Hi All, First of all, i want to apologize for accidentally starting this thread in the wrong forum. I'm looking to upgrade my CPU and i've got my eye on the intel core i7 950 ( 3.08GHZ quad core if i recall correctly). I have been reviewing the forums for a while now and I learnt among other things that the processor is the single most important factor as far as framerates on FSX are concerned. I also noticed that much emphasis is placed on overclocking intel i7 processors to reap out maximum performance from FSX. I personally don't know much about computers but my technician advised against overclocking. What I hope to find out is:1. how much more benefits/risks would one expect form an overclocked i7 over the standard cpu?2. my present cpu is an AMD phenom II x2 (3.1ghz). How much better is the standard ( non-overclocked) i7 950 over this configuration, all other things remaining unchanged.Thanks, Nanjul

Nanjul, I've been overclocking CPU's since the days of the early Celerons when 3.0GHZ was unheard of. I've never damaged a CPU yet. I'm currently running an I7-930 at 4.0GHZ. The main enemy of a stable overclock is heat. You should invest in a good aftermarket heatsink\fan combination. Here's a link to an overclocking guide which may be of help.http://www.overclock.net/intel-cpus/538439-guide-overclocking-core-i7-920-930-a.html

It's the single biggest thing you can do to get FSX running well. i7 CPUs have very good thermal shutdown/protection systems in them - you're not going to destroy the chip unless you disable those and feed it way more voltage than you should. (which you'd have to do on purpose) The standard overclocks people do get nowhere close to doing that. The reason you can even OC these chips so far is because they're manufactured with a huge built-in range to them - Intel doesn't have separate production lines for 920s, 930s, 950s, etc, they're all exactly the same chip and just the label and some internal identifier bits are changed and the multiplier locked to make it whichever variant. The production line they have is so good that a large percentage of the chips come out testing good enough to be the top end models, but still get binned as a 920 or whatever. That's to your advantage because you can essentially just turn it into the higher end chip that it could very well have become at the factory anyway through OCing it.

Your 'technician' has only one good reason to recommend against overclocking. He gets to sell you an upgrade sooner if you don't overclock then if you do. An i7 950 @ 3Ghz is a nice machine. Run it for a year or 18 months and you will consider upgradeing again. Overclock it now to 4GHz and it becomes a very, very fast machine, and will still be wickedly fast in two or even three years time. And if it is properly cooled, it will run at that speed forever! The stock i7 950 on its own is not a huge amount faster then your Phenom unless you are doing things that use multiple cores efficiently. I think the Phenom II x2 is a dual core not a quad, while the i7 950 is a quad core with hyperthreading giving 8 virtual cores. You will get improvements because memory access is faster and that sort of thing, but nothing that will take your breath away. FSX does use multiple cores, some of the time, and you will gain benifits from that, but unless you play other more modern games, then in my opinion it is hard to justify the price of the upgrade. However... if you overclock it to 4GHz, which is a full third faster. That is enough to blow your mind! If it was my money, I would consider a system based around an i5 750 clocked to 4GHz, and use the savings to get a GTX570.

Overclocking a CPU will improve performance for sure much like a supercharger improves horsepower. However, also like a supercharger, overclocking your CPU will shorten the lifespan of several components in your system. Obviously the CPU, but also the motherboard and sometimes the RAM. Its a matter of whether you want to take the risk. One time I blindly jumped into an OC project on my new baby, a QX6700. It was a good $600 dollar investment in FS9 performance, but was only running at 2.66. I thought, "This thing must be able to get up to 3.4 on air," and so that's what I did. Slowly worked the Vcore and CPU multiplier up until it was to 3.32Ghz. Happy with this, I ran Prime95 (A stress tester) overnight only to wake up at about 2 in the morning to a smoke alarm in my room as my chip burned... burned... burned. Then melted. Oh joy. And yes, overclocking voids the warranty. Again, oh joy.Just be careful, and be sure to read up on how to properly OC a processor before going into it. Something bad can happen in a split second that can ruin your week/month.

I recently bought a 950 with a good cooler with the intention of overclocking it.I decided to leave at stock 3.06 whilst I tested FSX, games etc.The 950 is still at stock 3.06. I have no reason to overclock as everything I need to run is smooth. I do run RC and ASE via laptop as well so less overhead on my FSX rig.Its good to know that in the future I can look at overclocking if I need to but theres little point for me at the mo. As it is still in a 12month warranty period I will leave it as is.If the CPU is a big jump in power from your current CPU then I recommend you buy it, run your software and take it from there. If you're not happy with the performance then there are plenty of overclocking guides to be found on the net. You may be like myself and not need to worry with the overclocking side at the moment.

To Everyone I really appreciate all the help. Thanks you guys! I am saving up in preparation for my big upgrade. I'll probably still get an i7. If i'm not satisfied with the performance at standard clockspeed i'l consider overclocking. Or I might go with the i5 config Paul suggested. I still have lots of time to think about it. thanks again.

I got my new i7 the other day and even at stock speeds its faster than I need with FSX (40fps+) with all details on (only Autogen is set lower at middle settings) while running the PMDGMD11 in a big city like london EGLL with 80% traffic on UT2. Its more than playable and my CPU never gets over 45C (Idles at 31c! only 10c over room temp lol). Sometime in the future when my PC has a few years behind it and I start to need that extra oomph then the overclocking option is there for me. I had my PC built with a water cooler but its not an expensive one. Ive tried the boost program that comes with my mobo and on its middle speed setting the CPU stays at less than 50C and runs at a core of 3.5ghz or so. I heard ppl having them up as far as 4.13 so I consider 3.5 to be half way to its max and so its not being overstressed but is still better than stock. I set it back to stock for now though as i said its more than I could ever use. Even tried the EGCC xtream and its still massive fps. i7 950 clocked to 3.22Ghz Base speed for my mobo.6 GIG DDR3 RAMNvidia GTX5601TB WD BlackGIGABYTE X58A-UD3R (revision 2)Large Thermaltake Case After market watercooler. Track IR5Saitek x52 Pro (till I can afford the WH Stick) Slightly out of date but still good

lots of good vids from this guy.Andrew Simmons

Hi All, First of all, i want to apologize for accidentally starting this thread in the wrong forum. I'm looking to upgrade my CPU and i've got my eye on the intel core i7 950 ( 3.08GHZ quad core if i recall correctly). I have been reviewing the forums for a while now and I learnt among other things that the processor is the single most important factor as far as framerates on FSX are concerned. I also noticed that much emphasis is placed on overclocking intel i7 processors to reap out maximum performance from FSX. I personally don't know much about computers but my technician advised against overclocking. What I hope to find out is:1. how much more benefits/risks would one expect form an overclocked i7 over the standard cpu?2. my present cpu is an AMD phenom II x2 (3.1ghz). How much better is the standard ( non-overclocked) i7 950 over this configuration, all other things remaining unchanged.Thanks, Nanjul

My previuos processor was a E6600 (standard 2,4GHz) running at 3,2 GHz. Ran for 3 years without a problem.My current processor is an i7 860 (standard 2,8GHz) running at 3,8 GHz. Overclocking done by some ASUS-tool in 5 minutes.What I saw in the past with FS is that increasing CPU frquency is almost scaling 1 to 1.You need a good cooler!!Best Regards,Bert Van Bulck

Overclocking a CPU will improve performance for sure much like a supercharger improves horsepower. However, also like a supercharger, overclocking your CPU will shorten the lifespan of several components in your system. Obviously the CPU, but also the motherboard and sometimes the RAM. Its a matter of whether you want to take the risk. One time I blindly jumped into an OC project on my new baby, a QX6700. It was a good $600 dollar investment in FS9 performance, but was only running at 2.66. I thought, "This thing must be able to get up to 3.4 on air," and so that's what I did. Slowly worked the Vcore and CPU multiplier up until it was to 3.32Ghz. Happy with this, I ran Prime95 (A stress tester) overnight only to wake up at about 2 in the morning to a smoke alarm in my room as my chip burned... burned... burned. Then melted. Oh joy. And yes, overclocking voids the warranty. Again, oh joy.Just be careful, and be sure to read up on how to properly OC a processor before going into it. Something bad can happen in a split second that can ruin your week/month.

The "shortened lifespan" of OCed components really isn't a big deal - I read an article a while back that said that even the "shortened" componets are still expected to last something like 7 or 8 years. Anyone still trying to game on an OCed Core i7 8 years from now is gonna have a whole different set of problems haha. Motherboards and RAM that are designed for enthusiasts are already stressed against this stuff too. This is why you buy RAM that's rated for higher than standard speeds - even at 4GHz on my machine, my RAM isn't out of spec, it's just below the 1600MHz it's rated at actually.

The "shortened lifespan" of OCed components really isn't a big deal - I read an article a while back that said that even the "shortened" componets are still expected to last something like 7 or 8 years. Anyone still trying to game on an OCed Core i7 8 years from now is gonna have a whole different set of problems haha. Motherboards and RAM that are designed for enthusiasts are already stressed against this stuff too. This is why you buy RAM that's rated for higher than standard speeds - even at 4GHz on my machine, my RAM isn't out of spec, it's just below the 1600MHz it's rated at actually.

Great points, And I should also clarify, the issues I had experienced in the past were on LGA775 systems with processors that were manufactured with already small tolerances such as the Core 2 Extreme chips. I have to say the i7 is THE MOST receptive to OCing I've seen in a long time. I run mine at 3.8 easily on air and never see temps exceed 55C on any core with a Cooler Master 212 Plus. As has been stated already, cooling is vital to your CPUs life. Download Core Temp to monitor CPU temps before you do any OCing. That is unless you already have a program for this.http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/

I noticed that Alienware/Dell charges $800 for a Intel i7 980 extreme OC extreme 6 core to 4.0GHz than the same processor NOT OC but at 3.33 GHz.It is the same processor. They say it can take a week to OC a processor? Isn't it simply done in the BIOS in about 15 seconds? That's what I did. They will probably say they hand pick the best of the batch to OC. Is this $800 a complete waste of money, or is there something I am missing?

I noticed that Alienware/Dell charges $800 for a Intel i7 980 extreme OC extreme 6 core to 4.0GHz than the same processor NOT OC but at 3.33 GHz.It is the same processor. They say it can take a week to OC a processor? Isn't it simply done in the BIOS in about 15 seconds? That's what I did. They will probably say they hand pick the best of the batch to OC. Is this $800 a complete waste of money, or is there something I am missing?

They're charging $800 as a fee to OC the 980X? That's ridiculous if so and yes, a gigantic waste of money. Build your own machine, don't buy from someone like Alienware, those systems are almost always ripoffs.

Ryan helped me O/C my i7 930 in the computer that I built recently and being a Mac guy at heart had very little knowledge about O/C. I've been bitten by the 'bug' and now I've got "Galatica" running at 4.20GHz, passing Prime95 with a high temp of 78C on liquid cooling. A few months ago this would have meant nothing to me, thanks Ryan! No stutters in FSX with all sliders maxed, AI at about 80%, and in my current complex aircraft, textures load without pause and frame rates are not an an issue, "Smoof as Butta!"Pete 'Mac Paint'PMDG Graphic Designer

It's the single biggest thing you can do to get FSX running well. i7 CPUs have very good thermal shutdown/protection systems in them - you're not going to destroy the chip unless you disable those and feed it way more voltage than you should. (which you'd have to do on purpose) The standard overclocks people do get nowhere close to doing that. The reason you can even OC these chips so far is because they're manufactured with a huge built-in range to them - Intel doesn't have separate production lines for 920s, 930s, 950s, etc, they're all exactly the same chip and just the label and some internal identifier bits are changed and the multiplier locked to make it whichever variant. The production line they have is so good that a large percentage of the chips come out testing good enough to be the top end models, but still get binned as a 920 or whatever. That's to your advantage because you can essentially just turn it into the higher end chip that it could very well have become at the factory anyway through OCing it.

Ryan helped me O/C my i7 930 in the computer that I built recently and being a Mac guy at heart had very little knowledge about O/C. I've been bitten by the 'bug' and now I've got "Galatica" running at 4.20GHz, passing Prime95 with a high temp of 78C on liquid cooling. A few months ago this would have meant nothing to me, thanks Ryan! No stutters in FSX with all sliders maxed, AI at about 80%, and in my current complex aircraft, textures load without pause and frame rates are not an an issue, "Smoof as Butta!"Pete 'Mac Paint'PMDG Graphic Designer

Ok here is the problem. I can't build my own machine. But if I order the same processor without being OC, isn't overclocking just as simple as going into the Bios on start-up (F12) and tabbing over to the processor menu and simply bumping it up. (that is what I did to my Dell 720 H2C). This new machine will be a liquid cooled machine so can't I just ignore temperatures/testing etc. and go close to what Alienware sells the same processor OC at(4mHz)? I mean it took me 30 seconds to O/C. Dell says it can take 1 week. Either I am getting ripped off $800 or I am really stupid on over-clocking. Please give me your expert thoughts. Keep in mind I am not too computer savy.Paul Gugliotta