The blurries, thankfully for me, are a non-issue. Yes, I run A6.5- but it runs on a wireless networked laptop on WideFS. I use the Flight Environment cloud sets (not AS6.5's). My FSX performance is quite acceptable, I remain locked at 28, with VERY FEW dips below this. I have NOT loaded Aerosoft's EGLL though, only using that in FS9 with superb results.I will at some point want to completly migrate to FSX- but- I will need SB4 released and all the kniks worked out (hopefully this time with less performance impact than SB3). I will also be waiting until the soon to be released PMDG 400X update is out- AND- as I have FINALLY been able to acquire a complete Aerosoft Australia glare shield I will nee drivers for these in FSX- I cannot now imagine flying without them!Yes, i am happy I went to the e8500- but it is not everything I had hoped for. I still am going to wait for the unlocked Quads to come down to $299- or get the Sandy Bridge CPU- whichever comes first. I CAN tell you though, that at 4ghz, both FS9 and FSX perform totally acceptabally, and I can now wait, more happily!Best-Carl F. Avari-Cooper BAW0225http://online.vatsimindicators.net/980091/523.png

Hey Carl, I don't think it is that the E8500 isn't everything you hoped for, I think if you read my post below you will see that there is much more to it than just the processor alone. The 8500 can handle more system and bandwidth than you are throwing at it with that board. I too was a little underwhelmed with just the 8500 until I changed everything around it. Rhett, I spoke about the blurries below as well.I did a whole little mini review below, hope it helps.Cheers guys, doing KEWR-EGLL right now ;)-PaulPrimary RigLiquid CooledIntel C2D E8500 445X9.5 @ 4.25Asus Maximus Extreme2 gigs OCZ Reaper DDR3 1333Dual 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

Paul-I don't mind changing out the memory, and I will try tinkering a bit further- but I am at the point where everything works really well- and I don't really want to change out the MB. I am intrigued with the Acronis idea, and do have an extra 250Gig Sata Drive. I currently run Raid 0 for my FS9/FSX PC (and yes I have read Nick's stuff about a dedicated RAID 0 card, but mine seems to be ok with the onboard P35 ICH9 RAID controller). They are 2 WD 16mb 7200rpm drives, 320MB each. Despite all this, I only have about 20% of the drive used, with the rest empty. Would I be able to use Acronis and image the current Raid 0 drive over on to the new internal drive once I add it to my case?As far as water, I just don't feel ready or inclined to tackle that animal- maybe sometime down the road, but not now.What are your thoughts about setting Affinity for FS9- do you bother? Is it detrimental? I never have so far but after running the MCP747 software on Core 1, I am thinking about running FS9 only on Core 0- thoughts?Best-Carl F. Avari-Cooper BAW0225http://online.vatsimindicators.net/980091/523.png

Acronis is a great tool with its Universal Restore feature. It is incredibly valuable for general backups as well. I have 2 500 gig removable drives with nothing but backups of all my systems and separate backups of important folders (installation files, backups of my entire FS directory prior to any major changes/installations, emails with codes etc...) I run RAID as well, no issues there and yes you could copy it to the single drive. My Data went from One array to another just to give you an idea. I was just saying the 8500 alone doesn't necessary fully unlock it. It takes a combination of the right board, memory and chip... I was underwhelmed until I changed everything else as well. Now I am blown away. You had asked about other results when OC'ing the 8500 on the same board but this gives you an idea of what else is out there. My sweet spot on the X38 seems to be beyond where the P35 could even POST or maintain stability so the board "or" memory or both was my limiting factor.As for setting Affinity I have been doing it for ages. If you are using WideFS and do not have other things running then it is not as important but I lock ASV, ASG, PFE, FDC to 1 and FS locked to 0. Nothing Detrimental and placebo or not I think FS9 is much smoother this way.-PaulPrimary RigLiquid CooledIntel C2D E8500 445X9.5 @ 4.25Asus Maximus Extreme2 gigs OCZ Reaper DDR3 1333Dual 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

Paul:As you may know I have been off line for the best part of last month with computer issues. After chasing several ghosts and having to RMA 3 boards, I ended up with the Asus P5E-Deluxe- with a BIOS quite similar to yours.Would you have time to post your BIOS settings? I am especially interested in your VCORE and FSB. Currently I am running the same 421 FSB and 1.4625 VCORE that I was with the Gigabyte board. This board however, is based on the X48 chip set and I was hoping to reduce my CORE TEMPS slightly. They were a bit higher initially, but once the thermal compound and heat pipes settled in, they are hovering around the 59/64 (Core 0 and Core 1) mark. Initially I did see a quick spike to 73C which made me quite uncomfortable for the second that it peaked.I will be running Prime95 all night and into tomorrow and am hoping for STILL 100% stable, but would like to create a bit less heat (Sam, chip in here and tell me I'm ok where I am). I am using the Tuniq, and after all these years, it is still in the top 1% of coolers, so I don't really want to change that.In the quest for cooler temps (or higher clocks) I may be inclined to go to some DDR2-1066/1200/1600 memory..........thoughts?Once the E8600s come down a bit (I paid $300 for the e8500 and they are under $180 now) I will make that jump- they seem to run even cooler and faster!BTW- anyone hear of the Intel update to change the e8500 stepping that is supposed to be released soon?Thanks!Best-Carl F. Avari-Cooper BAW0225http://online.vatsimindicators.net/980091/523.png| XP Pro SP3 with FS-GS System Unification | 2 x APC UPS | Coolermaster Stacker 830 SE | Asus P5E-Deluxe (X48) | e8500 | Tuniq Tower 120 | EVGA 8800GT 512MB | Sony 40" Bravia XBR | 2 x 1 GB Corsair XMS2 | 500GB Seagate Barracuda 32MB SATA2 | Corsair HX620W PS | CH Products Yoke-Pedals-Throttle Quadrant | Aerosoft 747MCP-EFIS-EICAS |

>>As you may know I have been off line for the best part of last>month with computer issues. After chasing several ghosts and>having to RMA 3 boards, I ended up with the Asus P5E-Deluxe->with a BIOS quite similar to yours.>I run a P5E3 Premium, which is close to yours.>Would you have time to post your BIOS settings? I am>especially interested in your VCORE and FSB.vcore presently unaltered. I think its 1.24v or so.FSB 380385 x 9.5 or so is about the highest 24/7 Prime stable I can go with stock voltage and no ram tweaks. With ram tweaks and slight voltage bump, I have run at 400 but I have not taken the time to lock 24/7 Prime stable settings there yet. The difference in FS is only very slight anyway.> Currently I am>running the same 421 FSB and 1.4625 VCORE that I was with the>Gigabyte board. This board however, is based on the X48 chip>set and I was hoping to reduce my CORE TEMPS slightly. They>were a bit higher initially, but once the thermal compound and>heat pipes settled in, they are hovering around the 59/64>(Core 0 and Core 1) mark. I am seeing 56-58 at my 3.6 ghz and 1.24v level; i use an Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro. Your Tuniq should put you in even better shape--your temps seem to indicate so. 1.46v is quite high, I think you are working up a high voltage there on vCore, probably higher than I would run unless I had water.>BTW- anyone hear of the Intel update to change the e8500>stepping that is supposed to be released soon?>I have heard about a new stepping for the E8500, but I don't know if it has been released yet.RhettFS box: E8500 (@ 3.80 ghz), AC Freezer 7 Pro, ASUS P5E3 Premium, BFG 8800GTX 756 (nVidia 169 WHQL), 4gb DDR3 1600 Patriot Cas7 7-7-7-20 (2T), PC Power 750, WD 150gb 10000rpm Raptor, Seagate 500gb, Silverstone TJ09 case, Vista Ultimate 64ASX Client: AMD 3700+ (@ 2.6 ghz), 7800GT

CarlI have exactly your FSB settings in my P35 board with an E8500 and DDR2-1066 RAM. It won't go higher than 421FSB for me, either.Like you, I find that FSX generally works OK with this CPU. However, my FPS at Aerosoft Heathrow 2008X are still diabolical, even without any AI traffic. Would you do me a favour? Could you park your 747X at EGLL Gate 414 at 12 noon with the weather set to - say - "Grey and rainy", and tell me what FPS you achieve just looking straight ahead in the VC cockpit? I'm stuck in the low-mid teens with occasional high-teens. Typical taxi to 27L is about 13-17fps. The take off roll and landing stages are at about the same levels, sometimes getting a little higher but sometimes also dipping into single digits. If you're getting better results than me, I'd be very glad to know your settings.Many thanksTim

For me the settings on an X38 bios 1104 with air cooling are:FSB 445, Multiplier 9CPU Volts 1.39375Processor speed 4.023 GhzCores will reach 70C in Prime 95. In FSX Core 0 peaks at 64 typically 62. Core 1 3-6 degrees lower.Distance to Tj max always >30CTemperatures measured using Real Temp 2.7.I think your volts maybe beyond Intel's absolute max of 1.45 volts.

Just to add my two cents, I'm consistently running 4.12 ghz and do many overnight flights albeit in FS9, with many complex addons and all sliders right. See my specs for further info. Real Temps on Core 1 never exceed 69C and 64-65C on core 2.I can probably go higher but have no need, and the temps are about as high as I want them. Mentaly, 70C is the forbidden zone for me -- just a prefernce.

Hey guys, sorry for the delayed response...You can see my stable FSB in my sig. 468x9.5 I have been higher but this can handle KEWR-VHHX and back without rebooting ;) My real sweet spot in terms in this box screaming was between 450x9.5 and 468x9.5...Voltages areVCore: 1.4 shows 1.37 but I had her rock stable up to 1.5 on liquid I just found I could keep coming back down and she stayed stable and brought temps down a bit.CPUPLL 1.66NB 1.42SB 1.1SB1.5 1.55Even under full load in an 80F room my temps are at 34C BUT I am also liquid on my CPU, Board and both GPU's... I had to relax my DDR3 to 7 7 7 18 2T @1368 with 4 gigs but I see no difference from 6 6 6 18 1T @1400. XP64 has also been one of the best FS moves ever for me.It is also key to remember 2 8500's can have very different OC results even on the same exact board so what works for one might not work for another.Good luck though find your sweet spot and these 8500's are just unreal!!!-PaulPrimary RigLiquid CooledIntel C2D E8500 468X9.5 @ 4.45Asus Maximus Extreme4 gigs OCZ Reaper DDR3 @1368Dual OC'd XFX 8800GTX @ 2 gigsDual VelociRaptor 10k SATAII RAID-0Dual WD Caviar 500 gig Raid-0Single 150Gig SATA2 Swap Drive28 inch LCD 16XAA/16XAFDual 19 inch LCD'sPCPower and Cooling 1k Quad SLISaitek Yoke, Saitek Rudders, Go-Flight Flap,Gear and Trim Controlhttp://home.comcast.net/~psolk/3monitorsa.htmlBackup RigsIntel E6600 @ 3.2Asus P5N32E-SLI Plus3 Gigs Kingston Hyper XXFX 8600 GTAMD 4000 San Diego @ 2.72 Gigs Kingston Corsair XMS CL2XFX 7900 GTX Raid-0

Paul:At 1.400 I had Core 0 fail after 4 hours of Prime95. Bumped up to 1.425 it has been running without failure for about 7 hours now. Will let her run uninterrupted for 24- looking good so far, peaked at 67 and mostly in low 60s.Haven't messed with the other voltages yet- but keep thinking of the other memory.The other thing I'm considering is the e8600- correct stepping from the get go and also OCs like mad! Thoughts......Best-Carl F. Avari-Cooper BAW0225http://online.vatsimindicators.net/980091/523.png| XP Pro SP3 with FS-GS System Unification | 2 x APC UPS | Coolermaster Stacker 830 SE | Asus P5E-Deluxe (X48) | e8500 @ 4gHz | Tuniq Tower 120 | EVGA 8800GT 512MB | Sony 40" Bravia XBR | 2 x 1 GB Corsair XMS2 | 500GB Seagate Barracuda 32MB SATA2 | Corsair HX620W PS | CH Products Yoke-Pedals-Throttle Quadrant | Aerosoft 747MCP-EFIS-EICAS |

Paul:Just checking in- hope you had a safe trip across the pond and back? I have been sitting at 4gHz, 1.425 vcore- rock solid- thank God!Have a second 500gb 32meg cache drive enroute from the egg, and was toying with the idea of an array. I have purchased Acronis and made a clone copy of my disk....but would love to pick your brain about the process in detail. Also, re memory choices, with the x48 chipset I may be able to oc a bit further on air with the right memory- perhaps we can chew over that as well?Contact me at your convenience, either here via pm or at [email protected] thanks!Best-Carl F. Avari-Cooper BAW0225http://online.vatsimindicators.net/980091/523.png| XP Pro SP3 with FS-GS System Unification | 2 x APC UPS | Coolermaster Stacker 830 SE | Asus P5E-Deluxe (X48) | e8500 @ 4gHz | Tuniq Tower 120 | EVGA 8800GT 512MB | Sony 40" Bravia XBR | 2 x 1 GB Corsair XMS2 | 500GB Seagate Barracuda 32MB SATA2 | Corsair HX620W PS | CH Products Yoke-Pedals-Throttle Quadrant | Aerosoft 747MCP-EFIS-EICAS |

I just took mine to 4.2 ghz, 1.45 v last night for the first time, still cooling on air -- and with a little trepidation. Flew FS2004 for 2 1/2 hours out of FlyTampa's Dubai OMDB into their Hong Kong VHHH.I'm not keeping it there -- there was no noticeable performance increase from my usual 4.12 ghz @ 1.425v .

Anyone still remember when 4GHz on air was just a fantasy? :-lol Now, even when we hit that magic number, we just know there's a little more left. Overclocking is more addictive than crack! :-eek Regards,Jeff

E8600 is clocking at 6.5 ghz :-lolhttp://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y156/awf1/sign.jpg