So how much better is a Core i7?

[JimBrown]

Well, since I went from an old Pentium IV at 3.2ghz to a Core i7 920 @ 2.6 ghz, obviously much better. But, just how much better?

Hopefully this will give an indication.

I ran the FSMark07 benchmark against the old and new systems. Both systems were configured as per NickN's excellent instructions, OS and FSX, with the exception of AA. I could not use that on the old system. FSX settings were also set the same on both system for comparison purposes.

Here are the details for the old system:
FS Version      FSX SP2 DX9
CPU      P4 3.2 Ghz
GPU      7600 GS 512M (178.24 driver)
Memory      2GB DDR2-400 @ 400MHz
Motherboard      Asus P4P800 Deluxe
Sound      Integrated (ASUS SoundMAX)
AA/AF      No AA 16x AF nHancer
Resolution      3540x1024
Screen Mode      Full Screen
OS      Vista 32 SP2
Add-Ons      FSGensis, Traffic X, UTX, GEX
Settings      See screen shots
Min FPS      5
Max FPS      18
Avg FPS      9.9
Cores operating      1 + HT
FrameLock      30

And here are the details for the new system:
FS Version      FSX SP2 DX9
CPU      i7 @ 2.8
GPU      GTX 260 Maxcore
Memory      6GB DDR3-1600 @ 7-8-7-20-1600
Motherboard      Asus P6T Deluxe
Sound      Integrated
AA/AF      No AA 16x AF nHancer
Resolution      3540x1024
Screen Mode      Full Screen
OS      Vista 64 SP1
Add-Ons      FSGensis, Traffic X, UTX, GEX
Settings      See screen shots
Min FPS      16
Max FPS      31
Avg FPS      29.9
Cores operating      4
FrameLock      30

I also did a run with the FrameLock set to unlimited on the Core i7 system which resulted in these frame rates:
Min FPS      27
Max FPS      61
Avg FPS      41

The FSX settings I used were the best I could do on the old system. Keep in mind I used the same settings on the new system for comparison purposes:




Note: The Target Frame rate in the above screen capture should show 30, not 20. Took the wrong screen capture.







The frame rates in the following graph were obtained by averaging the results from five runs of the benchmark for each line:



If you have an old system and are considering an upgrade, the Core i7 is certainly a good choice.

Keep an eye on the Tweaking and Overclocking forum. I'll be posting the results of OC'ing the i7 there soon.

Regards,
...jim

[Wii]

What, may I ask, in the WORLD are you doing with a 32-bit operating system with a Core i7, 6GBs of RAM and at DDR3-1600???????????? :-? :-? :-? :-?

[jwenham]

What, may I ask, in the WORLD are you doing with a 32-bit operating system with a Core i7, 6GBs of RAM and at DDR3-1600???????????? :-? :-? :-? :-?

I more or less have the same system except I have the i7 940 and am running with XP 32. I have yet to have any OOM issues even flying the LevelD 767. Im sure he bought the 6gb of ram for the same reason as I, 1) will be all set to uprade later to 64bit, 2) 32bit will use 4gb of ram and the i7 needs tripple channel sets so 3gb would be shorting the system 1gb of ram (3 for apps, 1 for OS), 3) teh 1600 ram was to be able to hit 4ghz with ease as I know he has done and so have I on my system. Very easy OC! The ram speed as well as other things are all tied to each other, so the lower ram would have held him back. Like I said, I have yet to date to have a OOM error and I have been flying every chance I have for the last 2 weeks and IF I should start to get the problem may then switch to 64 but in all actualality will most likely hold off for Windows 7.

[JimBrown]

What, may I ask, in the WORLD are you doing with a 32-bit operating system with a Core i7, 6GBs of RAM and at DDR3-1600???????????? :-? :-? :-? :-?

Yeah, what in the world was I thinking!!

Oh, wait, it was a mistake in the post.  ;D

Fixed it. Yes, I have Vista 64bit on the new system.

...jim

[NickN]

GET THEM SLIDERS BACK UP WHERE THEY BELONG!

just kidding

[Wii]

What, may I ask, in the WORLD are you doing with a 32-bit operating system with a Core i7, 6GBs of RAM and at DDR3-1600???????????? :-? :-? :-? :-?

Yeah, what in the world was I thinking!!

Oh, wait, it was a mistake in the post.

[JimBrown]

I am in no way a screenshot "artiste".  8-)

If you could suggest something or somewhere, or some situation that might make a good shot, feel free...  ;)

...jim

[dvpro]

I've got some I was going to post up on the lvlD forum...where do they go over here?

[dvpro]

[jwenham]

Nice and clear textures with silky smoothe flying.

[jwenham]

And lets not forget lots of autogen!

[jwenham]

One last shot! Very realistic with real world weather!

[dvpro]

With light bloom:




And at PHNL

[jwenham]

Forgive me for hijacking this thread but I see you all are using the GTX 260 same as I am and was wondering what you are doing about the fan speed? Are you leaving it on auto or have you changed it to help with how hot this card runs? Also what drivers are you using?

Thanks!

[JimBrown]

I'm using nVidia's "System Utility" http://www.nvidia.com/object/sysutility_1.0.html

While it is designed for both their MB's and VC's, I installed it on my ASUS P6T and use just the VC part of it.

It has allowed my to easily OC the 260. It has also allowed my to set up profiles (including fan speed) that implements an OC when FSX starts up, and returns to stock speeds when FSX exits.

I also grabbed GPU-Z (http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/) to monitor the GPU temps while OC'ing.

So far, I'm running a 20% clock and seeing temps below 60C with the fan set to 50% (Stock is 40%.) Tried to go to 25%, but started seeing artifacts, so went back to 20%.

Stock speeds on my BFG 260 Maxcore are (core, memory, shader) 590, 999, 1296. With the 20% OC, that puts them at 700, 1200, 1560.

Regards,
...jim