Might sound like a dumb question but i'll ask anyway.From what i have read you are supposed to get FSX and your addon scenery/ac all installed and set up and running stable etc. before starting any overclocking. I have now done this and am ready for the overclocking process and yes i have now run my i7 2600K on prime 95 at its stock settings for several hours and done some flying around with no problems.After i get it overclocked to where i want it and everything is tested and stable, do i have to set my rig back to stock settings every time i purchase another addon scenery or ac before installing it?

No it will be fine... if you're stable at OC settings just install anything like normal.

But also note that the possible additional stress from an add-on could push a system "over the edge". If this happens the first thing to try would be to back off the OC just a bit and try FSX again.

But also note that the possible additional stress from an add-on could push a system "over the edge". If this happens the first thing to try would be to back off the OC just a bit and try FSX again.

Isn't the purpose of stress testing to push the system absolutely as hard as it can go? It seems unlikely to me that an application could run the system as hard as a synthetic test designed to crash unstable systems.

Isn't the purpose of stress testing to push the system absolutely as hard as it can go? It seems unlikely to me that an application could run the system as hard as a synthetic test designed to crash unstable systems.

Prime95 is a CPU and some RAM test. It doesn't test the "whole" system. FSX loads pretty much on the system including the graphics which puts additional stress on the whole system.You said "several" hours. How much is several?I had Prime95 10 hours stable and STILL FSX crash once or twice.Then I ran Linx, which was 3 hours stable, but crashed after 4 hours.It's not that easy to find the 100% stable overclock and that you have all components playing along nicely.I had stable CPU, but boot problems. I had to play with OC settings in BIOS to get even booting 100% working.It's now 3 months since I got this computer, and I am only hoping it's stable. CPU is rock stable, on both Linx and Prime95 for 24hours. And yes, it did cost me couple of euros on my power bill...Also been checking for temperatures the whole time, which didn't go past 81c. Even at current higher summer temperatures.Another thing one has to test thoroughly is RAM. Memtest+ does a good job, a night-run is in my opinion enough.I also run the Real-time HDR IBL test to heat up the GPU and see if the CPU plays nicely along with it. It's crucial in the watercooling setup, might be less crucial in the aircooling setup IF you have a double slot card.Once you are there, installing addons or Windows or anything is no problem.

I personally prefer OCCT to Prime95 for stability testing. From what people smarter than I have written on Overclock.net, an OCCT run of 2 hours will let you know that you are 100% stable. In order to know if you're 100% stable w/ Prime95 requires a 24 hour run.

OCCT should be the tester of choice for FSX clockers as it more mimics the stress that FSX would put on a system than something like Prime95. Personally, I don't drop the clock when I install add ons but many people do - it is the wisest choice but as long as you are aware of potential problems it can save some time.After I do a new install, I watch for any anomaly - if a problem occurs, I uninstall, drop the clock and reinstall.BTW, the easiest way to do this is top create BIOS profiles - after you have your clock set and stable, save it in the BIOS so you can load and unload it as needed.Vic

Isn't the purpose of stress testing to push the system absolutely as hard as it can go? It seems unlikely to me that an application could run the system as hard as a synthetic test designed to crash unstable systems.

Pushing a system to its absolute limit staying stable is for braggings rights, there is no way you'll use your PC as hard as a stress test will in normal use.Playing it safe will be to install your add-ons on non overclocked PC.

Pushing a system to its absolute limit staying stable is for braggings rights, there is no way you'll use your PC as hard as a stress test will in normal use.Playing it safe will be to install your add-ons on non overclocked PC.

That's the idea. You know that as long as your computer hacks it at the max stable OC, you will have no issues with anything else, because nothing will run it that hard. But It's not just for bragging rights. If you don't test it completely stable you will start to see errors. I had issues on another rig that wasn't entirely stable. The computer would start to do do bizarre things after a few hours. The reason is because things aren't in sync, and it starts to skip clocks. Doesn't seem like a big deal if you only use your computer for an hour or two at a time, but if you leave it on all day, or fly long hall flights you're SOL. Also, you will start to see your OS become corrupted, because of errors in the way the CPU writes files.The reason you have to run Prime95 for 24 hours is because there are many parts of the system that won't register errors until long into the test. The errors in CPU timings become magnified over time.If you OC your CPU and don't properly determine if it's stable, you are asking for major problems down the line.

So the best is to create a bios profile to be safe. Many thanks all.

That's the idea. You know that as long as your computer hacks it at the max stable OC, you will have no issues with anything else, because nothing will run it that hard. But It's not just for bragging rights. If you don't test it completely stable you will start to see errors. I had issues on another rig that wasn't entirely stable. The computer would start to do do bizarre things after a few hours. The reason is because things aren't in sync, and it starts to skip clocks. Doesn't seem like a big deal if you only use your computer for an hour or two at a time, but if you leave it on all day, or fly long hall flights you're SOL. Also, you will start to see your OS become corrupted, because of errors in the way the CPU writes files.The reason you have to run Prime95 for 24 hours is because there are many parts of the system that won't register errors until long into the test. The errors in CPU timings become magnified over time.If you OC your CPU and don't properly determine if it's stable, you are asking for major problems down the line.

yes and no.You could run for a week stable with P95 and still have FSX crash your system. There is nothing wrong in running P95 but you really need to run several different stressers.Run P92, Linpack, Memtest, SuperPI and OCCT and you should cover all the bases. But for FSX, OCCT should be all you need.Vic