I am going to go out a limb and predict that assuming that the max OC of IB is 4.5 Ghz, the FSX performance is going either same of worse than SB @ 4.5 GHz, plus the heat. I am basing this prediction on the FSXMark11 results so far, clock for clock SB matches Bloomfield, where SB leaves Bloomfield in the dust is at higher OC that SB can attain.

 

I both agree, and disagree with your statement.

 

Overall insofar as IB is concerned, you may be right. However, I see from the same benchmark evidence, and what I objectively experienced with my former i7-930 @ 4.3Ghz, clock for clock SB is considerably faster in FSX than Bloomfield, and at much lower temperatures. The SB's top end exceeded Bloomfield in both performance clock for clock and in pure GHz as well, by a healthy margin.

 

In the same vein, unless Ivy Bridge exceeds Sandy Bridge's FSX performance clock for clock by at least 10%, it is not a direct performance advance for this hobby. We expected more, but that may come in the next IB rendition.

 

Kind regards,

 

In the same vein, unless Ivy Bridge exceeds Sandy Bridge's FSX performance clock for clock by at least 10%, it is not a direct performance advance for this hobby. We expected more, but that may come in the next IB rendition.

 

From what I have gathered in benchmarks around the net, the performance gains are around 3-5%.

I both agree, and disagree with your statement.

 

Overall insofar as IB is concerned, you may be right. However, I see from the same benchmark evidence, and what I objectively experienced with my former i7-930 @ 4.3Ghz, clock for clock SB is considerably faster in FSX than Bloomfield, and at much lower temperatures. The SB's top end exceeded Bloomfield in both performance clock for clock and in pure GHz as well, by a healthy margin.

 

In the same vein, unless Ivy Bridge exceeds Sandy Bridge's FSX performance clock for clock by at least 10%, it is not a direct performance advance for this hobby. We expected more, but that may come in the next IB rendition.

 

Kind regards,

Hi Stephen,

 

I am about to go from Bloomfield to SB, so it's good to know that at the same clock speed, SB is significantly better.

 

Thanks for the info.

Good gosh that thing is huge plus $99.00?!? You could have gotten Antec 620 and been within a degree for $40.00 less.

 

Yeah, I decided to return it as it may interfere with RAM module placement anyway. Instead I got an H100 off of Newegg and an extra 180mm fan for the side panel to blow onto the graphics card. On a truck and out for delivery today, hoping to put it all together tonight (except for the 680, which I still can't find).

 

It will be hit or miss for a while. I only got mine by having chrome auto-refresh on Newegg's 680 page every 10-20 minutes (so my IP would not get blocked) and watching. Just happened EVGA's were placed in stock that day and sold out in 30 minutes.

 

Just have to keep looking. The Microcenter in Denver only got two (2) when I checked several weeks ago.

 

One word of caution, Tiger and Amazon are selling 680's but you need to watch the ship dates. Tiger was taking orders that would not ship for weeks.

 

Thanks for the tip. I'll have to try some automated utility to get one, it seems.

(except for the 680, which I still can't find).

 

I saw them available last night on Newegg.

I saw them available last night on Newegg.

 

I've been so busy and so tired lately I can't even look for them. I'm hoping for an Asus DirectCUII Top model, looks like the best overclocker out of the bunch and it's one of only a couple non-reference designs. Not that the reference design is bad, just cheap power supply and voltage regulation to save money.

 

Hi Stephen,

 

I am about to go from Bloomfield to SB, so it's good to know that at the same clock speed, SB is significantly better.

 

Thanks for the info.

 

This is very interesting! I'm currently running a Core I7-920 @ 4.1 GHz and a GTX480 and I'm pretty happy with the performance I get with this setup in FSX but I've been playing with the idea to replace this setup with a SB-based setup and possibly also replace my GTX480 with a more modern card hoping I would get even smoother performance and at the same time at lower temperatures.

 

Today I'm using water-cooling for both the CPU and GPU and since I've seen lots of people saying they are able to reach about 4.5 GHz on air I'm thinking maybe I could reach about 5 GHz using my existing water cooling if I just get new water blocks.

Finally assembled the system last night, just running a GTS 250 for now and haven't even installed FSX yet but as soon as I get some time this weekend I'll proceed to test. Once a non-reference 680 comes in stock I'll snag one and get going on testing of the final build. Oh, and a word of caution for anyone seeking to use a Fractal Design Arc mid tower case with a Corsair H100 - fitment is incredibly difficult due to the design of the top cover's mesh pattern, I could only get 2 screws at opposite corners to hold the thing in, but it works. Idle temps on H100 with stock speeds (turbo enabled) are upper 20's to mid 30's, so there's definitely some OC potential here as long as I don't have to push volts too high.

 

One last note: the Vertex 4 256GB that now serves as my OS/FSX drive is insanely fast. Win 7 installed and was sitting at the desktop in less than 5 minutes. Boot time is maybe 20 seconds, probably less.

Finally assembled the system last night, just running a GTS 250 for now and haven't even installed FSX yet but as soon as I get some time this weekend I'll proceed to test. Once a non-reference 680 comes in stock I'll snag one and get going on testing of the final build. Oh, and a word of caution for anyone seeking to use a Fractal Design Arc mid tower case with a Corsair H100 - fitment is incredibly difficult due to the design of the top cover's mesh pattern, I could only get 2 screws at opposite corners to hold the thing in, but it works. Idle temps on H100 with stock speeds (turbo enabled) are upper 20's to mid 30's, so there's definitely some OC potential here as long as I don't have to push volts too high.

 

One last note: the Vertex 4 256GB that now serves as my OS/FSX drive is insanely fast. Win 7 installed and was sitting at the desktop in less than 5 minutes. Boot time is maybe 20 seconds, probably less.

 

Thanks for 'taking one for the team' and being an early adopter of Ivy Bridge! I am very excited to see how the 3770K performs!

Definitely keeps us posted as to your results!

 

RH

So far my best average FSXMark11 score is 48.65 fps @ 4.9 GHz.

At 5.0 GHz in game FSX temps. reach 82 C.

 

core i7 3770K @ 4.9 GHz 1.416 V

Maximus V Gene

GSKILL Trident X 2666 MHz

EVGA GTX680

WD Velociraptor X2 intel RAID0

Blackice Extreme 360 / Laing D5 / Swiftech HD

Cooler Master SP Gold 1200 W

windows 7 HP 64 bit / FSX Gold

 

HLJAMES

Seriously man, do you have some money to burn? I see you went 2600K, 2700K, 3770K, insanely expensive boards, extreme RAM, GTX680, WD in RAID, 1200W PSU... could I have a piece of that cake?

 

core i7 3770K @ 4.9 GHz 1.416 V

 

:o That seems like alot of voltage for IB!

Hehe, this story with volts is going to begin the same way as with SB. 1.35 is max safe, then slowly creeping up to 1.4, and then some peepz saying 1.5 is also OK, while almost no chips burn.

 

So far my best average FSXMark11 score is 48.65 fps @ 4.9 GHz.

 

Good score! It seems that PCIe3 hasn't done much of anything for FSX. Long live SB!