Archive: November 20th, 2007

Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 (45 nm Technology) and FSX

I haven’t posted in a while as I’ve been busy with other work; however, I expect the rate of posts will increase a lot once I build the new computer towards the end of December.

Anyway, I spent a little time today researching processors for the new system. As mentioned in a previous post there is a lot of dicussion about how FSX is a very processor heavy application and how therefore a kick-ass processor is required just as much as a kick-ass video card. Intel has just recently brought forward their first chips manufactured with 45 nm technology. The QX9650 is part of the Intel Core 2 Extreme line of quad-core processors (currently listed on newegg.com for $1,295). Yes, that’s right… for the price of just a single chip you could purchase several complete low-end systems. So does the performance of the QX9650 cure the symptoms of sticker-shock and specifically how does it handle FSX? Those are the questions I’m asking now before I decide if I should shell out the big bucks for this state-of-the-art monster or go with something a bit cheaper.
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