Core i9 7900X for P3D v4

[adyfoot 19]

Hi everyone,

Was unsure whether to put this thread here or under Hardware - it's specifically a question about P3D so I guess here will do! 

With the imminent launch of Intel's new X299 platform, I'm contemplating building an overkill rig for P3D v4 that will see me into the future with something that should stand the test of time.  I'd very much appreciate opinions on whether this is likely to have much of an impact on P3D v4, whether my selections appear to be compatible and what I might do away with, in the interests of saving money, if it will have little effect.

• Gigabyte AORUS X299 Gaming 9 Motherboard
• Intel Core i9 7900X CPU 10/20 (will be overclocked to around 4.6GHz) watercooled
• 32GB (4x8GB) Corsair Vengeance DDR4 RGB PC4-24000 (3000MHz)
• 1TB Samsung 960 Evo M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD
• 2 x Asus GeForce GTX 1080 Ti Founders Edition 11GB SLI watercooled

Grateful for your help.

Thanks,

Ady

[Piotr007 165]

I think this would be a monstrous machine.. 

But I think CPU will be tanked anyway if you crank all the settings way up. Well, if the 7900X can go to 5.0 ghz without problems there is a chance... 

Otherwise no I guess.

But still, a monsterrig that would be!!

[Drumcode 1,893]

If you don't mind overpaying, go for it. It'll last you a while, but like it was mentioned numerous times already by v4 beta testers and some developers, SLI doesn't provide any significant improvement.

[garrett_frank 150]

7 minutes ago, adyfoot said:

overkill rig for P3D v4

There's no such thing lol.

I'm becoming befuddled by Intel's emerging line-up but I'd wonder if the 7820X is more of what we'd want. Even though the turbo and turbo max frequencies are the same as the 7900X (the base frequency for the 7820X is higher), I'd be willing to bet that fewer cores could translate to better overclocking ability. P3D wants high clock frequencies...

[G-YMML1 582]

SLI is unnecessary overkill unless other games are planned to be played

[Dazkent 113]

I think it will perform very well, however V4 has been designed with the future in mind so I wouldn't expect flawless performance in mega cloudy conditions running max sliders and complex aircraft

 

 

[adyfoot 19]

44 minutes ago, Drumcode said:

If you don't mind overpaying, go for it. It'll last you a while, but like it was mentioned numerous times already by v4 beta testers and some developers, SLI doesn't provide any significant improvement.

Hi Drumcode,

Thanks for your view.  I thought, with the latest nVidia drivers and P3D v4, that SLI was fully compatible and did make a difference with heavy anti-aliasing.  I have a 1440p widescreen so 8x SSAA is needed to smooth things out.

Cheers,

Ady

[adyfoot 19]

45 minutes ago, garrett_frank said:

There's no such thing lol.

I'm becoming befuddled by Intel's emerging line-up but I'd wonder if the 7820X is more of what we'd want. Even though the turbo and turbo max frequencies are the same as the 7900X (the base frequency for the 7820X is higher), I'd be willing to bet that fewer cores could translate to better overclocking ability. P3D wants high clock frequencies...

Thanks Garrett.

What made me select the 7900X is that it's the equivalent to what Rob A has at the moment and P3D appears to take good advantage of it.  Also, I'm led to believe that some example 7900X's have managed around 4.7GHz with no difficulty (across all cores) when nicely watercooled.

[adyfoot 19]

Thanks for your views everyone - much appreciated.  Sounds like it might be overkill for now but that's the point, so that it keeps up with advancements of the new 64-bit platform.  I expect this PC to last a good few years and keep up with everything I throw at it.

[Sethos 4,333]

As Rob mentioned not long ago, you are better off with a fast 4c/8t than one of those multi-core monsters. The new 7740 have a very, very high percentage of hitting 5GHz+ on low voltage, plus it's a helluva lot cheaper. Some of them will even hit 5.3GHz. I'd probably go that route, after having an 8 core / 16 thread processor and discovering they don't provide that much benefit for P3D. Plus, mine doesn't overclock very well. Also stick to one, really fast single card. SLI is just a perpetual headache. 

 

http://www.tweaktown.com/news/58075/intels-new-core-i7-7740k-overclocks-5ghz-easily/index.html

[glider1 90]

The most difficult part is picking the CPU because then you have to also commit to a motherboard line. There is no easy way to change the CPU and motherboard without a lot of work.

The really easy bit is selecting the GPU. Do not go SLI. Instead buy the fastest GPU for price then swap it out later. SLI is only good for quick instant solutions for a bit of extra performance for some application you need right now. Otherwise you are lumbered with two slow cards in the future.

That said, for me raw clock speed is more important for obvious reasons but I think a 6/8 core 5GHz+ CPU is what we really want for flight sim. P3D shows a little bit of gain with extra cores for scenery loading times - but more interestingly you can dedicate 5GHz cores to addons which is the neat part.

Problem is, I'm not aware of any 6/8 core CPU that can hit a minimum of 5GHz comfortably. For that reason, a 4 core 5GHz+ chip is still an excellent proposition because P3D is optimised around it.

 

[Lenny777 299]

The sky is the limit quite frankly now with 64 bit. 

[Piotr007 165]

1 hour ago, Lenny777 said:

The sky is the limit quite frankly now with 64 bit. 

Cpu is the limit.

[SteveW 1,792]

Don't forget a platinum PSU with good headroom. Brute force of four cores is hard to match but for P3D a fast 6 core may do it, faster than 8 or 10 due to less heat, spare pair of cores to offload addons exe apps onto.

[bonchie 2,305]

I wouldn't pay for a 7900x.

Just get a 7740x and OC it to 5.0ghz (and it can supposedly go higher). Same difference.