First, thanks for all folks on this form for providing excellent info such as Manny & Chuck - great stuff.Just finished building a new FS computer last evening, haven't built one in three years - this high tech stuff worked my "Over the Hill" brain! I really wanted to wait until the new stuff next year but just couldn't hold back. Hopefully I can build on this computer as things change. New computer is as follows: Intel Core 2 X6800, P5W Deluxe, Coolmax 650W, Corsair DII800 4G, two SATA 74G/WD 10,000 drives, ASUS 1900XT/512 Card. Two questions:1. How much could one safly overclock CPU with standard cooling i.e. fan that comes with CPU? Four case fans,one on CPU, one on pipe assembly, & one on Power Supply. 2. The 4G Ram shows in BIOs but Win XP Home, SP 2 only shows 3G. For the life of me, I know I have read something about this issue but haven't found the key. Is Win XP Home limited to 3G?Looking forward to loading FS & trying this baby out.Thanks in advance folks! Really appreciate!

Good going Erv.Now I have company. You are using the same MB as I am. OK.. you have listed your H/W. Have you partitioned and installed the OS and FSX (demo or beta)? I would be insterested to know how fast the FSX Beta loads and the FPS and the setting you have for FSX.Check this out for how much others have overclocked..although not with the standard cooling.http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1075792I am kind of itching for those dual 10,000 RPM HD... I am trying to convince myself to hold on until the DX10 Upgrade... and initially just focust on the 7200 RAID 0. Don't know how long I can keep that itch at bay. Hee hee..:)Manny

Ha Manny, Have you partitioned and>installed the OS and FSX (demo or beta)? I would be>insterested to know how fast the FSX Beta loads and the FPS>and the setting you have for FSX.Drives are as follows:H Disk 0 C: 11.72GB for Win XP & system stuff F: 57.52GB for DataH Disk 1 G: 69.23GB for DataMy thought is to install FS4 on F: and FSX demo & FSX on G:. Do not have FSX Beta. Anyway, I'll let you know late this evening on how the FSX demo runs including settings.Thanks for input. I may try to do some overclocking - need to do alot of home work. My old Flt Sim computer P4 3.0 has been running 5% over-clocked with standard cooling for three years with no problems.Erv

WinXP can only see 3GB of physical memory with SP2 installed. To see the full 4GB requires that WinXP Home/Professional not be updated with SP2 (use either the base 2600 build or SP1 only). The guys at Hardwarezone got the X6800 Extreme to 3.60GHz with the standard Intel HSI. Good article here: http://www.hardwarezone.com/articles/view.php?cid=2&id=1991Doug

Thanks much Doug, I'll check it out.Installed the FSX Demo this afternoon, made two flights with BB58, Rwy 09, Princess Jliane Intl.Card Settings: AA 6x, AF 16x, Mipmap detail Quality, 1280x1024, 32bit, 60HZFSX Demo Settings:Display-all max, Graphics- Target 25, full screen 1280x1024x32,bilnear, Global TR Very High, Len flare & advanced animations checked, Secnery Defalt, Weather Default, Global Settings Ultra High, Realism Hard.Load times were 00:26:94 & 00:27:66(Start from "Fly Now" until 100% loaded)1st flt weather Clear 2nd flt weather stormyFrame Rate Frame RateVC cocpit 25 17-24Outside & Tower 25 25Top Hat View Spike down 10 Spike down 5.5 1. generally spikes down when moving top hat fast from one side of cocpit to other side during site seeing. 2. Did not use ATC, I'm sure that would impact frames.Both flights were smooth and site seeing was great. Looking forward to FSX.

Erv....Man....That's Awesome!!! Very Good...I was hoping you could do me a favor?? Could you download a couple of benchmarking programs...Aquamark3 and 3Dmark05...(see note about Aquamark3 below)...Run some benches and post them in the benchmark thread?? Please..I think you'll find those programs useful in your overclocking endeviours also...That is typically what I use them for...To give me some referance points I can use for system performance tweeking...What an awesome system you have!! Isn't that mb Beautiful?? Don't worry...It's a bit over my head too..he he...(And I'm semi current on technology... :( )I think you'll be able to do pretty well overclocking on air...I WAS kinda keeping tabs on that stuff...But I've sorta "intentionally" not been paying too much attention lately...I felt the Upgrade urge eating at me too much...he he...I need to stick with my plans and my will power is minimal...But as you've mentioned...Studying some of the OCing oriented sites would be the way to go...The info is out there...The C2D's are suppose to be some strong overclockers...Some links to Aquamark3 and 3Dmark05:Aquamark3:http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=6733Dmark05:http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=874Notice about Aquamark3:While using Aquamark3 with the ATI videocards you may get an EXCEPTION_ACCESS_VIOLATION Error...Here is a patch for that:Here's the hotfix, just download it and drag and drop the new .dll into your aquamark3 folder..http://www.scatmanworlds.co.uk/Direcpll.dllThanks..

Thanks Chuck. I'll give it a shot but it will be next week sometime - I'll be out of town for three days. I'll do the downloads before I leave this afternoon. Again, thanks much for all your post - very helpful setting up this new system.As an added note, I loaded FS2004 last evening with Level-D 767-300, sliders max, real weather, shot a few touch/goes at Seattle, frames at 25. New computer is sweet - rock solid at 25 & smooth. Based on this info, I'm sure I will continue to use FS2004 until add-on aircraft are converted.Erv

Chuck,Managed some time early this morning to run test. Not sure if I did it correct or what it means but here's the rusults. Used the Free Edition Standard Settings on both. Maybe you can inlighten me as to test results i.e. good, bad, etc. Thanks! ErvGame Tests 3D Mark Score: 10461 GT1-Return to Proxycon 46.5 fps GT2-Firefly Forest 29.1 GT3-CanyonFight 54.3 CPU Test Score 9974 CPU 1 5.4 CPU 2 8.2Aqua Mark3 Triscore GFX 14,898 GPU 15,200 99,984Triangles/Sec 30,098,592 tpsF/S 99.98 fpsChapter 1 164.30 fps 2 58.04 3 126.43 4 75.46 5 129.80 6 122.42 7 116.72 8 97.09 9 66.07

Thank You!!!"Maybe you can inlighten me as to test results i.e. good, bad, etc."They are Very Good scores...Basically these are "Benchmarking" programs...They run your computer through a gammit of 3D oriented tasks and record the results...I mentioned this in another thread as a "Level Playing Field" to measure system performance...ie: I can gauge my systems performance compared to yours...We were both doing Exactly The Same Thing...The results are true...unlike measuring FPS in FS...The "Variables" are removed..These programs are also useful for system tweaking...For instance...Overclocking, Video Driver swaps and things of that nature...I save my benching records...Then when I go to do some sort of tweeking..I can monitor the results...There are also Forums/Websites where guys will go record their scores...That is handy too as you can "Gauge" how your machine is running compared to others with similar equipment...Or...Since I'm Interested(Dreaming) of a building a C2D system myself...I can take a peek at your results..Compare them to my current hardware...This will aid in my decision to upgrade or not...It would be nice if FS FPS was an accurate measure of system performance...But..There are just too many variables...There are several other programs of this nature out there...Handy tools in my opinion...Thanks for benching and posting!!