NOT a silver bullet but just in case it helps anyone else I thought I'd share this:I have raised the PCIE speed in BIOS from 100MHz to 110MHz with IMHO positive results. The fps do not really increase, but the sim is - I think - smoother / less choppy when under really heavy load. The effect is a bit like changing from "Unlimited" fps to a capped fps. Unless this is placebo, I suppose the extra speed (bandwidth?) gives the GPU a little more head-room to handle the disorderly muddle of stuff that FSX throws at it. If so, then presumably this benefit will only be experienced (if at all) by people whose CPUs are "too fast" compared with the other components in the computer.This is on an i7 975@4410MHz, 6GB RAM@1866MHz 7-7-7-18 N1, BFG GTX 285@702MHz, Asus Rampage II Extreme. Drivers are 185.85 with Nick_N's nHancer settings.Tim

Tim,I made a test with the PCIE bus at 110MHz. I used two short test flights in FSX and there was no change in the average fps. I couldn't notice any difference in flight when flying with unlimited fps or with fps locked at 30 fps. On my computer the PCIE bus frequency seems not to be a bottleneck.

These results are purely subjective without quantification in the form of an FPS log.

These results are purely subjective without quantification in the form of an FPS log.

I agree it's largely subjective. I shifted it up to 115MHz and ran my usual test flight into Heathrow with 15 layers of clouds in heavy weather, the Megascenery EGLL, MD-11, UTX night lighting at dusk, etc. the average of a couple of runs suggests that the average fps has gone up by - wait for it - 1 fps to 22 fps. But I put this down to the normal tolerance of the test rather than a ~4% increase in fps. The extra smoothness is most noticeable in external views: there is less of the stuttering when you shift the view from one angle to another over dense urban areas.I stumbled on this while trying to figure out how Mike was getting such good results with his Dragon setup in NYC. I thought maybe the faster i7 975 and RAM was somehow saturating the PCIE bus on the Rampage II Extreme: 6400MT/s i7 975 >= 4GB/s PCIE ???. Anyway, I don't know what's going on but this little tweak has made the experience a bit less choppy and - at my more modest daily settings - it means (in Mike's scenario but at my settings) that the fluctuating ~15-60fps all flow pretty smoothly, without changing from "Unlimited" fps. On the other hand, I freely admit, it could just be placebo: I'm not recommending it, just suggesting giving it a try.Tim

over dense urban areas. how Mike was getting such good results with his Dragon setup in NYC.

If something seems too good to be true, it probably is -PT BarnumRaising PCIe Frequency by 10Mhz is not going to create any large measurable change. It can effect smoothness but that is very subjectiveBottom line.. 110 is OK but do not push that any higher. If you feel you are getting a better result leave it however most wont notice such things unless they are very well in tune with how to trim a system and a sim and be able to make that call based on observation

Hi Tim, Do you or know of somewhere where I can find how to overclock my i7-975? I would like to boost it up to about 3.8-4.0, but I am unsure what to increase in my BIOS?Thanks for any help you can give.Trent

Hi Tim, Do you or know of somewhere where I can find how to overclock my i7-975? I would like to boost it up to about 3.8-4.0, but I am unsure what to increase in my BIOS?Thanks for any help you can give.Trent

As always, try at your own risk.Here is a list of my BIOS settings for 4.4GHz on an Asus Rampage II Extreme with the i7 975 and 6GB RAM rated for 2000MHz @ 7-8-7-20 N2 but running at 1866MHz 7-7-7-18 N1.[Extreme tweaker menu] AI Overclock Tuner Manual OC From CPU Level Up Auto OC From Memory Level Up Auto CPU Ratio Setting 33.0 CPU Turbo Power Limit Disabled > CPU Configuration (see * below) BCLK Frequency 133 PCIE Frequency 100 (or 110 or 115) DRAM Frequency DDR3-1866MHz UCLK Frequency Auto or ~3800: never more than 4000 QPI Link Data Rate Auto or 6400 > DRAM Timing Control (see ** below) EPU II Phase Control Full Phase Load-Line Calibration Enabled CPU Differential Amplitude Auto Extreme OV Disabled CPU Voltage 1.35000 CPU PLL Voltage Auto QPI/DRAM Core Voltage 1.36875 IOH Voltage 1.25919 IOH PCIE Voltage Auto ICH Voltage 1.13991 ICH PCIE Voltage Auto DRAM Bus Voltage 1.65 > DRAM REF Voltages All Auto Debug Mode String Keyboard Tweakit Control Disabled CPU Spread Spectrum Disabled PCIE Spread Spectrum Disabled CPU Clock Skew Auto IOH Clock Skew Auto > DRAM Timing Control (**) Auto - or fine-tune depending on your RAM. [Main menu] All defaults [Advanced menu] > CPU Configuration (*) CPU Ratio Setting 33.0 C1E Support Disabled Hardware Prefetcher Enabled Adjacent Cache Line Prefetch Enabled Intel

By the way Tim115 would probably be fine too but I stay on the side of caution with PCIe FrequencyNvidia cards will typically run a 120 PCIe but if the card has any weakness in components that 120 PCIefq can shorten their lifeThe 2nd issue is what is shared on the PCIe buss. You are not only increasing the video slot frequency but the frequency of everything else on the PCIe buss and sometimes that can also include a share with the southbridge SATA controller. So I usually OK 110 as a safe value.115 can be done too but that would really be the top end I would ever personally run and only if I know the shared devices will run OK on that. Anyone running RAID0 on a shared southbridge SATA would not want to ever go over 110 and even 110 can be pushing itYou will see a defined increase in benchmarks like 3DMark with a raised PCIe Frequency.. if that increase translates to a smoother gameplay or FSX use is as I said above it will be by observed result and will never show on the frame counter since FSX is not designed like 3DMark. 3DMark provides a consistent base for running code in 3D operation. It can in some cases provide a smoother result if everything else is in place that would support such an observationit could also in theory depending on the scenery running go the other way too but more often than not you should observe a bit better Nothing to get 'super

By the way Tim115 would probably be fine too but I stay on the side of caution with PCIe FrequencyNvidia cards will typically run a 120 PCIe but if the card has any weakness in components that 120 PCIefq can shorten their lifeThe 2nd issue is what is shared on the PCIe buss. You are not only increasing the video slot frequency but the frequency of everything else on the PCIe buss and sometimes that can also include a share with the southbridge SATA controller. So I usually OK 110 as a safe value.115 can be done too but that would really be the top end I would ever personally run and only if I know the shared devices will run OK on that. Anyone running RAID0 on a shared southbridge SATA would not want to ever go over 110 and even 110 can be pushing itYou will see a defined increase in benchmarks like 3DMark with a raised PCIe Frequency.. if that increase translates to a smoother gameplay or FSX use is as I said above it will be by observed result and will never show on the frame counter since FSX is not designed like 3DMark. 3DMark provides a consistent base for running code in 3D operation. It can in some cases provide a smoother result if everything else is in place that would support such an observationit could also in theory depending on the scenery running go the other way too but more often than not you should observe a bit better Nothing to get 'super

I don't like the sound of "unsafe": I'm going back to 100!Thanks.Tim.

At 110 you should be fine. If from observation you think the sim is smoother, 110 is OK