Just passing on some info about i7 to clear up some things and to throw FSX data into the mix for the platform.

I am being very conservative in reporting this as to avoid hype. 

I have not had time to complete all my checks and test however I do have enough information to relay a few things so those who may be on the fence about buying or wish to upgrade have good information to base their decision.


First and foremost, in making the decision to move to i7 you need to look at what you are running today and what you are willing to spend.

If you are on AMD, old Intel and/or not running modern Intel,  moving to i7 will be a good boost and investment for you. Do be aware that if you intend to clock it will be easier to hit higher clocks and better latency on 940 and DDR3 1600 memory. Moving to 920 from AMD and not clocking will still provide a worthwhile boost but you should consider the 940 if clocking is not on your to-do list so you get the full monty in the upgrade over what you are use to seeing.

And do keep in mind, moving to i7 on a slower video card is going to present a bottleneck just like it does with current processors so if you are on AMD with a budget video card, you should upgrade that card too at the same time.

If you are on Intel Quad and not clocking and you run 2.8-3GHz the 940 unclocked will provide a much smoother experience with better visuals. It would not be a wise investment to buy 920 and not clock it. You could buy the 920 but do be aware you will need to clock it to be assured of good value in perf upgrade for your purchase and the video card suggestion with AMD is the same. If you are going to make that move and currently have a medium quality card you would be well served to upgrade the card at the same time.


If you are on Intel and running a 3.6-4+GHz clock on DDR3 1600+ correctly then the move to i7 should be based on:

1. At least a 940 i7
2. At least 1600MHz memory 8-8-8 timing for 6GB, 7-7-7 timing for 3GB
3. A proper HSF for clocking
4. Plan on clocking the 940 to at least 3.8-4+GHz

With those elements in place you can expect to see results I consider well worth the purchase.

Of course everyone has their own opinion about what is valuable to them in FSX cost wise. Some are statisifed with less scenery and are not willing to pay for perks.

Being conservative here... DO KEEP IN MIND that if you are currently on such a high end system properly clocked and your scenery sliders are maxed what you will be getting is less or no stutters, sharper visuals under the conditions you may typically see now where your current hardware limits are seen on the screen. It will allow higher default traffic as well as allowing bloom to be run closer to urban (major hubs can be a hit) however DO NOT expect to max every slider (water-bloom-traffic-cloud radius) and see no perf hit. Bloom and water shader passes are a 800lb gorilla on DX9 no matter what CPU is in use and clouds will always hit a system hard the way FSX is designed.

Heavy iron users will see great relief under those clocking conditions.

What I am seeing personally is worth every penney spent because I do not like stutters and lags. Flying to me is all about that floating on air feeling without interruptions in lags and blurs.

The pro clockers are getting the 920 up to 4.2-4.3GHz however they are doing so by pushing the absolute limits. They are also experimenting with engineering samples to find out how long those chips last when the memory voltage is exceeded (over 1.65v) and other voltages are pushed.

Other thoughts to consider.. there are those on 32bit OS’s that can only use 4GB of memory. Be aware that if you skimp and go 3x1GB you will be limited to well under 3GB where with 3x2GB you will have access to up to 3.2GB of the first 4.

If this purchase is one you intend to grow with I suggest 3x2GB. The price difference is only about 100 dollars or less and prices should start to fall as more product enters the market over the next several months. You can upgrade to a 64bit OS later and make full use of the 6GB then.


You MUST purchase tri-channel DDR3 memory kits with a voltage rating of 1.65v. 1st generation higher voltage spec DDR3 will NOT work with i7.


For a good modern video card and i7 with clocking I would suggest a decent 750watts PSU to cover you now and later for upgrades. The PC Power and Cooling 750 is a great unit and right now it can be purchased for under 100 dollars with a rebate. That PSU was 230 when it was first released a few years ago and it will run up to and over 800watts at peaks.

SLi will not get any gain from i7 in FSX other than what SLi provides now in higher resolution high AA (16-32AA) and above 2xxx in resolution.


If you do not intend to clock, 1333MHz memory is fine and you do not need 1600 product however depending on the BIOS of the board you can use 1600 product without clocking the CPU and run the memory higher at its rated speed. The ability to do so depends on the board and BIOS and I do not have specific information about different boards to relay at this time.

The important factor about the memory in a clocking or non-clocking situation is the timing. Do shop for the lowest timing possible for the speed you wish to run as that will help even with i7.



...and one other thing too, DO keep in mind this is a new platform and as such there are going to be growing pains so what you see on websites and review sites can be skewed by different chipset registers from different combinations of motherboards, video cards, memory and drivers in use. It will probably be a few months before all that gets hammered out as it is with any new platform.


I hope this helps clear up some of the questions that are floating around. I am still very much in a test phase with the system I am using and as I get more I will pass it on with a much more technical approach.

I am also toying with memory clocks as well so there is more to report later as I confirm results.


Remember, that older video card you are running can hold you back with a i7 in clock. As Phil Taylor pointed out a long time ago the mate between the card and the proc will drive FSX perf and quality more than anything else with memory speed/timing coming in 2nd.


Suggstions for minimum cards for FSX

NOTE: these are not suggestions for Crysis

920 not clocked, 8800GT
940 not clocked 260GTX
965 not clocked 280GTX

clock'em maxed and the 280 would be the card to be on

Those on the 8800 Ultra and 768 GTX and clocking can probaby hold on the video card if the budget doesnt support it right away but it would still be worthwile to go up to the 280 (or better if it comes along later) in your case.