Hi all - great to be back in the hardware forum....While we were away, I performed an upgrade to my FSX boxes (below). NickN helped me perform an easy overclock with my new i7-920 (d0 stepping) proc and I am now running FSX like never before and stable @ 4Hhz with a bit of room to spare.The BIOS settings and a bit of my experience can be found in the thread linked at the end of my sig below, titled "i7-920 OC BIOS Settings". You can also find all of NickN's other valuable tutorials in the last line of my sig below as well.

Hi Jordanal.I have recently ordered an upgrade for my PC similar to yours:ASUS P6T deluxe V2 -- 250 Euroscore i7 920 CPU -- 250 Euros3x2GB Kingston HyperX DDR3 modules @ 2000MHZ (can't remember the timings) -- 275 EurosProlimatech Megahalems CPU HeatSink with 2x12cmFans -- 60EurosI know 2000 MHZ is more than enough for oc 920 but I wanted to be on the safe side and I have a certain inclination towords kingston as a memory brand - don't know why. I hope that I will be able to run this memory at 1600MHz at low timings :( My current system is as follows:Intel QX9770 CPU @ 3789MHz (stock frequency 3200MHz) at default vCore 1.27V, temps: 40C iddle, 55C-60C full loadXigmatech Red Scorpion HeatSink, 6 copper 8mm Heatpipes directtouch technology with 12cm Fan.ASUS P5E mainboard BiosVer:1202, x38 chipset, ICH9 southbridge4GB DDR2 @1066MHz (4x1GB DDR2 Kingston Hyperx modules at dual channel mode)3x300GB WD velociraptors at 10000rpms running in AHCI mode. Each raptor has its own independent OS. So I have a tripple-boot setup with WinXPx86 with SP3, WinXPx64 with SP2, and WinVistax64 ultimate with SP1.1x1000GB (1TB) samsung 7200rpm Sata Disk for downloads, Installs, backups etc.ASUS GTX285 GPU 1GB video RAM.Thermaltake ARMOR+ FullTower case with 1x14cm front fan, 1x12cm rear fan, 2x12cm bottom fans and 1x21cm sidefan1000 Watt PSU (can't remember the brand)Philips 42inch LCD TV @ 1920x1080p FullHD @60HZ (50 on vista :o )Eizo 19inch 1280x1024 as a side monitor.On each raptor I have almost the same installation of FSX:FSX with acceleration (SP2 incl), ActiveSkyX with ActiveGraphics (SP4Patched), FSGlobal2008SP1, Ultimate terrain USA, Canada and Europe, Ground Environment X for USA&Canada, Real Environment Extreme, Flight Environment X, UTX for Australia, Various level10-11 meshes for various parts of the world from the Web, MyTrafficXver5.2a.I am planning to build a 2nd PC and use it as a client in order to drive 2 side monitors and use the faster 920 one to drive the main Philips TV. The reason for that is that if you try to run a 2nd monitor from the same GPU there is a dramatic decrease in frame rates :P .So the FSX server would be:Core i7 920 CPU @ 4GHz (hopefully :( )ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 boardGTX 285 GPU6GB DDR3 RAM at 1600 MHz2x300 GB Raptors running 2 OSs in AHCI mode (WinVistax64 and WinXPx64)Philips FTV 42inch@1920x1080pAnd the client would be:Core2Extreme QX9770 CPU @ 3.8GHzASUS P5E board4x1GB DDR2 at 1066MHzATI RADEON 4870x2 dual GPU with 2x1GB Vram1x300GB raptor in AHCI mode running WinXPx86 (32bit)2x 22-24 inch side monitors running at 1280x1024 or similar resolutions.So what do you think? am I going to get a decent 20-30 fps running most sliders at near max? At the moment I get around 10-15 fps at very dense areas (san-Fransisco, NY, Heathrow) and at bad weather even lower (7-12 fps) and quite acceptable fps at less dense areas (20-30) and 30-50 at high altitude.Also I would appreciate some input regarding how to setup 2 PCs running FSX in network.Thanks and sorry for the long post :( .

Thoughts in no particular order:

• To get to 4GHz on the 920, try to get a d0-stepping proc (I paid an extra $5 USD) to make sure from a non-typical supplier. www.atnaresdigital.com
• Get a good HSH for the 902. Wish I had bought the Thermalright Ultra-120 RT (find this... for good 4Ghz OC) My Scythe Mugen-2 is good but a pain to install and remove.
• Need at least a 750w PSU on i7 920 OC
• 2000MHz ram is probably overkill at 200Mhz bclk (1600Mhz). I opted for very low timings at this speed and ended up with 1.3v CPU and 1.35v QPI at 78 degrees C. Make sure your DRAM is rated 1.65v or below. NEVER EXCEED 1.65 VOLTS!
• Make sure your case has lots and lots of cooling. I run the Antec 900 for example.
• I have almost all the add-ons you listed as well. But I run a Simconnect / WideFS client (FSX Cleint below) to host Activesky, Radar Contact, FlightSim Flight Keeper, TOPCAT, and AI Smooth. To produce a second live session on anther PC, you're going to have to use somethinng like WideView to sync the FS sessions, including all your add-ons such as scenery, AI, aircraft, etc, on each PC. I don't know how licensing would work with aircraft such as the Level-D 767 or PMDG. As with FSX, you might have to buy a license for each concurrent PC. I played around with multi-monitor on a single PC years ago and never found the FPS acceptable. These days, I run the TrackIR5 virtual reality headset in the virtual cockpit and I will never look back. Dude, try this first, especially with a 42" LCD, the TrackIR would be awesome at a high resolution; www.naturalpoint.com. Personally, I have a hard enough time keeping up with add-ons for one PC, I can't imagine trying to sync two or more PC to the same installalation.
• Check out the other links at the bottom of my signature to tune your PC and FSX settings accordingly. Some very very good information there by NickN.

Good luck and regards,

Thoughts in no particular order:

• To get to 4GHz on the 920, try to get a d0-stepping proc (I paid an extra $5 USD) to make sure from a non-typical supplier. www.atnaresdigital.com
• Get a good HSH for the 902. Wish I had bought the Thermalright Ultra-120 RT (find this... for good 4Ghz OC) My Scythe Mugen-2 is good but a pain to install and remove.
• Need at least a 750w PSU on i7 920 OC
• 2000MHz ram is probably overkill at 200Mhz bclk (1600Mhz). I opted for very low timings at this speed and ended up with 1.3v CPU and 1.35v QPI at 78 degrees C. Make sure your DRAM is rated 1.65v or below. NEVER EXCEED 1.65 VOLTS!
• Make sure your case has lots and lots of cooling. I run the Antec 900 for example.
• I have almost all the add-ons you listed as well. But I run a Simconnect / WideFS client (FSX Cleint below) to host Activesky, Radar Contact, FlightSim Flight Keeper, TOPCAT, and AI Smooth. To produce a second live session on anther PC, you're going to have to use somethinng like WideView to sync the FS sessions, including all your add-ons such as scenery, AI, aircraft, etc, on each PC. I don't know how licensing would work with aircraft such as the Level-D 767 or PMDG. As with FSX, you might have to buy a license for each concurrent PC. I played around with multi-monitor on a single PC years ago and never found the FPS acceptable. These days, I run the TrackIR5 virtual reality headset in the virtual cockpit and I will never look back. Dude, try this first, especially with a 42" LCD, the TrackIR would be awesome at a high resolution; www.naturalpoint.com. Personally, I have a hard enough time keeping up with add-ons for one PC, I can't imagine trying to sync two or more PC to the same installalation.
• Check out the other links at the bottom of my signature to tune your PC and FSX settings accordingly. Some very very good information there by NickN.

Good luck and regards,

I thought there is only one stepping for the 920 - the C0. If you check http://processorfinder.intel.com/List.aspx...&SearchKey=you will see that there is no d0 stepping. There is c0 stepping. Where is d0 stepping everyone is talking about?Ok so for multiple monitors you say the best solution would be to avoid 2 PCs linked together as it would be very difficult to keep-up with 2 installations. I totally agree. I also have enough pain trying to keep 3 FSX installations on 3 HD drives up-to-date. I will probably stick with WinVistax64 with SP1 and FSX. This trackIR Headset looks really cool. I think I am going to order it. I hope they ship to Greece.As far as the CPU cooler is concerned, I also wanted to buy the Thermalright Ultra-120 RT but I couldn't find it. I bought ProlimaTech megahalems which came 1st on a comparison test at this site: http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?opti...mp;limitstart=7Thanks for your feedback friend :( .

I thought there is only one stepping for the 920 - the C0. If you check http://processorfinder.intel.com/List.aspx...&SearchKey=you will see that there is no d0 stepping. There is c0 stepping. Where is d0 stepping everyone is talking about?

The Intel support site you linked is not current...nothing new with that.i7 920 CPUs identified with sSPEC="SLBEJ" are the new d0 stepping, made from the same die as the new 950 (3.06 GHz) and 975 (3.33 GHz) core i7 CPUs that should be released this week. 920s with sSPEC "SLBCH" are the older c0 version. The new step d0 processors are showing up at specialty shops and in the mix from some of the volume dealers like Newegg that turn their inventory over relatively quickly.RegardsBob ScottColonel, USAF (ret)ATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VColorado Springs, CO

Right on Bob, I ordered from this place http://www.antaresdigital.com/customer/pro...at=0&page=1 and only paid an extra $5 for them to pull a d0 (SLBEJ) for my oder. Arrived in 3 days (down the US East coast) and couldn't be happier. This order was almost two weeks ago. I normally order from the likes of Newegg but they will not gaurentee any proc stepping. Oh well, their loss.

Right on Bob, I ordered from this place http://www.antaresdigital.com/customer/pro...at=0&page=1 and only paid an extra $5 for them to pull a d0 (SLBEJ) for my oder. Arrived in 3 days (down the US East coast) and couldn't be happier. This order was almost two weeks ago. I normally order from the likes of Newegg but they will not gaurentee any proc stepping. Oh well, their loss.

I will call the shop tomorrow and ask them for the d0 stepping although I very much doubt they will have it in stock. So am I not going to be able to oclock the c0 920 to 4GHz? Is it less tolerant chip? Even a 3.6-3.8 GHz will be fine for me as long as I don't see any stutters and lags in FSX.Thanks and sorry for asking so many questions :( . I have spent a lot of money for this sim and there is a time that you say: enough!

I will call the shop tomorrow and ask them for the d0 stepping although I very much doubt they will have it in stock. So am I not going to be able to oclock the c0 920 to 4GHz? Is it less tolerant chip? Even a 3.6-3.8 GHz will be fine for me as long as I don't see any stutters and lags in FSX.Thanks and sorry for asking so many questions :( . I have spent a lot of money for this sim and there is a time that you say: enough!

No guarantees either way...the d0 CPUs are made from the same die as the new 950/975 chips, which are both clocked 133 MHz faster than the chips made from the c0 die. The d0 step CPUs seem to need less voltage for a given speed from the reports I'm reading. But some folks are at or past the 4 GHz barrier using the c0 chips as well. A lot of the c0 920s seem to hit the wall at around 3.7-3.8 GHz. YMMV, depending on whether you get a particularly good CPU or not.Good luckBob ScottColonel, USAF (ret)ATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VColorado Springs, CO

Thanks Bob.I e-mailed the shop and asked for the d0 stepping. I asked to halt my order until they get the d0 stepping. So now I am waiting and :( .

I will call the shop tomorrow and ask them for the d0 stepping although I very much doubt they will have it in stock. So am I not going to be able to oclock the c0 920 to 4GHz? Is it less tolerant chip? Even a 3.6-3.8 GHz will be fine for me as long as I don't see any stutters and lags in FSX.Thanks and sorry for asking so many questions :( . I have spent a lot of money for this sim and there is a time that you say: enough!

I bought the 920 as soon as it came out and I am stuck at 3.5 Ghz. But I have to tell you that using Nicks guide and the FPS limiter I get great results and no stutters. While I am in TN I usually fly in Australia because of the great scenery products Orbx puts out and some of their airports...YMML....can really tax a system. I have no problems at all. I have most settings at max and really enjoy flying now. I tried the 4.0 Ghz that a lot of folks say they can get with the 920 but mine will not go there. From much reading about the first 920's it is the luck of the draw. I just read somewhere that some guy has his at 4.6 Ghz but I would question that. Good luck with yours. Regards

For the record, I have just ordered the Thermalright Ultra-120 eXtreme 1366 RT CPU Cooler HSF from www.acousticpc.com to replace my new Scythe Mugen-2. There are a couple of reasons including: the hopes of adding my side-fan back on my case door, slightly better performance in reviews, and the ability to remove the HSF without first having to remove the MB.

Well, I finally got the TRUE (pictured above) stable at the same temperatures noted while using the Scythe Mugen-2. I was honestly a bit disapointed that the Scythe was outperforming the TRUE at 1.3 CPU volts OC @ 4GHz. I noted that the bottom of the TRUE was not level, nore was it pre-lapped like the Scythe, which was half the price. I still can not mount my case fan in side window as both HSFs are about the same height.In order to get the TRUE back in spec, I had to do a couple of things. Firstly, I managed to find a lower CPU volts of 1.2500 on the d0 proc, which brought my temps back down and still maintain stability at the 4GHz OC; while staying under the OCCT 80*C limit which I had previously done with the Scythe. But even at 1.25 CPU volts, I was still bumping the OCCT 80* alarm. I finally came across this very simple modification for the TRUE and now my temps, with the same 1.25 CPU volts, are around 74* C. The modification (mod) is known as the penny-mod or washer-mod and is very simple to implement. The gist of the mod, with pictures can be found here:http://www.driverheaven.net/overclocking-m...egrees-off.htmlI used a bigger washer however, about the size of a half-dollar with a small hole for the screw-head. It just about covered the top of the TRUE's base but was still not much thicker than a penny. I was able to get all four spring-loaded screws back to full-tight and could easily tell that the TRUE no longer twisted with ease when locked against the CPU.Oh, and while remounting the TRUE, I also figured out that the TRUE's back-plate cushions, around each of the screw-posts, were actually sticky pads which requires the removal of the little wax-paper rings on top of each of the four pads. This was not mentioned anywhere in the TRUE documentation. Now the back-plate stays in place when mounting the TRUE from the top-side of the motherboard.If I had to do it all over again, I would have stuck with the Scythe Mugen-2. The only advantage to the TRUE was the ability to mount and unmount the HSF without having to remove the MB. The Scythe had better lapping, level base, and better temps without any modifications. I will stick with the TRUE for now only because I already RMA'd the Scythe back NewEgg.That's enough for now, the cockpit is calling :(

I lapped all my TRUE's and added a washer to the base when I purchased them a year or so ago. Also.. the case I use allows access to the true base mechanicals and the units can be removed without pulling the board. Thermalright is using the Intel C2/Q spec for proc shape whereby the center is not flat but slightly convex.. this is actually normal however it is one of the specs I wish they had ignored when making the TRUE and factory machined/lapped the unit. I do agree the Mugen-2 does have an advantage over the TRUE with respect to the finished base however I would not go so far as to call it based on that. If the user laps the TRUE and also specs a tower design that takes its size into account the TRUE has solid advantages over the Mugen-2. And one other note.. regardless of what you read.. the 920 is going to run hotter than a 940/50 or a 965/75 which also limits the user. You do get what you pay for.Its also possible some of those TRUEs floating around may be older 775 units with a clip.. from what I understand their latest production run made some changes to the base

I lapped all my TRUE's and added a washer to the base when I purchased them a year or so ago. Also.. the case I use allows access to the true base mechanicals and the units can be removed without pulling the board. Thermalright is using the Intel C2/Q spec for proc shape whereby the center is not flat but slightly convex.. this is actually normal however it is one of the specs I wish they had ignored when making the TRUE and factory machined/lapped the unit. I do agree the Mugen-2 does have an advantage over the TRUE with respect to the finished base however I would not go so far as to call it based on that. If the user laps the TRUE and also specs a tower design that takes its size into account the TRUE has solid advantages over the Mugen-2. And one other note.. regardless of what you read.. the 920 is going to run hotter than a 940/50 or a 965/75 which also limits the user. You do get what you pay for.Its also possible some of those TRUEs floating around may be older 775 units with a clip.. from what I understand their latest production run made some changes to the base

Hi Nick, Jordanal.I have recieved my ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 board and 6GB DDR3@2000MHz Kingston 9-9-9 tripple channle kit.I am still waiting for the d0 Spec 920 :o .For my cooling solution I purchased the Prolimatech Megahalems (www.prolimatech.com) and mounted 2 12cm Fans with rubber pins (i don't know how they call them) on each side of the HS. This HS came first in cooling performance at http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?opti...5&Itemid=62 andhttp://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?opti...p;limitstart=16. I also wanted to purchase the Thermalright ultra 120 but it was out of stock in my country. Only the socket 775 edition was available.So what do you think? Am I going to be able to clock the 920 to 3.5-4.0 GHz range? Even 3.5-3.6 will be acceptable for me as long as I get no stutters and a reasonable 30 fps with fluid performance at 1920x1080p resolution. All I want is to be able to match the performance of an unclocked i7 975 :( .One more question: Is there a way to avoid formatting and re-instaling OS and applications once I replace my old board, cpu and mem with the new ones? The reason for asking is that I have so many add-ons for FSX and its going to take days to bring the system back to its current state :( .I am using Vistax64bit ultimate SP2 on a 300GB raptor 10000rpm disk, WINXPx86 SP3 on another 300GB raptor and Win XPx64 SP2 on a third 300GB raptor. Its a kind of multi-boot system but each OS is completely independent from the other two i.e. in order to change OS I enter the BIOS and change the boot disk. This made it possible for each OS to install itself and programs on the disk drive with letter assigmnet C:\ which has a few advantages when installing programs. I have also disabled the other two disks from each OS device manager so there is no accidental deletion or effect on the system disks of the other OSs. I have installed FSX with all addons on each OS so if there is a problem / incompatibility issue with an addon I can track it down easily. Plus its an extra safety measure in case a disk fails. Of course it is a great pain to keep up-to-date 3 OSs and their apps but its my choice. That's why I want to avoid formatting and reinstalling :P .Thanks folks and sorry for the long post :(

One more question: Is there a way to avoid formatting and re-instaling OS and applications once I replace my old board, cpu and mem with the new ones? The reason for asking is that I have so many add-ons for FSX and its going to take days to bring the system back to its current state

I would never recommend doing a major transplant without reformatting. Hell I won