Hello everyone!

 

I'm considering updating the CPU on my good ol'computer (see prehistorical specs below), which mobo features a LGA775 socket. Please bear in mind that I DO NOT want to buy a new, more up-to-date rig.

It seems that the best I can do is changing the E6550 dual core (OCed at 3Hz) for a Q9650 quad core at 3GHz too.

I'm wondering what kind of benefits I could expect from the 2 additional cores :

- Windows sent to core 0 through AffinityMask=14, 3 free cores for FSX, hence a smoother sim?

- Same freq = same amount of calculations per second, so no change in FPS?

 

Thanks a lot for your help and advise!

 

Kekelekou

 

E6550 CORE 2 DUO OCed 3Ghz, MSI P35 NEO2-FR, GTX650 1GB DDR5, TWINX CORSAIR DDR2 4X1024MO, SAMSUNG T133 300GB 7200RPM 8MB, LG L1954TQ-PF 19” @ 1280x1024, GREEN POWER 400W, OS : Windows 7 64 bit, FSX Gold DX9

 

Well, Quad received and installed.

First tests show no FPS improvements, but a rather smoother sim.

The load sharing among the cores seems to do the trick!

I'm writing this down so that it might helpful to anyone in the same situation...

My main system is a Q9650 currently at 4GHz (I believe it's common to get up to about 4.1GHz on air cooling) and gives very good performance in FS9. I have about 20 or so LGA775 PCs that I've collected over the last few years to experiment with flightsim stuff. This includes:
Core2Duo E8400 3GHz

Core2Duo E8500 3.16GHz

Loads of E6### CPUs

I really want to overclock the E8### to see if I can beat my Q9650 overclock! Also, combined with a GTX750Ti I think they'll be good FS9 systems.

 

Q1) Are you overclocking your Q9650? The fun starts at 4GHz! Your 4xRAM sticks and 400W PSU could work against your overclock though.

Q2) What CPU cooler do you have?

Hello Djang0!

 

I set my Q9550S yesterday at 3,4GHz which yields quite high temperatures (stable at 72/73°C, peaks to 75°C with room temperature of 30°C).

The aircooling is the generic Intel one.

I know I could buy a better one along a larger PSU to achieve higher freqs, but the challenge was to get the best of what I have now. I want to fly now, I am tired of waiting for a part, or tweaking all night long.

I went from a dual core E6850 3.0 GHz (overclocked to 3.6 GHz) to a Q9650, which is overclocked to 3.8 GHz, years ago.  No, no detectable improvement in fps, but FSX ran a lot smoother.  For overclocking, you really do need to replace the stock cooler.  The coolers that came with the Core2Duo and Core2Quad's were adequate for standard uses, but entirely inadequate for overclocking.  And yes, overclocking takes more power, so a robust and high quality PSU is a must have item.  You also need really good RAM so that your CPU overclock doesn't end up wasted on slow RAM.

A Q9550 will overclock just as well as a Q9650. A good quality single tower CPU cooler with either single or dual fans (120 or 140mm) should give you OK temps (i.e. under 70C while simming at an overclock of around 4GHz). Consider upgrading the PSU because of ageing. These utilities might help to give you a rough idea what you need:

Extreme PSU Calculator

Power Supply Calculator

 

It's nice to meet someone else still playing around with LGA755 Core2Duo/Quad CPUs! Just remember to disable Load Line Calibration with those CPUs when overclocking.

 

 

I want to fly now, I am tired of waiting for a part, or tweaking all night long.

 

You should try DCS World, that tends to just "work" in my experience.

I had a Q9550 @ 3.5 which worked nicely but I DID notice a big jump going to a sandy bridge @ 3.4 and again o/c to 4.8