What kind of system would I need?

[unitedfan723 0]

So after thinking about it for a couple days and seeing what others have done with their sims I thought it might be a good idea to explore just getting a second computer. This was the point where I went wrong last time and just had a company build me a PC without really understanding the hardware that was going into it except for just picking the more expensive options since I figured with computer hardware the higher price the better which turned out not to be the case. Basically I would like a system that can run all these add-ons and still provide good FPS. 

 

Now I do realize it could very well just not be possible to have this list of addons running at the same time and still get excellent performance. The addons I would like running are as follows:

 

1. FTX Global, Vector, Trees. Maybe the EU stuff haven't really flown in the EU but have thought about getting it. 

2. Active Sky Next 

3. Rex 4+Soft Clouds

4. My Traffic whatever build it is now. 

5. PMDG level aircraft

6. Add-on airports such as FSDT, FlyTampa, FlightBeam 

 

What kind of system or hardware would I need to get good FPS such as a constant 30+ FPS and minimal to no micro stuttering during all phases of flight with all those add-ons running and P3D settings either maxed or close to maxed as possible? Or is what I am asking just not possible? Thank you in advance. 

[Alpha Floor 237]

I'm not a PC guru but I can point you to NickN's "bible" which I recommend you read.

 

Also some basic hints are:

Get an SSD for the Operating System (120GB for OS and basic programs will do it, but I recommend 240)

Get a separate harddrive for installing all your flight simulator related files, ideally an SSD of at least 500GB

Latest generation i7 CPU

Latest generation Nvidia GPU (GTX 980) with 4GB VRAM

At the very least, 8GB of RAM, recommended 16GB or more. 32bit applications such as P3D can only use up to 4GB, but if you want to use XPlane or P3D goes 64bit in the future you'll want to have more memory available

 

Let's see what the IT experts here can tell you.

[flyinpilot212121 724]

I'm very interested on this information also?

I was a fs9 user for years, just recently tried fsx and decided money better spent going to prepar3d instead(lots of research and thought put into it)

 

I have a good base to build a system from, So anxious for some replies on this.

 

Thanks

[KeithyGeorge 1]

I will be following your thread too

I am currently speccing a system out for P3D and I would be fine with your list of add ons performing as you say

[unitedfan723 0]

I'm not a PC guru but I can point you to NickN's "bible" which I recommend you read.

 

Also some basic hints are:

Get an SSD for the Operating System (120GB for OS and basic programs will do it, but I recommend 240)

Get a separate harddrive for installing all your flight simulator related files, ideally an SSD of at least 500GB

Latest generation i7 CPU

Latest generation Nvidia GPU (GTX 980) with 4GB VRAM

At the very least, 8GB of RAM, recommended 16GB or more. 32bit applications such as P3D can only use up to 4GB, but if you want to use XPlane or P3D goes 64bit in the future you'll want to have more memory available

 

Let's see what the IT experts here can tell you.

 

Your list of stuff sounds almost exactly what I already have although a couple years older. Have those things improved a lot in the couple years since I got my computer? 

[OneWhoKnocks53 51]

The list looks good, I would add a gtx 980ti (6gb) of vram, simply because I noticed a massive jump in smoothness in 4k over my older 970gtx sli setup. If budget allows of course.

[Alpha Floor 237]

Your list of stuff sounds almost exactly what I already have although a couple years older. Have those things improved a lot in the couple years since I got my computer? 

 

Honestly, I can't really say. But I'm inclined to think so, yes.

 

I run a first generation i7 860 2.80GHz (2010), overclocked to 3.80GHz together with a Nvidia GTX770 2GB (2014). This system is not "top notch" whatsoever, yet it satisfies my needs (see my videos). I don't think it would be powerful enough for running the list of add-ons the OP requests.

[TheBoom 31]

The main factor here is still the CPU. If you want to run medium to high settings with all those addons then get a good processor. If your on a budget go for the 6600k or 6700k. The average over clocks for those are about 4.6GHZ.

 

But if money isn't an issue id recommend a 5730k or 5960x 6 core. You get more leeway with addons and such.

 

As for the GPU get a 970gtx at the minimum or if money isn't an issue again then go for the 980ti. Or if you could be a little patient you might wanna wait for the Nvidia Pascal series which are due soon.

[virtualstuff 750]

So after thinking about it for a couple days and seeing what others have done with their sims I thought it might be a good idea to explore just getting a second computer. This was the point where I went wrong last time and just had a company build me a PC without really understanding the hardware that was going into it except for just picking the more expensive options since I figured with computer hardware the higher price the better which turned out not to be the case. Basically I would like a system that can run all these add-ons and still provide good FPS. 

 

Now I do realize it could very well just not be possible to have this list of addons running at the same time and still get excellent performance. The addons I would like running are as follows:

 

1. FTX Global, Vector, Trees. Maybe the EU stuff haven't really flown in the EU but have thought about getting it. 

2. Active Sky Next 

3. Rex 4+Soft Clouds

4. My Traffic whatever build it is now. 

5. PMDG level aircraft

6. Add-on airports such as FSDT, FlyTampa, FlightBeam 

 

What kind of system or hardware would I need to get good FPS such as a constant 30+ FPS and minimal to no micro stuttering during all phases of flight with all those add-ons running and P3D settings either maxed or close to maxed as possible? Or is what I am asking just not possible? Thank you in advance. 

 

Well it actually depends on your screen(s) resolution and where you want to have your sliders ;-) 

Currently running at 40 plus FPS not running mytraffic but custom made AI...

I'm happy with my hardware and P3D results (waiting for the end of the year for new CPU's)

Running I7-4770K at 4.4ghz

several EVO SSD drives

16 gb 2400 mhz crucial ram (not for P3D but other applications ;-)

GTX 970 4GB O/C edition... running ultra wide at 2560.

[787flyer 633]

The only thing i would say when considering the GPU, is also think about what future monitor(s) you plan to use. If you go 2560x1440 then the GTX 970 is probably going to be sufficient, but if you go 4K, you may need more GPU horsepower like the GTX 980.

 

Same for RAM. 8Gb is sufficient,, but in the future whether it be X-plane, P3D 64bit (when it comes?) or Dovetails new 64 bit sim more RAM is better.

 

I know this is subjective but having this in mind may help to future proof your next investment.

[Lucifah 1]

Just to chip in, because I have recently replaced my PC as well, and am running P3D V3.2 on it with many of the plugins you are looking for:

 

My specs:

* i7-6700k @ 4GHz stock (no OC), 32GB Ram (not required for P3D while it's 32bit only!)

* SSD galore (NVMe for OS, Samsung 850 Pro for P3D; but any recent SSD will serve you well)

* MSI 980TI "Twin Frozr" 

 

This GPU is a beast (even at stock clock settings), and you will want one of those if possible, because P3D is shifting more and more workload from CPU to GPU with every version and it shows!

 

 

Plugins, as seen in screenshot below:

* ORBX FTX Global Base, Vector, Trees & openLC Europe

* REX Textures and Soft Clouds

* Active Sky Next

* EZCA (with dynamic head shake etc)

* A2A Comanche (I don't do airliners, so can't speak for PDMG, but A2A build some pretty damn great GA plane addons)

* no traffic addon yet, but from what I hear My Traffic 6 plays nicely; have yet to get it and confirm though :smile:

 

So with that, flying over Norway's fjords:

 

 

 

They are not max settings for everything, by the way. I'm more sensitive to framerates than most other people, so I always aim to hit 60fps+ where possible to line up with vsync. (Hence setting to unlimited + vsync on in my case)  

 

That said, most settings are either max or only one notch down in this case. Most of the time I can maintain 60 fps or just below. In very busy areas fps goes down to 40-50 for me, and only in the craziest places (like EGLL London Heathrow, with ORBX England), it can drop down to 30-40 fps.

 

I could get a little bit of a boost with overclocking I guess, but I can't be bothered and prefer to run on lower temperatures and fan speeds (and noise levels), because the PC doubles as entertainment and work device.

 

I'm not sure if you can max everything out, but for most settings the visual advantage isn't that noticable over a notch less than max. I do have all the fancy stuff like full anisotropic filtering, AA, reflections and cloud shadows on in this screenshot.

 

Resolution would in theory be of concern, too, of course. But I notice no difference in fps whether I run in 1x or 2x 1920x1080 -- surprisingly. Most of the time, I'm only using one screen to have other stuff running on the other (flight planning, moving maps, FSE, skyvector etc)

 

So anyway, got a bit carried away here, sorry :smile:  You should be able to run close to max settings with recent hardware and maintain 30 fps or more. (Assuming that PDMG planes don't go berserk on fps, which I don't know.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[unitedfan723 0]

There are just too many options lol. Just when I think I have figured out what I want I read something else and it changes my mind. So basically this is what I have it narrowed down too at the moment. 

1. Top of the line I7 processor the 5960x seems good. My question is how fast can I OC it?

 

2. Ok I looked at the Nvidia 980 ti and it seems like a good card. I am guessing though I need 3? On the other hand would it be better if I just get 2 GTX Titan X cards instead of 3 980 ti cards? I honestly could not figure out which was the better card lol so if someone could tell me which is better I'd appreciate it. 

 

3. Obviously I need a massive power supply I know basically NOTHING about those so any suggestions in that regard would be helpful. 

 

4. I would also like a top of the line liquid cooling unit. I saw that the 980 card has an option to get built in cooling not sure how good that works but I saw there is an option for it. 

 

5. 2 500GB SSD already know which of those I want. 

 

6. Right now I am thinking of getting 32GB of RAM. I currently have 2133 RAM but I have noticed there is faster RAM now so I figured might as well get 32 again just faster. 

 

7. I have no clue about motherboards so any suggestions about that would be great. 

 

8. Also any tower suggestions would be helpful as I have never picked out a tower before. 

 

Thank you in advance for the suggestions. 

Also could someone please explain to me why the i7-5930k is like 650 bucks while the i7-5960x is like 1250? 

[Lucifah 1]

Ok I looked at the Nvidia 980 ti and it seems like a good card. I am guessing though I need 3? On the other hand would it be better if I just get 2 GTX Titan X cards instead of 3 980 ti cards?

 

How many displays at which resolutions are you planning to run? At 2x 1920x1080, my setup uses around 3.5 GB VRAM of the card. It could probably run a third display just fine and still have headroom.

 

 

Also any tower suggestions would be helpful as I have never picked out a tower before

 

If you like it slick: Fractal Design R5 or Nanoxia Deep Silence. Spacious, lots of room for fans to control the airflow, robust and very quiet.

If you need colourful LED lighting, glass panels and other fancy stuff, no idea. :wink:

[TheBoom 31]

The 5930k is slightly older and has a lower stock clock speed. The 5960x can overclock to an impressive 4.6ghz which is high for a 6 core CPU. Also I think there are some differences in cache size and clock architecture.

 

However when it comes down to raw performance they are very identical indeed. Maybe a little different for P3D since you may be able to achieve much higher clock speeds with the 5960x.

[Guest]

 

 

The 5960x can overclock to an impressive 4.6ghz which is high for a 6 core CPU

 

5960X is an 8 core CPU ... common OC range is 4.3Ghz to 4.6Ghz, less common but possible 4.7-5.0Ghz.

 

If I were on a budget and building a new PC for use with P3D:

1.  5820K or 5930K

2.  Asus Rampage V Extreme x99 - quad channel

3.  G.Skill 3000Mhz CL15 DDR - 16GB (4X4)

4.  980Ti (if you can wait for Pascal, I would) if you go 2160p, or 970 if 1440p or less

5.  M.2(512GB or higher) for P3D, standard SSD for OS (256GB)

 

Cheers, Rob.