Hey guys,I currently have an i7 920 O'Ced to around 3.7GHZ. My only trouble I am having is that when I attempt to OC it past 4 GHZ I get Bsod's and overheating issues. Would it be any benefit for me in FSX to buy the i7 2600K and OC it to around 4.5 GHZ? FROM WHAT I HAVE HEARD, they are extremely easy to OC. Best Regards,

A higher clock would definitely help you. The main question you'll need to ask yourself is if it's worth buying a new cpu & MB to get it.

My suggestion is the cost would not be worth the gain. Yhea you will see increased performance from the higher clock, but it would not be worth it. I looked in to the SB from my i7 set up, but I had the triple channel RAM from the X58 and didnt see the benefit worth new MB, new RAM, and new cooling parts for a SB. Instead I decided to skip this generation and wait until the Ivy Bridge shows up. That is my plan anyway.

You could always hedge and just go with a more capable i7 9xx CPU. The most recent ones overclock easily and you could stick with your current MB and RAM. I built my system around a 965 Extreme processor that struggled to get above 4 GHz. I replaced it with a 980 that easily hits 4.48 with plenty of temperature overhead. So it's possible to improve performance without converting to Sandy Bridge. Based on that experience, like others here, I'm planning as of now to wait for Ivy Bridge. I think the refinements will be worth the wait. Hope this helps.

You could always hedge and just go with a more capable i7 9xx CPU. The most recent ones overclock easily and you could stick with your current MB and RAM. I built my system around a 965 Extreme processor that struggled to get above 4 GHz. I replaced it with a 980 that easily hits 4.48 with plenty of temperature overhead. So it's possible to improve performance without converting to Sandy Bridge. Based on that experience, like others here, I'm planning as of now to wait for Ivy Bridge. I think the refinements will be worth the wait. Hope this helps.

That was something I came pretty close to going. The 980 was the one I almost got, the one with 6 cores. It was very appealing to me to get two more cores and still be able to use my existing RAM and MoBo.With the triple channel it was easy for me to get kits for 12 gb of RAM, and I had a very hard time back when I was looking at the SB of putting to gether a kit that would match it, let alone surpass which is something I hope to do in a new build.And before I get a bunch of people coming at me saying FSX doesnt use six corse or that much RAM, my machine is not an FSX machine. It is a HD video machine that happens to run FSX from time to time.But I am waiting for the Ivy Bridge. The 3d transistor layout is very exciting stuff.

In fairness, I moved to the 980 before Sandy Bridge was available. I sometimes think I should have waited - but again, I like the refinements that come with the second generation in each processor family. Of course I don't claim any benefit from the extra cores fo FSX. But the 980 handles much more voltage at much lower temperatures, so it makes for a much better overclock. If my current rig runs the NGX smoothly - even without every last slider to the right - I'll look at Ivy Bridge but might not do a build 'til Flight comes out (and there are good add-ons for it). I'd much rather avoid reinstalling FSX (a weeks-long project) if I can avoid it.

With 1066MHz RAM no wonder you can't overclock to 4GHz Ben, I'm surprised you even got to 3.7GHz to be honest :( What's your RAM rated at exactly?A SB at 4.5GHz would be like a 50% faster. I would do it (I did it myself), but it's up to you. You should still be able to use Ivy Bridge in current SB mobos

With 1066MHz RAM no wonder you can't overclock to 4GHz Ben, I'm surprised you even got to 3.7GHz to be honest :( What's your RAM rated at exactly?A SB at 4.5GHz would be like a 50% faster. I would do it (I did it myself), but it's up to you. You should still be able to use Ivy Bridge in current SB mobos

Well, the memory multipliers are unlocked so ram shouldnt be a limiting factor when it comes to overclocking old i7s.

Well, the memory multipliers are unlocked so ram shouldnt be a limiting factor when it comes to overclocking old i7s.

Are you sure? my old P55 had a minimum of 1066MHz for RAM with 3 RAM multies available, so as soon as the BCLK is raised from 133 to 166 for example, you can't set your RAM any lower than 1333MHz

Well, if one is going to jump to SB, then might as well wait until that next wave of Enthusists verions or whatever Intel is lableling them as, with the new mobos. And one of the things I read that is coming with the Ivy Bridge is quad channel RAM, which would of course allow with ease the abiltiy to increase my RAM size. If I had the cash in hand then I would obviously jump in and get a 2600k, then trash it when the Ivy Bridge comes out, but it is a tough sell considering the short life span that machine would have in such a timeline.

Well, if one is going to jump to SB, then might as well wait until that next wave of Enthusists verions or whatever Intel is lableling them as, with the new mobos. And one of the things I read that is coming with the Ivy Bridge is quad channel RAM, which would of course allow with ease the abiltiy to increase my RAM size. If I had the cash in hand then I would obviously jump in and get a 2600k, then trash it when the Ivy Bridge comes out, but it is a tough sell considering the short life span that machine would have in such a timeline.

X79 boards have just 4 RAM slots Scott (at least the ones I've seen so far), so I'm not sure that's what you need

For a long time I ran my i7 920 D0 at 3.6GHz, and that was fine, until recently when I replaced my Domino ALC all-in-1 liquid cooler for a Noctua air cooler. This enabled me to clock my 920 further to 4.0GHz, and the difference in performance is huge. It's no secret that FSX relies heavily on having a fast clock. The i7 920 is still a good chip, particularly the later D0 stepped batches, which can be overclocked far higher with less voltage than the early C0s, thus producing considerably less heat. The new Sandy Bridge chips can be overclocked higher than the older 9xx series, but they're still very good in my opinion.Regards,Tom Wright

Hi Ben,I am, as Tom Wright, runing a i7 920 @ 4200mhz and it's running beautifully. See below for my specs. Mine has been running like this for more than a year now and has missed the beat a few times, but it's software crashes regards,

Are you sure? my old P55 had a minimum of 1066MHz for RAM with 3 RAM multies available, so as soon as the BCLK is raised from 133 to 166 for example, you can't set your RAM any lower than 1333MHz

I am. X58 is supposed to be the "enthusiast" platform and it has unlocked memory multies. There are certain rules for the multipliers, but its possible to put the ram multi really low without running into any issues

I think that I am going to go ahead and get the Noctua air cooler and OC my CPU to 4.0 GHZ. -- Do I need to upgrade my RAM at this point? I have 6 GB of DDR3@1066. Do I need to get DDR3@1600? I will eventually end up upgrading to Ivy Bridge around this time next year. Thanks eveyone for the help!