Computerhead2

The just released Nvidia 760 sku is what I just went with (Tech reviews and price are both good). I got the 4GB version (EVGA) because of the triple monitor setup I use. I am hoping that this will round out my 4770K build that I am finishing up with a good performance upgrade compared to my current PC.

Okay - Again the value of the forum (However - I do have build-itis really bad!!). Except for the main board, memory and CPU, I have everything I need for my build because I have been buying the pieces individually when on sale from either Amazon, or Newegg. I have decided to wait a few months to see how this is all going to pan out. The leads on the pricing and overclock capabilities of Haswell are just too much for me not to reconsider waiting - I am thinking/hoping 3 to 6 months. My overall goal is to run FSX in a rich, but not expense environment. Plus the money I don't spend on FSX does/will go for pursuing my instrument rating and eventual commercial rating ( I became a private pilot in 2010). FSX really helps me keep my expensive hobby of flying within reach by stimulating my passion for it, without draining my wallet. I know this is a compromise, I would rather be flying for real, but can't afford too. Anyway. the logic side of this goes like this. I have my i7-950, OC'd close to 4.2Ghz. At that level, using FSX mark 11, I can get an avg of 25 FPS, using my triple monitors. From a parametric analysis of the charts/links available, OC'ing a 3770K to 4.5,Ghz would give me approx a 25% performance bump (and that would be noticeable) compared to my current Bloomfield (i7-950). However the comparisons between the 4770K and the 3770K are leading me to believe Haswell will be about 7% better. Which then equates to about a 33%'ish increase compared to my i7-950. Using a conservative 30% indicates that (30%of 25 FPS) would yield a 7.5 FPS increase for a total closer to 32.5 FPS, and getting that means a decent performance increase, that I can also trade for moving the sliders a little bit more to the right (hence the enriched environment). This parametric analysis was the easy part. The hard part is predicting when the 4770K will be available at the price of $330, and a goodmain board is also affordable ($200 to $300) and then how long till Intel production process is yielding enough/majority of CPU that have enough overhead performance to be OC to 4.5Ghz+. I am guessing/hoping 3 to 6 months?...... what is the Forums thoughts on this? Does anybody remember/compare either the evolution(ie timeline) of SB, or IB that could guide me?

Thanks for the Micro-center tip ! There is one within a 45 min drive from where I live. Do you think the stock will be fresh?. I know that sound kind of crazy, my thought is that Newegg is always turning it over therefore the production batches will be a more recent date code. Anybody got any sense on whether latter production batches are giving better OC results. I read posts like that from late 2012, but still trying to piece together which processor maybe best. So is it just legend that the 3570K will overclock(better) to 4.7+ because it does not have HT, or more fact. Like Like noel said above it looks like the trend will be toward mobile. I missed the Sandy Bridge generation, because I was attempting to get the max from my i7-950. I really would have like to waited for Haswell, but it looks like the value/performance curve is going to be at least a year + away. I just upgraded my monitors to a 3x portrait mode (see my pc spec) so I need performance, either from the CPU via clockrate, or horsepower (HT cores). Because of the large # of pixels, perhaps it may be better to run more cores to handle all of the pixels, devoting more cores to the scenery requirements.so a 3770K would be preferred because of the HT 4+4, the tradeoff would be heat which I could live with and maybe knock down the clock some. This is what made me make my post. Seems like most folks a the top scores are using the 3770K, until reading some other post recently this is where I would have gone to 3570K. However, If get a 3570K and spend the difference on a second SSD that might be the better value. Right now I have gotten a 240GB SSD and a 1TB HD (7200RMP) as the primary setup FSX+OS on the SSD via splitting the drive into 2 volumes, and the 1 TB would be a backup and other large file disk. My true desire (In keeping with forum recommendations) is to have two (2) SSD's. One for the Win 7 OS and the other for FSX+Add on's.... So a 3570K again may yield the best overall performance when linked with the second SSD. Thanks all.

So I am at the point where this is my last decision for my next system. I went with an air cooler NH-D14 because I prefer a low noise solution. Have read a lot within the forums, but not seen to much real comparison/preference between the two and the potential for OC that leads to a recommendation. I would like to get to 4.7Ghz using this air cooler. This will be an FSX machine, so HT is not a requirement. Thanks in advance for any leads to published reviews, or links to elsewhere to help me make up my mind. Your advice is appreciated !!! I decided not to wait for Haswell, but may revisit this in a year after the review are out, along with a good knowledge base (I love this forum) I plan on using whichever with : ASUS P8Z77-V PRO LGA 1155 Intel Z77 G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000) Desktop Memory Model F3-17000CL9D-8GBXMEVGA 660Ti 3GB

I went from a GTX 460 to a GTX660Ti. I would never go back. I got frame rate increase and more auto gen combined. Really helped the experience.

I have always been a fan of portrait mode (3716 x 1920) for my virtual cockpit, here is a picture of my revised setup using three ASUS PA248's. My processor is only a i7 950 and not overclocked, so it is the next targeted upgrade. Not sure which way to go SB, or IB, or wait on Haswell. I am out of sinc for ticks and tocks, but I always have focused on value/$ in my upgrades. The monitors I know will take me through 5+ years. The increased resolution definitely hit the frame rate in the big cities! Hope you enjoy the view. Thanks for the great forum!

All - I was able to work through this problem and FSX so far seems better. Key steps 1) Through installations of the video card - I had installed the generic PnP drivers for my monitor(s). This was interfering in the Nvidia control panel becuase the technical requirements of resolution vs. sync rate was not consistant with what the monitors were capable of and preventing me from being able to get into surround. The update service found newer ones and so I went with those in for each of the monitors (3x). I did this by installing the update within "Device Mgr." 2). My sync problem was solved by using a lower resolution startup (640 x 480) offering via entering "Safe Mode". I noted that I was not clear in my problem description - because the monitors are only finicky at their highest resolution - at lower ones they sync nicely becuase they are not on the edge of the spec. 3). I also did a clean install using 310.70 from Nvidia - not sure that that was key - but so far it has not hurt and I am up to date with the driver. Thanks to all that PM'd and helped.

Here is a screen print (a picture is worth a thousand words): With the third monitor attached and the computer boots - I can hear a normal start up occur. I just cant see it when I have the 3rd monitor connected -I can't see any of the screens. The monitors all dark with an "out of signal range" box floating on the screen. If I could I see the windows desktop - I know how to set them up from there using the custom resolution control panel. The attached file shows the two.

Copied from that screen .... The two Acers's AL1916, at 1024x1280 (recommended), Portriat (flipped), Extend these displays

Betelgeuse, thanks for the reply Simulator is FSX Gold, Windows 7 Ultimate, I will run (and have) run Surround (not 3D). The monitors all have DVI inputs (no adapters are being used). I air cool, and the fliters are clean, the processor does not get above 68C, I have a dual push/pull fan set up n the I7. The video cooler card is stock though. I have attempted using the lowest 800 x 600 resolution at start up. However when I plug in more than two monitors, the pc does not sync up with the monitors and I only get the out of input range dialog box and all displays are useless.

Background: I have 3 identical Acer AL1916 (Older 4:3, 1280 x 1024) that are finicky about starting up. I know this because of the start up issues that i have overcome (since 2008) before when using them with my TH2GO digital and now my 660TI card. Each time I eventually got to a point where I could reliably start and use them. Thanks to Nvidia I no longer have to use the TH2GO which I was really happy to retire (along with my GT 460). The monitors require a 57Hz custom resolution to start. Once I get the custom resolution dialed in - I have had this setup work and been really satisfied running in portrait mode w/ bezel adjustments to yield a 3189 x 1280 view. Using this in VC lets me see most of the instrument panel and a portion of the sky. I and am a private pilot (as of 2010) and use the setup extensively for training both for instruments (using Reality XP's 430W) and comms (w/ Pilot Edge.com) and now REX Essentials +OD. The primary plane I use is the Carenado 182Q. I got the 660TI in October and was thrilled with the improvement to the autogen capability (really astounding difference here) and 10-20% improvement to FPS, over my GT460. I got the 3GB version because of the three monitor setup and figured that would be enough because my monitors are 4:3 and relatively low resolution as compared to what is available now. I would like to buy new monitors (3 identical) considering the Dell 2412, or the ASUS PA248Q - but can't afford them with kids in college. The processor is a I7-950, generally run stock. Sometime of OC using ASUS turbo tune to 3.8 Ghz, but not that often - system is stable using Prime95 at this level. Problem: I attempted to fix a computer crash problem that occurred frequently enough - that it was beyond annoying. I thought it maybe related to a timing issue of using the display port adapter and the two (2) DVI ports that I use to drive the triple monitor setup. I read that the HDMI port is closer to the DVI (regarding signal technologies) so I used attempted to use that vs the display port w/adapter ..... This is why I am now so badly in need of HELP! After trying this I am no longer able to sync the monitors to startup. Generally I can get no more than two to start, when I plug in a 3rd. the monitors don't start and I get a floating dialog box that states the monitors are out of input range.. If I reconfigure using a different combination of ports, I only get limited success - I have tried a clean install of the Nvidia drivers using the custom install option - however the card seems smart enough to register the combination of monitors and modes that I have previously attempted. Questions - 1) How do I clean the registry to erase the prior setups, 2). Is there a way to set resolutions in a startup file outside of windows, or in the safe mode? .... Any other ideas?

Between the 930 and 950 ..... Any advice on which i7 would overclock better?

I have just ordered my next FSX PC (see specs below) and have been searching for a tutorial, or post that instruct how to best move FSX. I also bought another copy just to be legal because I likely will keep the current Q6600/680i based (EVGA 9600GT video card). Are there any best practices, or tips that anybody would recommend ? I am especially concerned about my logbook and mission accomplishments.Thanks in advance. * Intel Core i7-930 Bloomfield * ASUS P6X58D-E * CORSAIR XMS3 6GB DDR3 1600 (XMP) * EVGA 01G-P3-1372-TR GeForce GTX 460 Superclocked 1GB * LG Black Blu-ray Disc Combo SATA * Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s * Antec Sonata Elite Black * Antec TruePower New TP-650 650W * Prolimatech Megahalems Rev.B CPU Cooler * GELID Solutions FN-PX12-15 120mm Case Fan * SABRENT CRW-UINB 68-in-1 USB 2.0 Internal Card Reader ) * Flight Simulator X Gold Edition