Hardware Decision for V3.0

[carlito777 712]

Gone from 18-30 fps with the 780 up to 40-70 fps mostly with the 980TI, i run frames unlocked with Gsync.

 

 

That sounds interesting. I'm also thinking about making the switch from a 780 to a 980Ti. Should be worth it, especially since I'm running a triple monitor setup.

 

@Jeroen: Please let us know your experiences if you also make the switch! Thanks!

[G-YMML1 582]

Quick question, folks. As the full PC rebuild for me is taken off the plate and I have some budget $$$ surplus, would it be smart to invest either into Titan 12GB (assuming that it will be on the same Sabertooth Z77 motherboard) or add two SSD (250/500) for the system and P3D separately.

 

Appreciate your thoughts. 

[carlito777 712]

I would think that the Titan X is a complete overkill. It is only slightly faster than the 980Ti in most benchmarks and the 12 Gb will not be used in P3D, except if you run triple 4K monitors. So I would rather spend the money on SSDs.

[Guest]

That sounds interesting. I'm also thinking about making the switch from a 780 to a 980Ti. Should be worth it, especially since I'm running a triple monitor setup.

 

@Jeroen: Please let us know your experiences if you also make the switch! Thanks!

 

Will do! I already created three testflights: default Carenedo plane on autopilot, approaching 1. New York, 2. Seattle and 3 Seattle fogged in (added this test later on specially for testing NI's 4xSGAA mode), and I already tested all those flights twice (with a complete PC restart in between all tests), making note of the average fps after 30 and 60 seconds with 1. my regular settings (which btw are quite high already), 2. ultra settings and 3. ultra settings plus NI's 4xSGAA. All this with frame limiter at unlimited btw!

 

So far fps is 28,4 at highest (regular settings, approaching Seattle after 60 seconds) and 14,6 at lowest (ultra settings plus NI, Seattle fogged in after 60 seconds). I already ordered the 980 Ti (from a shop where I can return it no questions asked, just to be sure) and hopefully I can complete the tests somewhere this week!

I would think that the Titan X is a complete overkill. It is only slightly faster than the 980Ti in most benchmarks and the 12 Gb will not be used in P3D, except if you run triple 4K monitors. So I would rather spend the money on SSDs.

 

Well, not if you take into consideration that he currently has a GTX 780. Not that 980 Ti.

 

Going from a 780 to a 980 Ti should defenitely have an impact on actual performance which can not be said of getting SSD's! SSD's are only great for faster startup and no need to defrag anymore. If you want to be certain, G-YMML1, you could wait for the results of the test I just announced.

[Bob Scott 7,715]

Quick question, folks. As the full PC rebuild for me is taken off the plate and I have some budget $$$ surplus, would it be smart to invest either into Titan 12GB (assuming that it will be on the same Sabertooth Z77 motherboard) or add two SSD (250/500) for the system and P3D separately.

 

Appreciate your thoughts. 

 

Not unless you're running multiple monitors or 4K with super-aggressive AA/AF settings.

 

Regards

[G-YMML1 582]

Okey, thank you, folks for the suggestions

Final hardware question (I promise!!!) for non-hardware forums.

 

I have two Raptors (one for W7, the other - for P3D only, not other "games" installed). I don't want to deal with the entire system software re-install, thus I'd like to add SSD as another drive and put V3.0 onto this SSD. Assuming that the system (W7 and stuff) will stay on HD Raptor, will I really benefit from using separate SSD for v3.0? OR I should have both the system and the sim of SSD/SSDs in order to see some valuable performance gain?

 

Again, thanks for your help, gentlemen.

[Bob Scott 7,715]

Do some googling re. pci express 3.0 versus 2.0 and I think you will find there is almost no practical difference with most benchmarks.

 

eg

http://www.guru3d.com/articles-pages/pci-express-scaling-game-performance-analysis-review,17.html

 

The new card would be the way to go.

Faster and with double the memory.

If you are still not happy you can always put the 980ti in a Skylake board later.

Putting your old 780 in Skylake would be holding it back I think.

 

gb.

 

Thanks for posting that.  So 3-5% difference between PCIe 2.0 and 3.0 if you have a processor that's fast enough to saturate the bus.

 

Interesting.

 

Cheers

Okey, thank you, folks for the suggestions

Final hardware question (I promise!!!) for non-hardware forums.

 

I have two Raptors (one for W7, the other - for P3D only, not other "games" installed). I don't want to deal with the entire system software re-install, thus I'd like to add SSD as another drive and put V3.0 onto this SSD. Assuming that the system (W7 and stuff) will stay on HD Raptor, will I really benefit from using separate SSD for v3.0? OR I should have both the system and the sim of SSD/SSDs in order to see some valuable performance gain?

 

Again, thanks for your help, gentlemen.

 

An SSD will make no noticable difference in the sim's performance unless you are using a lot of photoscenery.  It will load the sim MUCH faster, which is actually significant if you do development or a lot of tweaking and stop/restart the sim over and over.  Having the OS on an SSD will make it boot quicker.  Personally, I'd leave the OS on the raptor and put P3D on an SSD.

 

Cheers

[G-YMML1 582]

Thank you, Bob - that is my plan to leave OS on Raptor and put v3.0 on planned-to-purchase SSD

[Guest]

What Bob says: do not get an SSD to get better performance in the sim. You won't notice any difference when it comes to fps. If you want to see a difference in performance, replace the 780 with for instance a 980 Ti. As I said I will post my personal test results with the exact same switch later on this week.

 

Moving the sim from your Raptor to an SSD won't help you at all apart from faster loading the initial flight (not loading textures etc. during flight) so I doubt if you will find that worth the money...

[Ost Kampfer 2]

Aren't Raptors rather small? Been awhile since I ran any but their capacity topped out at what 180Gb? Whereas with your budget you should be able to afford a 480-500GB SSD and, probably more. I think if you are prudent with your space/budget you should be able to get your OS and P3D on the same drive.

 

Anyway bottom line is move off HDD. There maybe nothing in-sim to notice but life is too short to be waiting for an OS to boot and in a full-loaded P3D a mega-app to load.

 

Interestingly I just spent this week-end moving my 2600K (OC at 4.8GHz) to an i7 6700. Not because Skylake is better for P3D or, even my other computing needs simply because the water-coooler pump gave out after several years of service! Needless to say a new build feels slick and sharp. A multitude of USB ports in the Z170 MB spec is much welcome when trying to connect-up a collection of Saitek panels and peripherals. Can't comment on the graphics as was already running a 980. 

 

My dealer suggested I add an Intel SSD 750 running on the PCIe. Despite having run my SSDs in RAID0 for several years this blows the socks off anything I have used before. A clean Win10 install starts almost instantly. Highly recommended. This is a performance gain you will notice and never want to give up.

[carlito777 712]

I can complete the tests somewhere this week!

 

 

That would be great. 650 Euros is quite in investment and I would only do it if the performance increase is really noticeable.

 

 

 

 

Well, not if you take into consideration that he currently has a GTX 780. Not that 980 Ti.

 

I thought his question wasn't really if he should get the 980Ti. I guess the question was when he does not upgrade the mobo and CPU on top of buying a 980Ti, then he still has some money left which he could invest either into an even more powerful GPU (which I think doesn't make sense because the difference in performance between a 980Ti and a Titan X is negligible) or SSDs... ;-)

Interestingly I just spent this week-end moving my 2600K (OC at 4.8GHz) to an i7 6700. 

 

How much of a performance increase did you get from upgrading the CPU? I'm asking because Prepar3d v2 is still CPU bound in a lot of situations (especially flying around dense urban areas) and upgrading from a Sandy Bridge to Skylake should net a significant increase in performance. I'm on Haswell so upgrading for me doesn't make sense but I'm just curious.

[Guest]

@Ost: you can get 600 and 1000 GB Raptors nowadays but I would also forget about old fashioned HD's and go SSD all the way. Whenever I get a new PC I will also go for those PCIe ones!

 

@Carlo: I don't think that was the question but if it was then you are right: I would certainly not get a Titan instead of a 980 Ti if I had some (or a lot) of money left!

[Brian_A_Neuman 198]

Ok, so thanks for the replies. I understand that my Mobo and my processor will handle the 980Ti, but before I spend the $660, are there any other good alternatives for me to look at prior to making that purchase? Thanks