so now, is the i7 meeting expectations?

but, wait!! there's more!

recent links to titillate:

http://techreport.com/articles.x/17513

http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/17545

just in case someone is still interested. ;)

Flyby out

hey Cyber,

I read you loud and clear. I'd better decide soon. No telling how long Micro Center will keep those i7-920s priced at $200.00 USD. The savings will go far towards keeping the price of the rig down. I guess I'd be going on faith that the software people are working on some killer new combat flight sims that will, within two years, have even the i7 series gasping for breath. I've erad enough to make me think I can select good overclocking components to go along with the i7, and not have to spend a fortune to get the results I want.

Imagine the day when our combat flight sims are no longer bottle-necked by the cpu. What that monster might be one can only imagine. Oh, and new video cards are around the corner from both camps. :D

Flyby out

Heres another great article that just came out that should give you some hard numbers to answer your question.

http://anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=3634

 

I personally think that with full multicore support flight simulators will be an orgy of beautiful graphics.

/agree

Would be nice to see a bunch of naked women laying on the beach sunbathing as you fly over the coast line with the waves lapping up. lol. in my dreams right?

Ill skip the entire I7 gen. I only buy new PC's when they are at least twice as fast as my current machine. I7 Aint it.

I will too. Next year tho they come out with a 6 core i7 chip. Will be interested to see how it fares.

now I've gone and done it

I knee-jerked. I bought the i7-920, with DO stepping. One day i may use it to it's full potential. But I could not pass on that deal, $200.00. I'd have saved a few bucks going with the i5, and my only claim now is that I've read that the future 6-core processors will work with the current lga 1366 socket. Thus I am served with an upgrade path to something even more powerful just by replacing the processor (once I can afford it ;) ) That seems a hollow victory unless more flight sims come along that can take full advantage of all those cores beyond what performance one could get with an i5. Otherwise the i5 seems a simmer's dream, and I highly recommend it for that narrow focus. It could be a long while before we see flight sims get to where an i7 is a good path to take. Oh yeah, I opened the box. So now I can't return it. At least I have hyper-threading without having to pay for an i5-870. Now to find a good medium-cost mobo. Then look out!:D

Flyby out

pffft My comp parts are 20 months old and even using a 3850 ASUS vid card. I have no complaints running lock on. I am also using a 9 month old Sony bravia xbr6 32 inch tv. Lock on settings all set to high a a 4 af 8 1080 p I dont have a problem....

Wow you guys with I7's are getting much lower framerates than I am. :(

Personally I have found that cpu clock speed is everything with this game.

Ill skip the entire I7 gen. I only buy new PC's when they are at least twice as fast as my current machine. I7 Aint it.

Same. I have an E6850...I dont believe the similarly clocked i7 will provide a huge benefit.

When can we expect x2 performamce (the 'next conroe' to wipe the floor with everything else)?

Wow you guys with I7's are getting much lower framerates than I am. :(

 

Personally I have found that cpu clock speed is everything with this game.

an interesting link about CPUs and FSX (and some others)

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i5-gaming,2403-10.html

Flyby out

Hi flyby, I went through my archives and found out that I did get FPS like this (top left corner on #1 and #3 monitors):

And my CPU has always been set on auto-overclock, and it runs at 2.80G when the game is on. I'll see how it goes when I manually overclock it to 3.4G.

holy smokes, Alex! 53fps across 3 monitors @ 2.8 ghz seems impressive to me. :beer: Keep us posted on your overclocking results. Excellent looking gaming setup you have, btw. ;) Oh, you're not running the -295 and the -260 together in SLi mode are ya? Doing the PhysX thing, maybe?

Flyby out

holy smokes, Alex! 53fps across 3 monitors @ 2.8 ghz seems impressive to me. :beer: Keep us posted on your overclocking results. Excellent looking gaming setup you have, btw. ;) Oh, you're not running the -295 and the -260 together in SLi mode are ya? Doing the PhysX thing, maybe?

Flyby out

No they must NOT run in SLI mode because I need a DVI port on the 260+ to drive my 3rd monitor. And even the internal SLI inside GTX295 needs to be turned off for me to utilize dual outputs on the master card. PhysX is activated now, but not a couple of months back, due to an unknown bug inside the ASUS MB, which made my system unstable.

Also please note that somehow the SoftTH hooks prevented nVidia driver to enhance the graphics. 16xQ anti-aliasing had been selected for DCS, but judging by the in-game graphics quality, it wasing working.

I'll keep you updated for overclocking results, but right now I need to work on my projects. keep cool, buddy!:thumbup:

now, if you were poor like me you would not have those problems! :D Obviously they are "good" problems to have. Now get back to work before I report you to the Stop-dickin'-around Cops!! ;)

Flyby out

Alex, have you ever tried running the third display off of the 295's HDMI port via an HDMI to DVI adapter? I saw reports over on the SoftTH forums that it works. With all three monitors on the same card, it might offer you some possibility of improvement.

now, if you were poor like me you would not have those problems! :D Obviously they are "good" problems to have. Now get back to work before I report you to the Stop-dickin'-around Cops!! ;)

Flyby out

:doh:I missed the report window. Now that you're on the dark side of the planet, I may continue dickin' around for a while, lol.

Indeed I am poor, I just allocate my limited resources in a different manner from my folks:music_whistling:. I've been busy with a couple of projects and I think I do need to get back to work soon.

Alex, have you ever tried running the third display off of the 295's HDMI port via an HDMI to DVI adapter? I saw reports over on the SoftTH forums that it works. With all three monitors on the same card, it might offer you some possibility of improvement.

Yes I've heard about it, actually I faintly recall a debate over this issue, probably read about it when those guys were still weaking this card to reach the conclusion you presented here.

I may get an adaptor and try it for fun, but I don't know how to deal with the 260+ by then. The two GPU's in the 295 must work separately to run triple monitors, does that mean I can SLI one of them with the 260+? I mean the one onboard the PCB with SLI pins.

my understanding is that SLI can only be done with 2 identical chips that configured the same way i.e. GTX 280 w GTX 280 with same core/memory frequencies. Not sure if brands can be different.

my understanding is that SLI can only be done with 2 identical chips that configured the same way i.e. GTX 280 w GTX 280 with same core/memory frequencies. Not sure if brands can be different.

I guess that was my misinterpretation about the 'improvement' which CyBerkut was talking about.:doh:

Yes I've heard about it, actually I faintly recall a debate over this issue, probably read about it when those guys were still weaking this card to reach the conclusion you presented here.

 

I may get an adaptor and try it for fun, but I don't know how to deal with the 260+ by then. The two GPU's in the 295 must work separately to run triple monitors, does that mean I can SLI one of them with the 260+? I mean the one onboard the PCB with SLI pins.

Alex, I can not authoritatively say "That will not work" with absolute certainty... but I'm fairly sure that you can not do SLI between the 260+ and your 295 in any form.

If the three monitors all work from the 295, and you are satisfied with that performance, then you have some options:

1. Remove the 260+ if you don't have other uses for it. That would reduce the power draw and heat load in your computer case.

2. If you go with item 1 above, possibly slap the 260+ into another machine. Maybe get TouchBuddy working over a LAN connection.

3. Keep the 260+ and hang a display, or two, off of it. Maybe have dedicated ABRIS and/or Shkval displays... Maybe get TouchBuddy working (in local mode) ... Or maybe get / make an MFD bezel or two, and run the display(s) that you mount behind them off of the 260+ (as opposed to using USB based LCDs).

If the three monitors all work from the 295, and you are satisfied with that performance, then you have some options:

 

1. Remove the 260+ if you don't have other uses for it. That would reduce the power draw and heat load in your computer case.

 

2. If you go with item 1 above, possibly slap the 260+ into another machine. Maybe get TouchBuddy working over a LAN connection.

 

3. Keep the 260+ and hang a display, or two, off of it. Maybe have dedicated ABRIS and/or Shkval displays... Maybe get TouchBuddy working (in local mode) ... Or maybe get / make an MFD bezel or two, and run the display(s) that you mount behind them off of the 260+ (as opposed to using USB based LCDs).

Thanks! Option 3 might just be right up my alley. Additional monitors don't even necessarily need to have much to do with flight sims. It's always good to have more display space when it comes design works.