Overclocking and Installing FSX

[Flaps30]

Hi Guys,I posted the same question in the FSX forum since it involved installing FSX on my new system but I didn't realize the connection to overclocking my cpu made it more a hardware issue so I am posting it here. I apologize for the inconvenience it caused.I spent much time overclocking and tweaking my new homebuilt with help from someone with much experience to a stable overclock of 4.0 ghz. so I could get FSX to finally run without any worries about stutters, choppy framerates, low sliders, etc. I have read about many FSX users who have FSX running at top performance with most options turned up.I never new overclocking would be such an issue regarding the installation of FSX. Does anyone out there have FSX running well on an overclocked system and if so, what special steps do I need to do to do it successfully? I'm not that experienced in the technical part. Thanks. Tom

[Guest Kosta]

First of all, we need computer specs.

[wanabflyer]

I'm no expert but one thing i learned is, don't install FSX on a overclocked rig. Roll it back to stock, then install FSX. After that, give your specs to someone like Word Not Allowed and they will set you straight.

[Flaps30]

Thanks for the help, guys. My specs are Asus P6T mb, EVGA 275 GTX 1792 meg. video card (which I also plan to overclock), i7-920 2.67 ghz overclocked to 4.0 ghz., Noctua NHD-14 cooler.Corsair DDR3 Dominator 3 x 4gig ram for total of 12 gig. 9-9-9-24 timings. Thanks again. Tom

[Bert Pieke]

Thanks for the help, guys. My specs are Asus P6T mb, EVGA 275 GTX 1792 meg. video card (which I also plan to overclock), i7-920 2.67 ghz overclocked to 4.0 ghz., Noctua NHD-14 cooler.Corsair DDR3 Dominator 3 x 4gig ram for total of 12 gig. 9-9-9-24 timings. Thanks again. Tom

If your system is stable at 4.0 GHz, great! The tough part is behind you.Install FSX and go fly.. but make sure to get either Service Pack 1+2, or Acceleration (which includes that) installed on top of FSX.Also, do not start by turning all sliders to the right.. any system can be overwhelmed..Go easy on traffic, weather, bloom, shadows, water complexity initially

[Guest Kosta]

Thanks for the help, guys. My specs are Asus P6T mb, EVGA 275 GTX 1792 meg. video card (which I also plan to overclock), i7-920 2.67 ghz overclocked to 4.0 ghz., Noctua NHD-14 cooler.Corsair DDR3 Dominator 3 x 4gig ram for total of 12 gig. 9-9-9-24 timings. Thanks again. Tom

Installing FSX before or after is in my opinion the same thing. Only thing very important is before you start installing is to be 100% sure it's 100% stable in the overclocked state. If not sure, then go ahead and put it on stock and start installing.With that cooler and a bit of luck you should get 4.0 on that chip if not 4.2.Overclocking 920 should be fairly easy, by upping the FSB. You can't go with the multi, it's locked. QPI should also be set to fixed as I remember, since it would change with the FSB too...I only remember on my P6X58 and before some other mobo, OCing was pretty simple. Up the FSB a bit, say to get 3.2ghz, try to boot, run Prime95, see if stable, check temps, if unstable, go back to BIOS, up the Vcore (after checking in Windows at what Vcore is running currently) etc.Main thing: keep checking temperatures, shouldn't go way over 80c, and keep running Prime95 or Linx, to heat up the CPU good... as long as it crashes it usually wants more Vcore.I'd start here:http://www.overclock.net/intel-cpus/538439-guide-overclocking-core-i7-920-930-a.htmlGood luck and go slowly, not to fry your chip! You are solely responsible

[Flaps30]

Installing FSX before or after is in my opinion the same thing. Only thing very important is before you start installing is to be 100% sure it's 100% stable in the overclocked state. If not sure, then go ahead and put it on stock and start installing.With that cooler and a bit of luck you should get 4.0 on that chip if not 4.2.Overclocking 920 should be fairly easy, by upping the FSB. You can't go with the multi, it's locked. QPI should also be set to fixed as I remember, since it would change with the FSB too...I only remember on my P6X58 and before some other mobo, OCing was pretty simple. Up the FSB a bit, say to get 3.2ghz, try to boot, run Prime95, see if stable, check temps, if unstable, go back to BIOS, up the Vcore (after checking in Windows at what Vcore is running currently) etc.Main thing: keep checking temperatures, shouldn't go way over 80c, and keep running Prime95 or Linx, to heat up the CPU good... as long as it crashes it usually wants more Vcore.I'd start here:http://www.overclock.net/intel-cpus/538439-guide-overclocking-core-i7-920-930-a.htmlGood luck and go slowly, not to fry your chip! You are solely responsible

[Flaps30]

Thanks for the help, guys. I really appreciate it. My temps were way to high with my first cooler which was the Noctua NH-U12P. With the new cooler, I get high 70s on three cores with core 0 peaking at 85. However, that was a brief time and it was mostly around 83 or less. Tom

[Guest UlfB]

What Vcore do you use? 85C seems a bit high, but that might be caused by a high ambient temp. Have you disabled HT? If not you may lower the CPU temps with 10C if you disable HT.

[Flaps30]

What Vcore do you use? 85C seems a bit high, but that might be caused by a high ambient temp. Have you disabled HT? If not you may lower the CPU temps with 10C if you disable HT.

[Flaps30]

Hi Ulf B,Thanks for helping me out here. I really appreciate it. My ambient temps are normal, and I have an Antec csse with a total of seven fans. I had a very patient computer engineer help me with my overclock. It took us several months of back and forth posts in a forum but we finally got it right. I appear stable. If it helps here are my settings as of now in Bios. Keep in mind I know nothing about these settings, just where to find them in AI Tweaker: AI O/C Tuner - ManualCPU Ratio Setting - 21.0Intel Speed Step tech - DisabledBCLK Freq - 191 (180 would not let us get a stable overclock)PCIE Freq. - 100Dram Freq. - DDR3-1531 mhzUCLK Freq. - AutoQPI Link - AutoCPU Volt. - 1.325CPU PLL Volt - AutoQPI/DRAM core Volt - 1.35IOH Volt - AutoIOH PCIE Volt - AutoICH Volt - AutoICH PCIE Volt - AutoDRAM Bus Volt - 1.68 (1.66 caused crash with Prime 95 during first round of tests. 1.68 made the difference to a stable overclock. He said we are still within safe tolerances.)Load Line Calib. - EnabledCPU Spread Spectrum - DisabledC1E Support - DisabledIntel HT Tech - Enabled (Is this what you are referring to? Would disabling it affect the overclock??)A20M - DisabledSpeedStep Tech - DisabledIntel C-State Tech - DisabledThanks again. Regards, Tom

[Guest UlfB]

Hi Tom!Your settings looks good and you identified that HT (hyper threading) is enabled in BIOS. If you want to lower your temps you could just disable the setting Intel HT Tech (yes that was the one). FSX doesn't utilize HT. But other software that you may use might be a little crippled by disabling HT.(Some info here: http://en.wikipedia....Hyper-threading)

DRAM Bus Volt - 1.68 (1.66 caused crash with Prime 95 during first round of tests. 1.68 made the difference to a stable overclock. He said we are still within safe tolerances.)

Yes it's safe if you keep the difference between DRAM volt and QPI/DRAM volt within 0.5V. Quality memory sticks rated for 1.65V should be able to handle 1.68 without any problems.