Should have gotten: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131736 http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819103913 Haven't seen many Phenom users with problems.

You've got to be s******* on me.Lol, I want to go with Intel, Black Boxes scare me, Blue boxes are way more customer friendly.

Thought you'd get a kick out of that. Actually, I'm pretty happy with my AMD stuff. Overclocked to 3.8 with a stock fan and rock solid stability, although I think my motherboard has a lot to do with that. I'm very impressed with ASUS.

Oh, thanks. I was confused for a moment. I guess the 1156 should be 1155.Although i have a 2600k, some people say, save youself some money and get a 2500k and put the savings into the best GPU you can find. They are likely right.

The 1156 Socket is on the Gigabyte P55-US3L and it's not the same as 1155 as far as I am aware??My i5 750 @ 2.6ghz is socket 1156. Although it runs very well at 3.2gb at the moment.

I think this is kind of outdated advise your giving.. For the first gen of the core processors yes but the i5 2500k and the i7 2600k are the way to go these days.

Sorry, it was not meant to be outdated advice.

I use an i5 750 @ 2.6ghz & I have to say there is a fairly big difference in performance between the i5 & i7.Agreed the overall cost in using the i5 is cheaper, but would you not want the full potential of the system if you can squeeze it into your budget? I can get i7 2600k + Asus P67 mobo for £300.00 so that's about $700?? After several years as a system builder I always believed you need to get the best setup your money can buy.If you can afford to go with the i7 do so, it will always be better than the i5 no matter what as it is a faster cpu. Agreed most cpu's can be overclocked, but from stock the i5 is slower than the i7??From my own experience I would always go for the highest spec possible according to my budget. The i7 would give you a slightly better system and more headroom to work with in the future. My specs:i5 [email protected] OC to 3.2ghz, 8gb ddr3 @1600mhz, GTX 570, 750gb F3 Sata Drive, Gigabyte P55-US3L mobo. I use the Storm Scout case and also water cooling using the H60 Corsair unit.I get on average 40 to 50 frames on the ground with most airports and over 100 fps in the air.I am guessing that my cpu is 1st generation?? Regards Andy

The 1156 Socket is on the Gigabyte P55-US3L and it's not the same as 1155 as far as I am aware??My i5 750 @ 2.6ghz is socket 1156. Although it runs very well at 3.2gb at the moment.

Just noticed that the sig contained specs quoting an 1156 socket mobo with 2500k. no prob.

Don't waste your money on the i3 or i5.Go with an i7 if you can as it will be a lot better.The difference with the i3 & i5 is enough to pay a little more and get a little more out of it. I would not go anywhere near anything lower than i7 :) Hope it helps a little.. Andy

+1

I use an i5 750 @ 2.6ghz & I have to say there is a fairly big difference in performance between the i5 & i7.Agreed the overall cost in using the i5 is cheaper, but would you not want the full potential of the system if you can squeeze it into your budget? I can get i7 2600k + Asus P67 mobo for £300.00 so that's about $700?? After several years as a system builder I always believed you need to get the best setup your money can buy.If you can afford to go with the i7 do so, it will always be better than the i5 no matter what as it is a faster cpu. Agreed most cpu's can be overclocked, but from stock the i5 is slower than the i7??From my own experience I would always go for the highest spec possible according to my budget. The i7 would give you a slightly better system and more headroom to work with in the future.

Not true. In the i7 Sandy Bridge is only marginally better than the i5 due to its larger cache and hyperthreading. Hyperthreading has no use to FSX and the larger cache only minimal change. Both perform equally as well when overclocked to say 4.5GHz. Also, he'll need more than just the motherboard. He needs compatible RAM and an aftermarket CPU cooler to OC It would be best to head over to the Mobo, Ram CPU's and other hardware forum. I'm active on there every day and all the guys there know what is best for running FSX.

Not true. In the i7 Sandy Bridge is only marginally better than the i5 due to its larger cache and hyperthreading. Hyperthreading has no use to FSX and the larger cache only minimal change. Both perform equally as well when overclocked to say 4.5GHz. Also, he'll need more than just the motherboard. He needs compatible RAM and an aftermarket CPU cooler to OC It would be best to head over to the Mobo, Ram CPU's and other hardware forum. I'm active on there every day and all the guys there know what is best for running FSX.

Good advise. You are actually the second respondent with this advice. I have a 2600k with HT turned off. Go figure, but thats 20-20 hind sight i guess.

Hyperthreading isn't supported by FSX, so all it's doing is generating more heat and restricting your overclock. FSX relies on shear CPU clock speed. With the 2500K and 2600K both overclockable to 4.7-5GHz, they're the best available at the time. I'd go as far as saying better than the 990x. At least they don't empty your bank account.

Hyperthreading isn't supported by FSX, so all it's doing is generating more heat and restricting your overclock. FSX relies on shear CPU clock speed. With the 2500K and 2600K both overclockable to 4.7-5GHz, they're the best available at the time. I'd go as far as saying better than the 990x. At least they don't empty your bank account.

You say that HT is not used in FSX, so why is it even mentioned in the many cfg mods we see online? I understand what you are saying, in that the i7 is only slightly better, I did say he would see Slightly better performance than he would using an i5.Having said that, I always build systems that are future proof to some degree. Using the i7 with a good cooler would for me still be the best option. Looking at it from a cost point of view, it is minimal difference in a way. Maybe an extra $100 than expected but worth the extra I am sure.Any improvement is good not matter how small. At the shop we have tested all kinds of systems for FSX and we are pretty sure the i7 2600k is the best we found for solid gaming.I am planning to build a system dedicated to fsx over the weekend, fingers crossed I will get some screenshots and video from it once it's up and running. I am pretty sure with $700 you can get an i7 and cooler + mobo. Maybe even a kit for less than $700?? Regards Andy

Doesn't matter if you have the i5 or the i7. Both use the same socket and both are future proof. The IB are planned to be the 1155 socket, same as the 3500K and 2600K. If you're on a tight budget, why waste the extra $100 for maybe 1 less stutter here and there. Thats literally the difference.

Hi NGX, My i5 is socket 1156 and I am pretty sure it's a different socket to the 1155 on the i7? I still think it is worth that little extra, it adds just a little head room to the system. Andy

i5 and i7 in the end are just brand names, for example the 2500/k and 2600/k are very similar processors, with some disabled features on the first one, much like the former i5 750 which I have and the i7 860, both 1156 socket processors. The specific model is much more important than the fact if it is "an i5" or "an i7": the newer i5 2500k is apparently much faster than the older i7 860.

The second generation "Sandy Bridge" i5's & i7's both use the 1155 socket Edit: Yes. The 2500K beats the i7 9xx's when overclocked

Edited August 16, 201114 yr by NGX