There's a few threads here on the i7 Sandy Bridge, but I'm wondering if anyone has looked at the i5-2500 Sandy Bridge? Difference in cost between the i5-2500 and the i7-2600 is about $90...for the difference I'd see in FSX any thoughts on whether the extra $90 is worth it? I don't know a whole lot about how FSX treats the various CPU's, but I'm wondering if there are features of the i7-2600 that are wasted in FSX, making the i5-2500 suitable?To give you a sense of where I'm upgrading from, I currently ave an E6750 dual core @2.66Ghz. I also recently bought a nVidia GTX470, so I'm looking for a nice CPU to go with it. I'm looking for information "out of the box", as I'm not really interested in overclocking.Thanks!

Why even look at the 2500 or 2600. Get the 2500K or 2600K so you can overclock. I got the 2500K reason I was on a budget and I heard and read that hyperthreading (only difference between 2600K and 2500 other than the 2mb cache difference)is useless in games

Hi, the other difference between 2500 (K) and 2600 (K) is that according to "well informed source at Intel", 2500 is made of lower grade silicon than 2600 is. That news you can find on every OC forums. This is the reason, why 2600 K is no.1 choice for OC and why 2500 K won't clock that high as 2600 K can.As always, final decision depends on budget,greets, Peter

Forgot to mention, if you will decide to go 2500 K route, look for "C" batch - seems to be great overclocker that needs very little voltage to reach high frequencies,P.

Hi, the other difference between 2500 (K) and 2600 (K) is that according to "well informed source at Intel", 2500 is made of lower grade silicon than 2600 is. That news you can find on every OC forums. This is the reason, why 2600 K is no.1 choice for OC and why 2500 K won't clock that high as 2600 K can.As always, final decision depends on budget,greets, Peter

Can you post a link to that please?

I have a 2500K on a P8P67 Pro at 4600,had it up to 4800 but didn't like voltages.I have no need for Hyperthreading so might as well save the $100 and get the 2500K model.Be sure to get the K models, so have the option to overclock ,its very easy this time :)The K series is unlocked by Intel made to overclock!Overclocking is very easy on the Asus P67 boards,you can let the board do it allor tinker with a just a few settings and leave the rest on auto.I highly recommend you buy a K chip and at least auto overclock it.The Asus board is picky about memory at 1600, best I got mine so far is 1333,also has some sleep issues.FSX flys very nice with it :)

Thanks everyone!

Can you post a link to that please?

Hi Dazz,sorry it took so long, but I was really busy and torn between work and family,send you a PM with link, hope it helps,greets, Peter.

Hi Dazz,sorry it took so long, but I was really busy and torn between work and family,send you a PM with link, hope it helps,greets, Peter.

Thanks Peter

Your welcome,in case of any questions just send me a PM - I've seen the same (even more precise) info somewhere else, but at the moment, simply can't recall where exactly. Will try to find more stuff ASAP in case you will be interested. greets, Peter