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  • Please see the most recent updates in the "Where did the .com name go?" thread. Posts number 16 and 17.

    Post 16 Update

    Post 17 Warning

FSX Upgrade Dual to Quad Core Worthwhile ?

txnetcop said:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103849 For use with AM3 boards.

Using Affinity mask as Bjoern said you can set up your processor for use of all cores in FSX
Click to expand...

Hey Ted,

These are the prices I can get the following processors for in my part of the world. Please note that I have converted the currency in to US Dollars using http://www.xe.com/ucc/


AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Processor - $221.62

AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Processor - $276.03

AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Processor - $399.56


Would I see enough of a performance increase between the AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition processor and the AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition processor to justify the extra expenditure?

Regards,
Stratobat
 
Stratobat said:
Hey Ted,

These are the prices I can get the following processors for in my part of the world. Please note that I have converted the currency in US Dollars using http://www.xe.com/ucc/


AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Processor - $221.62

AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Processor - $276.03

AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition Processor - $399.56


Would I see enough of a performance increase between the AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition processor and the AMD Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition processor to justify the extra expenditure?

Regards,
Stratobat
Click to expand...

That has a a lot to do with your willingness to overclock. The 1090T hasn't even unlocked all of it's potential yet. There are some new boards and new BIOSes that are really giving the 1090T some horsepower that heretofore were not being seen. I have a friend on staff at Maximum PC that rates that 1090T as the most improved processor ever to come from AMD. Our tests at TECHCORP have shown that processor to be a dynamo still to be unleashed. Admittedly I am still more impressed with the i7980X but look at the price difference.

The 1090T stock is impressive but not so much more than the OC'd 965 Black Edition unless you are willing to unlock it and take it to it's potential. If you can get the six cores working to their full potential by trial and error in FSX you will have a really fine system on your hands. It does take a little more work than say using the i7980X which is a killer right outta the box, again you save a ton of money. I was running my unofficial tests at TechCorp on the 1090T OC'd to 4.2Ghz and was running FSX full blast at 40fps and rarely did I see it drop no matter what I threw at it.

You cannot OC the 965Black to match the speed of the unlocked OC'd 1090T. It is an entirely different processor with much more potential. Can you justify spending that much more...I can't tell you that. It really depends on how much you have in the budget. If you are doing it just for FSX I would say no. Invest in a really good video card and push the 965 Black to 3.8Ghz or higher.

New games are coming that really take advantage of these six core processors. I know for a fact that new X-Plane 10 does. I'm hoping Microsoft's new flightsim offering will too. Rise of Flight does also.

Here is good article on the 965BE versus the new six core processors from AMD http://www.techradar.com/reviews/pc...-edition-623177/review?src=rss&attr=reviewall
 
Bjoern said:
Say Ted, do you think it's worth getting an upgrade from DDR2 to DDR3?

This is what I'm currently running:
http://www.sysprofile.de/id109664

I want to push the Q9450 a bit more (to 3.6 Ghz), but my FSB refuses to play along (topped off at 405 Mhz).





No problem.
Click to expand...


Bjoern DDR3 when combined with Win7 64bit has definite advantages over DDR2. My test unit is a i7960 6GB unit and really ROCKS eveything I throw at it. However I didn't see the huge difference in DDR3 over DDR2 on the 775 socket systems...yes there is some, but not so much as to warrant buying a new 775 board that uses DDR3.

Using DDR2 you should still be able to push the Q9450 to 3.6. For my home unit I had a Q9550 running Patriot PC2-9600 1200mhz ram at 4.0Ghz on air. It ran FSX very very well with Win7.
 
mikew said:
Just curious...
Is there a huge difference between the i7 930 and the i7 960 other than the operating frequency? Is it worth almost double the price for the 960 over th 930?

Thanks,
Mike
Click to expand...


Mike if you are not afraid to OC the 930 the performance is adequate and you can save a little money. However if you OC the 960 a little it really shows it's taillights to the 930! If you really want a barn-burner go for the 980X WOW what a ride!
 
txnetcop said:
Using DDR2 you should still be able to push the Q9450 to 3.6. For my home unit I had a Q9550 running Patriot PC2-9600 1200mhz ram at 4.0Ghz on air. It ran FSX very very well with Win7.
Click to expand...

Well, I can't. The multiplier of a 9450 is 8 at best and my board's usable FSB range ends at a little over 400 Mhz.
 
Bjoern said:
Well, I can't. The multiplier of a 9450 is 8 at best and my board's usable FSB range ends at a little over 400 Mhz.
Click to expand...

I did this on an EVGA 780i with Tuniq tower cooling two or three years ago:
CPU Core - 1.375v
CPU FSB - 1.325v
SPP (NB) - 1.45v
MCP (SB) - 1.5v
SPP (NB) << - >> MCP (SB) - 1.3v
GTL Ref: Lane 1,3,4: +20mV, Lane 2: +30mV
Timings 5-5-5-18
FSB 1850/4 = 462.5
Memory below the FSB is at 1066
View attachment 18520
3.7Ghz
 
Well it looks like I will be upgrading to a quad core, or after reading some of the replies the new AMD 6 cores may be worth a look.

At work out IT dept, always buys Intel as they think AMD will not last as long. (They keep PC's about 6 years if they can in the labs, for HPLC equipment)

From a quick look even the AMD motherboards are cheaper. I would presume the Gigabyte ultra durable boards would be built to the same standards, but their AMD boards are much cheaper. In Australia at least.

Is there any truth in what they tell me about Intel lasting longer than AMD?

Regards MarkL
 
Hey Mark,

Is there any truth in what they tell me about Intel lasting longer than AMD?
Click to expand...
I think both brands offer a three year warranty on their processors but there are a number of mitigating factors to consider before you can arrive at an outright answer. For example, reckless overclocking can reduce the life of your components (Althought by how much I do not know) and poor housekeeping can also limit the life of your components.

I've had the same AMD machine for the past four years now.

Regards,
Stratobat
 
marklaur said:
Well it looks like I will be upgrading to a quad core, or after reading some of the replies the new AMD 6 cores may be worth a look.

At work out IT dept, always buys Intel as they think AMD will not last as long. (They keep PC's about 6 years if they can in the labs, for HPLC equipment)

From a quick look even the AMD motherboards are cheaper. I would presume the Gigabyte ultra durable boards would be built to the same standards, but their AMD boards are much cheaper. In Australia at least.

Is there any truth in what they tell me about Intel lasting longer than AMD?

Regards MarkL
Click to expand...

I prefer Intel personally. They really are faster processors, but AMD isn't going anywhere anytime soon. I do like what AMD has brought to the marketplace, escpecially when you consider what you pay for price/performance. If AMD was going to go under why would they rename their video cards AMD Radeon and remove the ATI label from now on? I think the two will rival each other for several years to come.
 
I'm impressed by what i see with the new I7s and the AMD offerings, but truth told I'm still running an old q6600 quad core with 8 gigs of DDR2 of ram. Its mildly overclocked to 2.6 ghz, and water cooled, but thats as special as it gets. My usual fsx performance gives me between 40 to 100 fps with most sliders set above the halfway point, and some maxed out. Even Tokyo barely causes it to flinch.
 
Personally my experience with the I cores is they run HOT HOT HOT

and IMO offer only some memory gains over the socket 775 , say Q9650 or 9550 OCed to 3.4 and up on air

I suggest you water cool any i7
 
warchild said:
I'm impressed by what i see with the new I7s and the AMD offerings, but truth told I'm still running an old q6600 quad core with 8 gigs of DDR2 of ram. Its mildly overclocked to 2.6 ghz, and water cooled, but thats as special as it gets. My usual fsx performance gives me between 40 to 100 fps with most sliders set above the halfway point, and some maxed out. Even Tokyo barely causes it to flinch.
Click to expand...


Yes Pam you see it really comes down to what you can live with. For instance if you own the PWN series by ORBYX you do not have to turn your sliders all the way right to enjoy some very nice scenery. The same is true with some parts of FSX stock. However if you are a scenery maniac like me and just have to have detail the AMD six core and i7 are the only way to go especially if you want speed and max scenery. It costs to see more that's just the way it is with FSX. The good news is that it doesn't take a mainframe to run FSX well anymore. If you don't mind settling for a little less on the slider side of FSX, Harleyman's E5200(or E5500) with a G31/G41 motherboard can run FSX well, and he builds it for a great price.

Harleyman is right there is a definite benefit to water cooling even if you just use the H50 Corsair ( http://www.guru3d.com/article/corsair-h50-cpu-cooler-review/ )system which is very inexpensive to keep that CPU cool. My test system uses Reserator II and keeps the CPU at less than 50C running FAR CRY 2 and the latest HALO at full graphics and CPU set.
Ted
 
txnetcop said:
Yes Pam you see it really comes down to what you can live with. For instance if you own the PWN series by ORBYX you do not have to turn your sliders all the way right to enjoy some very nice scenery.
Ted
Click to expand...

Well yes, i agree.. But i also run SceneryTek (sp?) North America and Asia, Ultimate Traffic, UT2, FTX, GEX, REX2-overdrive, ASA, The Solomon Islands, and a few others. Plus the planes i fly like the CS C-130 have been notorious for frame rate problems..

the only drawback i see with my particular system, is that, another year down the road, and i wont have any choice but to build another computer, but it does point up one pertinent fact. in FSX quads and more rule.. Duals can get by ( barely ) and singles are best left to grandmothers still running dos 3.1.
 
txnetcop said:
I did this on an EVGA 780i with Tuniq tower cooling two or three years ago:
CPU Core - 1.375v
CPU FSB - 1.325v
SPP (NB) - 1.45v
MCP (SB) - 1.5v
SPP (NB) << - >> MCP (SB) - 1.3v
GTL Ref: Lane 1,3,4: +20mV, Lane 2: +30mV
Timings 5-5-5-18
FSB 1850/4 = 462.5
Memory below the FSB is at 1066
View attachment 18520
3.7Ghz
Click to expand...

What cooler?
 
txnetcop said:
This one:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835154001 ya better have a deep case for this one Amigo LOL
Click to expand...

A fantastic cooler,however. I ripped out several liquid cooling systems (Alienware liquid cooling units and Coolit TEC coolers)and replaced with this cooler as it performed better. I've a Corsair H50 sitting here and I'll give it a try on my sim pc at some stage....although my PC's temps are fine even with the chip oc-ed to 4.2ghz.
 
Welllllll.. ok,, this is about as practical as a bladeless potato peeler, but since your talking about cooling, quads and all things in between.. I got this from evga yesterday.. The first sound you hear is the sound of metal getting super cooled :) enjoy..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOfHN_MV8yc

You may now return to topic ::lol::.
Pam ;)
 
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