From Phenom to i7

[Propeller 1]

I am thinking about to upgrade or change to an i7 system and would like to know what you consider to be the best solution for me right now.I currently have:Case: Antec 300PSU: Corsair 650WMOBO: Gigabyte GA-MA790GP-DS4HCPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 BE @ 3.6GHzGPU: Gigabyte GTX 260 OCRAM: 4GB Corsair PC6400 800MHzHDD: 1x Samsung Spinpoint 8 MB cache 250 GB (OS), 1x WD Caviar Black 32 MB cache 640 GB (FS9)OS: Windows 7 Pro 64-bitWhat do you think about these new parts?MOBO: ASUS P6X58D-ECPU: Intel Core i7 860RAM: Corsair 6GB (2x3GB) 1600MHz XMS3-12800, 7-7-7-20GPU: EVGA GTX 460 SuperClockedOr should I stay with my current AMD setup and just change to a GTX 460 or keep my GTX 260 and change to i7 and new MOBO and RAM? I'm also going to get another WD caviar black for the OS.I currently only use FS9 but think I will use FSX as well if I upgrade.

[Guest SF22]

MOBO: ASUS P6X58D-ECPU: Intel Core i7 860

The mobo and cpu aren't compatible! P6X58D-E only supports Intel CPUs with LGA1366 socket, while the 860 has a LGA1156 socket. For example: P7P55D-E http://www.asus.com/product.aspx?P_ID=9i872VNaAILRp8bS , would be a similar choice for the 860, but if you want to keep the P6X58D-E , you can buy a I7 9XX quad core and later put a hexa-core in there (I7 970 or 980). Personally I went for the LGA1366 when choosing parts for my new computer (Should be here in two weeks btw)

RAM: Corsair 6GB (2x3GB) 1600MHz XMS3-12800, 7-7-7-20

Also if you're going with the LGA1156 you should put dual channel memory (2 or 4 sticks of RAM), not 3*2GB as you've suggested, whereas the LGA1366 supports triple-channel memory (3 or 6 sticks)!If you haven't seen this post, you ought to take a look at it: http://forums1.avsim.net/index.php?showtop...t&p=1796077 . (About 260 vs 460)H

[Guest wahoo238]

I'm currently running two machines,System #1 The first is an AMD platform, Air cooled965 Black Edition @ 3.88Gb corsair memory, 9-9-9-24 @1600MSI GD 790 MotherboardWestern Digital Black 1TB Western Digital Raptor 300 GB HDD FSX has its own and FS9 has its own.PNY 480 GTXSoundblaster XFICorsair 850Watt Modular power supplyIntel 1156 platformI7-860 @ 3.8 (Corsair H-50)8GB Corsair Memory, dual channel 9-9-9-24 (Same as my AMD Rig)Gigabyte UD7 MotherboardWestern Digital Black 1TBFS9 and FSX reside on their own 128GB Patriot Torx SSDEVGA 460 GTXSoundblaster XFICorsair 850 Watt Modular power supplyBoth systems run Windows 7 professional 64bit Basically what I've learned, FS9 plays equally as well on both systems with all settings maxed, running all the usual addons, Ultimate terrain, GE Pro etc... I also use REX with the High Def clouds no stutters/issues on either system.Regarding FSX, I have my settings set at dense, REX clouds at 1024. On the AMD system I have Ultimate Traffic 2 Settings at 59% compared to 70% for the Intel system. With those settings both machines perform about the same, at the framelock of 25. Around dense airports they both dip to the mid to high teens with these settings.GTX480 vs GTX 460 You can reference my earlier post asking if the 480 GTX is overkill at 1280 x 1024. I ended up purchasing an EVGA 460GTX and installed it this afternoon. I returned the 480 back to its AMD Machine. I conducted several test flights I use for benchmarking and could detect absolutely no difference between the two cards at 1280 x 1024. Both flights in same conditions/traffic were very smooth, with framelock set at 25. I'm sure that I would see a difference at higher resolutions, but I only have room enough for a 19" Monitor. The 460gtx idles at 36C and maxes at 59C. The 480GTX was idling at 47C and maxed out at 70C with the fan at 68% My AMD Rig is pretty similar to yours, which is plenty enough to run FS9 maxed out and plays FSX pretty well. Two things you could update are getting faster memory and a video card. 460GTX or 480GTX. Your power supply is fine for a 460 not sure about a 480. And if you don't have one already a good defrag program like O&OI'd also like to take the time to thank both Nick N and Bojote for their tweaks. Definitely worth the time and effort.Hope it helps,Matt

[Guest chris493]

Magnus, if you look he said he was going to get 2x3GB sticks not 3x2GB sticks. The first is dual channel, the second is tri channel. Also, the i7 970 is quad core, only 980x is hexa. Matt,One of the reasons your rigs don't perform quite like some others is your RAM. While yes you may have 8GB but the latency is terrible and slowing your system down by a large chunk. You should aim to get C7 or C6 ram.

[Guest SF22]

Magnus, if you look he said he was going to get 2x3GB sticks not 3x2GB sticks. The first is dual channel, the second is tri channel. Also, the i7 970 is quad core, only 980x is hexa.

Hi!I saw that, but are you sure it isn't a typo, I've never heard of 3GB RAM modules, only 2 and 4GB modules (I can be wrong though) :( . The I7 970 has newly been released and is in fact a hexa-core. Take a look here: http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=47933 . You might be confusing it with the I7 975.

[Guest chris493]

Yes sorry about the COU. That looks interesting. Is it meant to be a non extreme version of 980x or what? Not sure about the ram either. Have to investigate further.

[Guest wahoo238]

Matt,One of the reasons your rigs don't perform quite like some others is your RAM. While yes you may have 8GB but the latency is terrible and slowing your system down by a large chunk. You should aim to get C7 or C6 ram.

Hi Chris, Thanks for the advice on the memory, how much difference do you think I'd get out of something like the Mushkin Enhanced Ridgeback 6-8-6-24? Matt

[Propeller 1]

I see I have to make some corrections to the information I posted in the beggining. I meant the i7 930 2.8 GHz with socket 1366 and not the i7 860. And of course it should be 3x2GB DDR3 RAM. Is 7-7-7-20 good enough? And what do you think about the ASUS P6X58D-E MOBO?

[Guest chris493]

Yes, those specs look fine now. That is a very good mobo from what I have heard. That latency is fine as well. Matt,Those timings are good but make sure you don't get tri channel ram for your systems as they don't support it. The difference would be quite large. Your system performance would increase too.

[dazz 69]

Chris, have you tested the impact of dual/tri-channel in FSX?

[Propeller 1]

If I decide to go for an upgrade, this will be my new setup. Some components are from my current computer.CASE: Antec 300MOBO: Asus P6X58D-ECPU: Intel Core i7 930 2.8 GHzGPU: Gigabyte GTX 460 1GB OCRAM: Corsair XMS3 3X2GB 1600MHz 7-7-7-20 HDD 1 (OS): Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 32MB cache, 1TBHDD 2 (FS9): Western Digital Caviar Black 32 MB cache, 640GBHDD 3 (FSX): Western Digital Caviar Black 32 MB cache, 640GB DVD: Samsung 22X DL SH-223CCPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14PSU: Corsair CMPSU-650TX 650WOS: Windows 7 Pro 64Anything that should be changed? Is the 650W Corsair PSU enough?I haven't yet decided to make this upgrade, maybe I go for the new iPhone 4 instead

[Guest chris493]

1: go for computer, not iPhone 4. I have both and iPhone 4 isn't anything special. 2: go for a 750W PSU just to be safe. If your going to OC you'll need it. 3: check the width of your case. The NH-D14 is a huge cooler so make sure it will fit in your case. 4: FS9 Doesnt need a dedicated HD, I would save the money and put FS9 on the spinpoint with OS, and get a 150GB Velociraptor for FSX.

[Propeller 1]

1: go for computer, not iPhone 4. I have both and iPhone 4 isn't anything special. 2: go for a 750W PSU just to be safe. If your going to OC you'll need it. 3: check the width of your case. The NH-D14 is a huge cooler so make sure it will fit in your case. 4: FS9 Doesnt need a dedicated HD, I would save the money and put FS9 on the spinpoint with OS, and get a 150GB Velociraptor for FSX.

Thanks Chris. Maybe you're right about the iPhone 4 vs computer :biggrin:I already have the Corsair 650W PSU. Do you think it will work? And yes, I'm going to overclock.I also already have a WD Caviar Black. And even if i upgrade I will still mainly play FS9 and change to FSX later, I think. So maybe I buy a Spinpoint for Win 7 and programs and keep FS9 on a Caviar Black and buy a new disk for FSX later when I feel I want to take the step.

[themose 11]

HiHeres a video I made with a view to buildig a PC for FSX.I took advice from guys on here and looked into it for a month or two before taking the plung to an I7 setup.With an overlcok to 4ghz and a few config tweaks here and there, the results are fantastichope it helpshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ymQKAM_2Vqg

[Propeller 1]

Thank you themose for the video!