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Hi all, I'm running my complete setup off of one computer at the moment. 

Intel Core I5 750 2.66ghz
4 gig Ram ddr3 1333mhz
nvidia gtx275 860MB
Windows XP 32bit
FS2004 with addons.
750watt psu

The computer is currently handling 3 mips, 3 beamers @ 1280x800 plus some software that runs hardware in the sim.

When running FS9 the turboboost kicks in and bumps the computer up to 3317ghz or around 3.3 ghz. With that I can get really smooth frames around stock scenery  and it starts to get some stutter around good addon scenery and airports etc.

I'm just wondering if anyone would know from experience, if it's worth me overclocking to 3.6ghz and would I really notice that much of a difference in frame rates? I do have the Artic cooler freezer Pro Rev.2 installed and it seems to be keeping the idle temps at 38 celcius "ambient outside temp was about 28 degrees. It can reach 30-33 degrees during the wet season. I can run prime95 to test full load when its warm in the shed to test where the highest temps will be. I'm just wondering wether I would see a noticeable improvement in frames around those stuttery areas vs heating everything up for no real gain.

I understand the best way is to try it out and see, just asking here first to see if anyone else has done similar and noticed a good improvement from 3.3ghz to 3.6-3.8ghz.

Cheers
Drew

I believe for yor question you would in fact see improvement to some degree if you boost the speed but as you said you will be putting extra stress on it for what I am guessing will be minimal gain.   That said, I see some areas you may be able to improve...

1.  You have a beautiful i5 processor but are running a flight sim version that doesn't take advantage of the extra cores because unlike FSX, FS9 was not built for multiple processor.   Some other add ons you have however may be able to be assigned to run on separate cores thus freeing up fs9 more on it's core so you should look into that if you haven't already done so.

2.  You have 4 gig of ram but are running an operating system that only supports use of 3 gig.  I would definitely consider upgrading to Windows 7 64 bit.  It is a very efficient OS and will allow you apps to tap the extra memory.  Then add a little more memory as memory is cheap.  If you take this leap be sure to follow Nick Needhams guides on setting up Windows 7.

3.  I had a gtx 275 that I recently upgrade to a gtx 480 and made a lot off difference on my system. 

I know this is more than you asked for and if you already had considered these ideas I apologize but just thought I'd throw them out there in case you hadn't.

Best regards,
Scott

If

Hey Scott, thanks for the reply mate. I'll try assigning one core to Fs9 etc and see how that goes. I will make the leap to Windows 7 with extra memory in the future, I'm just not ready to reload and reconfigure any part of my sim just now. I have thought about updating my GPU but I thought that FS9 was more about the processor than GPU. I do understand that a great graphics card will show benefits over an average card but always better off upgrading the CPU I thought? Anyways, thanks again for the reply and we will see what i can squeeze out of one core.

Cheers
Drew

Hi Drewsta,

Following from Scott's advice, I would suggest a couple of other no and low cost options to eek out that extra frame or two.

• Tune both WinXP and FS9 according to Nick_N's comprehensive advice
• Download and install nVidia Inspector and configure according to Nick's advice to get the most out of your video card
• Install a decent defrag program such as O&O or Disktrix (both payware but worth the money) and run accordingly on a regular basis

This will help to a noticeable degree I think you'll find however I would agree with Scott that the move to Win7 64 plus a little more RAM (6Gb) will result in a much more noticeable performance increase.  I also saw quite a difference after installing a GTX480 video card however that's a big cost option.

Ken.