Hello, I've just put together my Sandy Bridge rig(2600k) and have it overclocked @ 4.8GHZ. It's very stable and running very well. When I did the overclock I used turbo boost in the bios. Are there any known problems with FSX doing it this way as opposed to a straight overclock? Any comments from you Sandy Bridge owners would be greatly appreciated.

These boards need Turbo ONin BIOS to unlock the multiplier, but it doesn't really work like Turbo Boost once overclocked. If you disable EIST (Speed Step) you'll see that the clock speed is fixed at 4800MHz

Thanks for the reply Dazz. Is there any kind of performance penalty is speed step is left enabled?

NickN recomends turning off all power savings for FSX to avoid stutters induced if / when EIST kicks in. I like to have them on, and tried it in a short flight with EIST & C1E turned off. I didn't notice anything to be honest, but if he says it's better there must be a reason I guess

You'll have to see. But many, myself included, have had performance benefits from leaving the cpu running at constant freq. Over years this could shorten the lifespan of the cpu, but why not use it to it's full potential once you got it?!Bjorn

You'll have to see. But many, myself included, have had performance benefits from leaving the cpu running at constant freq. Over years this could shorten the lifespan of the cpu, but why not use it to it's full potential once you got it?!Bjorn

Yep Björn, I'll take more time to test it this weekend. A random 20 minutes flight doesn't prove anything. Can you please elaborate on the benefits you saw so that I can try and reproduce the same scenario and know what to expect? or is it smoother in all situations?

You'll have to see. But many, myself included, have had performance benefits from leaving the cpu running at constant freq. Over years this could shorten the lifespan of the cpu, but why not use it to it's full potential once you got it?!Bjorn

Bjorn, Lifespan isn't a huge issue. I almost made it a year before this upgrade. Of course, if I upgrade again in the next two years, I'll probably have to run an extension cord out to the tent I'll be living in,in the back yard. :Whistle:

It simply gained some fps and smoothened the whole deal. Now, it WAS on an older rig with a classic quad core, but I just continue the tradition. I would take the EH-101 from Newark across the cranes and over Manhattan.Whether it has any impact on current gen. cpu...who knows. Perhaps you could share your valuable experiences after testing?! :Batting Eyelashes:@mwilk: How about a dynamo w. pedals, woukd keep you fit too! The perfect outdoor-man B

It simply gained some fps and smoothened the whole deal. Now, it WAS on an older rig with a classic quad core, but I just continue the tradition. I would take the EH-101 from Newark across the cranes and over Manhattan.Whether it has any impact on current gen. cpu...who knows. Perhaps you could share your valuable experiences after testing?! :Batting Eyelashes:@mwilk: How about a dynamo w. pedals, woukd keep you fit too! The perfect outdoor-man B

Ok. Thanks man. I'll try Newark just in case

OK guys, I must be having a senior moment. What do I have to disable in the bios to get my system to run at a constant speed? I disabled Speedstep but it still throttles down to 1.6GHZ at times. Is there something else I should be disabling? Any help would be appreciated.

C1E/EIST are synonymous with speedstep.Bjorn

mmm, that's weird. Speedstep throttles back frequency, C1E is for Vcore. Can you take a picture of your Advanced tab in BIOS and post it here please?

Guys, With your help I figured it out. CPU-Z shows it running at a steady 4.8GHZ. This Sandy Bridge architecture is really something. My CPU temp (using Real Temp) at no load is 40C. When I stress tested it using Intel Burn Test it hit 70C a couple of times. My I7-930 @4.0 was at least 49C\77C respectively. Once again, thanks for your help.