Go to overclock.net and read some of the tutorials there, you cant go wrong. And go with sandy bridge whatever you do. As far as I am concerned the K series are the best for versatility in overclock. I am running 1.375v at 4.6ghz. 1.35v gives me a BSOd so this is my min voltage for this clock. You should never need 1.4v for 4.0ghz. That is why the temps are so high along with the fact that you need to lap your cooler base correctly and spread your thermal paste like a pb and j sandwich and fill in the grooves that are still present in the contact plate. It is amazing how stock aftermarket cooler bases are so uneven. This can make a 10c difference in temperature sometimes.

Now that I got home finally, I came to realise my video card is not GTX480, it's GTX580!! That was a surprise. So I guess videocard problem is now solved.

Now that I got home finally, I came to realise my video card is not GTX480, it's GTX580!! That was a surprise. So I guess videocard problem is now solved.

Wow that's quite the mistake! Surely your bank account noticed the difference! :)

Having an SSD with FSX installed on it is recommended cause it saves you loads of time when FSX needs data of its hundreds of files randomly, I think it reduces the wait time for CPU considerbly though I may be wrong here but it does smooths out scenery and weather rendering cause those files are loaded as required from the disk. I use REX Extreme so the performance difference is quite notable... including windows 7 boot times to login screen at approx 5 sec, loading FSX to selection screen in about the same time

I haven`t made the change yet to a 2500K so bear this in mind, I haven`t got the funding in place. But, reading through all this thread I cannot help but get the overwhelming thought that whilst there may be something new around the corner the 2500K has been no.1 in most peoples thoughts and mind for such a long time now. Its certainly the longest time and the most amount of people I`ve seen enthusing about a CPU and system. Perhaps theirs a reason for this and a sign that its an excellent move to make, I`m not just saying that because I too want one. Because I struggle to find the funds as a semi invalid I know I have to make the right move. This feels just right, at least for me-if you can get that same feeling after research then forget about tomorrow, its new CPU may be a failure or not well accepted.As for old machines, I retain and network them. I sometimes have 7 computers and 1 Mac Mini here. Not all have complete parts but sometimes those parts get ravaged from old machines people have, sometimes I buy a few bits. Family and friends have machines that break and a spare one can always be found this way-I just feel so guilty when one leaves me, though I do it willingly. I may need a spare part sometimes at night when the shops are closed, it may be for my main machine or to run an experiment. I always always have spare parts with those machines. I intend building a computer in a piece of furniture one day so the parts are all there to do it. I also have the benefit of running a long process on a spare computer whilst I carry on flight simming on the main one.Steve

Edited February 17, 201214 yr by reider

I have a very similar setup to Denver69: 2500K with a Gigabyte Z68 mobo,560 Ti SC and a 212 cooler, 8 GB 1600 ram. Very easily overclocked to 4.3 with very minor voltage adjustments. Also have 3 TB of storage on two WD black drives I ######ized from another computer. Altogether, excepting the HDs well under $1000, and very good price/performance. I think the reason that it seems to be the sweet spot is spending for much more reaches the point of diminishing returns in terms of increased, or I should say noticeably increased performance for each additional dollar spent. The one thing I wish I had known in choosing a mobo is the number of phases makes a difference in terms of achieving a higher, stable overclock. If I had it to do over, I would have spent slightly more on the mobo. As it is, I can easily achieve 4.3, but beyond that I have major stability issues and can only OC with uncomfortably high voltages. That said, even when stress testing up to 4.7, the 212 cooler was sufficient. In the end, I think the obsession with overclocking to the highest speed possible is similar to the obsession with trying to squeeze every possible fps out of fsx - it's a big difference going from 3.3 to 4.3, but the effort to tweak all of the settings to get from 4.3 to 4.7??? You end up spending more time squeezing out every ounce of performance than you actually do using the computer.

So just the past week I've been OC'ing my system as described. It went reasonably smoothly and just struggled to made to 4.26GHz OC (under 100% load it peaks at around 84C, under FSX load it sits around 74-75C). So yea, 2500K will definitely be my next priority, as well as my ram which is currently 1066 at the moment.

Following on from this, I am in the process of buying a FSX pc however have no idea on what to get. Having read this thread I came up with this.

 

 

Case COOLERMASTER CM690 MKII ADVANCED CASE Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7-2700k Quad Core (3.50GHz, 8MB Cache) + HD Graphics Motherboard ASUS® P8Z77-V LX: USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs, ATI®CrossFireX Memory (RAM) 8GB SAMSUNG DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB) Graphics Card 1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 560 - DVI,HDMI,VGA (Special Offer) 2^nd Graphics Card NONE 3^rd Graphics Card NONE Memory - 1^st Hard Disk 120GB INTEL® 320 SERIES SSD, SATA 3 Gb/s (upto 270MB/sR | 130MB/sW) 2^nd Hard Disk 1TB 3.5" SATA-III 6GB/s HDD 7200RPM 32MB CACHE RAID NONE SSD CACHE DRIVE NONE 1^st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive 24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM 2^nd DVD/BLU-RAY Drive NONE Memory Card Reader INTERNAL 52 IN 1 CARD READER (XD, MS, CF, SD, etc) + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT Power Supply CORSAIR 650W ENTHUSIAST SERIES™ TX650 V2-80 PLUS® BRONZE (£69) Processor Cooling SUPER QUIET 22dBA TRIPLE COPPER HEATPIPE INTEL CPU COOLER (£19) Fan Controller NONE Sound Card ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD) Network Facilities GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps PCI CARD (£16) USB Options 6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD Modem

 

 

 

Alexei

Any thoughts?

Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™i7-2700k

How did you read this thread and come up with this?

Oh well I was told that I should focus on getting a good CPU rather than a good video card. Also I am not building my own PC, im buying a pre made one from PC specialist

If this machine is primarily for FSX, then a processor with hyperthreading is less useful then one without and since hyperthreading is the only real difference between the i5 and the equivelant i7 series, save your money and get the i5.

 

The 'k' suffx on the processor means it can be over clocked. So why pay extra for the i7-2700k over the i7-2600k when you will not be running either at the base speed. Unless you do not plan to overclock, in which case, why would you pay a premium for a motherboard and processor that can be overclocked?

 

You don't say what sort of money you are looking at spending but from the price they are charging for an ethernet card (there is ethernet and wi-fi that motherboard) you might want to look at something like:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-211-OE&groupid=43&catid=2040&subcat=

 

And with the money you save, upgrade to a GTX560Ti and get one of these: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/productlist.php?groupid=17

If this machine is primarily for FSX, then a processor with hyperthreading is less useful then one without and since hyperthreading is the only real difference between the i5 and the equivelant i7 series, save your money and get the i5.

 

The 'k' suffx on the processor means it can be over clocked. So why pay extra for the i7-2700k over the i7-2600k when you will not be running either at the base speed. Unless you do not plan to overclock, in which case, why would you pay a premium for a motherboard and processor that can be overclocked?

 

You don't say what sort of money you are looking at spending but from the price they are charging for an ethernet card (there is ethernet and wi-fi that motherboard) you might want to look at something like:

http://www.overclock...id=2040&subcat=

 

And with the money you save, upgrade to a GTX560Ti and get one of these: http://www.overclock....php?groupid=17

 

Thanks very much Paul.

 

So the computer that you have linked me is the one that you think wil be ideal? Is it worth me getting a SSD drive?

 

If so I have upgraded to the GTX560Ti and then included a 120GB SSD drive.

 

 

By the way, I already have a decent monitor. Its a Iyama 24" HD screen, so I dont need a monitor but thanks.

 

Alexei

So why pay extra for the i7-2700k over the i7-2600k when you will not be running either at the base speed.

 

I completely understand why you are telling him this but, you have to understand that the 2700K isn't JUST a 100MHZ boost.

The 2700K is a higher binned version and it is quite apparent when OC'ing the chip to very high clock speed. As you can see in my signature, I run my chip with 4.8GHZ @ 1.34Vcore.

 

-I have seen some guys around here with 2600K's that require 1.4+Vcore to get to 4.8GHZ. This is in direct coorelation to the fact that the 2700K's are a higher binned version. The 2700K's have been tested for stability and they will have a much greater OC potential therefore, they will very likely run at a much lower VCore than the 2600K's at the same clock speed. So, if you go out and want to get a good OC chip, nearly all of the good chips are now labeled as 2700K's. Presumably, the 2600K's are now the lower end chips that have less OC potential...

 

Just my 2 cents...

if you are going to use 2 or 3 monitors for you fsx nvidia's 4 and 5 series will be a serious problem.In win7 you have to do spanning but 4 and 5 series nvidia card cant do that you need 2 of them 2 pair of 4 series or 5 series.(New gtx680 is doing it )

 

If you go through ati , you can make it with ati eye infinitiy.

 

I have 7970 ati series card and usin 3 27" led lcd screen.No problem at all.(dont need matrox lol )

 

Your mobo is the critical choice.I wont go with gigabyte z68 ud4 b3.It has memory oc problems.(believe me I used it)

 

Go with z68 as well but use Asus mobos.