It's just the newest technology, Mak. If you don't have 4.xx gig, or have never seen FSX at 4 gig - coupled with a widescreen or TripleHead2Go - then you don't know what we're experiencing, and therefore your comment is unqualified. A tweaked FS9 doesn't compare with a stock FSX by any measure, whether whether we're talking ground textures, bump mapping, weather generation - or just plain programming technologies and techniques. The 2600K is just a better proc in the Intel series that have been continuously improving since the days of the 8086. It gives us more headroom, but - it should suprise no-one that we are still finding that FSX is still bound by that cpu speed, and that we can still pull it down.I was also at 4.48 gig with the i7-950 and 580 combo, Kos, Hyperion, and yup - there are still places that most definitely pull those frames downward: what I do is to use a different config for those areas. I don't use as much airport vehicles, road vehicle, GA aircraft, etc., - perhaps less clouds. If you're in a tube liner who cares whether you have pleasure boats. There's too much to do on take-off, and by the time you're clear of the airport you're already too high! I do like a full tarmac for startup (at Seattle), though - around 50 - 60 commercial jet, with about 15 or s Cargo at the north end. I'm now running at 4.7 gig /1.35 vCore, using 4 cores only (130.xxx GF!!!) with the 580 oc somewhat o/c'd at 860. Very fluid, most wound to the right. There's more to be had from it yet! Overclocking is almost like an addon - it's all part of the fun!! :LMAO: B)

Did you need additional cooling for your video card, or did you just overclock the thing? I'm very weary about doing that on my 580 (non overclocked version) for fear of burning it out. I heard the 580 has headroom though...

I was wondering if anyone has tried what I imagine is the ultimate test for an FSX build. One of the big Orbx airports (YMML for example) with all of the surrounding scenery, REX, storms, at sunset or night, with PMDG J41? I cant think of anything that could push a system harder than that!

I see <15fps on my system in that scenario even with airport vehicles and traffic disabled. As good as the SB's are, they're still not good enough to fully crack FSX. To be honest I think they are to FSX what the 3.2GHz P4 was to fs2004, and it took another generation of processor to really crack that nut.

As good as the SB's are, they're still not good enough to fully crack FSX. To be honest I think they are to FSX what the 3.2GHz P4 was to fs2004, and it took another generation of processor to really crack that nut.

Hi Callum,Sound data indicates you are quite mistaken. Your machine's performance is falling to the lowest common denominator, the 280 GTX, and thereby simply unable to take advantage of the speed the Sandy Bridge provides.Kind regards,

Are you telling me then that in that given scenario, a 580 can more than double performance and add another solid 15fps? If so then fair enough, and perhaps I should chuck the 280 just now! If not then I stand by what I said. I' not trying to sound sarcastic there either, as obviously I don't have any experience with FSX and the 580. Will take your word for it if you can honestly say it will perform in this way (reading through your 480v580 thread now):smile:My point is that so far in my experience, the SB's cannot run FSX maxed with every addon, in every situation at a framerate of 30+. It really took an E8xxx clocked to 4GHz+ to achieve that in FS2004, which is why I'm comparing SB to the pentium 4's. While the P4 did make a good job for the most part, there were situations where it still didn't have the grunt to get things done. This is where I believe we are now with the SB and FSX.

Hello: I'm building my new PC around i7-2600k. I'm aiming at overclocking it for FSX to ~4.6Ghz (on Thermalright Silver Arrow air cooling). Do you see any problem in my plan if using ASRock P67 PROFESSIONAL FATAL1TY(B3)mobo?Also, what is the best combination of PCI and PCI-e audio cards CPU-performance wise?(I'll use 2 of them in my box). I'm not really that much into the sound quality, but first of all I want them to be less taxiing on the system.Also I would appreciate your suggestions for a 2x4Gb RAM (fast and low timings).Btw I'm very impressed with your h/w achievements in this corner of Avsim, gentlemen.Much thanks,Dirk.

Hello: I'm building my new PC around i7-2600k. I'm aiming at overclocking it for FSX to ~4.6Ghz (on Thermalright Silver Arrow air cooling). Do you see any problem in my plan if using ASRock P67 PROFESSIONAL FATAL1TY(B3)mobo?Also, what is the best combination of PCI and PCI-e audio cards CPU-performance wise?(I'll use 2 of them in my box). I'm not really that much into the sound quality, but first of all I want them to be less taxiing on the system.Also I would appreciate your suggestions for a 2x4Gb RAM (fast and low timings).Btw I'm very impressed with your h/w achievements in this corner of Avsim, gentlemen.Much thanks,Dirk.

No disrespect Dirk, rather than hijack a thread labeled "Sandy Bridge Benchmark Testing results" of some 6-pages, your question would be better served in a separate post or by searching one of the 100's of current threads on that very subject.Probably time David locked this thread anyway. It seems to have run its course.

No disrespect Dirk, rather than hijack a thread labeled "Sandy Bridge Benchmark Testing results" of some 6-pages, your question would be better served in a separate post or by searching one of the 100's of current threads on that very subject.Probably time David locked this thread anyway. It seems to have run its course.

He who claims I hijack this thread calls on to lock it, kettle meet pot springs to mind, lol.No disripect taken, no worries.Cheers,Dikr.

He who claims I hijack this thread calls on to lock it, kettle meet pot springs to mind, lol.No disripect taken, no worries.Cheers,Dikr.

This thread has been derailed awhile, I was just thinking you would have better results with a fresh start.Cheers

I'm not offering a benchmark report, just a simple report stating or restating what has been said before: SB and a solid video card will give you amazing results. I have taken it a step further with my RevoDrive. My new system is simply a dream machine for me. I'm finally getting the results I've wanted since I started simming over a decade ago. Thanks to all you for all their help.

How does the performance of the i5 2500K compare with the i7 2600K for running the current version of MS Flight Simulator?If it matters, this would be for installation on a Z68 motherboard with 16GB of RAM.If the answer has already been revealed somewhere in the previous six pages of arcane rhetoric, please excuse me if I prefer not to muddle through all of it--I'm just interested in the conclusion.

You probably wouldn't see much at all. The extra cache is not proven to give any extra performance and the hyperthreading doesn't either although it may help with background tasks. Just a thought. IMO, not worth it.