Dilemma over CPU for FS9 and maybe FSX

[Ray Proudfoot 9,025]

Thanks Gary and can I also show my appreciation for your excellent post on FSX performance. That should be pinned for the next two years!

[Ray Proudfoot 9,025]

Hi George,<>Thanks for your reply. I had considered the Penryn range but they're in short supply at present and from what I've read in the computer press aren't significantly better than than the current C2D crop.<>Was that a typo? I can't find a E6850 running at 3.16Ghz - only the one running at 3.0Ghz. Maybe it's a superceded model?<>>I'm also considering the MSI P35 Neo. I'll check the reviews for both. 600 watts for a single 8800GTX? Really? Is it really that demanding of power? Ouch, not doing much for my carbon footprint is it? :-eek

[Ray Proudfoot 9,025]

Hi again,Whilst I'm happy about the components in this new system I do have concerns about the size of the 8800GTX and whether it will fit comfortably in my proposed Antec Sonata III mid-tower case. Here's a link to the spec www.antec.com/uk/productDetails.php?ProdID=08143. I can't find anything on the BFG website advising about minimum space requirements. Does anyone have a 8800GTX 768Mb in a midi-sized case and does it fit okay?I guess either the MSI P35 Neo or Asus P5K Prem would not have any problems accepting this card. I don't intend adding a second for SLI.One other question and I hope it's not a daft one. I read elsewhere that PCI-E cards can only be recognised by XP SP2. Because my XP CD is pre-SP2 I won't be able to install SP1 or 2 until the basic OS is installed. I assume the card will be recognised on the initial XP install thereby allowing me to install SP1/2? Logic tells me so but it doesn't hurt to ask the question.Thanks,

[Ray Proudfoot 9,025]

Hi again George,I checked on the price and availability of the Penryn processors and they do run cooler and only cost slightly more than the E6850. They're due to arrive in a week or two so it makes sense to consider them. I'll now consider the E8500 running at 3.16Ghz but with 6Mb of L2 cache compared to the 4Mb on the E6850.As it's so close to release my only problem may be one of availability. I'll keep you all posted.

[Guest GeorgeDorkofikis]

Yes, I had a typo... I meant the E8500 (not E8650 as I wrote).If you head over to Tom's Hardware you can compare all those CPUs in a very convenient comparison chart. As you will see the overall performance gain of E8500 against E8400 doesn't justify the price difference which is about 100Euros.As for the VGA... Yes, that puzzled me too! According to the PSU calculator that ASUS uses the 8800GT needs 300W of power alone!!!Other online PSU calculators gave me a recommended wattage of 500W.Anyway, I got myself a nice 650W supply just to be on the safe side, and will certainly be able to coop with future hardware additions.BTW, according to several forums I've read, the new Penryn seems to be doing very well with overclocking!George DorkofikisAthens, Hellashttp://online.vatsimindicators.net/811520/1704.png

[Ray Proudfoot 9,025]

Hi George,I'm struggling to find any comparison charts for the new E8n00 Penryn processors. Do you have a link please?I found a PSU calculator (newegg) and my proposed 500watt PSU will be sufficient for a C2D - a Quad would require another 100watts.As a comparison I fed in the specs for my current system and it suggested a 468watt PSU. I currently have a 380watt which has performed flawlessly so you can see there is a lot of caution when recommending PSUs.I'd agree that the price hike for the E8500 isn't worth the difference. It's looking like the E8400 now!

[Noel 4,531]

>Hi George,>><at 3Ghz.>It's the new Penryn core build at 45nm requiring less energy>and producing less heat.>Tests I've read on Tom's Hardware and such give it very good>credit.>>>>Thanks for your reply. I had considered the Penryn range but>they're in short supply at present and from what I've read in>the computer press aren't significantly better than than the>current C2D crop.Well, do consider tho the overclock potential. Depending on the model and its locked or unlocked multiplier, these things DO overclock very well with little or no added cooling. I blew my wad on a QX9650 for virtually guaranteed serious overclocking using budget memory. I bought 8Gb's of PC-800 for $158. In 1990 I bought 8Megabyte for $400, and that's with 1990 dollars! This processor doesn't hardly sweat at 4.0GHz (vCore upped only to 1.287 from 1.25, and may not have needed to do that as I just did it and it booted and the rest is history) with very low temps: at peak loads in FS9 she runs at a whopping 42 degrees with no special cooling, tho that is available should I decide to shoot for 4.4GHz+ or whatever. FS9 certainly doesn't need it! In any case, I have ALWAYS purchased fully depreciated parts my entire PC life of building my own machines, and this time I figured I'd start high end and NOT plan on intermediate upgrades in 2 years as I have sometimes done. I think the quad core's have their future potential, or at least there is good evidence this will be the case.

[Ray Proudfoot 9,025]

Hi Noel,Rest assured I will overclock but not necessarily from day 1. I'm not an expert in this area and the last thing I want is a frazzled CPU.I'm now looking at the Penryn E8400 which will overclock up to 4Ghz - if I'm brave enough! This will be my first venture into o/clocking in 16 years of owning PCs. Clearly times have changed!Cheers,

[Noel 4,531]

Ray, it's hard to fry a CPU with clockspeed per se, it's the voltage that could be problematic. If you go with E8400 be sure to check what the multiplier is fixed at so you can make sure the rest of your components will fly with the sort of FSB you will need to use to get that clockspeed. I think it's hard to go wrong with a penryn. Very cool running cpu's, plus you will have SSE4 when that becomes of value. From reading Anand's article on my cpu it would appear I am very safe in running vCore to 1.32 so I will most likely see clockspeeds of 4.25 just fine, and that's 4 cores at that speed. Man I am amazed at how much more potent these dudes are comp to my old Northwood at 3.5GHz.QX9650 @ 4.0GHz/1.285 vCore / 8GB PC-800 Mushkin (cheap!) / evga 8800GT @ 660Mhz / 2xSATA 2 drives /

[Guest Jeffhew]

Hi Ray,Just ordered the E8400 myself. Cheaper than the 6850 and faster too. It seems that you can get up to 4.0 or more but the recommendation of professionals I've talked with is 3.66 is rock solid and 24/7 stable without undue wear and tear.Regards,Jeff

[Ray Proudfoot 9,025]

Jeff,3.66GHz for FS9 will be awesome. Not too bad either for FSX. Apparently one chap elsewhere had clocked a Q6850 to 5Ghz! That sounds like asking for trouble.Hope you get it soon. There's a waiting list over here :-(

[Guest Jeffhew]

I'll post a review when I get it. I have a couple of weeks to wait but, I'm older know and I nap more so it doesn't seem so long :-lol In the meantime, this might help:http://www.yougamers.com/articles/16583_th...aming_pc_specs/Hope you don't have to wait too long.Cheers,Jeff

[Ray Proudfoot 9,025]

Hi Jeff,Thanks for the link. I spotted this statement on page 2 ..."Every game box still lists "magical MHz numbers", with most games currently asking for a 2 to 3GHz Pentium 4; the reality is that just about any CPU you can still buy from the stores is adequate to run games at an acceptable frame rate."Looks like no-one told ACES! :-lolI'm old(ish) too. Weekdays drag but weekends don't. :(Cheers,

[Noel 4,531]

After seeing some screenshots of FSX and enjoying the amazing fluidity of FS9 with a modern processor one could stay quite happy sticking with FS9, tricked out as they say. I'm sure I'll get "ok" performance with FSX if I ever install it, but again, it would be hard to give up on perfection in performance as it were, and IT IS perfection at this level. I kinda feared this would not be the case, ie with PMDG heavy and flying in and over super dense scenery. I figured there would still be the occasional lag. Not!QX9650 @ 4.0GHz/1.285 vCore / 8GB PC-800 Mushkin (cheap!) / evga 8800GT @ 660Mhz / 2xSATA 2 drives /

[Ray Proudfoot 9,025]

Hi Noel,No-one seems to list the clock multipliers but I doubt it would be different for the E8400 compared to the E6850.I've also decided on a change of graphics card. ATI have just released the HD3870X2 with two GPUs and 1Gb of RAM and for