I'm at the beginning stages of doing the research to build my own FSX machine. I've read enough to realize that overclocking is a must and have settled on a I5 2600K as the processor. My 2 part question is this: First, as I read the signatures of some of the regulars here, I see that their processors are overclocked to different speeds. Why? What are the factors that go into which speed to overclock to? Second, I understand you have to mess with the voltage when you over clock. Is there a direct relationship between the two? How do I know how much to adjust the voltage relative to the overclock speed? Thanks. Dan Cole

When you overclock the chip it requires more power (voltage) to generate the higher clock speed. Increasing the voltage can potentially damage the chip if you go too high (speed does not kill but voltage does!). The reason you have the voltage all over the map is because each chip is unique in its ability to overclock (probably more accurately each batch of produced chips is slightly different). Another factor is the mother board iteself. My ASRock MB can run a very low voltage on the OC but the max Watts have to be increased in the BIOS. Best advice is to take your time on the OC, follow a good guide of which a few Sandy Bridge OC guides are linked on these forums and you will find your particular chip will settle out somewhere between 4.5 and 5 GHz with a stable OC and a voltage that will not kill it. Last piece of advice is that you should not do the OC until after you have fully installed Windows7 and FSX. The OC is done last as this ensures you do not introduce a corrupted install of your software. One of the likely causes of all the PMDG NGX issues is corrupted installs that are now showing up under pressure from a complex addon. Mark.

Also make sure you're using a nice large case with plenty of fans in a push-pull (or vice versa) config for maximum airflow and a high performance CPU cooler.

overclocking is many things. Most 2500k's will get to 4.5GHz and that is really just a matter of disabling turbo boost and putting the multiplier to x45, after that you should be working with your voltages and you should be able to hit 4.7 depending on your chip.