I know you're out there, all E6850 owners come here and report. I'm anxiously awaiting to hear how this beast of a CPU deals with FSX.:D Now that it's out, maybe an E6850 owner and a Q6600 owner can do a benchmark and compare findings? just food for thought...:)

FSX performs better with higher clock speeds, not more cores. THe E6850 would kick it's ####.

Nice overclock Nick! I've gotst to get me one of those water cooling setups.Gary

Thanks Gary! I've had it to 5.0GHz per core, but for my day to day use, there's no point stressing it that much. When it's at 5.0 though, FSX just screams! :D

>Nice overclock Nick! I've gotst to get me one of those water>cooling setups.>I gots ta have it (too!) :)I can only imagine what FSX would be like with an E6850 overclocked w/water. Maybe 35 fps sustained at JFK with lots of AI? If it can achieve that, then, as Booger said in Revenge of the Nerds II, "boys, our ship has come home".RhettAMD 3700+ (@2585 mhz), eVGA 7800GT 256 (Guru3D 93.71), ASUS A8N-E, PC Power 510 SLI, 2gb Corsair XMS 3-3-3-8 (1T), WD 150 gig 10000rpm Raptor, WD 250gig 7200rpm SATA2, Seagate 120gb 5400 rpm external HD, CoolerMaster Praetorian

When I get the cash, oooh man, I'll be bouncing off the walls. :(

Hi Chris,Nick is right. CPU speed make a big difference to FSX performance. I tried flying FSX with my new Q6600 last night. I set a pretty high display setting, my fps hang around 16 to 19 (lock 20). Lock any further makes no improvment but fps unstable. I then tried OC my machine (still learning how), I make it to 2.8G and 3.03G. The fps jump to 25 and 27 stablely. It sounds not a big fps jump in digit, but way more smooth than with stock speed.You wont regret to get either CPU model. E6850 will give you an immediate great performance without overclocking. I do not know how good it can be OC later. For the Q6600, still no where to fully utilize its real power. The core 0 work super hard at anytime. The other three cores sometimes give an hand.Since I buy a new computer every four years without hardware upgrading. So I go for the Quad. If you upgrade or buy new in shorter period, then E6850 is much better performances at this time.Alkit

>Thanks Gary! I've had it to 5.0GHz per core, but for my day>to day use, there's no point stressing it that much. When it's>at 5.0 though, FSX just screams! :DIf I could get a C2D to 5GHz, I would keep it there and daymn the potential stress. I haven't killed a CPU yet from overclocking, including a P166MMX that I ran at 200MHz 3.3V no probs, up from 2.8V for three years with JUST a heatsink and NO fan!Gary

Did you get a G0 (SLACR) or B3 stepping quad?I myself will probably end up going with the E6750, if I bump that up to 3.0 GHz, I got an E6850 basically.

My Q6600 is a G0 SLACR"I myself will probably end up going with the E6750, if I bump that up to 3.0 GHz, I got an E6850 basically."Or you may think this way, if you get the E6850, you can bump it up to a level a 6750 cannot achieve. No one can say which one is the "best". Try to find your personal perfect balance.All cores we are mentioning are good one anyway. Even a E4xxx, a friend make it 3G for flying FSX. Using stock HSF and an inexpensive enclosure.Good luck!!Alkit

>My Q6600 is a G0 SLACR>>"I myself will probably end up going with the E6750, if I bump>that up to 3.0 GHz, I got an E6850 basically.">>Or you may think this way, if you get the E6850, you can bump>it up to a level a 6750 cannot achieve. No one can say which>one is the >"best". Try to find your personal perfect balance.>>All cores we are mentioning are good one anyway. Even a E4xxx,>a friend make it 3G for flying FSX. Using stock HSF and an>inexpensive enclosure.>>Good luck!!>>AlkitYes, but I'm also wondering if the level it can reach justifies the extra 100 dollars. Good news is, I have time to wait and see what results others produce with these chips.

Congrats on the 5G clock on the Q6600. You now hold the new World Record for a Q6600. http://www.ripping.org/database.php?cpuid=358on Cascade cooling:http://www.under-the-ice.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=62

>Did you get a G0 (SLACR) or B3 stepping quad?>I myself will probably end up going with the E6750, if I bump>that up to 3.0 GHz, I got an E6850 basically.I've got the e6750 and its more than fine for FSX at 3.2, but if I was buying again , I'd get the e6850. Its multipler is 9 instead of 8, so you'll have a better chance to get 9x400 = 3.6 out of it.My 6750 / P5K combo seems limited to a FSB of 400, so its the multipier than holds the CPU speed back.When it comes down to it, 3.2 and 3.6 difference seems little probably about 2 fps, but a airports like JFK flying around NY city, that can bump you up just high enough to make the flight more enjoyable. For 95% of other areas it will make no visable difference.Another bonus of the 6850, is just in case you get a cpu that doesnt want to o/c at least your guaranteed 3Ghz.

Sam,I think the chip being referred to is an E6600 dual core not a Q6600 quad. Even still, it's a pretty nice overclock.Gary

Ahhh, I see. That dualie went a bit further. But 5.0Ghz is still a world record on water. http://www.ripping.org/database.php?cpuid=217It took liquid nitrogen to get to 5.2Ghz. http://www.tomshardware.com/2003/12/30/5_ghz_project/Mid 3s on air and maybe 4.0 on a great water rig. Let's not get our hopes too high.