Hello allI am running an I7 975 extreme. I have seen many people obtain great OC's and performance with the 2600k that appear to be far better than what I am able to achieve.Is there any benefit in me upgrading the CPU bearing in mind I will also need a new mobo? It will hurt considering the price I paid for the 975!!!ThanksGarry

What cooling solution do you have on the 975? It should go 4.1-4.3+GHz 24/7 with a top-o-the-line air cooler and careful OC.Keep your max temps in the low-mid 70C range. Use 50 passes on LinX to stress test your OC. At 50 passes and you haven't gone over 80C, you should be good to go for 24/7 ops.Giving up all the extra PCIe capabilities of the X58, IMO, wouldn't be worth it. When the X79 is released Q4, with similar capabilities and the speed of Sandy Bridge chips, then it may be time to upgrade...Don

To each their own, some guys will spend a whole lot of money for a few bench mark scores, and then psyke themselves out on how much better FSX runs. Sort of odd really, chasing a 2000-year piece of software with 2011-2012-year hardware but hey who am I.Ask yourself this, would you buy a i7-980 for the price of about $600 if you use existing parts? If the 980 is worth it then go for it, if not then don't.Many people are presumptuous in thinking the SB guarantees 4.5GHz or better performance, remember the guarantee is 3.4GHZ max 3.8GHz w/turbo.I cannot define "worth it." Worth is very subjective. I have hundreds of dollars into parts on my PC that many would not define worth it. Is it worth it, probably not by any reasonable rational thought but hey it is my money, as is yours, yours.

To each their own, some guys will spend a whole lot of money for a few bench mark scores, and then psyke themselves out on how much better FSX runs. Sort of odd really, chasing a 2000-year piece of software with 2011-2012-year hardware but hey who am I.Ask yourself this, would you buy a i7-980 for the price of about $600 if you use existing parts? If the 980 is worth it then go for it, if not then don't.Many people are presumptuous in thinking the SB guarantees 4.5GHz or better performance, remember the guarantee is 3.4GHZ max 3.8GHz w/turbo.I cannot define "worth it." Worth is very subjective. I have hundreds of dollars into parts on my PC that many would not define worth it. Is it worth it, probably not by any reasonable rational thought but hey it is my money, as is yours, yours.

I can say, after trying 3 different 2600K CPUs, that all 3 went to 4.5 without any trouble. Harder overclocking started appearing past 4.8.For what I read around, probably 100% of SB CPUs will do 4.5. Give me a thread reading someone not achieving 4.5?A new architecture also gives the boost. Maybe it won't give you 50% more performance, but you are in for better performance, that's for sure. My experience going from [email protected] to [email protected] - excellent. Never looked back. It was a good computer, the 920, but SB kicks its a$$ big time.Hell, order it over internet, you have 14days return policy usually. If it won't go past 4.5 or to 4.5, the 2nd one usually will. Did the trick once with Amazon - 1st one didn't want to do 5.0. 2nd one did. With high Vcore, but nevertheless :Whistle:

Give me a thread reading someone not achieving 4.5?

LOL.... uh me?Granted it's probably a classic case of PEBKAC... but it's not easy, and I'm unable to get stable @ 4.5GHz

I can say, after trying 3 different 2600K CPUs, that all 3 went to 4.5 without any trouble. Harder overclocking started appearing past 4.8.For what I read around, probably 100% of SB CPUs will do 4.5. Give me a thread reading someone not achieving 4.5?A new architecture also gives the boost. Maybe it won't give you 50% more performance, but you are in for better performance, that's for sure. My experience going from [email protected] to [email protected] - excellent. Never looked back. It was a good computer, the 920, but SB kicks its a$$ big time.Hell, order it over internet, you have 14days return policy usually. If it won't go past 4.5 or to 4.5, the 2nd one usually will. Did the trick once with Amazon - 1st one didn't want to do 5.0. 2nd one did. With high Vcore, but nevertheless :Whistle:

I was being practical Word Not Allowed and factual. Very few would be interested in trying three processors, or need to. Intel spec would be 4.5GHz or higher if 100% could obtain it, show me your reference that 100% can obtain 4.5 or higher.Few are willing to cook their chips in plight of unrealistically high overclocks; all of the over clockers in the world combined are a very small percentage of all the processors sold.The question was in regards to worth and as I stated subjective. From a practical perspective in the name of FSX no move from a 1366 socket to an 1155 is practical. From a 775 socket highly recommended. There again my comments are subjective and up to the individual to determine.Here is your link: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1578110

LOL.... uh me?Granted it's probably a classic case of PEBKAC... but it's not easy, and I'm unable to get stable @ 4.5GHz

Yeah, I know your case. You are probably 1:1000 case. That's why I thought nearly 100%.

I was being practical Word Not Allowed and factual. Very few would be interested in trying three processors, or need to. Intel spec would be 4.5GHz or higher if 100% could obtain it, show me your reference that 100% can obtain 4.5 or higher.Few are willing to cook their chips in plight of unrealistically high overclocks; all of the over clockers in the world combined are a very small percentage of all the processors sold.The question was in regards to worth and as I stated subjective. From a practical perspective in the name of FSX no move from a 1366 socket to an 1155 is practical. From a 775 socket highly recommended. There again my comments are subjective and up to the individual to determine.Here is your link: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1578110

Oh yes, I know that thread. And I know the post by ASUSIlluminati or what's his name. Also this one.I was also talking from the practical side: someone building his own computer is usually someone wanting the best for his money. Those kind of people usually take into account a little fiddling.If they don't, why going self-built anyway?Everyone should do as they wish and what they are prepared for. Nothing more. Nothing less. And good luck to both.

Here is your link: http://hardforum.com...d.php?t=1578110

What I got out of that pretty much confirms the supposition that 100% SB-K series will go 4.4GHz or higher.100 D2 chips tested, 50 hit the wall at 4.4-4.5GHz, the other 50 kept on truckin' 'til 40 of them hit the wall at 4.6-4.7GHz, and ultimately the last 10 gave up at 4.8-5+GHz...Don

Hi allThanks for all of the feedback. Perhaps the wording "worth" it was not the corrct word as in I meant worth it in performance terms and not cost. That being said I have gone for it, and hopefully I will see the benefit of it all!!Again, thanks for all of your feedback.Cheers, Garry