I like better than cheaper units with separate rails. With everything on a common bus, all you have to do is keep the total load under control...no worries about how to distribute high-current components onto the available rails. And it is indeed very quiet.>I am also strongly leaning toward an aluminum case (very>costly $350.00 plus) which has thick wall construction. This>should help dampen some of the noise and provide better>absorbtion of case heat to the outside. I really like this>case which was designed by one of the top world gamers, It is>made by Zalman, looks great (did I say FANTASTIC?), seems to>be very functional, and easy to enter. I just hope it does>not live up to it's name which is "FATAL ONE THANK YOU" or>does that acronymn have a different meaning LOL. :( The link>to it is here>http://www.xoxide.com/zalman-fatal1ty-fc-ze1.htmlJust be careful that the case and your PS and cooling solution are compatible. Lots of ways to screw that up...the very popular Lian Li cases invert the mobo and large CPU coolers don't often fit, for example. The extra-long high-power PSs didn't fit into the original Stacker 830 without modding (but do fit the current version). The NB heatsink on the eVGA 680i board is very tall, and a number of popular CPU fans won't fit. My last PC was my first ever in a high-end aluminum case, and I will never go back to cheapo cases again. It's very nice to have the flexibility and access that a well-designed case affords. Both of mine are made by CoolerMaster, in the mid-$200 range. The new one is in a Stacker 830. I can open it up and remove most of the components with no tools. I can have the mobo out on the bench in 10 minutes. That's way cool.>I am also strongly considering water cooling the entire box,>CPU, HDD, GPU, northbridge, southbridge and anything else>which heats up. I will be pulling the air cooling that is in>the case currently and replacing it with liquid as long as it>does not void the warranty. A good example of the type of>water cooling I want to use is here>http://www.voodoopc.com/whyvoodoo/galleria...ID=1&albumID=40I haven't taken the water cooling path yet...still need to do a lot more research on the topic. The biggest caution I think is the large number of unhappy posts on failed or really noisy water pumps. The Zalman 7700-Cu air cooler I use has the added advantage of keeping the North Bridge cool as it overhangs the NB heatsink. Some of the others, like the one Jason recommends, I think have better thermal capacity, but would require more attention to NB cooling for me. I have a total of six 120mm dual-ball-bearing fans moving air all around the the case, as well as the fan in the PS. >I am not sure where I will mount the radiator (I may use two>instead of one) but It might be placed on top of the case>exhausting the heat up and away. For this I will have to have>a piece custom made to mount the pump, radiator and fans>neatly. Unfortunately I will not know until the case arrives>how the final approach to mounting the hardware will be done.In my research on water cooling so far, I like the idea of a completely external radiator. Since you have gone to the trouble of running the coolant lines around in the PC, makes sense to me to run 'em a little further and carry the heat completely away from the machine. Plus, a large surface area external passive radiator is completely noiseless, and for high-power ops, you can add a fan to the radiator.>The more I read and look around the more I am fine tuning the>final result. When I am done I believe I will have the best of>the best and plenty of room to easily grow into the future>without another complete system purchase for several years.>This is almost un-heard of the way things are changing today.Actually, the rate of change seems to have slowed. I think the combination of market saturation (how many PCs does the average home *need*, anyway?) and increasingly difficult hurdles being encountered in the physics of microprocessor design, we may well still be running these PCs 3-4 years out. Actually my 3 GHz P4 has lasted very well, with a couple mid-life upgrades, and I continue to use it for development and as a secondary FS PC even today.>This system well become my entertainment center and gaming PC>so the extra horse power will be well welcomed. I wonder if I>should go with a QUAD 2.66GHz CPU for it all to run>simultaineously?I highly recommend you stay well-clear of the quads for now. To get good gaming performance, you generally shouldn't get too far off into the fringes, and a lot still remains to be seen as to how quad+ CPU technology will or will not play into the mainstream. I remember seeing guys buying dual-CPU Xeon machines early-on at terrific expense, only to find that the dual-CPU architecture was really only good for a server at the time.Assuming from your extra-class handle that you like a good technical challenge, it'll be fun. But it'll present a boatload of problems to be solved and frustrations along the way...they always do!CheersBob ScottATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VSantiago de Chile Bob Scott | President and CEO, AVSIM Inc ATP Gulfstream II-III-IV-V Sys1 (MSFS20+24/XPlane12+11): AMD 9800X3D, water 2x240mm, MSI MPG X670E Carbon, 64GB GSkill 6000/30, nVidia RTX4090FE Alienware AW3821DW 38" 21:9 GSync, 2x4TB Crucial T705 PCIe5 + 2x2TB Samsung 990 SSD, EVGA 1000P2 PSU, 12.9" iPad Pro Thrustmaster TCA Boeing Yoke, TCA Airbus Sidestick, Twin TCA Airbus Throttle quads, PFC Cirrus Pedals, Coolermaster HAF932 case Sys2 (P3Dv5/v4): i9-13900KS, water 2x360mm, ASUS Z790 Hero, 32GB GSkill 7800MHz CAS36, ASUS RTX4090 Samsung 55" JS8500 4K TV@60Hz, 3x 2TB WD SN850X 1x 4TB Crucial P3 M.2 NVME SSD, EVGA 1600T2 PSU Fiber link to Yamaha RX-V467 Home Theater Receiver, Polk/Klipsch 6" bookshelf speakers, Polk 12" subwoofer, 12.9" iPad Pro PFC yoke/throttle quad/pedals with custom Hall sensor retrofit, Thermaltake View 71 case, Stream Deck XL button box Sys3 (DCS/P3Dv4/ATS/ETS): AMD 7800X3D, MSI MPG X870E Carbon, Noctua NH-D15S, 64GB GSkill 6000/30, EVGA RTX3090 Alienware AW3420DW 34" 21:9 GSync, Corsair HX1000i PSU, 4TB Crucial T705 PCIe5 + 2TB Samsung 970Evo Plus, TM TCA Officer Pack, Saitek combat pedals, TM Warthog, TM RS300 FF wheel/pedals, Coolermaster HAF XB case
February 11, 200719 yr >>Do you really think the 2GB Corsair Dominator 8500 @>1066MHz>>makes a big difference over 2GB Corsair Dominator 6400 @>>800MHz?It...depends. Always does. :-)In my eVGA 680i-based PC, I bought Mushkin Redline PC-8000 (DDR2 1000 MHz) RAM, and discovered that running the RAM at its full rated 1000 MHz unlinked from the CPU is actually slower than slowing it down to 800 MHz, dropping the timings to CAS 3 (CAS 3 at 800 MHz is rippin' fast) and running the RAM linked and synched to the CPU with the FSB overclocked to 400 MHz. (400 MHz FSB = 800 MHz DDR2 mem clock) The beauty of the X6800 CPU is I can change the CPU mult to 8 and get 3.2GHz CPU with a synched 800MHz memory bus. It rocks!So...why not just buy 800 MHz RAM at 75% of what the 1000 MHz stuff cost? Because most PC-6400 won't run at 800 MHz at CAS 3. Most are actually rated at CAS 5! The Muskin Redline PC-8000 is stable at 3-3-3-9-2T.Don't know about the Corsair...but I am seeing a lot of PC-8500 CAS 5 RAM hitting the streets that isn't gonna be the heat it sounds running unlinked (if your mobo will even let you unlink the FSB and memory clock) on a 267 MHz FSB at CAS 5.>One thing I would add is my thought on buying memory. I always>try to buy the highest capacity memory stick I can for a>machine. If there are 4 memory slots and the machine capacity>is 8GB then I would want to purchase at minimum 2GB memory>sticks. It just makes adding more later much easier to>accomplish you will not have to pull some memory out to put>some higher capacity memory in.See my other post in this thread on 4GB RAM configs. I'm looking at putting in another 1GB (2 x 512MB) of Mushkin Redline for a total of 3GB, because 4 GB would be a complete waste of money. With a 768MB 8800GTX, a Creative Audigy 2, and all the misc stuff on the mobo, I can only address proabably a hair under 3GB of RAM as it stands. And most other PCs today have the same limitation.Even 64-bit Vista has issues with addressing a full 4GB on current architecture.So, bottom line, roll up your sleeves and get into the details before you buy, because the bus clock freq of a RAM module only tells part of the story...you have to take a more complete systems approach to get the best answer.CheersBob ScottATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VSantiago de Chile Bob Scott | President and CEO, AVSIM Inc ATP Gulfstream II-III-IV-V Sys1 (MSFS20+24/XPlane12+11): AMD 9800X3D, water 2x240mm, MSI MPG X670E Carbon, 64GB GSkill 6000/30, nVidia RTX4090FE Alienware AW3821DW 38" 21:9 GSync, 2x4TB Crucial T705 PCIe5 + 2x2TB Samsung 990 SSD, EVGA 1000P2 PSU, 12.9" iPad Pro Thrustmaster TCA Boeing Yoke, TCA Airbus Sidestick, Twin TCA Airbus Throttle quads, PFC Cirrus Pedals, Coolermaster HAF932 case Sys2 (P3Dv5/v4): i9-13900KS, water 2x360mm, ASUS Z790 Hero, 32GB GSkill 7800MHz CAS36, ASUS RTX4090 Samsung 55" JS8500 4K TV@60Hz, 3x 2TB WD SN850X 1x 4TB Crucial P3 M.2 NVME SSD, EVGA 1600T2 PSU Fiber link to Yamaha RX-V467 Home Theater Receiver, Polk/Klipsch 6" bookshelf speakers, Polk 12" subwoofer, 12.9" iPad Pro PFC yoke/throttle quad/pedals with custom Hall sensor retrofit, Thermaltake View 71 case, Stream Deck XL button box Sys3 (DCS/P3Dv4/ATS/ETS): AMD 7800X3D, MSI MPG X870E Carbon, Noctua NH-D15S, 64GB GSkill 6000/30, EVGA RTX3090 Alienware AW3420DW 34" 21:9 GSync, Corsair HX1000i PSU, 4TB Crucial T705 PCIe5 + 2TB Samsung 970Evo Plus, TM TCA Officer Pack, Saitek combat pedals, TM Warthog, TM RS300 FF wheel/pedals, Coolermaster HAF XB case
February 11, 200719 yr >I've been reading on your great and encouraging posts.>>I'm getting exactly the same system as yours with the>following differences:>800 Mhz DDR2>liquid cooled cpu>>So, do you suggest I go straight to verclocking the FSB to 400>with mult 8 ? What kind of reasoning goes behind keeping the>FSB and RAM speed synced ?>>My system will hopefully arrive in friday ! :)>>Thanks for the feedback in advance !>>FrankSorry, I missed this post Frank.The answer will depend on what type of RAM and mobo you've got.Basically, linked and synched keeps the RAM running in lock-step with the CPU bus. It's possible on a number of the newer power-user mobos to unlink the (separate) RAM clock from the CPU...but that results in the CPU making requests and waiting for data out of synch with the RAM...you end up with considerably more wasted clock cycles while one component waits on the other.That's a simplistic explanation, but basically gets the point across (I hope).I ran it both ways...linked and synched at 800 with tight timings was faster than unlinked at 1000 MHz and the looser CAS 4 timings needed to run at that speed.As to overclocking, I would take an incremental approach, nudging up the bus, voltages etc a bit at a time. Lots of good tutorials around on the how-to. Not a good idea to just go straight for aggressive speeds and voltages right outta the gate. 400MHz is a fairly aggressive 50% overclock on the stock 267 MHz FSB clock (1066 MHz quad-pumped), so you have to take that road one step at a time, and hopefully your components can get you there. Nothing magic about 400MHz, other than it's a nice round number.CheersBob ScottATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VSantiago de Chile Bob Scott | President and CEO, AVSIM Inc ATP Gulfstream II-III-IV-V Sys1 (MSFS20+24/XPlane12+11): AMD 9800X3D, water 2x240mm, MSI MPG X670E Carbon, 64GB GSkill 6000/30, nVidia RTX4090FE Alienware AW3821DW 38" 21:9 GSync, 2x4TB Crucial T705 PCIe5 + 2x2TB Samsung 990 SSD, EVGA 1000P2 PSU, 12.9" iPad Pro Thrustmaster TCA Boeing Yoke, TCA Airbus Sidestick, Twin TCA Airbus Throttle quads, PFC Cirrus Pedals, Coolermaster HAF932 case Sys2 (P3Dv5/v4): i9-13900KS, water 2x360mm, ASUS Z790 Hero, 32GB GSkill 7800MHz CAS36, ASUS RTX4090 Samsung 55" JS8500 4K TV@60Hz, 3x 2TB WD SN850X 1x 4TB Crucial P3 M.2 NVME SSD, EVGA 1600T2 PSU Fiber link to Yamaha RX-V467 Home Theater Receiver, Polk/Klipsch 6" bookshelf speakers, Polk 12" subwoofer, 12.9" iPad Pro PFC yoke/throttle quad/pedals with custom Hall sensor retrofit, Thermaltake View 71 case, Stream Deck XL button box Sys3 (DCS/P3Dv4/ATS/ETS): AMD 7800X3D, MSI MPG X870E Carbon, Noctua NH-D15S, 64GB GSkill 6000/30, EVGA RTX3090 Alienware AW3420DW 34" 21:9 GSync, Corsair HX1000i PSU, 4TB Crucial T705 PCIe5 + 2TB Samsung 970Evo Plus, TM TCA Officer Pack, Saitek combat pedals, TM Warthog, TM RS300 FF wheel/pedals, Coolermaster HAF XB case
February 13, 200719 yr Bob,I want to thank you for your well thought out and presented group of thoughts on the system I am building.I want to digest some of the information you provided before I get back with a more detailed response.One thing is certain... I believe your suggestion of tower cooling has distinct advantages. Given the fact that removing any heat from the PC including the radiated heat from the exchanger this may well be the way to go over direct mounting. I guess I was trying to keep everything compact to make movement of the case easier but a single external tower type radiator does not pose that much additional to move about. It would be much quiter since much of the time I doubt the tower would even require a fan which could be switched on automatically if needed. Done right I may be able to produce a PC which has limited fans but it would likely require a case change to something larger and may limit reaching the higher spectrum of frequency I want to reach. This will take some research and is an area I would like more info on even if I do not take that route.One thing is certain staying away from the cheap cases, and power supplies is the road best traveled.I did uncover an item of information from Natucha concerning the obstructions in mounting the heat sink and fan on some EVGA 680i boards. They brought to my attention that EVGA has replaced some capacitors / components with smaller components on the more recently manufactured boards making mounting doable. I believe they were refering to the latest model of their high capacity cooler.Bob, you have sent me back to the drawing board and given me a good bit more homework to finish up which is very appreciated.Thanks for the reply!73 de N9ZN, Monty Howard - Tampa, Florida
February 13, 200719 yr Author Commercial Member Bob, Thanks for jumping in, I couldn't jump in when I wanted to because my entire body ached so badly that even moving a limb fast enough to type would make me even more nauseous. I have been out with the flu in the last couple days.I don't think there's anything more I could add to your discussions with others than this... each hardware choice is each person's preference. Although I agree, its important we all do our homework throughly before we purchase anything. Thats why I started this thread, it gives people an idea of what to look at and where to start.If you ask me how long I took to decide what to go with, I took a year to decide! I'm glad I waited and took my time... my system today is rock solid and fast enough for me, I'm really happy with my purchase.So far I have been able to run FS9 without any hiccups, although a couple crash here and there but those were related to missing textures that a certain add-on removed for some unknown reason. Easy fix there... FSX on the other hand runs very well, I'm impressed actually. I get between 30 and 80fps with the target slider set to unlimited, hardly no stutters with sliders mostly 75% to full and of course with FPS tweaks performed, its inevitable but I don't see any difference in quality and detail, just better FPS!All in all, my quest to show you my kind of setup and how FS runs has I think generated enough of a response that has actually been constructive and benefital to others as a comparision setup. I don't expect you all to build exactly the same system as mine, but to see it as a general idea of where to shoot for in an upgrade or a new build. Lets keep this thread going, its becoming valuable information for upgrading or building a new system from the ground up. Cheers,Jason Jason Brown - Exterior Model Engineer,http://www.precisionmanuals.comSpecs: MSI Z97 Gaming 7 | Intel i7 4970K OC @ 4.6GHz | Gigabyte GTX970 G1 4GB | 16GB (2X8GB) G.Skill Trident | Corsair Air 540 White Case | Corsair AX750 750W PSU | 27" Samsung SyncMaster 275T+ | 27" Samsung S27D850 | 13" Wacom Cintiq | Windows 10 Professional x64
February 14, 200719 yr OK, Monty, good luck with whatever you go with.On the 680i boards...there are two CPU fan clearance issues...the caps and such affect the low clearance just outside the CPU...but the most restrictive is the Northbridge heatsink.Anyway, there is lots of info on fan compatibility now in the eVGA forum for their board...when I bought it not too much info had flowed in yet. Still like that board.The other thing on the 680i and CPU fans, is be prepared to do some dremel or hand file work on the back of the fiberglass backing plate. The eVGA board has some small surface-mount components that'll be crunched if you just mount the backing plate without routing out some space for those SMDs. Took me an hour with a dremel tool proceeding very carefully.CheersBob ScottATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VSantiago de Chile Bob Scott | President and CEO, AVSIM Inc ATP Gulfstream II-III-IV-V Sys1 (MSFS20+24/XPlane12+11): AMD 9800X3D, water 2x240mm, MSI MPG X670E Carbon, 64GB GSkill 6000/30, nVidia RTX4090FE Alienware AW3821DW 38" 21:9 GSync, 2x4TB Crucial T705 PCIe5 + 2x2TB Samsung 990 SSD, EVGA 1000P2 PSU, 12.9" iPad Pro Thrustmaster TCA Boeing Yoke, TCA Airbus Sidestick, Twin TCA Airbus Throttle quads, PFC Cirrus Pedals, Coolermaster HAF932 case Sys2 (P3Dv5/v4): i9-13900KS, water 2x360mm, ASUS Z790 Hero, 32GB GSkill 7800MHz CAS36, ASUS RTX4090 Samsung 55" JS8500 4K TV@60Hz, 3x 2TB WD SN850X 1x 4TB Crucial P3 M.2 NVME SSD, EVGA 1600T2 PSU Fiber link to Yamaha RX-V467 Home Theater Receiver, Polk/Klipsch 6" bookshelf speakers, Polk 12" subwoofer, 12.9" iPad Pro PFC yoke/throttle quad/pedals with custom Hall sensor retrofit, Thermaltake View 71 case, Stream Deck XL button box Sys3 (DCS/P3Dv4/ATS/ETS): AMD 7800X3D, MSI MPG X870E Carbon, Noctua NH-D15S, 64GB GSkill 6000/30, EVGA RTX3090 Alienware AW3420DW 34" 21:9 GSync, Corsair HX1000i PSU, 4TB Crucial T705 PCIe5 + 2TB Samsung 970Evo Plus, TM TCA Officer Pack, Saitek combat pedals, TM Warthog, TM RS300 FF wheel/pedals, Coolermaster HAF XB case
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