Phil,

 

As I've mentioned in other threads, it really takes more than just one component upgrade to make FSX "Mega-great" -- I do see a lot of these threads of disappointment when their single part upgrade doesn't meet expectations. With FSX you really have to look at the complete system package ... FSX it's rather unique (as compared to other 3D games/sims) in that respect.

 

Your motherboard supports i7 processors ... I know it's too late now since you've already purchased an i5 but I would have recommended you go with this CPU for a tight budget: i7 3770 for $299 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116502

 

But what you need to keep in mind is that making one part of your system much faster means you just wait on other slower parts in your system (PCIe, hard drive, GPU, etc.) to complete their tasks and waste many CPU cycles in an idle state waiting those tasks to complete (like Disk I/O when loading up scenery textures, moving those textures into the GPU via the PCIe bus, etc. etc.).

 

I know people hate reading this stuff, but I can't tell you how many threads I've read on this very topic of upgrading a single part of their system and then being disappointed in the results.

 

For overclocking, Prime 95 is a good tool to determine stability. SiSoftware Sandra is another great tool for seeing how those changes result in real world performance ... Overclocking can introduce other issues and you really should see if what you "think" is good, is actually good ... lookat Memory bandwith, Cache and Memory Latency, Cache bandwidth, Video memory bandwidth, etc. etc. Sometimes increases in CPU frequency can actually reduce performance in other areas so it's good to validate.

Your motherboard supports i7 processors ... I know it's too late now since you've already purchased an i5 but I would have recommended you go with this CPU for a tight budget: i7 3770 for $299 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116502

 

Seriously - a locked i7 vs an unlocked i5, I'd be interested in hearing the reasoning behind that recommendation.

 

Hyperthreading brings no benefits to a system built around FSX and there are a limited number of applications where it has any kind of benefit at all. Simplistically hyperthreading doubles the number of threads the CPU can process but halves the speed of each core, it's like comparing a 4Ghz dual core vs a 2Ghz Quad core, whilst the quad core would be a real benefit to a limited market which uses software that can fully utilise all 4 cores, for FSX there would be no doubt that faster system would be the better choice even at the cost of additional cores. This is one reason why the majority of people with hyperthreaded CPUs disable hyperthreading either in BIOS or through the use of an Affinity Mask, other reasons include that they have found hyperthreading causes additional heat leading to system instability and that it limits overclocking potential. My own testing has shown that using hyperthreaded cores within FSX has a very definate negative impact on performance so it's not something I would ever reccomend. Then there's the cost an i7 is roughly 50% more than an equivalent i5.

 

I've asked before for anyone to help me understand why an i7 would be a better choice than an i5 for FSX, the only reason I was given was the i7 has an additional 2MB of L3 cache. From what I can see this is useful only if you are fully utilising all 8 threads which with FSX is highly unlikely to happen given most folks restrict FSX to 3 physical cores. I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts.

 

Seriously - a locked i7 vs an unlocked i5, I'd be interested in hearing the reasoning behind that recommendation.

 

Oops sorry, should have linked to the 3770K http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116501&Tpk=3770K

 

With a few exceptions the i7 3770K will out perform the i5 3570K and both overclock well. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i5-3570-low-power,3204-5.html

 

the i7 Performs better at both Integer and Floating point operations vs. the i5.

 

i5 $229 vs i7 $329 ... I think it's worth the extra $100, especially if one does more than just FSX.

Hyperthreading brings no benefits to a system built around FSX and there are a limited number of applications where it has any kind of benefit at all. Simplistically hyperthreading doubles the number of threads the CPU can process but halves the speed of each core, it's like comparing a 4Ghz dual core vs a 2Ghz Quad core, whilst the quad core would be a real benefit to a limited market which uses software that can fully utilise all 4 cores, for FSX there would be no doubt that faster system would be the better choice even at the cost of additional cores.

 

I would NOT turn off Hyperthreading, the OS (of which FSX runs on) can and does operate better with Hyperthreading enabled. I don't see how you can ignore what the OS wants to do as FSX requires an OS to work. Windows 8 (of which I'm not a big fan of) does actually improve Hyperthreading support. So one can't really make a blanket statement about hyperthreading without know what version of OS is installed.

 

I think Hyperthreading got a bad wrap due to replay problem ... which was later corrected with a replay queue implementation in the processor. In my own testing I get a small increase in performance in FSX with HT enabled (6 physical 6 virtual) on a Win7 64bit OS. Setting Affinity does NOT disable HT.

 

HT On or Off didn't seem to affect my ability to overclock.

Pop over to Microcenter and its $189 for the 3570K and $229 for the 3770K, sadly in store only and one per person.....

Pop over to Microcenter and its $189 for the 3570K and $229 for the 3770K, sadly in store only and one per person.....

 

I live in Canada so this is sadly not possible. I spent several hours per day looking everywhere and I was only able to get it on Amazon.ca for around 236$, tax and shipping included. I think it was 209$ without tax. I looked everywhere but we don`t have prices like Microcenter in Canada.

Yeah Phil, that was more for the benefit of others in your thread after the other poster listed prices, sorry, you always have Hockey though

Oh, sorry I didn't catch that. No problem then! And yes I still have hockey and poutine.

 

I would NOT turn off Hyperthreading, the OS (of which FSX runs on) can and does operate better with Hyperthreading enabled. I don't see how you can ignore what the OS wants to do as FSX requires an OS to work. Windows 8 (of which I'm not a big fan of) does actually improve Hyperthreading support. So one can't really make a blanket statement about hyperthreading without know what version of OS is installed.

 

I think Hyperthreading got a bad wrap due to replay problem ... which was later corrected with a replay queue implementation in the processor. In my own testing I get a small increase in performance in FSX with HT enabled (6 physical 6 virtual) on a Win7 64bit OS. Setting Affinity does NOT disable HT.

 

HT On or Off didn't seem to affect my ability to overclock.

 

I wouldn't turn HT off either but many people do for the reasons I listed. Like myself most people with an i7 with HT enabled usually use an AffinityMask of 84 forcing FSX to use 3 physical cores only, preventing FSX from using any virtual cores, whilst this is not the same as disabling HT the effect is to all intents and purposes the same.

 

I appreciate that the operating system plays a big part in allocating system resources but If software (such as FSX) was not designed to fully utilise a hyperthreaded environment nothing is going to change this. Regardless of how well HT has been implimented you cannot get away from the fact that if a single physical core has to share its workload between 2 threads neither thread is going to run as well as it would on its own dedicated physical core. I fail to see how software like FSX that thrives on CPU speed is ever going to do perform at it's best under these circumstances. If you look at gaming benchmarks rather than synthetic system benchmarks you will generally see little to no difference in performance between an i5 and equivalent i7 especially baring in mind the fact that the i5 is generally running a slower clock speed - http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/the-sandy-bridge-review-intel-core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested/20 so I really dont buy into the greater performance argument for a system based around FSX. I'm not going to argue that an i7 isn't a better choice if you use your system for productivity software but for FSX I still have yet to be provided with a compelling reason why an i7 is any better than an i5.

Hi again,

 

I'm (already) starting to look into an aftermarket CPU cooler & unlocked motherboard for my i5 2500k.

 

For the CPU Cooler, I would like something that isn't TOO expensive and overkill (I don't really need a 200$ liquid nitrogen CPU cooler for 6 GHz) but still something that could bring it up to at least 4.4-4.5GHz it looks like a sweet spot for FSX.

 

As for the mobo, I just want something would an unlocked chipset that will let me overclock. I NEED at least 1 PCI slot (not PCI express x1, I mean the old PCI) for my external sound card. The rest (USB3, etc..) I don't really care about.

 

Here's what I have found so far:

 

Mobo: ASRock Z68 Pro3 Gen3

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157279

 

CPU Cooler:

Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099

or

Cooler Master Hyper 212 PLUS

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065

or perhaps

Zalaman CNPS9500-A 92MM LED

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835118223

 

Any comments, suggestions?

 

Thanks again!

I suggest going water. I overclock great with my H50. I get much higher OC and cooler than anything air.

Oh, that's not too expensive. I'll have to make sure I can get it to fit in my case though, I have a pretty cheap one (Cooler Master TC-101 Mid-ATX).

http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?item_id=040160

You would be better looking at a board with the z77 chipset such as the Asus P8z77. Any reason why you have to have to stick with an ancient PCI sound card?

 

Personally I'd not get a cheap closed loop water cooler, they have multiple points of failure and at the budget end offer little over a mid ranged air cooler. I can reccomend the Thermalright range although Newegg don't seem to stock them, I have the Macho modified with 2 150mm Thermalright fans (overkill) which cools my 2700k at 4.8Ghz with no issues, I have no unnecesary pump noises or worries about hardware failures.

Thanks for the answer.

 

Would this mobo be a better choice? I know it's not a 400$ ASUS "premium" mobo, but it has everything I want and is actually quite cheap! Plus, I could get a 15$ mail-in rebate if I order within the next 10 days.

 

For the PCI sound card question; I have 2 speakers + sub + external sound card that used to be used for music making (no by me). Since just the card is worth at least 600$, I want to hold on to it. It still works great.

 

I'll keep looking for a powerful air cooler. Although, I would like to save on shipping if I order both parts off Newegg. I mentionned it earlier, but would this cooler do the job? (http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099). I am as always on a tight budget, but I don't want to end up buying crap and wanting to change it in a few months.

 

Thank you very much PieEater!

On board sound is actually pretty good these days, not audiophile quality, but still pretty good.

 

On a budget I'd go with Quad channel RAM for FSX

 

Motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131808R

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116492

RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233143

 

This will give you a nice platform for FSX.