Hello Gang!From reading the forums, I get the understanding that if you have a Quad Core CPU, you can assign FSX to run on one of those CPU's, while the other CPU's handle other services and programs, hence giving FSX more dedicated power. Is that true?? If indeed it is, how do we assign specific processors to run FSX only???Here's my specs:1. Case: Thermaltake Armor Full tower (Black case), with the 25mm fan on the side.2. CPU: Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 8MB Cache3. MoBo: Asus Maximus Formula Intel X38, DDR2 1066/800/6674. CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS9700 Blue LED5. Hard Drive: WD Raptor 150GB 10K rpm 16MB Serial ATA6. PSU: PCP&P Silencer 750W7. RAM: 4GB DDR2 PC6400 Dual OCZ8. Wireless network adapter: D-Link DWA-5529. Video Card: EVGA 8800GTX PCIE 768mb10. Media Reader: Silverstone FP-34B11. OS: Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit12. DVD/RW drives: 2 x LG 20X GSA-H55LI13. Fan controller: Silverstone FP52-B Fan controller & system monitor.Thanks for any guidance!Sincerely,Dennis D. Mullert

The jury is out on whether this will give you a better overall experience, but adding a few lines to your fsx.cfg file is the simplest way of accomplishing this. What I use is:{JOBSCHEDULER} // use square brackets !!AffinityMask=1414 is binary 1110, and means use core 3,2,1, and leave core 0 free.This tells FSX what cores to use.. not telling the cores what to run..Alternately, you can open up the task master applet and right-click on fsx.exe and assign processor affinity..

It appears the new SP(s?) enable and automate the Jobscheduler function. Anymore, FSX is picking up however many you have without using this .cfg line (see the 8 core Skulltrail rig run all 8 without coaxing). It also appears that the additional cores primarily provide file loading functions (splash screen, initial flight loading, inflight terrain loads, etc). All the FPS related processing is still done with our single "Core 0." Further (to your question's point), adding more cores Does Not appear to offload Core 0. This certainly could be why we are seeing FPS results that are so similar between a dualies and quads. The FPS load is almost entirely on Core 0, and there's nothing we can do to help the poor guy out. Additional cores do not seem to help with the FPS metric. Experiment with task manager's process affinity function. Turn cores on and off. Look for other than FPS results, like load times and blurries. If one is primarily in need of additional FPS, it is likely that only an extreme O/C of that single, Core 0 will provide much result. FPS is not about dual v quad v octi core. It's about the clock on that single, Core 0. However, there's more to the game than FPS. It appears additional core(s) provide that enrichment.

The OS will spead the load by default.

It is actually FSX itself, not the OS that spreads the load.Otherwise FS9 would be equally helped..

Hello again Sam. All parts have been here a week, except QX, which was stuck until this morning in a revolving twilight zone world in Sacramento. It took less than a day (by pony express I guess) to travel 80 miles from Fremont to Sacramento, then it sat in a Fedex Dist Ctr, actually it went into and out of and back into, for EIGHT days in a row. The shipper put the wrong zip code on it, and FedEx's computer couldn't tell there was a problem! Oy! It's being overnighted and so I will see it manana.I've found a solution to the dual boot problem, on MS' site:http://support.microsoft.com/kb/926185I'd like to try a raid 0 to dual boot.Tell me tho as I still don't get it: at what point in an installation is the matrix raid controller called into play? Is this done AFTER I install XP on one drive? Or is it done between intial POST and initial install of XP? I would be installing XP first (versus Vista 64 first).Thanks again for your expertise,Noel

If I had two 250g drives, n one 500g drive, what does this do for data recovery, or does it? Another $100--if not now, when? If not me, who?

This from Matrix Manager's installed Help file. Here's what it can do.Matrix RAID TechnologyMatrix RAID allows two independent RAID volumes to be created on a single RAID array. The array may consist of 2 to 6 Serial ATA hard drives, depending on the RAID level. The first RAID volume occupies part of the array, leaving space in which a second volume can be created.The following RAID levels combinations are supported as long as the same number of hard drives is used for both volumes: * 2-drive RAID 1 and RAID 0 * 3-6 drive RAID 0 and RAID 5 * 4-drive RAID 0 and RAID 10 * 4-drive RAID 5 and RAID 10This Help file provides specific instruction about what it does and operating instructions. It's a powerful utility.Step one it to go into the bios and set the SATA drives to RAID mode. The POST sequence will provide a CTRL-I moment. This get to the bios' Raid setup screen. Select Raid 0 and the drives you want to use in this array. Allow the POST to continue to boot off the ASUS driver CD. This will allow you to make a floppy disk with the raid drivers. Follow along and make the floppy. (Do XP and Vista use the same raid drivers? Don't know.) Remove the floppy and swap in the XP install CD. Boot off the XP CD. It will ask if any other drivers are necessary at its F6 moment. Give it an F6. Load the floppy and let XP autodetect the raid drivers. Once that happens, XP will deal with the raid as if it was just another drive. Install normally. The easiest way though, is to buy that 500G drive and use it as a backup for the new raid 0. Once I had data on board, I wouldn't start playing too hard with the Matrix without a full drive backup, just in case. There will be a learning curve.I expect you can install the Matrix software without effecting anything. That way the help file would be available. I imagine it's available somewhere as a standalone PDF, somewhere. Personally, I like the full drive backup method. I play pretty hard sometimes and have been known to completely destroy my setup. I never know exactly what hit me, but in a moment, it's all gone. Before the games begin, I'll use Acronis (or Vista Ultimate's same-as utility) to make a full drive image. If things blow up, I just format the wreck and restore with the full drive image. That's really the safest way. The 20-40 hours spent to bring back a fully tricked-out FS setup (along with everything else) -- time after time -- pays for that extra drive, time after time. With an image on that spare drive, 20 minutes and I'm back.

Are you suggesting just periodically making a clone of the two disc raid 0 on a 3rd drive? Is a drive image smaller? How often do you make a copy/image or clone? Is there any automated way with 3 drives to do a raid 0 and automatically put a mirrored copy on a 3rd drive?Here's a question Sam: let's say I use the .11's for raid 0, and I make two partitions of ~equal capacity, one for XP, and one for Vista 64. As far as making a complete backup of this whole disk, would I just use clone software such as Acronis or Ghost and it copies to the new drive as individual partitions as with the original raid 0? Or must I format the backup disk and create TWO partitions similar in size to the raid'ed .11's first?Sam, XP Pro doesn't have a drive image feature? Remember I am a Win2K user!I think this P5E is a Vista certified product, so I would think they would include a Vista Matrix driver if there indeed needs to be one to use the software in Vista. Maybe there is a call for both drivers I don't know yet. I'm guessing unless Vista has the driver already you will have to install Matrix into Vista as well.Sam thank you much again for your help--as you can see I need it :()

Yes. The image can be (a bit) smaller if you use Acronic compression option. When ever it's stable or pre-big changetime. I keep important data backed up separately. I use the backup (cloned) drive for this too. Just overwrite the data to the same locations on the backup drive. The Full image clone or image is only to preclude the weeks (months) of tweaking it generally takes to recover my systems to its pre-explosion state. Not with Acronis, but it is the whole point of using the Matrix Manager to setup a raid 0 across the physical drives and a raid 1 between the drives. Use Acronis to make a Clone of the entire raid to the 3rd 500. That way you will have an exact copy of that drive. If the raid blows up, just go into the bios and reset to boot off the 500. You are back immediately. It is an Exact copy of the drive, partitions and all. I do this all the time.Only Vista Ultimate (Pro?) has this whole drive image feature. The Matrix Manager is an addon. The raid will work without it. But install it anyway. You'll see your raid there. Immediately go in and enable "Volume Write Back Cache." BiG performance boost. http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/imsm/

>Yes. >>The image can be (a bit) smaller if you use Acronic>compression option. >>When ever it's stable or pre-big changetime. I keep important>data backed up separately. I use the backup (cloned) drive for>this too. Just overwrite the data to the same locations on the>backup drive. The Full image clone or image is only to>preclude the weeks (months) of tweaking it generally takes to>recover my systems to its pre-explosion state. >>Not with Acronis, but it is the whole point of using the>Matrix Manager to setup a raid 0 across the physical drives>and a raid 1 between the drives. >>Use Acronis to make a Clone of the entire raid to the 3rd 500.>That way you will have an exact copy of that drive. If the>raid blows up, just go into the bios and reset to boot off the>500. You are back immediately. It is an Exact copy of the>drive, partitions and all. I do this all the time.>>Only Vista Ultimate (Pro?) has this whole drive image feature.>>>The Matrix Manager is an addon. The raid will work without it.>But install it anyway. You'll see your raid there. Immediately>go in and enable "Volume Write Back Cache." BiG performance>boost. >>http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/imsm/I have had to make repairs as well and I've always managed to salvage installations with the ERD and recovery console, but as you know with a few hours of reinstalls of certain things. I've always backed up my critical files on at least one other drive, sometimes two. I have 4 disks and of course no arrays. I think to pay the freight for a 500g backup drive is arguably worth the headache avoidance. I am of course assuming one can reclone the repaired TWO physical drive raid 0 off the 500g drive, and Acronis is able to send each partition to its corresponding physical drive, yes? If so, this arguably worth the cost.Thanks for that I think I'll go for it. Probably will attempt dual booting from the get go into the raid 0 configuration. I'll be at this for a while I feel--longer learning curve than with previous isntallations. It will begin with a BIOS flash to support the QX, and I'm already stumped since the BIOS rom file is larger than my floppy disk is. Someone at newegg said you could put it on a USB flash drive, and that's visible by the ezflash utility? I guess I better RTFM!Tomorrow by 1:30p I should have the CPU whoohoo. I understand it won't recognize my CPU so hence the 502 BIOS upgrade. If so, I have a flash drive if that works so I'm ok . . .If I don't come up for air for long it may indicate DOA parts or some other crash n burn! Wish me luck and thanks alot for the help, truly appreciate it.Noel