Hey gent's,i am about to buy a new PC, my options are, (of course the i7 and the 1600 are better and cost more) so i need you to help me, how much is this vital,1)i5 2500k 3.4ghz 8gb ram and DDR3 1333mhz 560gtx2)i7 2600k 3.4ghz 8gb ram DDR3 1600mhz 580gtx.i will very appreciate if someone can share with me his thoughts, thanks!!

Edited February 26, 201214 yr by Daniel choen

Mostly for FSX and need to save some money? Option 1I chose option 2, but in looking back at it, the more expensive option only prolongs my PC for a fraction longer than option 1 would have.So I would recommend option 1.

Edited February 26, 201214 yr by SKEWR

I was on the fence about this too.I went with a little more future proof build, and got the I7 2600k and 16gb 1600, man the difference is big. Slidders almost to the max at FSDT KLAX gives me no less then a super smooth 25 fps.Best money I have spent. The difference will be a good one.

thanks for the great and fast reply's, i did a mistake with the specs, now it fixed, and the PC will be only for the FSX as i have nothing else to do with this computer, and you know if it's that big different i have no problem to pay few more bucks and get a better one. cheers.

Edited February 26, 201214 yr by Daniel choen

I would choose this:i5 2500KFor RAM, make sure you take RAM with tight timings, for example, at 1600 MHz you want to have CL7, not CL9. Tighter timings does nothing to framerate, but it will reduce stuttering, believe me on this. Same for the GTX 580, there is a difference in framerate, but not super big, it does also reduce stutters a little compared to GTX 560Ti.

Just some remarks. The i5 2500K has a nominal speed of 3.3GHz not 3.4GHz. If you go for the i5, you should consider to buy the newer i5 2550K which has 3.4Ghz. From what people say here in the forums, I learned that HT doesn't give you any advantage in FSX. Some people even suggest to disable HT. So you should save your money. I bought myself an i5 2500K and a GTX480 and I am really happy with it.

Edited February 26, 201214 yr by Rainero

If only for FSX, go for the 2500k but put the money you save on the cpu towards the cost of a 580GTX.

thanks! so what is the main difference between the i5 and the i7 according to fps?

None. Zero. As suggested, get the 2500k, save money, and overclock it to the mid 4 ghz range. Best solution out there.-G

None. Zero. As suggested, get the 2500k, save money, and overclock it to the mid 4 ghz range. Best solution out there.-G

thanks!!

CPU - the 2500K is the same thing as the 2600K minus the hyperthreading, which is of almost no use in games. It'll overclock better due to the massive reduction in heat from not having hyperthreading.RAM - This used to matter for overclocking when you had to OC with the front side bus, which pushes the RAM's speed up too, but it does not matter with the Sandy Bridge CPUs because they OC via the chip's multiplier. The CPU goes up but the RAM can remain at 1333 or whatever it's stock speed is.The idea that you're going to get stuttering with CL9 RAM is bogus too - I'm running some right now without any issues. That guy has something else going on with his system. CL naturally goes up with RAM speed too, not down - I remember CL3 and 2 RAM back in the old days. As long as you run the correct timings listed on the RAM (auto mode in the BIOS will do this for you on any modern RAM via Serial Presence Detect (SPD)), you'll be fine - trust me.Look at these benchmarks here:http://www.xtremesys...-tRC-tRFC-tREF)The biggest difference is on the time needed to do a calculation of the value Pi out to 32 *million* digits - CL7 results in about 8 less seconds than CL9 on a calculation that took almost 3 hours to do. FSX is doing absolutely nothing anywhere close to that intense.GPU - the GTX580 is better if you're playing games other than FSX or if you're using resolutions above 1920.

I had a long and active discussion about CPUs and GFX cards mainly (touched base on the ram) few days/weeks back. So from all the stuff I've read, all the successful attempts that I've helped other people with getting their new machine and discussions had on forums, I would go for i5 2500K.If you look at the intel site, you'll see one if not the major difference between 2500K and 2600K is the ability to hyperthread on the 2600K. Although I'm not exactly a computer man, I will research hard before I invest. But some of the people who knows what they are doing agrees with me that if you are doing anything CPU intensive other than FSX, ie. video editing, running MATLAB or other academic simulation software etc., you'd want to go 2600K. Otherwise 2500K is great.I somehow have the idea (yet to be supported) that 2500K runs cooler than 2600K, I don't want to go into exactly what made me think that, but that's my guestimate.I was OC'ing my i7 950, was able to get a stable 4.26GHz out of it (from stock 2.8GHz or something) running under full load at about 86-88C, FSX at about 74-78C. Yet I've seen people I've helped out getting their machine, same air cooling system as me on a 2500K OC'ing to 4.5GHz and still running only at about 45-50C (external influence also comes in, they are winter, we are summer being a major one). Although I know "silicon lottery" comes in play, but still that is a significant difference between the two.So i5 2500K! Ram wise, I'd get the 1600MHz (planned for my machine upgrade in couple of months).So as for your options, a mixture between #1 and #2. May I propose that to make it option #3?

• Option #3: i5 2500K & 1600MHz RAM :(

I5 is running great !!And about the CL7 or CL9 discussion read this and take Kingston KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GXhttp://www.legitreviews.com/article/1831/1/Read test and conclusion: The improved latency of the HyperX translates into faster speeds in the latency kit than the Corsair kits!Robert

There is extra cache memory in the i7 that is common to all cores. You can always turn hyperthreading off. With FSX and PMDG, get the I7 is dollars permit.

Edited February 26, 201214 yr by bradrcfii

There is extra cache memory in the i7 that is common to all cores.

It's an extra 2mb of cache for $120. Each to his own I guess. The 2600K is an awesome CPU, but that extra $$ is better off being put into another component for an FSX machine.

Edited February 27, 201214 yr by Dave_YVR