The absolute max for the 980X on 0.32 architecture is 1.4V although long term performance is not guaranteed. Maybe Sandy Bridge is more robust but I dont think the Vid max is telling you that it is also the maximum permitted volts.http://download.inte...shts/323252.pdf Section 2.10 and table 2.6.

Hi HowardThat are the specs for i7 9xx Processors and not the SB ones. Max. Voltages not only depends on the fact if it is an 32nm but also on architecture and the substance they use.Here are the Specs for the new Sandy Bridge Processors (VID Range up to 1.52):

Should Windows 7 SP1 and AVX be avoided for a good FSX platform?

I use Windows 7 SP1 RC and can't see any negative influence for FSX. FSX is too old to use AVX anyway.

Hey Patrick, are you able to use easytune to get to or over 4.8? I am using the 'sturdy yet basic' gig bios, but my idle volts are too high, load is fine and cool 1.38 load at 63 degrees, idle at 1.6 gz to 3.4 ghz at a wooping 1.40v at 17-19 degrees...need 1.40 idle Vcore to get load stable 4.8 at 1.38 as i only have one option for llc on the yd4...on or off....:mad: Are high-ish idle volts bad despite very low idle requency (mostly 1.6 ghz) ? I am using the turbo mult to get to 4.8 eset c1+c3 on et.c Not sure it it if volts period that are bad for the cpu or only volts when pushed at load? Seems crazy to have 1.4v at idle at 1.6?

Hi SimonI fully agree with Corey. "High" Idle Voltage (in your case 1.40) should not be a problem as the Temps are good. But 17-19 C?. Are you sure that you have an up to date Tool which reading the temps correct? Or are you on chilled water?Here you can download a reliable Temp Tool (it is important to use version 3.67): http://www.mediafire...n99nq4kn95u6i6a regardsPatrick

Intel never said the 1.52V was safe. OcUK contacted them and Intel advised not to exceed 1.38VOn a different note, I've been trying to figure out what's going on with my Vcore. I set everything in BIOS, run Linx and get a peak voltage of 1.368V for 4.8GHz completing 10 runs no problem.But as soon as I shut down my system, the next restart my Vcore is down by some 0.24V (3 voltage bins) and Linx fails on me after 3 or 4 runs. If I then restart, Vcore is back to "normal". It happens no matter what LLC level I pick (ok, I just tried High & Extreme) while with LLC on Auto my Vcore is consistent after shutdowns / restarts, which leads me to believe it's an LLC related issue. My BIOS version is 1204Anyone else with the same problem or is it just me?

Edited February 11, 201115 yr by dazz

Hi SimonI fully agree with Corey. "High" Idle Voltage (in your case 1.40) should not be a problem as the Temps are good. But 17-19 C?. Are you sure that you have an up to date Tool which reading the temps correct? Or are you on chilled water?Here you can download a reliable Temp Tool (it is important to use version 3.67): http://www.mediafire...n99nq4kn95u6i6a regardsPatrick

Thanks Patrick, yes, corrected, idle temps are 21-31 depending on depending on core and ambient temps etc, I use coretemp to test. Cooler is a A70 air push-pull; works really well:)

Plug the fan/fans into the "CPU_FAN" header and the pump into the "CHA_FAN1" header? Make sure the fan header for the pump is running at full power.

I hooked the 2 h70 fans up to one of the 3 pin cables as my mb cpu_fan header is 4 prong and my h70 is 3. Also pardon my ignorance, but how do I check if the fan header for the pump is running at full power?

Thanks Steven for your help. Problem fixed. Just returned from Micro Center with a new CPU (ugh! long drive, in rush hour, in unfamiliar territory, and in the dark but my DroidX GPS showed the way). Unbelievably, Best Buy doesn't sell them so I had to take the long drive to Micro Center. CPU was much, much cheaper than the one from Amazon.com - $279. Micro Center is a major toy store for adults and I might have to sell my house and move closer... :Just Kidding: Signature updated to show latest OC. Your settings were perfect and, after a good nights rest, I will see what happens at 5GHz but I'm more than happy at the current settings if they remain stable. You're right. This Sandy Bridge CPU/MB are so simple to OC -- well, simple once you have the right settings.Thank you again for taking your valuable time getting on the phone and helping me set up my new system. You did a lot of research in the background for me too. That was more than generous. It's people like you who make the AVSIM community and forums so great. I know exactly where I'm going if and when I have another problem.Thanks to everyone else who offered suggestions to fix my problem. Greatly appreciated!Best regards,Jim

Jim,You are most welcome sir. It was pleasant to discuss and solve all the world's problems while going back and forth between the BIOS and rebooting, BIOS and rebooting, BIOS and rebooting! I am most pleased that you now have your FSX engine up and running successfully. Let's not wait for something to go wrong with our computers before we pick up the phone and talk again!Kind regards,

I hooked the 2 h70 fans up to one of the 3 pin cables as my mb cpu_fan header is 4 prong and my h70 is 3. Also pardon my ignorance, but how do I check if the fan header for the pump is running at full power?

If it's connected to a molex outlet via 3-pin - molex adapter, it's running at full power. If it's plugged to the motherboard, you can use SpeedfanEDIT: I'm a tard, you clearly stated both fans are connected to the mobo. Speedfan is what you need then, or you can also check your Monitor section in the BIOS

Edited February 11, 201115 yr by dazz

I hooked the 2 h70 fans up to one of the 3 pin cables as my mb cpu_fan header is 4 prong and my h70 is 3. Also pardon my ignorance, but how do I check if the fan header for the pump is running at full power?

You can hook the 3-pin fans to the 4-pin cpu_fan header. At full power, the pump should be operating at 1400-ish rpm.

You can hook the 3-pin fans to the 4-pin cpu_fan header

thanks guys. That seemed to do the trick. I now have windows installed. Will keep you posted. Still having trouble getting into the BIOS. It's just the delete key at startup right?

thanks guys. That seemed to do the trick. I now have windows installed. Will keep you posted. Still having trouble getting into the BIOS. It's just the delete key at startup right?

Yes, but most of the time you need to keep hitting it until the bios opens up. If you hit it just once or twice you might be lucky to get in. It won't hurt to hit the delete key until it opens up.Best regards,Jim

Yes, but most of the time you need to keep hitting it until the bios opens up. If you hit it just once or twice you might be lucky to get in. It won't hurt to hit the delete key until it opens up.Best regards,Jim

Hey Jim,How is it working?

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This is wordy, but does chronicle my Sandy Bridge experience. I know I’ve gleaned a lot from reading all of your posts, and in particular, your reasoning for the choices you’ve made.I’ve been overdue for an upgrade on my system – like 1.5 years overdue. For one reason or another, I’ve waited. When Sandy Bridge came out, I figured the time was right, since I was still limping along with a C2D machine. That, and my once faithful GTX8800 crapped out on me.I read and read, trying to determine the best components. In the end, it became almost a matter of which hardware would give me the least trouble. Do you ever notice that, for example, you find a MB that looks really good, you’re thinking “For sure, this is the one to get”, and then you bump into comments or other articles that chronicle hair pulling experiences?I hate those (hair pulling experiences with hardware). I’ve built a few machines over the years, and have etched in my memory, episodes stretching long into the night trying to troubleshoot some issue. The elation and anticipation with which you started the build, degenerates into a long session of frustration and disappointment. Makes you wish you’d never spent all that money on this ‘boat anchor’. One ends up looking longingly back at the now forlorn old machine “that never gave me a lick of trouble”. (Never mind that it can’t run modern programs even at the lowest settings – at least it works!)So then, my criteria was, ‘best performance and least likelihood of grief’. Easier said than done, since it seems that no matter what you’re looking at, someone has something negative to point out. I’m talking about those really scary stories where the hardware arrives DOA, the customer support is lambasted, and you think “I wouldn’t touch that with a ten foot pole!” That, and it’s rare for one manufacturer to have all of the right things. OK, so now we’re down to the lesser of evils. :Thinking: I narrowed down the hardware list, and now had to just figure out the logistics of actually getting everything. I’m currently living overseas from my home country (the U.S.), so some things would have to be purchased locally (the heavy stuff), and some would come from the less expensive US sources (Newegg).STOP! And then the Sandy Bridge chipset issue was announced. What? I waited this long and am ready to order the parts, and now I can’t buy them for at least 2 more months? Newegg pulled the i7-2600K CPU’s off their website. Fortunately, my host country was still selling SB MB’s and i7-2600K’s. Phew!. A bit more expensive, but tolerable. From my reading, the SATA II issue shouldn’t bother me in the near term as I’ll be using SATA III HDD’s.Here’s what I ended up with:i7-2600KMushkin Redline 8Mb (996981 2x4) Gigabyte PA67A-UD7 (Using Bios F8x)Gigabyte GTX580 (GV-N580UD-15I) x 2 Noctua D14 CoolerCoolermaster 1200W Silent Pro GoldCoolermaster HAF X 942Lite-On 24x DVD-RWCrucial C300 SATA III HDD (CTFDDAC256MAG-1G1CCA) x 2Win7 Pro 64I already have an existing multiple monitor array, keyboards etc.I have no particular brand preferences and have had most major MB’s over the years. I was leaning towards Asus but the forums spooked me. The Gigabyte isn’t perfect either, but I jumped in just after a good Bios update. The dual bios feature was comforting. So far, so good. A couple of the pieces were not my first choice, and I didn’t pay as much attention to the DVD drive. I bumped into a few irritants during the build, but nothing fatal. (The CPU cutout in the bottom of HAF X 942 doesn’t line up with the actual MB CPU placement. What? Didn’t see it in any reviews…did find one Youtube reviewer after the fact that was as shocked as I was. It just meant I had to remove the MB, put the cooler back plate on, and reinstall the MB. I don’t take the cooler out usually anyway, but still, this is an expensive case that’s supposed to fit all kinds of MB’s.)I was thrilled with the first smoke test – everything worked. Isn't that a cheap thrill? And the successful flasing of the Bios was another one (especially after all of the horror strories I've been reading.) I have not received the second GTX580 or the SSD’s; they come next week. So I popped in a clone of my existing Vista64 (don’t laugh) system which is on a very slow old HDD. The thought was, that I can setup the overclock and also compare my existing FSX installation on the new equipment.You know all of those reboots you do when overclocking? Ya, well I wish those SSD drives were already installed!After loading all of the new MB drivers etc, and deleting programs that were looking for the old hardware, things were stable enough to take a run at FSX. I started the machine at 4.3 Ghz by just adjusting the multiplier. SB is just too easy to OC. Anyway, because I run multiple monitors, to keep the frame rates up on the old C2D @ 3.8 Ghz, I just left autogen off. SB ran surprisingly smooth. This was a quickie test before bed the other night, but it quickly became apparent that things had sped up considerably, and with more sliders moved over, including autogen. This is of course the point of the upgrade, but it was one of those ‘grin moments’. I’ve not gotten serious with this yet, since the ‘real’ deal won’t come until I load Win7 and a fresh FSX install on the SSD’s next week.Last night I sat down to turn up the wick a little. I had my share of BSOD’s, trying to balance the voltages with the mulitiplier and ended up at 4.9. I don’t recall all of the voltages etc, it’s a work in progress, though the Vcore was 1.45 or so. I have read conflicting accounts on this - what is the safe limit really? The temps are in the 60’s under load, and this is not a 24/7 machines - it's only used for simming.OK, so now let’s see how it behaves now at 4.9 Ghz. The first night, I’d just used the Realair Duke with TIR on three screens. Last night, I used one of my favorites, that unfortunately due to it’s implact on framerates, I’ve left mostly parked for the past year. I just don’t like to fly if it’s not smooth. The Maddog MD-80 isn’t the worst addon airplane, but it taxed my C2D. It’s configured to use instrument panels on four screens plus the 3 outside view screens. Pleasingly, it was smooth on the SB. That made my night. I have a long history with the real airplane, and the Leonardo rendition is excellent, with so many of the right sounds and so on. I hope this is a harbinger of good things to come with other addons.One other little thing I noticed. The airplanes feel different to me. I use CH controllers, but it’s almost as if the CPU has more time to poll the controllers, and it’s particularly noticeable in the flare. I can more finely feel for the ground. I certainly don’t know the intricacies of USB, but I can say that for me, something is different. An unexpected bonus.Sleep called again (or was that my wife?), so I left it there. I’ll certainly try to get things stable at 5.0Ghz…well…just because. I still have to setup the SSD’s and I want to replace my outside view monitors (currently 19” 4:3’s) with…hmmm, I haven’t figured that out yet. So there’s a lot to do coming up before it’s all done. But I can say, thus far, I’m delighted with the new SB system. Coming from a C2D, it’s a no brainer. A high end X58 might be another matter. That’s not a pleasure I ever got to enjoy.Cheers

This is wordy, ...

Thanks for sharing man. That was a great read. I'm also blown away by this new chip and I'm a big fan of the Maddog too