New i7 System

[enm]

I just purchased the parts below and will be delivered mid-next week:

Vista 32bit
Gigabyte GA-EX58-Extreme
i7 940 2.93 Ghz
CORSAIR XMS3 4GB (2 x 2GB) 1333
XFX 8800 Ultra 786mb
Thermalright Ultra-120 Extreme 1366 RT (Purchased from Quietpcusa.com)

First of all. Im coming from a dual core AMD 5600+ 2.8 Ghz and 3 Gigs of 800Mhz ram. I have alot of stuttering in dense areas and low alititudes and only get about 8FPS on/near the ground and 15FPS at high altitudes. I have all the UTX, GEX, REX addons along with FS Genesis and other stuff to. I know its important to get a quad core for these addons.

Its time for me to shell out the big dollars and get a real system for FSX. I have been reading all the threads for the last 4 months on this website concerning hardware and have become very knowlegable on what it is gona take to run FSX with minimal stuttering. My goal with this new system is to get atleast 25 FPS or more.

Here are my questions. First off, I know the 1333 ram is minimal and I can upgrade if not pleased with finished results...the Gigabyte motherboard will run I believe up to 2100. If Im not pleased can this ramm be overclocked with the processor? I have no clue on how to overclock but I know that Gigabyte does have a utility to set it up for you....is this a smart choice? If this Ramm does not OC well, then what can be done.

Im seriously hoping that I wont have to do any OCing with this new set up...for I dont have the funds to buy new parts on a regular basis.

Or is there any other utilities out there that can OC for me by just clicking a couple buttons. I have been using MSI motherboards for the last 8 years and they have a utility called dual core center but I have never had any stable luck with it.

Any input would be great
Eric from Seattle

[NickN]

Im seriously hoping that I wont have to do any OCing with this new set up...

Then why did you purchase the 120 Extreme?


You don

[enm]

Hi Nick...I purchased the 120 Extreme because I want to keep the CPU as cool as possible and in the event I choose to overclock...I want that option. I currently have the funds to spend so why not and I would like to have the ammunition if needed.

The 2x2GB is DDR3 at 1.7v. I ordered 2 kits of the memory, so a total of 8 Gigs. If I use 3 sticks will this act as triple channel if the memory is compatible?

I can always sell the DDR3 1300. Thanks for the Memory info it always seems to be the most difficult descision for me when purchasing proper comp. equipment. I will probably order the triple channel if the above memory will not work. I  do want to take advantage of the Quick Path option of i7 so I will purchase what is necessary

As for the motherboard this is my first Gigabyte product, cant be anyworse than MSI. As for Asus....I just heard there difficult to work with. This will be my 5th computer build in 8 years.

Thanks Nick

[freedomhays]

Im seriously hoping that I wont have to do any OCing with this new set up...

Then why did you purchase the 120 Extreme?


You don

[NickN]

[quote]Hi Nick...I purchased the 120 Extreme because I want to keep the CPU as cool as possible and in the event I choose to overclock...I want that option. I currently have the funds to spend so why not and I would like to have the ammunition if needed.

The 2x2GB is DDR3 at 1.7v. I ordered 2 kits of the memory, so a total of 8 Gigs. If I use 3 sticks will this act as triple channel if the memory is compatible?

I can always sell the DDR3 1300. Thanks for the Memory info it always seems to be the most difficult descision for me when purchasing proper comp. equipment. I will probably order the triple channel if the above memory will not work. I

[NickN]

How does this ram look to you Nick
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145224

They are ok and will do the job.. a bit pricy when the OCZ sticks of the same timing and speed are cheaper and come with a rebate

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820227365

[enm]

So it looks like I did purchase the wrong memory...not the first time for me lol. Well...Ill order the 1600 Mushkin from the link provided. I ordered the Corsair from newegg and Im sure they work something out for me. Its no big deal for me...easily fixed since I dont have the parts delivered yet.

Thanks for your help Nick

[freedomhays]

How does this ram look to you Nick
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820145224

They are ok and will do the job.. a bit pricy when the OCZ sticks of the same timing and speed are cheaper and come with a rebate

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820227365

Check this memory out ,  it has 7-7-7-20 at 1.5 volts
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... X1333LV6GK

[NickN]

Yea... may have some headroom for clocking it up... I would probably go for the predefined memory designed for 1.65 with the speed and timing

[enm]

Yea... may have some headroom for clocking it up... I would probably go for the predefined memory designed for 1.65 with the speed and timing

When you say predefined memory design..do you mean Ram that has an XMP profile?

[NickN]

no.. I mean 1600 memory with the timing and voltage spec of 1.65 instead of clocking the memory posted above

one thing about i7.. to clock it and even if you DONT clock the memory speed you MUST be able to RAISE the memory voltage to stabilize the CPU so that Patriot memory above is not worth the purchase

XMP is just a predefined timing profile on the memory SPD chip and really means nothing other than 'XMP' looks cool on the website

kinda like ... XJS

[macca22au]

Nick and all:  On one of the other threads I mentioned that I had upgraded to an i7940 on a P6T motherboard.

However I had only 2x2gig of DDR3 RAM installed and Nick's strong view is that this "cuts the nuts of the system".  

So on Tuesday I am having a third matching stick installed, along with a XiFi GTX280 (and maybe a new PSU).

So at the moment I only have two sticks of RAM and a good 8800GTX, and I am getting a brand new "crash".  Randomly the screen will go black but the game will continue to run.  It takes task manager to clear it, and the message code is 'nvlddmkm', driver crashed but restored.

According to Nvidia the usual reason is not software but hardware.  If anyone is familar with this one, can I reasonably put it down to the RAM problem and possibly power supply?

[NickN]

you probably have PSU problems but i cant tell that from here


Part of the 'nuts' being removed is not running 3 1333 sticks. Your running 1066



I know what you need... you need me to build this thing right, set it up and tune it and ship it back to you

LOL


The shipping to and from would probably be outrageous but if you were willing to pay for that, I would do it for you.

I cant set it up for a matrox.. I dont have that device here but i can sure take care of everything else

[richardd43]

I know what you need... you need me to build this thing right, set it up and tune it and ship it back to you

Well shoot, wrote the check but I must have misplaced your mailing address

[macca22au]

Don't tempt me I might just do that.  However even at Australian componrnt prices it would probably exceed the value of my computer.  On the other hand if you ever visited this country we could arrange a tuning scedule that would have you see the entire continent.

However I have completely mislead you on the memory,  It is OCZ DDR3 12800 memory at 1600 clock speed.  Surely with a third stick this should go well?