First some background...I'm running a Pentium4 3.4 with 2GB RAM, TH2G monitors with a nvidia 8600GT. Yes, it's an ancient system! I received a free copy of FSX at the AVSIM conference right after the launch of FSX, but have kept it on the shelf unopened waiting for the time to arrive for a cost effective system that would run FSX with near max sliders and smoothly without studders. Obviously I've been very patient throughout the Duo2 series knowing they were good, but not quite the full potential without paying high-end prices and playing the rotational upgrade game as new CPUs were introduced.Quite happily, I'm reading reports the i7 is the series to run to get the most out of FSX. It's now time to consider building a system.The i7 920 appears to be the favorite on this forum based on price-for-performance. Intel has now released the i7 8xx series and the i5 750. I'm not considering the i5 since hyperthreading is disabled. But I do like the performance vs. price point of the i7 860. It appears to match or beat the i7 920 in most benchmarks and is approximately the same price.I realize that the i7 8xx series is limited to dual channel memory, which is cheaper, but has its limitations when all cores are running at maximum. Again, based on benchmark tests, dual channel memory doesn't seem to be much of a hinderance. Also, since I currently run a P4 with FS9, I've set up a network that offloads ActiveSky and other auxiliary programs from the main system. I plan to keep this set up and won't be loading the extra cores with these programs.I also like that the i7 8xx TDP is running at 95w versus the 130w for the i7 9xx series. The P55 motherboards are cheaper than the X58 boards. The base clock on the 860 is 2.80 GHz (turbo 3.46Ghz) vs. the 920 clock at 2.67GHz (turbo 2.93GHz).Overall, the system build price appears to be cheaper for the i7 860 than for the i7 920 and the reports indicate similar performance.Before proceeding, I'd like some feedback on some items:* The 920 has QPI and the 860 has DMI. Is this going to be a factor with overclocking options?* What P55 motherboard and BIOS is recommended to get the most overclocking potential? * I'm looking at the Zalman CNPS 10X for CPU cooling. Any recommendations for air cooling that allows max overclocking?* What overclocking limitations am I going to see in the i7 8xx series vs. the i7 9xx series?* What type of case provides the most effective air cooling? Side vent? Top vent? Both?* I'm considering the GTX 285 and this system will strictly be for FSX. Therefore I won't be doing any SLI and the P55 should be sufficient with it's limited 16 lanes for PCIe 2.0. What rating of PSU should I consider? Something in the 750W range?* Anything I should consider with a P55 motherboard and a RAID 0 configuration? How about future use of SSD technology?I appreciate any feedback because I've not seen any discussion here on the i7 8xx series. I'm not a techie, so I may have some follow up questions. I know that people here understand how best to configure computers to run FS. My goal is to build a system that hits the sweet spot for price versus performance and will run FSX adequately for at least the next year or two. I have much to catch up on with FSX and that will definitely keep me busy until the i9 series is introduced.Thanks,Bruce

First some background...I'm running a Pentium4 3.4 with 2GB RAM, TH2G monitors with a nvidia 8600GT. Yes, it's an ancient system! I received a free copy of FSX at the AVSIM conference right after the launch of FSX, but have kept it on the shelf unopened waiting for the time to arrive for a cost effective system that would run FSX with near max sliders and smoothly without studders. Obviously I've been very patient throughout the Duo2 series knowing they were good, but not quite the full potential without paying high-end prices and playing the rotational upgrade game as new CPUs were introduced.Quite happily, I'm reading reports the i7 is the series to run to get the most out of FSX. It's now time to consider building a system.(Snip)-----------------------------------------Bruce, I have no experience with this chip...and due to lack of responses, probably as does most others. I can tell from your syntax...that you are VERY MUCH sold and intrigued by this CPU as a base for your i7 system. I say...first gut instincts are usually THE BEST GUIDE for any individual. Go for it! You list all the reasons you find this solution most acceptable to you. I don't think you can go wrong, and will enjoy the i7 experience. As for cases, go with the one that you see provides the best horizontal and vertical venting. You will certainly enjoy the GTX 285! Have at it!Cheers,Mitch

http://www.anandtech.com/weblog/showpost.aspx?i=647

http://www.anandtech.com/weblog/showpost.aspx?i=647

Very nice! Thanks for posting the link. This is the first I've seen with an FSX comparison.It confirms what I've read with other application testing. The 870 is twice the price, but one doesn't get much more out of it than the 860. The overclocking does match nicely between the 860 and the 920, yet the 860 does better in stock turbo mode.I'll research further into the products used in the test bed machine before settling on my build specs.Again, thanks for the link. Although it's a limited test, it does give me more confidence the 860 build may be the way to go.

Very nice! Thanks for posting the link. This is the first I've seen with an FSX comparison.It confirms what I've read with other application testing. The 870 is twice the price, but one doesn't get much more out of it than the 860. The overclocking does match nicely between the 860 and the 920, yet the 860 does better in stock turbo mode.I'll research further into the products used in the test bed machine before settling on my build specs.Again, thanks for the link. Although it's a limited test, it does give me more confidence the 860 build may be the way to go.

No problem. I was having the same dilemma but in the end I have decided to go with the 1366 pin bloomfield setup as it seems more futureproof with the 6 core gulftown CPUs showing up next year. X58 boards will be compatible where the 1156 P55 boards will not be. It seems that the 1156 pin boards will be a dead end. 920 for me (hopefully hit ~4Ghz) before moving on to something better.....Glenn

No problem. I was having the same dilemma but in the end I have decided to go with the 1366 pin bloomfield setup as it seems more futureproof with the 6 core gulftown CPUs showing up next year. X58 boards will be compatible where the 1156 P55 boards will not be. It seems that the 1156 pin boards will be a dead end. 920 for me (hopefully hit ~4Ghz) before moving on to something better.....Glenn

Glenn,I was having the same dilemma deciding which way to go. The 1156 board is at the end of the line with the 45nm processors coming next year.Further investigation of the Gulftown i9 shows it's going to be available 2Q 2010 in the Extreme Editions only, which means $$$.With that in mind, and knowing that 1366 boards are going to cost more just to support triple channel memory, I'm going with the dead-end 1156. Even if I went with a 1366, I'd probably dump that board by the time 45nm chips became affordable (sometime in 2011 maybe?). Memory design may be different by then and make the board obsolete anyway... who knows?At least we have choices now that make it very interesting and serve up the same potential for fun.Good luck with your build.Bruce

http://www.anandtech.com/weblog/showpost.aspx?i=647

Why do they test with such unrealistic settings? Light bloom and DX10 on? Default planes?/wonders if he should contact Anand with an offer to give them a J41 and MD-11 and an fsx.cfg file...

Why do they test with such unrealistic settings? Light bloom and DX10 on? Default planes?/wonders if he should contact Anand with an offer to give them a J41 and MD-11 and an fsx.cfg file...

Because... they are not flightsimmers... flying PMDG and other complex aircraft into complex airports with CATIII Autoland.Sam

I've been checking out the 860 myself. I'm intrigued by its performance, however I don't understand why Intel choose to give it another socket (1156) compared to the i7 9** serie (socket 1366).I've read somewhere that future CPU's (release in 2010) will also use socket 1366, which gives me the feeling, I'm a bit more future-proof with the i7 9** CPU. Would love to see some benchmarks of FSX using the 860 under realistic settings and preferably using a PMDG or Level-D aircraft.Frank

I've been checking out the 860 myself. I'm intrigued by its performance, however I don't understand why Intel choose to give it another socket (1156) compared to the i7 9** serie (socket 1366).I've read somewhere that future CPU's (release in 2010) will also use socket 1366, which gives me the feeling, I'm a bit more future-proof with the i7 9** CPU. Would love to see some benchmarks of FSX using the 860 under realistic settings and preferably using a PMDG or Level-D aircraft.Frank

Because the pin count (interface between CPU and motherboard) is not arbitrary, those pins have a purpose. Some pins provide power to the CPU, others ground the chip, others have very specific uses such as telling the motherboard what input voltage to use, yet others act as I/O between CPU and mobo (or devices on the mobo, to be more specific), etc etc.The Lynnfield chips use an onboard dual channel DDR3 memory controller, unlike their Bloomfield cousins which have a triple channel memory controller. I/O and power are the two biggest contributors to pin count, and since the Bloomfield chips have more I/O, they have more pins.

Here is a review of the p55/i7 860. Basically it beats the x58/i7 920. Have fun I know Im not having fun figuring out which platform to choose for my next build.http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?opti...p;limitstart=17

Here is a review of the p55/i7 860. Basically it beats the x58/i7 920. Have fun I know Im not having fun figuring out which platform to choose for my next build.http://benchmarkreviews.com/index.php?opti...p;limitstart=17

Intel has no plans currently for a Lynnfield LGA1156 hexacore processor. I knew that intel was going to release a budget version of the corei7 on a different motherboard platform but...............The Intel CoreI9 (GulfTown)which is slated for 2010 will only be available for the intel bloomfield LGA/1366 platform. The reviews have stated all over the internet that the 1156 platform gets you 90%(overall) of the performance of the the 1366 platform at a great price point and they overclock very nicely while using less power. That cheaper price point however will prevent you from upgrading to six cores(12 threads available to the OS folks) with hyperthreading next year! :) If I also understand the specs correctly, most 1156 boards only offer ONE PCI 2.0 graphics slot, which for FSX doesn't really matter but if you like to use SLI with Crysis, might make a difference.....who knows. Now for FSX, I chose to go with the 1366 platform and I specifically wanted some upgrade ability for the future with more cores at a higher clock speed so I decided to lay down the money.

I think either way you go you cant go wrong. I know im not gonna buy one of these i9 chips for over $1000 so whats my incentive to go with 1366???

Some benchmarks of i9 and some chatter. For the cost it doesnt look like a MASSIVE gain.http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/265024-2...town-benchmarks

Some benchmarks of i9 and some chatter. For the cost it doesnt look like a MASSIVE gain.http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/265024-2...town-benchmarks

Here is another one:http://xtreview.com/addcomment-id-10050-vi...rk-results.htmlNotice the core speed on the last screenshot? Pretty cool huh?The processor isn't even out yet. If you don't want to spend the money next year( and we don't know where the core i9 will end up in terms of price yet), then go with the cheaper platform. I wasn't arguing one way or another or saying that one decision was better than the other. My personal preference was to have enough breathing room in my upgrade to give me some options in the future, thats all.