If you are a RW ATCer (maybe I just assumed that from your 'interests) I would have thought you would be smart enough to know that heavily OC CPUs are inherently unstable especially when loaded. The faster the CPU is running, the hotter it gets....and the hotter it gets the more unstable etc. FSX is a CPU hog and you can expect it to generate max heat...so very easy to see how you would get a crash. Overclocking is fine to 5% or 10 % in most cases but most people (and resellers) push it to the limits and just because it works with most applications is no reason to assume it will be fine with FSX. Been there....done that. Andrew Vincent

I agree with that. If I experienced crashes with an overclocked system, I'd first try to run things without any overclock and see if it's stable.One of the reasons I never overclock. Never.

I agree with that. If I experienced crashes with an overclocked system, I'd first try to run things without any overclock and see if it's stable.One of the reasons I never overclock. Never.

Wow wow, no overclocking means very average performances with fsx so this sound a bit extremist. I can understand that 4,8 is a bit high so i just downgraded to 4,6 to see if it works

If you are a RW ATCer (maybe I just assumed that from your 'interests) I would have thought you would be smart enough to know that heavily OC CPUs are inherently unstable especially when loaded. The faster the CPU is running, the hotter it gets....and the hotter it gets the more unstable etc. FSX is a CPU hog and you can expect it to generate max heat...so very easy to see how you would get a crash. Overclocking is fine to 5% or 10 % in most cases but most people (and resellers) push it to the limits and just because it works with most applications is no reason to assume it will be fine with FSX. Been there....done that. Andrew Vincent

Are you saying that a processor specifically designed for overclocking should only be overclocked by 5 - 10%. I agree that some people push it to the limit, but if you look at the specs of a lot of people having problems, i don,t see this. With the overclock on my system below i am running max temps of 52deg C with FSX. That's way better than my old generation processors on my previous FSX rigs.Furthermore, i am not having problems and i havn't even installed any Hotfixes yet. Kinda hoping to hang on for the first SP.

Wow wow, no overclocking means very average performances with fsx so this sound a bit extremist. I can understand that 4,8 is a bit high so i just downgraded to 4,6 to see if it works

You really should bring your clock frequency all the way back down to stock. Keep in mind that the goal of this is first of all to diagnose the problem, not solve it. There certainly isn't an expectation that you would have to keep your clock frequency at stock for good, but it's the only way to find out for sure whether your CTDs are related to overclocking. Consider this:

• Assume you bring the clock frequency back to stock and the CTDs keep occurring. In this case you can be sure that they weren't related to overclocking and start searching for other reasons (potentially with PMDG's support).

• Now assume you bring the clock frequency back to stock and the CTDs stop. In this case you know that you overclocked too aggressively and can start trying less aggressive settings.

So if you go back to stock, both possible outcomes get you a step further. That's not guaranteed if you come back to only 4.6 GHz -- sure, the hope is this will cure the CTDs, but what if it doesn't? You still haven't excluded the possibility that the overclocking is to blame... I know troubleshooting like this is a pain, but it's really the only way to establish what the problem really is... Martin Boehme

Are you saying that a processor specifically designed for overclocking should only be overclocked by 5 - 10%. I agree that some people push it to the limit, but if you look at the specs of a lot of people having problems, i don,t see this. With the overclock on my system below i am running max temps of 52deg C with FSX. That's way better than my old generation processors on my previous FSX rigs.Furthermore, i am not having problems and i havn't even installed any Hotfixes yet. Kinda hoping to hang on for the first SP.

Well actually yes. Contrary to what you have written, NO processor is designed for overclocking. They are designed to be clocked at a certain frequency and then batch tested to see if the silicon will support higher clock rates. Those that do work at higher rates are badged as faster processors, and those that don't are sold as lesser speed models - note they all start off the same in the factory. If you buy say a 3GHz processor then try and overclock it using motherboard bios tools designed for a range of processors then you take your chances I'm afraid. The only reason overclocking works is because there are generous tolerances built into the original batch testing. In the end overclocking makes only a few FPS difference and is not worth the risk, effort, and will shorten the life of the processor (but that is hardly an issue these days). Andrew Vincent

Are you saying that a processor specifically designed for overclocking should only be overclocked by 5 - 10%. I agree that some people push it to the limit, but if you look at the specs of a lot of people having problems, i don,t see this. With the overclock on my system below i am running max temps of 52deg C with FSX. That's way better than my old generation processors on my previous FSX rigs.Furthermore, i am not having problems and i havn't even installed any Hotfixes yet. Kinda hoping to hang on for the first SP.

In fact you can test this....wind your clock rate up by another 50MHz...if it fails then you can more or less assume that under max load it will crash and cause CTD. If it does crash the Bios will recover for you and set it back so that it will start normally :-). Do not touch voltages as they may have already been tweaked to max by the original nasty overclocker. Andrew Vincent

Well actually yes. Contrary to what you have written, NO processor is designed for overclocking. They are designed to be clocked at a certain frequency and then batch tested to see if the silicon will support higher clock rates. Those that do work at higher rates are badged as faster processors, and those that don't are sold as lesser speed models - note they all start off the same in the factory. If you buy say a 3GHz processor then try and overclock it using motherboard bios tools designed for a range of processors then you take your chances I'm afraid. The only reason overclocking works is because there are generous tolerances built into the original batch testing. In the end overclocking makes only a few FPS difference and is not worth the risk, effort, and will shorten the life of the processor (but that is hardly an issue these days). Andrew Vincent

Why if no processor is made for over clocking, would intel put two versions of processor on the market. One locked & and one unlocked?Not argueing, just confused.

Why if no processor is made for over clocking, would intel put two versions of processor on the market. One locked & and one unlocked?Not argueing, just confused.

I understand the confusion. It is in the end just clever marketing. Why else would a manufacturer not offer the best (fastest) product that they could. They just want people to think they are getting something extra for nothing. Overclock such a processor by all means, just be aware that all that has happened is Intel print a lower speed on the processor expecting people to overclock it. Some will be ok...some won't. Andrew Vincent

What did the error message say in the event viewer??

If I was having constant CTDs I'd 1. Reset my BIOS to defaults2. Install a spare hard drive3. Install the OS and install only the essential drivers4. Install FSX and the latest SP5. Install the latest release of NGX If I get a CTD at this point, I'd give up or buy a new computer. Otherwise I'd start installing the FSX add-ons one at a time and having a couple of flights in the NGX inbetween. If you're alright at this stage you can try re-installing all the terabytes of rubbish people like to burden their OS with, once again testing the NGX after each program is installed. If you're still OK, you can try overclocking your PC again. If all is still well, clone your hard drive so you can always make it work again. EDIT, I use the following programs with the NGX and get no problems: ASE, Radar Contact, Navigraph, TrackIR, EZDok, FSUIPC (Registered), My Traffix Pro X, vRoute and some aerosoft & UK2000 airport sceneries. I have all the PMDG and RealAir aircraft installed as well as the Lotus L-39, LD76 & ATR-72. I also have RealityXP GNS which I use in the Duke & L-39.

Kaman BA, have you tried to do a flight entirely in window mode and not full screen. Many times I tried to fly in full screen mode, and switching to windows mode to use some other software like Topcat, Firefox (to declare my online flights), setting FS Real time, and looking at the weather in ASE, then back to full screen. I have never ended a flight without a CTD.So now I always fly in window mode and I rarely have CTD.I think that ALT+Tab or ALT+Enter is not good for FSX. And I think that it is the ALT key the problem.

So i'll try to downgrade my cpu frequency, run fsx in windowed mode Kaman BA

If you are a RW ATCer (maybe I just assumed that from your 'interests) I would have thought you would be smart enough to know that heavily OC CPUs are inherently unstable especially when loaded. The faster the CPU is running, the hotter it gets....and the hotter it gets the more unstable etc. FSX is a CPU hog and you can expect it to generate max heat...so very easy to see how you would get a crash. Overclocking is fine to 5% or 10 % in most cases but most people (and resellers) push it to the limits and just because it works with most applications is no reason to assume it will be fine with FSX. Been there....done that. Andrew Vincent

*sigh* No FSX does not generate max heat. Programs like IBT, P95 and OCCT will however. You obviously have no idea about Sandy Bridge otherwise you wouldn't say pointless things like "Ocing is fine to 5% or 10% in most cases...." I read your other post about the 50Mhz bump. I can run stock settings, and ONLY change my multiplier to 44x and it runs fine. The vcore is a little jumpy but once I disable C1 halt state it stops. (Because it idles at 1600mhz instead of 4400) Yes I do work traffic irl - also I fail to see how working ATC has anything to do with overclocking CPU's lol...

Well actually yes. Contrary to what you have written, NO processor is designed for overclocking. They are designed to be clocked at a certain frequency and then batch tested to see if the silicon will support higher clock rates. Those that do work at higher rates are badged as faster processors, and those that don't are sold as lesser speed models - note they all start off the same in the factory. If you buy say a 3GHz processor then try and overclock it using motherboard bios tools designed for a range of processors then you take your chances I'm afraid. The only reason overclocking works is because there are generous tolerances built into the original batch testing. In the end overclocking makes only a few FPS difference and is not worth the risk, effort, and will shorten the life of the processor (but that is hardly an issue these days). Andrew Vincent

You wouldn't be saying that OCing only makes "a few FPS difference" if you had tried it Andrew. Made for overclocking or not, so long as you stay within the manufacturer's specs in terms of voltage and temperatures there's very little risk and degradation, and you get a performance boost that not even a $1000 CPU can provide. It takes some time to gather the necessary information, but it's not rocket science really.I understand those who are afraid of OCing and will never try it, but all this nonsense preaching about how dangerous OCing is from people with no experience at all always gives me a chuckle

If you are a RW ATCer (maybe I just assumed that from your 'interests) I would have thought you would be smart enough to know that heavily OC CPUs are inherently unstable especially when loaded. The faster the CPU is running, the hotter it gets....and the hotter it gets the more unstable etc. FSX is a CPU hog and you can expect it to generate max heat...so very easy to see how you would get a crash. Overclocking is fine to 5% or 10 % in most cases but most people (and resellers) push it to the limits and just because it works with most applications is no reason to assume it will be fine with FSX. Been there....done that. Andrew Vincent

ahhh, keep your current dealer, he is obviously supplying you with premium stuff.