Core 2 Duo Vs Quad Core

[flyguy737]

Hello all just wanted to know going by my specs listed below if it would be any better for me to go to a quad core CPU? Will I notice any difference? if so what?

As I can't afford a new computer yet and prices of the older stuff is dropping I would think if it was worth it I might grab one and install it now! So all you people in the know please tell me so.

[TenBlade]

Do it! It made a remarkable change for me. Just make appropriate edit in fsx.cfg. FPS got higher, smoother running.

Bjorn

[MarkH]

Hello all just wanted to know going by my specs listed below if it would be any better for me to go to a quad core CPU?

I wouldn't do it. You have one of the best Core 2 Duo CPUs and will need to buy a very expensive Quad to approach it for speed. You don't list your motherboard but you ought to be able to overclock the E8500 to 4GHz. My ASUS board overclocks my E8600 for me without even having to grub around in the BIOS. Just make sure you have a good cooler fitted. Also, look around for a post by Wolter on settings for your video card, which make a huge difference.

[TenBlade]

I had my E8600 @ 4 GHz, I had my res. @ 4080x768, and it was good. So, of course, try to see what you can drag out with a 4 Ghz overclock. If you don´t seem to be quite where you want to be, then I´d say try the quad. But as Mark says, let´s have a look at your other specs.

[flyguy737]

hmmm all good points but I overclocked my cpu once before and it became very unstable and my system crashed alot. I am thinking of maybe trying the 9650 Quad as it is about 200 now. what do you think?

[TenBlade]

May not just be the processor at fault, unless it ran hot. Northbridge (and southbridge) temp.s are to be concidered too. Then there´s the general behaviour of your particular mainboard, it´s like each piece of hardware has it´s own "personality", and it may even be the particular sets of ram that the mainboard finds it hard to "digest" at certain speeds. Which mainboard do you have? Perhaps we can dig up some info on do´s and don´t´s.

It´s a very good processor, but make sure there isn´t a row of non-cpu related snags that´ll ruin your day.

Bjorn

[marshkop]

flyguy737

       

      What kind of motherboard do you have? What speed is your ram? You can do more if you have the right motheboard. I have a E6750 on a P5N32sli with 4g of xms Dominator @4-4-4-8ddr2oc. 9800gtx xp64. This board is a great overclocker, i oc my cpu to 3.5 stable. I wanted to upgrade to your cpu but the new i7s were out and people were praising how much it does for fsx. I gave in. I dont regret it at all but it wasnt cheap.

      Now to your current problem, your cpu is great unless your budget is higher. Your board might not support Qcores. If you spent the money on a decent board you might be able, however, bechmarks prove that an oced E8500 will get you more(4Ghz on 2 cores is faster than a stock Qcore) than an Qcore. Unless you get the more expensive ones. That would be silly because you can buy i7 way cheaper. No to Q series. Yes to i7series.

[NaveenB]

I have an E8600 at 4.1 ghz(done through Gigabyte Easytune), and it is just ripping FSX.  You have a 1gb video card so give the BP=0 tweaks from Avsim a try. 

I thought my machine was due an upgrade until I set them up and Wow!  It's like a whole new rig.

[Maurice_King]

I'm not sure how many times I have posted this but FSX is not multicore aware, it can be made to use them but in it's native form it knows of  Core Duo only, I believe there were changes in the SP2 and Accelleration to assist. but a properly tuned Core Duo is usable with FSX at reasonable levels of detail.

[peterhayes]

I agree with many of the comments here, but it is not just a case of core 2 duo (or for that matter the Q series QC) versus quad core but it is what the latest Intel quadcores ie the i7 series bring to the table.  The i7 quadcores are based on the 45nm Nehalem architecture and this is much more efficient (and faster than the earlier Core 2 duo).  Because they have 4 cores on a single die they perfrom processes much faster and more efficiently.  They also have 256 KB L2 cache per core and a shared 8 MB L3 cache which has proven to be much better than any cache configuration in Core 2 Duo.  The quick path interconnect on the i7 is also supposedly better than the Front side bus used on the core 2 duo.  Further, The Core i7 have an On Die Memory Controller which means that it can access memory much faster than the Core 2 Duo processors which had an external memory controller, and they are much easier to overclock without issues.  The new core 2 duos ie the i5, i3 (32nm) etc series will also have better architecture than the earlier core 2 duos. 

FSX may not be as refined for optimal multi-core use as newer games, but with SP2 it is able to utise multicore processors and as it is more cpu intensive, a quad core may be a better option in the long run.

However, having said all of that whether a quad core i7 would run FSX significantly better than a core 2 duo of say the E8500/8600 series would depend on too many parameters to be able to give an objective reply.

Regards

PeterH

[NaveenB]

I love my I7, and I don't think anyone would argue that the Core i7 is the top of the heap for running FSX, but I believe Flyguy said he was locked into a socket 775 Mobo(for the time being).

That being the case I would definitely try overclocking that e8500 before upgrading to something else.

I was just reading about overclocking the E8600, and I noticed that I have not really tapped the potential of mine, people are getting 4.5 ghz on review sites(granted review sites get the best chips), so this weekend I will be back at it with a goal of 4.4 - 4.5 or so.

Oddly enough I just last night built a computer for my cousin(who is 14), this is a Frankenstein PC made with left over parts, it's an 8 core dual chip Xeon on a Supermicro server board at 2.5 ghz, 4gb DDR2 667 ECC Ram, and a 1 GB 9800 GTX+, I loaded Win 7, FSX and the BP=0 tweaks and even that thing was running all sliders right and full nhancer Image quality with 30 frames over default scenery.  I know my cousin tho' he's a twitchy console gamer so the whole thing will just go to waste on him

[MarkH]

I love my I7, and I don't think anyone would argue that the Core i7 is the top of the heap for running FSX

On the contrary, it has been so argued (or rather, demonstrated):

[flyguy737]

thanks for all the comments guys I'm still undecided but you give me some stuff to think about. My MB is a GA-52 that's all I can tell you so maybe I would be better to change the MB if I can to one that will take my CPU but more RAM. Since it is socket LGA775 I think I am looking to save money some how.

Anyway if I could afford the i7 upgrade I would but since I also need to save money to buy my wife a ticket to Australia once her spouse visa is approved, the upgrade will have to wait.

[NaveenB]

The GA in your motherboard name makes me think it's a Gigabyte mobo, which you would know by the bright, colorful splash screen when it boots up.  If that's the case then you could download the latest Easytune and let that program do the overclock for you.

[flyguy737]

i'll give it a try.