Please Advise New System- Nick your comment

[ABE 0]

INTEL Core i7 Extreme i7-965ASUS P6T Deluxe intel x58Sapphire 100251SR RADEON HD 4870 X2 2gb gddr5 pci-e 2.0 x16.....Need the ATI for Video Capture(I realize Nvidia is better for FSX)APEVIA X-TELSTAR-BL (blue) mid tower(FULL) 5x5.25 2x3.5 5x3.5THERMALTAKE W0172RU toughpower 850w ATX OR THERMALTAKE W0131RU toughpower 850w modularized ATXCorsair 1333 mHz 6GB Kit (2GBx3)......voltage is under 1.65 (1.5 volts)memory voltage must be under 1.65 for board to work properly. 1333 is the speed of CPU, performs better unless overclocked(not sure yet)PIONEER DVR-215DPIONEER 20X SATA DVD RW DRIVE W/SWWould love any advise and correction about any item.Nick I have read probably all your posts about the i7. And I am basing my new system on that with slight variation.Thanks in advance, everybody.Abe

[ABE 0]

Follow-up I am confused about the 7-7-7 24 and 9-9-9 24, etc..... Would love an explanation. thanks Abe

[Guest Nick_N]

Follow-up I am confused about the 7-7-7 24 and 9-9-9 24, etc..... Would love an explanation. thanks Abe

As long as you understand the X2 2nd core is pretty much useless to FSX and you require some support you are sure the GTX 285 will not provide.. thats fine, but I would look into the GTX285 and confirm it will not provide the support you need. If you were purchasing that card for Crysis or other games of that nature then the X2 would be the better choice.The 965 makes clocking a breeze and it will get to 4GHz very easy compared to a 920 and even a 940 however it is very expensive. The 940 will clock up to 4Ghz as well.. in either case you need the correct heatsink to clock like that as the one that comes with the processor will not allow that kind of clock. Memory timming... lowest is faster.. always select the lowest timing memory for the speed you intend to run. Even if its only 1333 memory and you do not intend to clock.. purchase the lowest timing possible.With the 965 you can lock the memory at any speed so 1333 will work as well as 1600 and faster products. If you do not go with 965 and instead opt for 940 and you intend to clock do go with at least DDR3 1600 7-7-7 memory.. OCZ makes it. I would use it even with the 965. Even if you do not clock the memory will still run 1600

[ABE 0]

As long as you understand the X2 2nd core is pretty much useless to FSX and you require some support you are sure the GTX 285 will not provide.. thats fine, but I would look into the GTX285 and confirm it will not provide the support you need. If you were purchasing that card for Crysis or other games of that nature then the X2 would be the better choice.The 965 makes clocking a breeze and it will get to 4GHz very easy compared to a 920 and even a 940 however it is very expensive. The 940 will clock up to 4Ghz as well.. in either case you need the correct heatsink to clock like that as the one that comes with the processor will not allow that kind of clock. Memory timming... lowest is faster.. always select the lowest timing memory for the speed you intend to run. Even if its only 1333 memory and you do not intend to clock.. purchase the lowest timing possible.With the 965 you can lock the memory at any speed so 1333 will work as well as 1600 and faster products. If you do not go with 965 and instead opt for 940 and you intend to clock do go with at least DDR3 1600 7-7-7 memory.. OCZ makes it. I would use it even with the 965. Even if you do not clock the memory will still run 1600

Thanks Nick.I hope you don't mind me pursuing this a little further.The only issue I have is this. With NO overclocking using the 965 , can you give me a specific performance difference in FSX between Corsair 1333 mHz 6GB Kit (2GBx3) 9-9-9-24 and OCZ 1600 7-7-7? Sorry for being a pain in the butt. If you can come up with a PERCENTAGE or any kind of explanation, I would surely appreciate it. By the way, I am upgrading from QX6850.Thanks again, Nick.Abe

[Guest Nick_N]

Thanks Nick.I hope you don't mind me pursuing this a little further.The only issue I have is this. With NO overclocking using the 965 , can you give me a specific performance difference in FSX between Corsair 1333 mHz 6GB Kit (2GBx3) 9-9-9-24 and OCZ 1600 7-7-7? Sorry for being a pain in the butt. If you can come up with a PERCENTAGE or any kind of explanation, I would surely appreciate it. By the way, I am upgrading from QX6850.Thanks again, Nick.Abe

Abe I have no % difference for you.. trust me on this... lower timing. The #1 user mistake with FSX is trying to skimp more than any other. Is it worth the difference? Absolutely! .. Is there a way to define the difference based on frame rate in all scenery circumstances? No.going from 9 to 7 and increasing the memspeed to 1600 will definitely make a difference especially since you are not planning on overclocking. I do not have any quatified data to place an accurate % on it which is why I wont quote numbers ... and you will never find anything accurate in that respect with FSXWith ther 965 and the stock heatsink you will be able to get a bit more out of it without having to raise CPU voltage or install a clocking heatsink

[ABE 0]

Abe I have no % difference for you.. trust me on this... lower timing. The #1 user mistake with FSX is trying to skimp more than any other. Is it worth the difference? Absolutely! .. Is there a way to define the difference based on frame rate in all scenery circumstances? No.going from 9 to 7 and increasing the memspeed to 1600 will definitely make a difference especially since you are not planning on overclocking. I do not have any quatified data to place an accurate % on it which is why I wont quote numbers ... and you will never find anything accurate in that respect with FSXWith ther 965 and the stock heatsink you will be able to get a bit more out of it without having to raise CPU voltage or install a clocking heatsink

Thanks again, Nick. I do appreciate your help. I have implicit trust in your judgement and experience. I'll try to follow your instructions religiously.Abe

[Dutch60 0]

INTEL Core i7 Extreme i7-965ASUS P6T Deluxe intel x58Sapphire 100251SR RADEON HD 4870 X2 2gb gddr5 pci-e 2.0 x16.....Need the ATI for Video Capture(I realize Nvidia is better for FSX)APEVIA X-TELSTAR-BL (blue) mid tower(FULL) 5x5.25 2x3.5 5x3.5THERMALTAKE W0172RU toughpower 850w ATX OR THERMALTAKE W0131RU toughpower 850w modularized ATXCorsair 1333 mHz 6GB Kit (2GBx3)......voltage is under 1.65 (1.5 volts)memory voltage must be under 1.65 for board to work properly. 1333 is the speed of CPU, performs better unless overclocked(not sure yet)PIONEER DVR-215DPIONEER 20X SATA DVD RW DRIVE W/SWWould love any advise and correction about any item.Nick I have read probably all your posts about the i7. And I am basing my new system on that with slight variation.Thanks in advance, everybody.Abe

Sorry Abe, but I think you forgot the HDD's.Get two WD VelociRaptors 300GB, one for the OS Vista 64bit and one for FSX plus an extra big 1TB HDD for all your other stuff.There is no need for RAID if you keep the second VelociRaptor only for the FSX setup.

[ABE 0]

Sorry Abe, but I think you forgot the HDD's.Get two WD VelociRaptors 300GB, one for the OS Vista 64bit and one for FSX plus an extra big 1TB HDD for all your other stuff.There is no need for RAID if you keep the second VelociRaptor only for the FSX setup.

Thanks Dutch. Did not forget about the drives. I have an ABUNDANCE of them. I am guessing about 6x500gigs 2x1TB and 3 externals. I'll be using at least a couple in the new system, all the drives I have are SATA. I used to work with SCSI until recently. I heard quite a bit about the VelociRaptors, they sound good. I am not definitely sure whether the extra performance justifies the added price. Somebody has to really convince me.......with numbers if possible!!Abe