Good day all, Well, new build here and here are the specs: ASUS P8Z68-V PRO Intel Z68 Motherboard Either i5 2500k or i7 2600k (haven't decided yet, but hopefully this won't matter in deciding what RAM I am going to purchase) I think those are the only pieces that we care about here. Basically, I need some help selecting RAM. I did a bit of research and wasn't quite able to find the answer but my apologies in advance if this is a duplicate thread (probably is!). How fast is fast enough for FSX? I understand that the lower the Cas Latency the better, I guess I am shooting for 7 or 8. Another question is, can I buy slower RAM, perhaps something like this http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820231402 and overclock it to DDR3 2133MHz? (total OC noob here!) Also, how important is timing? What should I be looking for? I am looking to stock up on 8GB of RAM and my budget for it is anything within $100 or so. So any recommendations is welcomed! Thank so much in advance for your help. I hope I provided enough information.

Well firstly I will say go for the i5 2500k, many people here will agree. For RAM, you want to go with the lowest CAS latency and highest frequency that your budget allows. In your budget I think you would be looking at 1600 CL8. Brands wise I would go for either Corsair, G.Skill or Kingston. Sorry I don't know much about OCing and was kind of thinking the same question. What I do know is if you are going to OC it ou will need to loosen the timings.

Got it. Thanks Andrew. I'll probably go with the i5 2500k seeing that there is very little (if any) difference between the i7 and the i5. When you say loosening the timings when OC'ing, that means the timings will be higher (and thus not as suitable for FSX) correct? I am wondering how much of a difference that will make?

you have to compromise so if you go higher MHz, you need higher timings.

Currently I am building a new system with 2600k, the samen mobo as you, 8gb 2133 memory, 580 soc, 4x ssd , 1000 w psu and liquid cooling system.My advice is to go for a 2600k. If MS Flight or AS Flightsimulator supports hyperthreading you will regret the choice for a 2500k.

Currently I am building a new system with 2600k, the samen mobo as you, 8gb 2133 memory, 580 soc, 4x ssd , 1000 w psu and liquid cooling system. My advice is to go for a 2600k.If MS Flight or AS Flightsimulator supports hyperthreading you will regret the choice for a 2500k.

Thanks for your feedback. I hear you but at the rate Intel is pushing out CPU's and the amount of time it takes for MS to push out Flight, I am afraid a 2600K will be like a Pentium 4! I just saw another thread which said Intel is coming out with an i7-2700K. My main concern was the amount of cache the 2600K has, it's 2MB more than the 2500K. I don't know; I guess the 2500K vs 2600K is similar to a "what came first? the chicken or the egg"! Happy building!

If MS Flight or AS Flightsimulator supports hyperthreading you will regret the choice for a 2500k.

Not necessarily: Although with HT you could gain performance, the HT gates produce head thus limit your OC and reduce performance. Cheers, - jahman.

HT is a gimmick.

Not necessarily: Although with HT you could gain performance, the HT gates produce head thus limit your OC and reduce performance. Cheers, - jahman.

Couldn't be wrong more there I'm afraid. FSX has NO single advantage of HT, thus indeed reducing the max clock speed. If you disable HT? it's basicly just a 2500k with 2MB extra cach, which doesn't make that much of a difference either, as with the 2500k you'll get at least 30 everywhere if the system is set up properly. So if you don't need HT for another app, DON'T GET THE 2600k! It's pure loss of money.

Couldn't be wrong more there I'm afraid. FSX has NO single advantage of HT, thus indeed reducing the max clock speed. If you disable HT? it's basicly just a 2500k with 2MB extra cach, which doesn't make that much of a difference either, as with the 2500k you'll get at least 30 everywhere if the system is set up properly. So if you don't need HT for another app, DON'T GET THE 2600k! It's pure loss of money.

No, it is you who is wrong. If you were to read my post you would see I'm replying to:

...If MS Flight or AS Flightsimulator supports hyperthreading you will regret the choice for a 2500k.

No mention at all about FSX, is there? Cheers, - jahman.

Nobody even knows if flight will be coming out. With $100 in your pocket to spend on a better GPU, SSD or anything, I think people getting a 2600k will regret the choice unless they have unlimited money.

For me I am investing in the future, so I want the possibility for using HT open and not shutdown and regret it later...Everyone has to make up his own mind, but I am advising a 2600k.

Its just more work for each core. More work=slower performance. I have tested and confirmed on games such a HAWX that support HT, that it makes performance go down. You are just better with 4 solid cores.