dual core or quad core

[Matt Olieman]

Achilles, please give us an update on your system. I'm following in your footsteps got the Rampage MB and VelociRaptor on the way. Still need memory and the Graphic, plan on getting the EVGA896-P3.

I would like to know what DDR3 1600 memory you are using and why are you using two 300 Gig drives rather then just one. Also, what cooling system are you using?

Thanks,
Matt Olieman

[AchillesP]

Achilles, please give us an update on your system. I'm following in your footsteps got the Rampage MB and VelociRaptor on the way. Still need memory and the Graphic, plan on getting the EVGA896-P3.

I would like to know what DDR3 1600 memory you are using and why are you using two 300 Gig drives rather then just one. Also, what cooling system are you using?

Thanks,
Matt Olieman

Hi Matt,

1.) Try to find this case (Thermaltake Swordm Lcs VD500LBNA). It has a watercool already installed.

2.) Try to find this memory (Corsair RAM DDR3 4GB KIT 1600C7DHX). It is XMS memory especially designed for the motherboard you bought.

3.) I use 2 x 300Gb, because I did a dual boot (Xp 32bit and Vista 64bit) in one disk and fsx to the other one.

4.) If you buy this card, you will not be able to to sli. X48 chipset supports only one Nvidia or Ati crossfire (Two or more cards).

* Do not forget CPU 45nm tecnhology. With this motherboard you can overclock the cpu very easy.

Yestrerday, I finished with the second installation (Vista 64bit). Now I have dual boot.

* Vista 64bit Advandages : Video shader. Means that with DX10 and all sliders at max, the performanve is great. Approximattely 100 fps. Really supprised. And the effects are great with the bloom effect. Gives another dimension in flight.

* Vista 64bit Dissadvandages : DX10 does not support scenaries
* Vista 64bit Dissadvandages : DX9 does support scenaries but performance sucks with a lot of slutters due to ATI drivers

So, I was very confused. DX9 or DX10?

And the answer came after a google search. Addon Converter X http://www.flightsimtools.com/adconvx/

This tool claims that convert all of the old sceneries (Fs2004) into FSX format in DX9 or DX10 mode. If this is true, defenitally I will go with Vista 64Bit DX10 and this converter.

I will test this tool today and I will come back with the results.

[LUFTY]

even though i have already gotten the dual core , i was told that a quad core would have been better for FSX.

im wondering if you good folks can expand on that.

thanks....Robert

Hi Robert

Basically the Service Packs for FSX have enabled a programming technique called multithreading which means FSX can put different processing tasks onto different CPU cores.

So for instance AI traffic could run on one core, the weather can be calculated on another etc. etc.

In this way a quad core at 2.4 GHz gives you 9.6 GHz of processing power providing the application is programmed to multithread processing tasks.

A dual core at the same 2.4 GHz gives you 4.8 GHz of processing power.

In reality applications are rarely 100% efficient with multithreading and consequently you do not get the full benefit of multiple cores.

FS9 is not written for multithreading of processing tasks so consequently in theory there is no performance difference between a single, dual or quad core processor.

There is a slight advantage to dual or quad cores is that other tasks such as the windows operating system, antivirus etc. can use one core leaving the other core dedicated to FS9.

Therefore in summary as a general rule a 3.0 GHz single core would give better performance for FS9 that a 2.4 GHz quad core whereas a dual core 2.4 GHz processor would give a better performance than a 3.0 GHz single core using FSX and a quad core 2.4 GHz processor would give better performance than a 2.4 GHz dual core.

I hope this helps

Kind regards


Lufty

[Matt Olieman]

Just an update. I finally got my "Super Duper" computer going.... HOORAY!!!!! Thanks for the help from AchillesP

Got the following:

Thermaltake Case
Thermaltake Liquid Cooler
Thermaltake 750 Wat PSU (not big enough) Will get a 1200+
ASUS Extreme Rampage MB (Liquid cooled and Absolutely fantastic)
Radeon HD 4870 X2 (will be liquid cooled next week)
Intel Quad Q6700, LGA775, 2.66 Ghz, 8MB L2 Cache, 1066 MHz FSB
2 Gig DDR3 1600 MHz (got another two, but the PSU couldn't handle it)
Currently running it with XP Pro, for now it seems to work better then Vista

Overclocked to 3.51 GHz

And some fine tuning by Achilles of FSX, Sliders all the way over on a Full Thunderstorm at KJFK, I get about 40 fps

Running FS9 Sliders all the way over same scenario at KJFK 105 fps.

I'm one happy camper

Thanks again AchillesP for your help

Matt Olieman

[oal331]

Thanks Matt for sharing.... !!!!

Btw, how much did you cost this system?

Eddie

[Matt Olieman]

Eddie, roughly I got about 2k USD into it.

It's taken me about over 9 months of buying bits and pieces and looking for sales. Nice thing about this system is I can use the CPU 45 nm technology into it, also a second HD4870 X2 (crossfire), once prices come down a bit

Matt Olieman

[LUFTY]

Eddie, roughly I got about 2k USD into it.

It's taken me about over 9 months of buying bits and pieces and looking for sales. Nice thing about this system is I can use the CPU 45 nm technology into it, also a second HD4870 X2 (crossfire), once prices come down a bit

Matt Olieman

Hi Matt

I have seen little if any benefit in dual graphics cards generally because the CPU seems to be the bottle neck even with a Quad Core QX9650 overclocked to 4 GHz.

I would save your money on the second HD4870X2 from my experiences with various graphic cards and CPU configurations.

Regards


Lufty

[Matt Olieman]

Thanks Lufty, I appreciate your input

Matt Olieman

[Mr. Midnight]

hello folks im just going to wait , untill i can get the best bang for a buck.

im wanting the best cpu chip i can get before i build, im just collecting all the data i can before i buy.

i will have about 1400 bucks after christmas, and i want to get the best chip can and be ready for fs11.

im hearing about new and faster hard drives that im researching.

with that kind of cash flow i will wait and see what i can get.

it seems like when you buy its out of date, so i will get the best chip i can afford that will run fsx10-11 without problems.

im thinking i will spend about 400-500 bucks for a cpu chip that will do the job.

any ideas will be greatly needed.

i have the 8500 chip that i will use as a secondary computer.

thanks..........Robert

[LUFTY]

Hi Matt

I have seen little if any benefit in dual graphics cards generally because the CPU seems to be the bottle neck even with a Quad Core QX9650 overclocked to 4 GHz.

I would save your money on the second HD4870X2 from my experiences with various graphic cards and CPU configurations.

Regards


Lufty

Hi Everyone

Just to add a quick update ...

With the latest i7 Intel processor the performance of the graphics card starts to come back to the fore again.

The trouble with performance tuning is that the bottleneck is nearly always the slowest component and this was the processor until the i7 Intel processor was released.

Having eliminated the processor bottleneck (to some degree) the graphics card starts to have an impact on performance which is why balanced components is important.

If you can put up with the current issues with third party addons and DX10 preview (scenery and textures on addon aircraft etc.) then I recommend DX10 preview mode and either dual graphics cards in Crossfire configuration or an intregrated Crossfire card such as the HD4870X2.

ATI and Nvidia have just reduced their prices for their top end cards which helps although they are still relatively expensive.

The new range of cards should be out in Q2 of this year which will no doubt raise the bar.

All of this on the assumption you are using an i7 processor of course as processor is still the top bottleneck for FSX.

By the way with DX10 and i7 the load on the second, third and fourth cores is reduced substantually.

Kind regards


Lufty