by Speed of flight » Sat Feb 08, 2014 10:45 pm
Currently, my specs are in my signature. It's where I run it all the time. Some folks OC to a max for the bragging rights, I suppose, but to me it's useless if it doesn't run there all the time.
I formatted the HD, installed windows 7x64 and updated, overclocked, and the first program I installed was FSX. I used the motherboards own OC utility, and benched with Cinebench, 3dmark 11, firestrike, as many of the benching programs I could find. At 5.19 GHz, it would no longer run FSX, but would do anything else I'd throw at it. Even multiple simultaneous bench programs like furmark and heaven with cinebench. I wanted a thorough test. FSX however was the standard, as it seems to make the PC do more than any of those bench programs did, for whatever reason. FSX could crash it when nothing else could, so I figured if it runs FSX, we're good. I still ran all the other tests through the whole process, but FSX was the determining factor.
I run it all the time like that with a Corsair H100i, and it does fine. It's a closed-loop cooler, and all the connections are press-fit, no clamp. It really can't leak. I was the biggest scaredy-cat with putting a liquid in the PC case (just seems too risky, really). Then I read an article about it, and apparently the liquid used in CPU coolers is generally a non-conductive formula. Whooda thunk it? Cool, I thought.
As with any big scenery package, it still gets busy and starts to drop in FPS. For example, on final approach for FlyTampa VHHX, max FSX settings, Ultimate Traffic 2, REX essentials, and the PMDG MD-11, it never dips below 18 FPS. It depends on the time of day, the weather, what airplane, but it only gets better. Most places I go, it never drops below the target setpoint of 30. I'd say, HONESTLY that's pretty good. That's quite a workload, and not everyone makes their sim that busy. Results can be even better, especially if you start to back off the detail. I am OK with those numbers with the level of detail I get. I got particularly lucky with this combo, and have been enjoying it for over a year now.
It is possible to repeat this exactly, and someone who knows more about what they're really doing than me can probably get better results.
The performance differences between AMD and Intel are narrowing, and this chip is only another step in a positive direction for AMD.
Hope this helps, and see you up there!
Asus Crosshair V Formula-Z, NB & FSB @2608 MHz
AMD 8350 @ 5.02 GHz 1.524V (200.6 x 25)
Corsair H100i
16GB GSkill Trident @ 2133 MHz C10
Asus 7870 2 GB 1200core/5500mem
Samsung 250GB SSD
RaidMax 1200W
Cooler Master HAF 932
Windows 7 x64
VRS Superbug/TacPack, Iris A-10A, PMDG 77W, 744 and MD-11
REX texture direct, FTX Global