For the motherboard, avoid micro ATX boards and those branded "Light" like the Asus LE series or Gigabyte's GA-Z68MA-D2H Z68 does not overclock any better than P67, nor does it include new OC features/options, so pick the board based on the features you need or want, and also price

I can back up the second half of that. I've overclocked the same two CPUs on a p8p67-pro and a p8z68-deluxe, both from ASUS. There was no difference on either with all other hardware remaining the same.

Gentlemen thank you for your replies. I am way in over my head and I will be reading over the weekend the suggested bibliography Alan. I am so illiterate when it comes to computer hardware that I actually do not even know what BIOS is. I just know I hear a lot about it here ;) But I´m not going to bother you guys anymore with this. You´ve done more than enough. I´ll just take the weekend to tacke this.

Gentlemen thank you for your replies. I am way in over my head and I will be reading over the weekend the suggested bibliography Alan. I am so illiterate when it comes to computer hardware that I actually do not even know what BIOS is. I just know I hear a lot about it here ;) But I´m not going to bother you guys anymore with this. You´ve done more than enough. I´ll just take the weekend to tacke this.

All this can easily seem overwhelming when you're first starting out, but it's easy once you get your head wrapped around it. Between here & the hardware forum there are plenty of people who can offer great advice through the whole process. main thing now is to get a parts list organized & looked over by some people to make sure you're getting what you need.

Not sure if this is really "advice" because ultimately it comes down to your budget, but personally I would suggest going for whatever is the top P67 or Z68 model (makes no difference for FSX) of whichever manufacturer you choose. My reasoning is that this way, you'll never be left wondering whether it's your MB holding you back from reaching your desired temperature or o/c or whatever. In my case, I went for the Asus Maximus Extreme IV-Z. It took a while for me to get used to the new BIOS, but with hindsight and sobriety it was actually pretty straightforward and my 2600K works fine (so far!) at 4.8GHz in offset mode at +0.030v with 110% overcurrent, reaching ~1.41v under load now that I've set it up properly. On the same principle - though others will say this, too, is complete overkill - may I suggest you aim for the 1000W version of your Corsair PSU? Apart from peace of mind, you should find it brings peace to your environment too, as it should run much quieter than the 750W version at the outputs you're likely to need: mine is virtually silent, because I hardly ever draw above about 45% of its capacity. Finally, I agree with those who recommend SSDs if you can afford them. Tim

Hey Tim, didn´t quite get the last bit. Yyou mean the PSU I ´m looking at is overkill? Which would you suggest?

Hey Tim, didn´t quite get the last bit. Yyou mean the PSU I ´m looking at is overkill? Which would you suggest?

A quality 550 or 600w psu is all you need for single video card pc's. I'd recommend a modular corsair to eliminate unnecessary wires. For the gpu, if it's just for fsx I'd recommend a gtx560ti over the gtx570. It costs a couple hundred bucks less & you won't see any difference in fsx. Also make sure the memory is 1.5v or less. If Gskill go for 1.4 or 1.35v as you typically have to boost ram voltage a bit to get their advertised timings (in my experience). Sandy bridge systems are best run with 1.5v memory. An 8gb set of gskill 1.35v cas7 (2x4gb) shouldn't cost much more than $100.

A quality 550 or 600w psu is all you need for single video card pc's. I'd recommend a modular corsair to eliminate unnecessary wires. For the gpu, if it's just for fsx I'd recommend a gtx560ti over the gtx570. It costs a couple hundred bucks less & you won't see any difference in fsx. Also make sure the memory is 1.5v or less. If Gskill go for 1.4 or 1.35v as you typically have to boost ram voltage a bit to get their advertised timings (in my experience). Sandy bridge systems are best run with 1.5v memory. An 8gb set of gskill 1.35v cas7 (2x4gb) shouldn't cost much more than $100.

Thanks Ken. Didn´t understand 90% of what you said, but I´ll look it up hehe. (didn´t know there was a relationship between voltage and memory)

I actually do not even know what BIOS is. I just know I hear a lot about it here ;)

Just so you know, BIOS (Basic Input/Output System), is what amounts to being tiny operating system built into a little reconfigurable EEPROM microchip (Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory), which is one of the parts on a motherboard (this EEPROM chip is called, rather unsurprisingly, the BIOS chip). When you first fire up a computer, this is the chip which ''wakes up'' and runs through a bunch of self-tests to determine that the motherboard is a computer (this first process is known as POST - Power On Self Test, actually, most modern equipment with electronic components, from cars to microwaves, perform this POST test when you switch them on). The BIOS chip then runs through the process of checking what components are installed on the computer, such as the hard drives, RAM, processor, graphics card, mouse, keyboard, attached IDE and USB devices etc. You normally see this process as a black screen at start up, then a big set of lines of code will appear going up the screen, listing what the BIOS chip has found, you may see a logo appear too (for example, American MegaTrends, which is one of the companies which makes BIOS chips). At this point you can usually hit a key on the keyboard (often the delete key or one of the F keys) and ''go into'' the BIOS program, which is a very simple DOS-like interface where you move between menus with the cursor keys and can select options by hitting the return key, you can then save these BIOS setting choices in the EEPROM's reconfigurable memory so that the next time you fire up the computer it might do something different, such as run at a different clock speed, or use a different hard drive as the initial boot up device for your computer. Most BIOS chips can be 'flashed', which is the term for zapping new data into them to upgrade the BIOS system with patches and such. This is rarely actually necessary, but can be useful on occasion if some fancy new feature for your BIOS becomes available, although you do have to be careful that you do this right, because if you don't, the computer would not start up, since as noted above, the BIOS chip is the bit that makes your computer wake up when power is first applied to the thing. Of course that all sounds very complicated, but in practice it is actually very easy to use. Al

Thanks Ken. Didn´t understand 90% of what you said, but I´ll look it up hehe. (didn´t know there was a relationship between voltage and memory)

There are several different voltages in a pc. The two that you'll be adjusting when you overclock are vcore (CPU voltage) and Memory voltage. The memory voltage is typically a one-time thing, youll set it once and forget about it as long as the memory is stable. Most of your matched memory sets are usually 1.65v+, so that's why I mentioned it. Keep an eye out for 1.5v or less for memory. I also don't thing latency makes much difference in sandy bridge systems as long as it's a matched set.

Hey Tim, didn´t quite get the last bit. Yyou mean the PSU I ´m looking at is overkill? Which would you suggest?

1000W is what some people would call overkill. Your PC will work with the 750W you had chosen for yourself. Your call. I don't want to enter a debate about how far BELOW 750W you can get away with: personally I do not think it is prudent to go below 750W. I won't list all my reasons partly because I'm too idle but mainly because it would probably lead to another pointless and distracting debate about PC trivia: if you're sufficiently interested, you can read around easily enough and learn about the gray areas for yourself. I will just say that I used to use a 750W Corsair and now I use a 1000W Corsair. Basically, almost all component choices involve judgment calls and people have different experiences. I see this as one of the reasons to err on the side of caution and go for more rather than less: others will disagree: you alone are the judge of what's the right balance for your circumstances. All the best, Tim

I think a 550W brand name PSU would be the minimum ...but yes 750W should power any single card out there this generation ... 850W if you want SLIbut if you want a new GPU in the (near) future like the new ati 7000series or the nvidia 600series next year a 750W could be too less ... especially with sli/crossfire since the good corsair have up to 7years warrenty it doesn't make sense to change it everytime you upgrade your pc (idk when you upgrade but some do 6months some 1year or few 2year)even if you build you pc every 2year the PSU is could be staying with 3 pc builds in its warrenty time, but if you take a PSU which was borderline your out of luck ... Its your decission and 750W great for now, maybe even for the next generation in 3-6months when the new GPU/CPU gen comes out ... but who knows what happens in 1-2 years from now ...The 750HX is 130€ here and the 1050HX corsair is 170€ ... so its just 40€ more for at least 3 more pc builds ... But then again ... who really wants a 1kw PSU ... (not need)I don't want to pay the elec bill if you really are pushing the 1kw PSU also maybe looking for an asrock motherboard ... they really suprised me ... they are pretty cheap and for its price very good ...they are the affiliated company of asus ? so maybe its worth a look ...

The H100 is a bit of overkill as well as the i5 2500k cpu runs pretty cool anyway. I'd certainly look at a SSD for FSX as that makes a HUGE difference to the experience.Asus and MSI have uefi bios but to be honest it's more eye candy than really practical as you have to use 'advanced' to set a lot of stuff up and do we spend hours in the bios? Just avoid light editions of motheboards as they are limited in their abilities.Don't forget use a K cpu as it is unlocked and avoid H67 as they are not overclockable to any degree. 750W psu is more than adaquate unless you plan to use multiple gpus.John Ellison

I just picked up an ASUS Maximus Extreme IV for the build I'm doing below (leak test is complete when I get home from work today, not even a hint of dampness, so guess I didn't screw up). I originally was going to go with the Z68, but since I have no need for Intel's SRT or LucidVirtu, didn't see the need. Stuck with ASUS as all my mobo's have always been ASUS and never had any problems. As other's have said, get the K series chip, even if you don't intend on overclocking now. Never know what you might think in the future. A 750W PSU will handle all that. However if you start adding more stuff (lighting, additional video card, more fans, etc) I'd run a PSU calculation to make sure you have enough before installing anything else. Good luck! My current build (FSX/Gaming Rig) that I'm working on right now:http://www.arcticspinnaker.net/neptune Cheers,

Once again. Thank you so much to everyone here. Great explanations, got me started into something I was terribly afraid of in the first place. I'll read the hell out of this subject these coming days and by Monday I won't be bothering you fellas with any more of this. Take care

I specifically left Gigabyte out because I hate their BIOS. (uses a bunch of non-standard terms for things and non-standard ways of setting things like the RAM speed) I had their P35 board and it gave me tons of trouble.

I think that is quite unfair. I find the GA BIOS extremely easy to use and it was my first time overclocking. At the start of February I was thinking I could put an i7 on my P45. Thats a lot of knowledge :(. It does come down to preference though and I was happy to pay less for something that was equally as good. And I am hearing way too much about cold boot from ASUS owners. If you want a good solid mobo that you can really rely on, I say Gigabyte. Sorry, this was my rant for today.