Hello fellow simmers.After setting up my new core i7 920 FSX PC I entered the BIOS and started my OC adventures.My current setup is:ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 Mobo with 0504 BIOS ver.Corsair 6GB DDR3-1600 Ram Kit (3 x 2GB, PC2 12800, 7-7-7-20, TR3X6G1600C7)920 D0 Core i7ASUS GTX285 1GB DDR3 VRAMProlimatech Megahalems Heatsink4x300GB WD Velociraptors (3 for 3 OSs and 1 for FSX install)1x1000GB Samsung for software installs, backups, my personal filesARMOR+ Full Tower Case with 1x14cm front(HDD) fan, 2x12cm base fans, 1x19CM side fan, 2x6cm fans placed on the DIMMS, 2x12cm fans on CPU Heatsink and 1x12cm fan on the rear of the case1000Watt SolitechPSU with 1x14cm fan I followed Nick-Ns advice on how to OC a 920 @ 4GHZ at Flight1 forums with some modificationsAI Overclock tuner: MANUALCPU Ratio Setting: 21xIntel ® SpeedStep Tech: DISABLEDBLCK Frequency: 190PCIE Frequency: 100DRAM Frequency: 1523UCLK Frequency: 3047Mhz QPI Link Data Rate:AUTO DRAM Timing Control: All AUTOCPU Voltage: 1.225 initially (initially stable but later increased to 1.25, 1.30, 1.35, and finally 1.425)CPU PLL Voltage: AUTO (there are stability settings for high clocks)QPI/DRAM Core Voltage: initially 1.35 then 1.375IOH Voltage: AUTOIOH PCIE Voltage: AUTOICH Voltage: AUTOICH PCIE Voltage: AUTODRAM Bus Voltage: AUTODRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHA: AUTODRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHA: AUTODRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHB: AUTODRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHB: AUTODRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHC: AUTODRAM DATA REF Voltage on CHC: AUTOLoad Line Calibration: ENABLEDCPU Differential Amplitude: AUTO CPU Clock Skew: AUTO CPU Spread Spectrum: DISABLEDIOH Clock Skew : AUTO PCIE Spread Spectrum: DISABLEDAdvance CPU SettingsCPU Ratio Setting: 21xC1E Suppport: DISABLEDHardware Prefetcher: ENABLEDAdjacent Cache Line Prefetch: ENABLEDIntel

I doubt you need that much Vcore. Does your board have a Load Line Calibration feature to cut down on Vdroop? Check for it in your BIOS and see what it's set to. I enable it on my boards and it helps cut down on the voltage the CPU needs to be stable.

LoadLineCalibration is set to ENABLED.

Ok folks. I ordered the Thermalright IFX-14 HeatSink together with 3x14cm 1900rpm fans. This is the best cooling solution on air according to http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/d...p_19.html#sect0. 80C at 1.40Vcore at 4GHz for the 920 CPU.

I doubt you need that much Vcore. Does your board have a Load Line Calibration feature to cut down on Vdroop? Check for it in your BIOS and see what it's set to. I enable it on my boards and it helps cut down on the voltage the CPU needs to be stable.

I run my i7 940 @ 4GHz with VCore 1.375V and QPI 1.2625V. Took me a whole day to establish the lowest voltage for VCore and QPI. Very time consuming to OC. Seems that all chips are unique, so the voltage needed may differ a lot. You really can't copy some other OCers settings and expect it to be perfect.

Ok folks. I ordered the Thermalright IFX-14 HeatSink together with 3x14cm 1900rpm fans. This is the best cooling solution on air according to http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/coolers/d...p_19.html#sect0. 80C at 1.40Vcore at 4GHz for the 920 CPU.

I fear that you are going to have a PC that sounds like a turbojet even before you start FS...three 140mm fans at 1900 RPM is going to be very noisy, and I have my doubts as to whether that will be much more effective than the Prolimatech HSF.There are those that say once you go to water cooling you'll never look back, and I have joined them. With FSX running and my i7 CPU at 4.4 GHz I see CPU temps in the mid-high 40s.RegardsBob ScottColonel, USAF (ret)ATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VColorado Springs, CO

I fear that you are going to have a PC that sounds like a turbojet even before you start FS...three 140mm fans at 1900 RPM is going to be very noisy, and I have my doubts as to whether that will be much more effective than the Prolimatech HSF.There are those that say once you go to water cooling you'll never look back, and I have joined them. With FSX running and my i7 CPU at 4.4 GHz I see CPU temps in the mid-high 40s.RegardsBob ScottColonel, USAF (ret)ATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VColorado Springs, CO

what water cool system do you use?

Not only do you not need 3x 140mm fans for your IFX-14, 3x fans will actually impede airflow as it will create too much turbulence. You're better off just using 2 of those fans on the outsides of the heatsink and leaving the center section bare.

I fear that you are going to have a PC that sounds like a turbojet even before you start FS...three 140mm fans at 1900 RPM is going to be very noisy, and I have my doubts as to whether that will be much more effective than the Prolimatech HSF.There are those that say once you go to water cooling you'll never look back, and I have joined them. With FSX running and my i7 CPU at 4.4 GHz I see CPU temps in the mid-high 40s.RegardsBob ScottColonel, USAF (ret)ATP IMEL Gulfstream II-III-IV-VColorado Springs, CO

You are quite right here Bob. It does sound like a refrigirator now. In fact my noisy refrigirator is less noisy than my PC. I was expecting that. I just don't like the idea of running liquids inside my 1500 euro equipment. Plus, I heard somewhere that the liquid cooling systems utilize pumps that generate noise as well. I would greatly appreciate your advice as to what liquid cooling system you use or recommend.However, this IFX-14 with 3x14cm fans did drop the temps by 4-5 degrees centigrade both at full load and at idle. At a high noise price though. Also my i7-920 D0 step (or my memory/PC in its entirety) doesn't like frequencies above 3.7 GHz (BCLK 176 x multi21, DDR:1423 Unclk:2827 CPU Volt: 1.325, DDR Bus Volt:1.60, QPI/DRAM Volt:1.275). These settings were tested for a whole night and didn't produce blue screens or hangs. Anything higher than that is either marginally stable, appears to be stable but under heavy loading it will hang the system sooner or later. So I have to forget 4GHz with my 920 unless I invest more money on a 950/975. IMHO 975 is not worth the money unless someone guarantees me that it will run 4+ GHz stable on air or liquid with temps in the mid 40/ low50s. Thats all folks. Enough with Overclocking and experimenting. Lets go for some flying! PS: You gotta take a look at this IFX with 3x14cm fans. It looks like a nuclear power plant in a PC! It is a real monster!.

I believe FSX can perform better on my machine at the above settings:ASUS P6T Deluxe V2 Bios ver.:0504Core i7 920 (D0) CPU OC 3.69GHz HT tech Disabled6GB tripple channel (3x2GB) Corsair 7-7-7-20 memory at 1423MHz (max of 1600MHz)300GB Velociraptor 10000rpm OS WinXPx64 SP2300GB Velociraptor 10000rpm FSX Acceleration(SP2), UTX all versions, GEX, FTX, FEX, REX, FSGenesis all, MyTrafficX, ActiveSkySP4,ActiveGraphicsSP4, additional scenaries for Greece, Siberia, Greenland, SthAmerica, Oceania.ASUS GTX285 GPU 1GB DDR3 VRAMDirectX updated, Video driver version:186.18System and FSX set up as per NickNs advice. Both HDDs defragged multiple times with O&O defrag ver 11.x64 edition according to NickNs advice.

A few of those settings make absolutely NO SENSE and they are nothing like what I posted for tuningMesh res to 10mTexture res to 7cmGround Shadows UNCHECKEDAutogen DENSE or VERY DENSEWater LOW 2xUncheck Aircraft lablesAL/GA traffic to 35 NOTE: Start at 35 for both and tune for the hub you are at MAX 59 default AL trafficAirport vehicles.. only MED if you need the fuel truck, otherwise LOWShips/boats/ferries equally to 25%Show Cockpit Tooltips - UNCHECKEDClouds 60mi not 110Frame lock 28 or 30 Filtering: TRILINEAR with Nhancer NOT AnisotropicAA UNCHECKEDUse Nhancer correctly as I postedDriver 182.50 with Nhancer 2.5.1

A few of those settings make absolutely NO SENSE and they are nothing like what I posted for tuningMesh res to 10mTexture res to 7cmGround Shadows UNCHECKEDAutogen DENSE or VERY DENSEWater LOW 2xUncheck Aircraft lablesAL/GA traffic to 35 NOTE: Start at 35 for both and tune for the hub you are at MAX 59 default AL trafficAirport vehicles.. only MED if you need the fuel truck, otherwise LOWShips/boats/ferries equally to 25%Show Cockpit Tooltips - UNCHECKEDClouds 60mi not 110Frame lock 28 or 30 Filtering: TRILINEAR with Nhancer NOT AnisotropicAA UNCHECKEDUse Nhancer correctly as I postedDriver 182.50 with Nhancer 2.5.1

.............and thats the fact Jack!

A few of those settings make absolutely NO SENSE and they are nothing like what I posted for tuningMesh res to 10mTexture res to 7cmGround Shadows UNCHECKEDAutogen DENSE or VERY DENSEWater LOW 2xUncheck Aircraft lablesAL/GA traffic to 35 NOTE: Start at 35 for both and tune for the hub you are at MAX 59 default AL trafficAirport vehicles.. only MED if you need the fuel truck, otherwise LOWShips/boats/ferries equally to 25%Show Cockpit Tooltips - UNCHECKEDClouds 60mi not 110Frame lock 28 or 30 Filtering: TRILINEAR with Nhancer NOT AnisotropicAA UNCHECKEDUse Nhancer correctly as I postedDriver 182.50 with Nhancer 2.5.1

Thanks a lot NickN!. When I said I set up the system as per your advice I didn't clarify a few things:1st I set up the OS according to your post http://www.simviation.com/cgi-bin/yabb2/Ya...?num=1208959973.2nd I set up FSX according to your post http://www.simforums.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=29041BUT I didn't use the above settings you posted now because I was simply too tired to finish reading all the http://www.simforums.com/forums/forum_posts.asp?TID=29041 document . I stopped reading just after the section about nHancer :( . Sorry I didn't mean that your advice was wrong. I am another impatient simmer that spends the cash on new hardware, presses the button and expects FSX to run like nintendo :( . I will try your settings as soon as I return from work. Thanks and sorry.

Add/edit the following to the config file[Display]TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=80WideViewAspect=True - if you use a widescreen monitor[Main]DisablePreload=1Other than trimming in bufferpools, what I posted in changes to the settings you displayed should do it.. Bufferpools is a test/trial setting and the ONLY place in the sim bufferpools helps is over very large amounts of trees or autogen buildings.. it will not make a sim run better otherwise. Best way to set it up is find a large forest, fly over it at about 1000-3000ft with frames locked at 30. Get the autogen level set so your flight is as smooth as possible, then save the flight, close the sim and add the bufferpool entry to the config.. save, start the flight and check for smoother flight[bUFFERPOOLS]Poolsize=xx= on a 1GB video card70000000100000000200000000RARE: 450000000-490000000 only used to combat sound crackles caused by DPC Latency issues between sound and the PCIe buss Some systems will make no use of it.. others will. All of mine run 200000000

Add/edit the following to the config file[Display]TEXTURE_BANDWIDTH_MULT=80WideViewAspect=True - if you use a widescreen monitor[Main]DisablePreload=1Other than trimming in bufferpools, what I posted in changes to the settings you displayed should do it.. Bufferpools is a test/trial setting and the ONLY place in the sim bufferpools helps is over very large amounts of trees or autogen buildings.. it will not make a sim run better otherwise. Best way to set it up is find a large forest, fly over it at about 1000-3000ft with frames locked at 30. Get the autogen level set so your flight is as smooth as possible, then save the flight, close the sim and add the bufferpool entry to the config.. save, start the flight and check for smoother flight[bUFFERPOOLS]Poolsize=xx= on a 1GB video card70000000100000000200000000RARE: 450000000-490000000 only used to combat sound crackles caused by DPC Latency issues between sound and the PCIe buss Some systems will make no use of it.. others will. All of mine run 200000000

Thanks Nick! I have done the above changes. Regarding bufferpools I tried the above settings but I didn't know I should fly over forests in order to see the benefit. I tested it in very busy airports (Heathrow, JFK, San Frabsisco) but with no apparent benefit/smoothness. In fact, I noticed big rectangular artifacts around the plane while I was panning around with the hat switch (and while zooming in) That occured at values above 100000000. I am using 1GB GTX285 video card. Am I going to see any benefit if I buy a 2GB GTX285?? As for the display driver version I am afraid I can't use 182.50 because there is an issue with my 42inch Philips LCD-TV. The TV looses synchronization with the GPU at driver version 182.5 and below. Higher driver versions correct this issue. Why do you recommend ver182.50? Is there any benefit in frame rates, or does it function better with nHancer 2.5.1?Thanks again for your help.