Replace E6700 with E8500 CPU?

[Pete S 7]

Will it be worth replacing my E6700 CPU with the E8500? What performance gains can I expect to see with FSX?I have seen the E8500 prices drop to $190 which seems like a good deal!My present system consists of:Intel D975X BX2 MB with Intel duo E6700 CPU (Not Overclocked)4 GB Corsair PC800 memorynVidia 8800GTX VideoFSX on a WD Raptor 10K RPM 150GB DriveVista Home Premium 32bit on Hitachi 500gb 7200rpm Any comments or recommendations will be appreciated.Pete S.

[ryanbatc 12,803]

Yeah I spose, as long as you overclock it.

[cavaricooper 2,613]

Yes- and I'm one of the early ones who paid $300- worth every penny!Best-Carl F. Avari-Cooper BAW0225http://online.vatsimindicators.net/980091/523.png| XP Pro SP3 - FSGS System Unification | 2 x APC UPS | Coolermaster Stacker 830 SE | Gigabyte P35 DS3R | e8500 @ 4gHz | Tuniq Tower 120 | EVGA 8800GT 512MB | Sony 40" Bravia XBR | Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty | Bose Companion 5 | 2 x 1 GB Corsair XMS2 | 2 x 320GB WD Caviar RAID 0 | Corsair HX620W PS | CH Products Yoke-Pedals-Throttle Quadrant | Aerosoft 747MCP-EFIS-EICAS |

[Mace 1,902]

Wow, $190! For that price, I'd say yes, as long as your mb can support it.I am like Carl, I paid about $300 for mine a couple of months ago. It sure chews through FSX though.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

[Guest djt01]

>Wow, $190! The new E8600 (3.3GHz) and the new Q9650 will most likely drive that price down even futher. The E8500 will most likely be down around the price of the E8400 ($175.00) sometime in August. http://www.zipzoomfly.com/jsp/ProductDetai...ctCode=10008955ASUS RAMPAGE FORMULA (Intel X48 chipset) BIOS 403Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 w/Thermalright Ultra-120 ExtremeOCZ Titanium XTC 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)EVGA GTX 280 FTW (177.66 Drivers)Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty2x Western Digital Raptor 74GB (RAID 0) - Vista Ultimate 64 Bit/SP12x Western Digital Raptor 74GB (RAID 0)

[Mace 1,902]

$190 is practically lunch money.I remember spending $550 for a 486DX2/66. 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

[Pete S 7]

I know what you mean Rhett,I paid $500+ for this E6700 about 18 months ago!And now the E8500 is $194 with free shipping at Newegg.com and this is a retail "Boxed" CPU not OEM.http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115036I think I'll go for it!Pete S.

[Guest djt01]

>$190 is practically lunch money.>>I remember spending $550 for a 486DX2/66. I agree. In Oct.-Nov. 2006 I remember spending $1000.00 for the X6800. ASUS RAMPAGE FORMULA (Intel X48 chipset) BIOS 403Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 w/Thermalright Ultra-120 ExtremeOCZ Titanium XTC 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)EVGA GTX 280 FTW (177.66 Drivers)Creative X-Fi Fatal1ty2x Western Digital Raptor 74GB (RAID 0) - Vista Ultimate 64 Bit/SP12x Western Digital Raptor 74GB (RAID 0)

[simba_nl 34]

I am also thinking about to replace my E6750 for a E8400 or E8500, the price different is only Euro 10 here in The Netherlands between these cpu'sI have a Gigabyte P35-DS3 1.0 with 2x2Gb MDF 800 ram at 5-5-5-12I planned to overclock to (?) because my bios setting allowed max a setting of 400Mhz so what is the best choice and what will be the gain in fs2004 I usally fly with fs2004 over Vatsim with the Level-D 767 and only a few times within FSX and mostly smaller VFR planes.Thx...also XFX 8800 GTX and 2x Raptor 150Gb on board under Vista 64PS: I can also get the Q6600 for the same price as the E8500

[Reset XPDR 1,271]

What are you overclocked to now?Gary

[simba_nl 34]

>What are you overclocked to now?>>GaryHi Gary,I'm now using 400x8 with a max of 3,2 Ghz with the memory on 2x=800 Mhz by 5-5-5-12and giving me a gain in FPS of +/- 5 to 7 fps compared to the original 2,66 Ghz.I fly most of the time in FS9 with the Level-D 767 in Germany using the Aerosoft scenery's and in the background Vatsim/FSInn and Flightdeck Companion. No AI, only the Vatsim planes in the neighbourhood. Thru the FSInn setting rendering is dedicated to core 1 and the rest is core 0. I also use Alacrity PC to get maximum performance with minimum tasks.In and around the bigger airports like K

[Reset XPDR 1,271]

Looking at the rough math of such an upgrade, you should conservatively be looking at a 3.8GHz overclock of an E8500 (9.5x400). That's a 3.8/3.2 = 19% core speed increase. Factor in a 10% core efficieny increase for the new core arcitecture of the E8xx series over E6xx and that boosts it up to a 31% improvement in raw speed. Finally, in my experience raw speed increases return about 70% of that increase in actual FPS, which reduces that 31% improvement to around 21% actual FPS improvement, so lets round that off to 20%. Whether that is worth the upgrade for you is really up to you.In terms of blurry reduction, I don't think you will see any great improvement as I believe the FS9 engine is the limiting factor here. On my rig @ 3.5GHz I still get blurries in FS9 at times whereas in FSX I am relatively blurry free. I don't think any mega processor speed will change this for FS9.Personally, if I were you I'd stick with what you have.Gary

[simba_nl 34]

Thanks Gary for your support, if it's not solving the fs9 issue, there is no advantage ideed for me to upgrade now FSX is running blurry free....Cheers.

[ginoc1 4]

I say YES! I recently upgraded to an e8500. Got some g.skillz pc-1066 DDR2 and a Rampage Formula MB, along with a EVGA 8800GTS OC. Oh yeah, and a nice Thermaltake air heatsink paired with a great 120mm fan and I have an EASY and STABLE OC of 4.3 Ghz! FSX runs like a dream...with all the addons. so...YES!

[Reset XPDR 1,271]

That's good to hear, but does your new system resolve blurry issues you may have had with FS9? Also, your upgrade sounds like much more than a mini upgrade from an E6700 only, so perhaps that is why you consider the upgrade to be so revolutionary for you?Gary