O.K., so Intel is coming out with their latest chip, and we get new mobo's, dedicated ram(?), and we have new videocards, and ssd's are getting better.Is there enough (20%?) performance enhancement to finally make fsx good?I have a q6600(not oc'd), 4gb ram, 9800gtx, and a 300gb velociraptor, and am hoping to get say 30 fps if I get a new system sometime in the next quarter.I was going to upgrade quite some time ago, but life got in the way, so perhaps now is the opportune time if there is such a thing.I am not looking at the fps as much as smoothness say in London or New York. I have both city scenery, and add-on airports, REX, UT2, MD-11, Lvl-D and more, and get quite a nice sideshow in those area's (4-7fps). Any slower, and I can send the frames to a museum.I am looking at ssd's, a 570, or 580gtx card, and hafx with an NHD14, 6gb ddr3ram with latency of 6 or 7.My main question is will the new chip and mobo make a big difference if I do not overclock?I am no expert, but can look up video tutorials for Overclocking, as they are becoming easier(?) to handle.Basically, current I7, or new version?Sorry for the essay, and have a safe and happy New Year.

O.K., so Intel is coming out with their latest chip, and we get new mobo's, dedicated ram(?), and we have new videocards, and ssd's are getting better.Is there enough (20%?) performance enhancement to finally make fsx good?I have a q6600(not oc'd), 4gb ram, 9800gtx, and a 300gb velociraptor, and am hoping to get say 30 fps if I get a new system sometime in the next quarter.

Try your Q6600 at 3.0 or 3.2... and then consider next steps.. That is not a 20%, but a 30% boost!

Try your Q6600 at 3.0 or 3.2... and then consider next steps.. That is not a 20%, but a 30% boost!

Bert, I am stuck with a bad case ( huge, but inefficient), and my mobo only allows 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20% oc, so I cannot really (no knowledge) do more than oc to around 2.88.P5 deluxe sli or something of the sort.Anyhow, I may just get the noctua for now and try to mess around with my q6600, thought I am not sure if it will fit.P.S. I meant a 20% boost in performance over the current I7.

Sandy Bridge 17-2600K ($317 MSRP in 1K quantitites) will go to 5 GHz on air, equivalent to 5.5 - 5.75 GHz for Nehalem (assuming a 10%-15% increase in performance clock-for-clock.) You will never look back :-)With these specs and a 560/570/580 GTX your FSX experience should be quite slick, with one caveat: PCIe 2.x is still a bottleneck for autogen. To solve that bottleneck you will need PCIe 3.0 (specification finalized Nov 18, 2010) that might be available in late 2011 video cards. "Extreme" types of Sandy Bridge CPUs will be required (available 3Q2011), and they will sport a whopping 4 channels of RAM!Regardless of weight and aerodynamic design, any aircraft will fly if you push it fast enough. Same for FSX, Moore's Law is on our side, so as hardware keeps getting more powerful and cheaper our FPSs in FSX keep increasing.Cheers,- jahman.

Sandy Bridge 17-2600K ($317 MSRP in 1K quantitites) will go to 5 GHz on air, equivalent to 5.5 - 5.75 GHz for Nehalem (assuming a 10%-15% increase in performance clock-for-clock.) You will never look back :-)With these specs and a 560/570/580 GTX your FSX experience should be quite slick, with one caveat: PCIe 2.x is still a bottleneck for autogen. To solve that bottleneck you will need PCIe 3.0 (specification finalized Nov 18, 2010) that might be available in late 2011 video cards. "Extreme" types of Sandy Bridge CPUs will be required (available 3Q2011), and they will sport a whopping 4 channels of RAM!Regardless of weight and aerodynamic design, any aircraft will fly if you push it fast enough. Same for FSX, Moore's Law is on our side, so as hardware keeps getting more powerful and cheaper our FPSs in FSX keep increasing.Cheers,- jahman.

Thanks Jahman.Ah what is another eight months or so of waiting, I can do it easy :Liar:.Might as well try to OC my q6600 and wait for Valhala.Happy and safe New Year to all.

A few years ago I clocked my Q6600 to 3.8 Ghz, using this cooler-kit:http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1025/1/It depends on which version CPU you have how high it can go:http://www.overclock.net/intel-motherboards/487806-usefull-guides-overclocking-asus-p5-boards.htmlIf you dare to lap it the temps will decrease 8-10C...

I actually picked up the Corsair H50 a couple days ago. Installed it and now I'm enjoying my i7-920 at 3.6ghz. And it's still running 10 degrees cooler than before the OC. I would say the h50/h70 are must have cooling products, I know a lot of people like their big and cheap heatsinks but this does have the coolness factor of water (think Cray). Also given that it's a water based system it's surprisingly easier to install than the Intel stock cooler, even for a beginner. 80 bux is well worth it to support your CPU's potential.

Try your Q6600 at 3.0 or 3.2... and then consider next steps.. That is not a 20%, but a 30% boost!

I OC my 6600 using an inexpensive WC and get a steady 24/7 3.4G, not too bad at all until I too upgrade later on.allen