Hi - ...I believe that the PCIE2 specification still gives more than enough bandwidth for the current generation of GPUs....

Well, no, that's exactly what PT is saying: For FSX with sliders to the right PCIe 2 is the bottleneck just on trees alone. Cheers, - jahman.

None of this matters once we have real world performance figures, but until then we can continue talking about theory. Regarding 3D transistors, Intel has claimed 37% more performance than planar transistors at equal power OR 50% less power at equal performance. Obviously, you don't get to have both 37% more performance AND 50% less less power, but certainly a blend of more performance and still less power is possible. Keep in mind these numbers apply to the transistors themselves, not to the CPU as a whole. Regardless of what this means for overall CPU performance, the fact that Intel has increased the max ratio from 57 (w/ SB) to 63 is promising. I think there's plenty of evidence here to suggest that Ivy Bridge will offer more performance than Sandy Bridge. We just don't know how much.

Between IB transitioning to 22nm and Kepler bringing 28nm, these power consumption reductions make it really tempting to build a beastly small form factor (mATX or ITX) system. Of course by the time I do that, things are going to become so multi-cored that we end up at 1366 heat output levels again.

What benefot do you see in a smaller size factor? Me, I'm waiting for LightPeak (optical version of Thunderbolt) so I can remote my PC into an air-conditioned closet somewhere far away... Cheers, - jahman.

Same reason you want your PC in an air conditioned closet - If I could, my computer would be nothing more than a monitor, speakers, mouse, and keyboard (notice those are all output devices). My case is pretty by computer standards, but its still a massive hunk of metal taking up valuable work/play space.