Hi all,In a few months I would like to upgrade my computer so it can run Flight Simulator X with PMDG products and several add-ons very very well. I did some research at several websites and also read some posts here and I noticed that the Intel i7's are very great for Flight Simulator. Especially the "Sandy Bridge" chips of Intel are very well.Weil having a look at a website, I saw an "Upgrade Kit" for your computer. The "kit" contains the following:- P67A-GD65 (MSI)- i7 2600- 4 GB RAM(Upgrade Kit - website)But I have some questions about this:- Won't the i7 2600K be better? What are the differences between 2600 and 2600K? Is it worth the penny to pay alot more for the "K-version"?- 4 GB RAM would be enough? I'm doubting to take at least 8 GB RAM for Flight Simulator X.- Wich coolers should I take? Especially, if I want to overclock the i7 to, for example, 4.0 GHz.Thanks in advantage for your comment/opinion!

- Won't the i7 2600K be better? What are the differences between 2600 and 2600K? Is it worth the penny to pay alot more for the "K-version"?- Wich coolers should I take? Especially, if I want to overclock the i7 to, for example, 4.0 GHz.

I already got some answers of this video: http://www.youtube.com/user/LinusTechTips#p/u/13/Ha1LM_wnt7w Here, that guy is unboxing the Intel Core i7 2600 and explaining the differences between the 2600 and 2600K. He also saidthat the cooler of the 2600 itself it pretty poor so he recommend an extra cooler, the Corsair A70 for example.

Hi all,In a few months I would like to upgrade my computer so it can run Flight Simulator X with PMDG products and several add-ons very very well. I did some research at several websites and also read some posts here and I noticed that the Intel i7's are very great for Flight Simulator. Especially the "Sandy Bridge" chips of Intel are very well.Weil having a look at a website, I saw an "Upgrade Kit" for your computer. The "kit" contains the following:- P67A-GD65 (MSI)- i7 2600- 4 GB RAM(Upgrade Kit - website)But I have some questions about this:- Won't the i7 2600K be better? What are the differences between 2600 and 2600K? Is it worth the penny to pay alot more for the "K-version"?- 4 GB RAM would be enough? I'm doubting to take at least 8 GB RAM for Flight Simulator X.- Wich coolers should I take? Especially, if I want to overclock the i7 to, for example, 4.0 GHz.Thanks in advantage for your comment/opinion!

-Yes, you want a "K" skew to get that 4 GHz overclock.-Personally I'd go for 6-8GB; but yes, 4GB is enough.-Something big (If going air). I use the Cooler Master V8.

I think getting the 2500k instead of the 2600k makes a lot of sense, esp if youre going to OC. Costs a lot less, performs similarly

If you are going for an upgrade kit, why not consider one that has been pre-overclocked for you. An i5 2500K, motherboard, cooler and 4G Ram preconfigured to 4.4GHz is about £450 here. It will massivly outperform your kit for an extra €50

You may want to consider a water cooler from Corsair. I have the H70 and it works great.Ron Musick

You may want to consider a water cooler from Corsair. I have the H70 and it works great.Ron Musick

Yea, I'm watching some video's at YouTube of LinusTechTips. He's posting unboxing video's with some information and instructions. Great video's. I already watched a video of him about unboxing the H70, A40 and the A50. The H70 water cooler sounds and looks pretty good but unfortunately the price is not yet really that awesome :(

• Are there big differences between the Corsair A40 and the A50?

I'd recommend getting an air cooler over those "water" coolers. Air coolers cool better in general and, depending on the design, are also capable of cooling certain motherboard parts. If I really wanted water I'd go for a proper custom setup with 4x120 rad etc, not that 1x80 crap or whatever it is on the prebuilt selfcontained "water" coolers

I'd recommend getting an air cooler over those "water" coolers. Air coolers cool better in general and, depending on the design, are also capable of cooling certain motherboard parts. If I really wanted water I'd go for a proper custom setup with 4x120 rad etc, not that 1x80 crap or whatever it is on the prebuilt selfcontained "water" coolers

The crap you refer to actually does a pretty nice job, especially for the price, and takes up very little room in your case. It also takes about 2 minutes to install. I use a crap Corsair H50, and it cools my overclocked i7 adequately. Sure, I can't crank it up to 4.6 ghz, but it just isn't worth the bother or the expense to install something so elaborate.ps. Wim, you need to replace your last initial in your signature with your full last name according to PMDG forum rules. Thanks!

I'd recommend getting an air cooler over those "water" coolers. Air coolers cool better in general and, depending on the design, are also capable of cooling certain motherboard parts. If I really wanted water I'd go for a proper custom setup with 4x120 rad etc, not that 1x80 crap or whatever it is on the prebuilt selfcontained "water" coolers

Might want to read some reviews of the H70 before making statements like this - it outperforms a bunch of custom water loops and basically every air cooler on the market...

I have a Noctua NH-D14 and it's a greatt air cooler. It outperforms the H70 according to many benchmarks. The only problem is that it's HUGE and it might have issues fitting.

I'd recommend getting an air cooler over those "water" coolers. Air coolers cool better in general and, depending on the design, are also capable of cooling certain motherboard parts. If I really wanted water I'd go for a proper custom setup with 4x120 rad etc, not that 1x80 crap or whatever it is on the prebuilt selfcontained "water" coolers

Both the NH-D14 and H70 are top notch coolers. The NH-D14 certainly beats the H70 on an open-air test bench and maybe an extremely well ventilated case. Something to consider, however, is that unless your case is extremely well ventilated, the NH-D14 starts to choke in its own exhaust. In this case, the Corsair H70 can often do better as it exhausts the hot air directly outside the case (assuming you go against Corsair's recommended setup). So there's no worry of the hot exhaust air getting recirculated back through the radiator. If your reading a review comparing the two, make sure to check whether or not they're testing on an open air test bench or inside a computer case.On the subject of your upgrade kit, and with regards to FSX performance, I would recommend the 2500k. I see no difference with HT On or HT Off unless I'm using Tileproxy (at which point HT On seems to reduce the blurries). On the other hand, perhaps MS Flight will benefit from HT. Of course, who knows when MS Flight will even be released? Perhaps by the time your ready to upgrade in a "few" months we will know a little more about Socket 2011. Anyway, lots of food for thought, but yes, you would be crazy not to get the K version. 4GB of ram will do fine, but a number of people on these forums have reported that more memory often solves OOM errors - so I would just pick up a 2x4GB set of ram just to be on the safe side. For just a little more money than the linked kit, you might do something likeCPU: i5-2500kMOBO: MSI P67A-GD65RAM: Corsair 2x4GB DDR3 2000 (9-10-9-27)518.70 total

Might want to read some reviews of the H70 before making statements like this - it outperforms a bunch of custom water loops and basically every air cooler on the market...

Not in the reviews I've seen, not when the cooling in terms of fans used is comparable. The Noctua NHD-14 is king. I know, I have one. i7920 at 4.3 GHz, no problem. Cool and super quiet. In the few reviews I have seen where the Corsair H70 nudges ahead, they fit more powerful fans. the Corsair is far noisier too. Martin Wilby

NOTHING will beat a properly built custom watercooling loop. Ask me how I know.the 2600 will barely be able to overclock, and you'll be sitting at around 3.8ghz, while with the 2600k you'll be able to AT LEAST get 4.7ghz.Also.. as said somewhere above, the 2500k is a more logical choice for you if this is primarily for FSX, or gaming in general.. Hyperthreading in the 2600k is the only major difference between the 2, and HT sure as heck doesn't help in games.

If you are going for an upgrade kit, why not consider one that has been pre-overclocked for you. An i5 2500K, motherboard, cooler and 4G Ram preconfigured to 4.4GHz is about £450 here. It will massivly outperform your kit for an extra €50

Who would want a pre-clocked system that costs more, when you can do it YOURSELF. People are just really lazy and afraid to get their hands dirty with computers.

The reviews I have read suggest there is very little difference in the performance, both being excellent with a slight advantage to the NH D14. However, apart from the sheer size of it, I am just not comfortable with the idea of hanging over a kilo of cooler off my high end chip. If you have a horizontally mounted MoBo and never have to move your machine without carefull preparation, fair enough, but on a vertical MoBo that gets shifted around now and again, that is just too much unsecured mass inside the case waiting to tear things up.