Ok- I think I will stay here (FSB 421, CPU 1.4375v) for the near future. I would like to go to 4.2ghz as final, so if there are any thoughts on the matter, please advise.For now I am ok with this OC (26%) and the temps seem well managed. I am a bit worried about the voltage- as the 45nm chips are spec'd at 0.85V

>Well guys- after 9+ hours- Prime95 error at 4.0 :(>>Please advise what you would do at this point....thanks! My>CPU voltage is at 1.425.....I'm thinking of bumping it up a>BIT- is there anything else to do? The MAX temp during the 9+>hours was 70C- should be ok??1.45v I think is the max rating. The crazy overclockers with liquid nitrogen etc seem to not mind going to 1.65v, but THAT is a big voltage increase in terms of percentage over default (almost 30%). Of course, with what I paid for this QX there is no way I would take that chance. And furthermore, there is a point of diminishing returns. I think if you are running at 4.0 or 4.1 stable with acceptable heat, then call it good because the fact remains going from 4.1 to 4.2 will get you a net perf increase (if the CPU clock was all that mattered) of a grand total of . . . 2.4%, AKA, undetectable difference.Nice to finally be able to run FS9 perfectly :()NoelQX9650 w/ Retail HSF|8GB Muskin PC-6400|ASUS P5E|EVGA 8800GT @700|Seagate SATA 2 x 4|Seagate Cheetah 15K.x|XP Pro|Vista 64--soon to be installed

>>Ok...I am now TOTALLY BUMMED OUT! I am getting those>figures>>on a single core P4 3.4.>>>>I was getting so excited about the prospect of 25-35 FPS>with>>an E8500 or high-end quad.>>>>Now..totally bummed out.>>>>I'm going to pull my purchase and wait until FSXI comes out>>and see what everybody with the E8500's and Quads are>pulling>>with that release.>>>>:(>>>>Mitch>>Which figures Mitch?!------------------------------------------Hi Word Not Allowed,Where the O.P. reported he was 'now' getting up to 25 FPS since the new E8500 install. Word Not Allowed, I am getting that right now with my P4. But, if the O.P. is getting that with absolutely NO BLURRIES, or SNAPPING IN of texture within 50 miles of the X/Y coordinates of his plane and no banking stutters at all.......that might be another matter. Hopefully, if he read this post, he will clarify that. But as for his 'raw' fps...I am indeed getting that..but with the occasional 'snapping' into focus of the 50 mile radius. If that is my only true issue between my present system, and what others are getting in having upgraded to a Dual Core, then I will have a hard time in parting with $2000.00-$3000.00 for the actual difference. I'd then want to really see what FS11 (XI) will be bringing to the table and then match the requirements to that edition. I have a feeling that M.S. has learned quite a bit from their FSX feedback and have/will make sure that there are smiles on at least 80 percent of the user's faces, on RTM day.Hopefully, I state that...Mitch

But, if the O.P. is getting that with>absolutely NO BLURRIES, or SNAPPING IN of texture within 50>miles of the X/Y coordinates of his plane and no banking>stutters at all.......that might be another matter.Nick N. seems to be saying this in his thread re DDR3 and other memory performance issues. He is saying his 4+Ghz machine is running everying smoothly and with excellent visual sharpness in the textures.

Carl just a matter of interest, whats your preferred FS, FS9 or FSX? which one are you using mostly?

Sorry for not replying ealier Carl - that annoying thing called real life has stopped me posting anything but the shortest of replies lately!Anyway, if you want my take on how far to take things overclocking it is this: I overclock until I reach the point that CPU voltage starts increasing drastically to get a stable overclock, then back it off a little. In the case of my Q6600, it will run all day at 3.5GHz and 1.4V, but to get it just 100MHz more it takes another 0.0725V to get it stable ie. 1.4725V. Although my temps are OK at this higher overclock, it is obvious to me that I have reached the corner speed of my CPU as the voltage is now really ramping up to get little increments further. So for me, I run it just below this corner speed and have some peace of mind that it may still work in a year or two ;-)So my suggestion is to find that corner speed and back off just a little from that. It seems to me that 4.0GHz is right about that sweet spot for you, so you definately seem to be on the right track.Gary

Mitch-You have me confused- I was LOCKED at 28FPS in FSX before my e8500- using my e6850 at 3.6ghz. I have not yet played with FSX- but expect better than that now. As far as the other issues you mention- blurries/snapping/stutters etc- I have fortunately NEVER suffered from any of that- but I use Michael Greenblatt at FSGS for all my FS setup- and he is worth his weight in gold. I am always amused at all the FSX hoopla- the only reason I don't fly it more than I do is that my VA doesn't support FS INN for their online ACARS reporting, and that I have not found a replacement for my Active Camera custom views. I never turn on traffic as I fly online with VATSIM.As far as I am concerned- FSX ran acceptably on the old system, and I can't wait for a session with Michael so he can tweak for this new processor! Best-Carl F. Avari-Cooper BAW0225http://online.vatsimindicators.net/980091/523.png

>Sorry for not replying ealier Carl - that annoying thing>called real life has stopped me posting anything but the>shortest of replies lately!>>Anyway, if you want my take on how far to take things>overclocking it is this: I overclock until I reach the point>that CPU voltage starts increasing drastically to get a stable>overclock, then back it off a little. In the case of my>Q6600, it will run all day at 3.5GHz and 1.4V, but to get it>just 100MHz more it takes another 0.0725V to get it stable ie.>1.4725V. >>Although my temps are OK at this higher overclock, it is>obvious to me that I have reached the corner speed of my CPU>as the voltage is now really ramping up to get little>increments further. So for me, I run it just below this>corner speed and have some peace of mind that it may still>work in a year or two ;-)>>So my suggestion is to find that corner speed and back off>just a little from that. It seems to me that 4.0GHz is right>about that sweet spot for you, so you definately seem to be on>the right track.>>Gary>> Gary-THANKS SO MUCH! I fully understand about life getting in the way! So in looking at my voltage and FSB- do you think I am ok with the 1.43750v? The temps seem ok, the HOTTEST EVER SEEN was 70C- mostly well below that. I am a bit worried because of the specs posted on the Intel Spec Finder- mine is a bit higher than their recommended.....but again, ORTHOS and PRIME95 weem to like this setting. At 4.0ghz FS9 is a dream- and FSX ought to be as well- I loved it at 3.6ghz in the e6850.......still mostly flying FS9 until SB4 and the 400X update form PMDG though.....Thanks Gary- appreciate your thoughts on the voltage....Best-Carl F. Avari-Cooper BAW0225http://online.vatsimindicators.net/980091/523.png

>Carl >>just a matter of interest, whats your preferred FS, FS9 or>FSX? which one are you using mostly?FS9 primarily- for now- with a change to FSX planned as soon as I get SB4 and the 400X update from PMDG......and a FSX Active Camera...Performance is NOT the issue for me :)Best-Carl F. Avari-Cooper BAW0225http://online.vatsimindicators.net/980091/523.png

Thanks Carl for that post. I was settling upon an E8500 system with dual 8800GT's (512x2). I'll revisit that, then.Mitch

Yeah, I'd be happy with that vcore, especially with the vdroop you are recording likely making the vcore at the CPU that little bit lower and the low temps you are getting at full load.BTW, I have gravitated back to FS9 myself, as I find the FS9, SSTSIM Concorde(which I only recently bought), FSPax, FSNav, ASv6.5 combo unbeatable on the FS entertainment front.Gary

Ok Gary, thanks! That sounds good- I will carefully monitor temps- but I just downloaded and ran ORTHOS for 2 hours without any issues and again the absolute highest recorded was on core 1 (not core 0) at 70C- 99% of the time it was well below that.As far as FS9- no arguments- I use it 90% of the time (for my VA flights) but Gary, the future is BRIGHT! Fly into Courecheval in the default Maule, or into Julianna in the default Goose in FSX- and with the e8500 (and Michael's magic at FSGS) it is BRILLIANT! Absolutely BRILLIANT! With the release of SB4, an Active Camera replacement in FSX and the release of the PMDG 400X update- I might just go ahead and make the switch- there's no performance reason not to mate- lovely!Thanks for all your help everyone here- I will update as I make any progress- ultimately I would like to see 4.2ghz- BUT NOT WITH ANY HIGHER TEMPS (or CPU voltages if I can avoid it)!Best-Carl F. Avari-Cooper BAW0225http://online.vatsimindicators.net/980091/523.png

BTW its a Gigabyte P35-DS3R board, F11 BIOS, 2 gigs Corsair XMS2 4-4-4-12 PC800, Corsair 650 PSU, EVGA KO 8800GT, and RAID 0 on 2 WD 7200rpm, 16mb cache 320gig drives. And FSGS :)- the most important upgrade of all!Best-Carl F. Avari-Cooper BAW0225http://online.vatsimindicators.net/980091/523.png

>Mitch->>You have me confused- I was LOCKED at 28FPS in FSX before my>e8500- using my e6850 at 3.6ghz. I have not yet played with>FSX- but expect better than that now. As far as the other>issues you mention- blurries/snapping/stutters etc- I have>fortunately NEVER suffered from any of that- but I use Michael>Greenblatt at FSGS for all my FS setup- and he is worth his>weight in gold. I am always amused at all the FSX hoopla- the>only reason I don't fly it more than I do is that my VA>doesn't support FS INN for their online ACARS reporting, and>that I have not found a replacement for my Active Camera>custom views. I never turn on traffic as I fly online with>VATSIM.>>As far as I am concerned- FSX ran acceptably on the old>system, and I can't wait for a session with Michael so he can>tweak for this new processor! >>Best->Carl F. Avari-Cooper BAW0225>http://online.vatsimindicators.net/980091/523.pngCarl,After reading your post regarding FS-GS I couldn't agree more. I just did my first session last weekend with Michael and my FSX runs great, although I hadn't tried running FSX prior. When we did my session, it was on my new computer with a fresh install of FSX, Ultimate Terrain, GEX, FTX, Ultimate trafic, etc. I have absolutly no blurries even when slewing at 1000 kts and switching views. The service cost me $85 USD and it took about 4 hours. I am going to do another post on it. There is no need to for days upon days of tweaking and multi thousand of dollars need to get FSX working beautifully.

Hey guys,I have been watching this thread and hope someone can give me a hand. I have the same E8500 chip with 2 gigs Corsair XMS2 800. I am having issues getting anywhere past 3.8 without my system locking up. To get past 3.8 I also have to unlink my memory and run it at 800 which then shows a true speed of 754. So for now I am running @ 3.8 with a memory speed of 940 @ 4 4 4 12. Any more aggressive and I have to relax to 5 5 5 15. No matter what 1T seems to be out of the question and I am at 2T regardless.Any ideas on why I keep hitting this wall? Would you guys prefer 4.0 with your memory at 754 or 3.8 with memory at 940? Thanks in advance for any help guys, I am beating my head against the wall a bit here...-PaulPrimary RigLiquid CooledIntel C2D E8500 @3.8Asus P5N32SLI-Plus2 gigs Corsair XMS PC6400 4 4 4 12 @810Dual OC'd XFX 8800GTX @ 2 gigs24 inch Widescreen LCD 16XAA/16XAFDual 19 inch LCD'sRaid-0+1PCPower and Cooling 1k Quad SLIhttp://home.comcast.net/~psolk/3monitorsa.htmlBackup RigAMD 4000 San Diego @ 2.72 Gigs Kingston Corsair XMS CL2XFX 7900 GTX Raid-0