bangoman

This is Clarkdale i3-540 not Lynnfield. I just followed the FSXMark11 instructions to the letter. Excuse my ignorance, I'll have to look up AM=5/AM=9 lol HT is off for the 4140mhz OC'd i3-540. I can't get much past 3800mhz with HT on. What is neat is that the whole system fits into a Silverstone SG02, making for a great LAN box (no LAN gaming with FSX though!). It doesn't need a big cooler as I'm not doing any overclocking.

The answer to the question nobody asked So I had a chance to benchmark the two setups. Sorry for the non std pictures, I used Google docs. IB > OC Clarkdale. Swapping the mobo/CPU didn't play nicely with Win7 so a fresh install was done for the i5-3470. And therefore a fresh install of FSX for each setup and the FSXMark instructions followed to the letter. Overall I'm pretty happy with the IB setup. B75 mobo, i5-3470 CPU and 16gb DDR3-1600 RAM was about $350 including taxes and shipping. Of course if buying specifically for FSX, I would've stumped up the extra $100 or so all in for a suitable K-series CPU and motherboard.

Thanks for the reply. I'll have to dig through the FSXmark11 thread to find your benchmarks but that is encouraging. I haven't flown with 3 screens yet as I'm re-overclocking my i3-540 - it seems I've "lost" about 0.3Ghz over it's two years of abuse.

If you have a bit of time, hold out for a better price on the GTX670. I got it in a sale for $309 (Canadian) and I'm seeing current prices around $350. Edit: I'm talking about the vanilla/reference GTX670. I see you're going got the FTW edition which my comment is irrelevant. Not sure the extra clocks are beneficial for FSX but of course people use their PC's for other games too!

Hi thanks for sharing. It's always good to see how the alternatives to Intel are doing. I remember when AMD was king with the XP series while Intel was floundering with P4. I just want to understand the multithread/CPU screenshot above. #1 is at 95% and seems to be doing most of the work for FSX. The other 7 cores/threads are above 25%. What are they doing? I thought there wasn't a big benefit to many cores in FSX.

Thanks for posting! Great to see some of the high end Intel stuff in action. I'd love to see an FSXmark11 run but I guess it's a hassle as you have to do a fresh FSX install. So if I want to bimble around and fly the stock 172 with no add ons, I shouldn't bother waiting for Haswell and just get an IB setup now?

Thanks for the comprehensive reply! Sorry, my time comment was more relating to doing some proper benchmarks with the two setups, and not having the time to do repeated clean installs etc.. I've almost convinced myself to move the i5 into my desktop PC - esp when I throw Photoshop and Adobe Premiere into the mix.

Hi, I've never tried OC'ing with HT turned on - all the guides say turn it off. I've never really benchmarked or really taken notice of HT. I'm already of the arbitrary opinion that the 2 extra threads of HT don't contribute anything useful. Other considerations/things going through my mind: - Faster (1600mhz) RAM with the IB CPU - I remember a thread around here describing the difference fast RAM makes. - PCI 3.0 - ??? better bandwidth between CPU and GPU. - Higher IPC for IB. What if I could OC the BCLK to get high 3's on the i5-3470 (like 3.8ghz). How would that change the comparison? I don't have much spare time at the moment otherwise I would try both and report back.

Thanks for your answer, dazz, I remember our threads when Clarkdale was out and I was experimenting with the i3-540, which has to be the best bang for buck technological thing I've ever bought (been building PC's since the 486/DX2 lol). I think I'll end up trying both - the Clarkdale first just to see how the bottleneck is. I guess the IB CPU/mobo combo also has PCI 3.0 - maybe the extra CPU <-> GPU might have benefit, who knows. So much of the analysis here focuses on the K-series SB/IB CPU's (with good reason), it will be interesting to see what a "regular" IB CPU can do. (Having said all of that, the i3-540 definitely won't do the job that the i5-3470 is doing right now...)

Everything else being equal (except RAM - the Ivy Bridge CPU has 1600mhz RAM attached to the mobo), which would be better for FSX? Current setup: - The i3-540 is my main desktop machine running with a GTX460 connected to a 1080p monitor overclocked to 4.2ghz (lower than before as the CPU is a couple of years old) - The i5-3470 is currently a headless server running multiple virtual machines with 16gb of 1600mhz RAM with a Gigabyte B75 mobo. The i3-540 (running on 2C/2T, HT disabled) has a higher out and out frequency but does the "lower" clocked IB CPU outperform it's older brother at 3.2/3.6 turbo. It's on a Gigabyte B75 motherboard which isn't supposed to be able to OC but I have to look closely into whether the BCLK can somehow be changed. As I understand it, FSX doesn't take much advantage of the i5's 2 extra cores. Intel comparo: http://ark.intel.com/compare/46473,68316 I'm currently running a GTX460 but have just picked up a GTX670 for cheap (CAD310) as well as three secondhand Dell monitors 1600x1200 (yes 4:3!) for a triple monitor setup. I was just going to drop it into the i3-540 machine but thought I'd see what you guys thought about dropping the i5-3470 in there. Would my Ivy Bridge i5 yield significant gains? (No further purchases are allowed for this scenario - I'm waiting for Haswell)

I was going to post the same question - i7-2700k vs 3770k. Both are around $300 (Canadian). There's lots to read about this topic on this site, so thanks everyone for your testing and benching. As someone not already on SB, my conclusion is that IB is the better choice for FSX. Reasons: - Faster RAM (like 2133mhz) supported natively on the Z77. Someone posted some numbers around here showing increasing the RAM frequency yield smoother flight and more FPS than tighter timings. - More IPC on IB makes up for the fewer 0.1ghz at the top end of overclocking that SB gets - I think once you're in i7 territory, you're going to use the best CPU cooler you can find, so you can get the most out of the chip for the longest time. So getting SB because it produces less heat doesn't make sense to me. Here in Canada, there's not much difference between the two platforms, SB and IB. Maybe $20-30 once the CPU and mobo have been purchased. I'm still happy with my Clarkdale i3 setup, but I'm only flying GA/SEP aircraft. No fancy add ons or heavy metal for me. But no way does it run at 4.3+ghz with stability on stress tests anymore, I just about get away with FSX. I guess overclocking and degradation take their toll on a chip! But it was impressive while it lasted for a $150 CPU. Edited to say - I have been off this forum for a while but I am surprised that Intel's latest and greatest still doesn't allow max settings play on FSX. Incredible! Will we finally get there with Haswell or are we still a couple of generations away from all sliders to the right?!?

Sounds good: http://forum.avsim.n...ost__p__1865995If you want to create a google spreadsheet for these other tests with add-ons, just register a google account and away you go. Sharing the google docs spreadsheet is pretty easy, just decide whether or not you want others to edit it. I can't help much in this series of tests as I don't have any add-ons nor fly any jets.[Thread jack not intended, trying to keep it on topic]

NB Whatever system you get CanadaOne, run some of the "quick and dirty benches"Check here:http://forum.avsim.net/topic/292181-i3-530-fsx/page__view__findpost__p__1858730and here: http://forum.avsim.net/topic/292181-i3-530-fsx/page__view__findpost__p__1824691This process isn't perfect nor that demanding but what is interesting is that the results are reproducible as shown by Ivan and Luckyman so at least people have some idea of the gains for each price point.

There's the i3-550 as well. If you can get to an NCIX store there's this: http://forums.redfla...?prefixid=Comp9However, I would not get an i3 if you're not planning on overclocking it. If you're looking at stock speeds, save up some $$ and get an i7. I repeat, the i3 @ stock is rather useless IMO for FSX.Then again, overclocking the i3 is a piece of pi$ with a decent guide: http://www.overclockers.com/updated-intel-overclocking-guides/ there's also my thread: http://www.overclock...ad.php?t=653981I spent about $135 on my CPU i3-540 so it wasn't a big deal (to me) if I fried it. But with a big mug of tea, the Saturday afternoon football in the background, one can easily overlock with time and caution. Everyone has a first time!

@dazz No I haven't tried BP tweak - to be honest I'm happy with my setup. I get my 50 fps with no add ons. Plus I'm currently doing some instrument work so the screen is mostly white anyway!So I saw in this and the other thread that a reinstall helped with fps. I'll probably see a decline in fps at some point.I didn't post in the other thread as I don't have any add ons. However I can see how reviewers dropped fsx as a bench tool - too many variables!

Hey dazz,Thought you'd be interested to see your results are reproducible by Ivan: https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Ahq4ws8Rx4gudEtLYlE5ZGdDanc1ZG1WcVdZY1FIMUE&hl=en&authkey=CKrfrI8D

Good ideas all round. However, regarding premium add-ons, I don't think the idea is to see how hardware affects these. I think we should keep it simple to see the relative effects of changes in hardware.I tried to make a start: https://spreadsheets...uthkey=CKrfrI8DUseful thread: http://www.flightsim...howtopic=140426Here's the zipfile we used: http://library.avsim...m=fsxmark07.zipLet me know if you want me to edit the spreadsheet for you guys, I'd be happy to help.

The general consensus is that whilst the hardware for both ATI AMD and nVidia are good, the ATI/AMD drivers suck for FSX, although there are some tweaks out there. nVidia seems to work just fine. Depends what else you use your PC for - if you're looking at bang for buck, the GTX460 is great but the AMD/ATI HD6870 has just come out. Similarly priced to the GTX460 but an extra 10% FPS in certain games (Dirt2, Metro 2033) at high resolutions (above 1920x1200).

Yes I'm sure QPI has some benefits in FSX. Clock for clock the i7 seems to be faster than the i3/i5:https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Ahq4ws8Rx4gudEtLYlE5ZGdDanc1ZG1WcVdZY1FIMUE&hl=en&authkey=CKrfrI8DGranted there are two different video cards (GTX 460 for i5 vs 470 for i7) in play but essentially the i7-930 at stock (2.8ghz) seems to keep up with an overclocked i5 at 4ghz. I think QPI and the much more hardcore memory controller are the key.Here's some stuff on Sandy Bridge (socket 1155 CPU): http://www.anandtech.com/show/3922/intels-sandy-bridge-architecture-exposed/1I have no idea how this will translate into FPS though.Either way the specs look good so your only reason for waiting is for price drops. Note the GTX470 has appeared for sale in Canada in the C$260 range.(Of course I saw the words "financial pain" in your first post... there's no shame in the i3!)

NB I bought the MSI Hawk GTX460 - great card, effortless all round. The extra mhz don't make much of a difference in FSX but the clincher was the cheapest price with the free games - I got Metro 2033 and Streetfighter 4 both of which I wanted anyway. Bet Hawx 2 will be fun! A year ago I could've helped you shop in the UK but I have since left. I tended to stick to scan.co.uk anyway.Hadouken!

I'm assuming your in Australia from your scenery preferences. But on the off chance you're in Canada check this out:http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=54634&vpn=N470GTX%20Twin%20Frozr%20II&manufacture=MSI%2FMicroStar&promoid=1209It's a GTX470 for C$270. Just an indication of how prices are dropping on GTX4xx cards around the place now ATI have released their HD6xxx series.I've no experience of the H50 but if you're looking at air cooling then people seem to like the Noctua DH14 for the i7. I have the Coolermaster Hyper 212+ which is great on the i3 at only $20.Otherwise it looks like a great system. Of course no self respecting system builder should be without a decent overclocking guide:http://www.overclockers.com/updated-intel-overclocking-guides/Their forums are good too (no I don't work for them!) and I found them very helpful and encouraging of my first foray into Clarkdale OC'ing.http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=653981

I didn't see this link:http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-reviews/37286-amd-radeon-hd-6870-hd-6850-review.htmlLooks like it sits around the performance of the GTX460 1GB/768mb depending on which model you look at.

Sorry I missed this, I just caught it when referring to the thread for someone else.Nice numbers! I added them to our chart. I presume this was "global high"? What about at the max settings?(Humble apologies to anyone sick of seeing this thread! Everyone welcome to contribute numbers using the procedure above)

Cheap can deffo be cheerful these days - have a good read of my experiences:http://forum.avsim.net/topic/292181-i3-530-fsx/Or some numbers:https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Ahq4ws8Rx4gudEtLYlE5ZGdDanc1ZG1WcVdZY1FIMUE&hl=en&authkey=CKrfrI8D(As with anything FSX, take it with a pinch of salt, but you'll get the gist)Basically I got an i3-540 ($130), a cheap H55 mobo ($100), some RAM ($100) and a GTX460 1GB ($230). Add in a HDD ($40), PSU ($50), Case ($50). That's about $700 for a system that nets you 30+ fps. There are some 23" screens here in Canada for around $180. Not the best but good enough for flight simming me thinks. So call it a round $900 and you'll be golden I reckon. If you want cheaper than that then you could wait - both i3 and GTX460 prices will drop significantly before Christmas I reckon, esp since the AMD HD6xxx series are being launched right now.If you can't wait and want it cheaper then my experiences with the 8800GTS were good with FSX. It was for other games that I wanted the GTX460 (FIFA11 and SF4 FTW).

http://promotions.newegg.ca/NEemail/promotion/oct-0-2010/TechlevelMO14/index-landing.html?nm_mc=AFC-C8junctionCA&cm_mmc=EMC-IGNEFL101610CA-_-EMC-101610-Index-_-E0-_-highmore#hig&AID=10657534&PID=749547&SID=forumsi3-530 for $105 + tax + ship