HI everyone!

I use P3D v3 on my PC, and I will certainly buy and use P3D v4 in the next future.
I mostly fly PMDG 737 NGX or MJC Q400 with ORBX BASE + Vectors + openLC + Trees HD, GSX, ASN, Chaseplane, fs2crew. And of course, sceneries for airports such as Jetstream LFRS, Aerosoft LEPA, etc. Perhaps I will fly FSLabs A320-X.

My actual configuration is:

• Motherboard: Z97-A
• CPU: i7-4790k
• RAM: 2 x 4 Gb @ 1600 MHz CAS 9
• GC: GTX970 OC by ASUS
• SSD: 2 x 250 Go, for Windows, P3D and addons
• HD: 1 x 1 To, for storage
• Screen: 24", 1080p

I think it is necessary to upgrade my PC to improve gaming.
I already bought 2 x 4 Gb @ 1600 MHz CAS 9, so my configuration is now 16 Gb of RAM.

Do you think it's a good idea to change my graphic card while I keep my CPU (I don't want to change my CPU because, if I do that, I need to change also my motherboard and it's too expensive).
For example, i7-4790k + MSI RTX2070 GAMING Z could be a good configuration? I can buy this GPU for 500 € but I want to be sure to see improvements!

Perhaps, RTX2060 SUPER is good enough? Or AMD RX 57..?

Thanks in advance for you help!

I would keep your current graphics card, ram, power supply and buy new motherboard and processor 

Have you checked that the power supply is enough to run a 2080?...could be another expense if not.

at least if you got new mono/cpu you’ll be ahead of yourself and not chasing your tail.

I don’t think your system will benefit much, if at all from a new card / old mobo / chipset combination.

another thing, is your CPU overclocked? You could try that option if not, that would see improvements and you just have to buy a cooler.

Thanks for you answer!

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Have you checked that the power supply is enough to run a 2080?

Yes, it's sufficient (I've got Be Quiet Pure Power 630W).

To be precise, I don't imagine to buy a 2080 but a 2070. Your answer is stil the same?

IF you are going to upgrade your GPU, go for the 2070 instead of the 2060..

You currently have a 970, good card... 2070, good card..

 

Keep in mind that P3Dv4 is still mostly CPU bound, unlike other games today that utilize the GPU much more, so I think you won't get a massive boost by upgrading your GPU. That would be the case if you went to 4k but not so much if you stick with 1080p. This doesn't mean it's not worth upgrading from a 970, it definitely is as that card is aging. In your price range the 2070 is a good card.

Thanks threegreen.

But something I don't understand with P3D: even if I test Ultra settings my CPU and my GPU are not satured...
And, on the other hand, on ground, whatever the settings, FPS stays around 25-30 fps (less if bad weather, especially during take-off or landing)... The higher the settings, the more lag...
Why?

4 minutes ago, FSLogin said:

Thanks threegreen.

But something I don't understand with P3D: even if I test Ultra settings my CPU and my GPU are not satured...
And, on the other hand, on ground, whatever the settings, FPS stays around 25-30 fps (less if bad weather, especially during take-off or landing)... The higher the settings, the more lag...
Why?

If you look at the individual CPU cores in Windows Task Manager, you will see that the first P3D core is almost always fully used... that is the fps limitation.

If your GPU is not close to 100% in heavy scenery, a faster GPU may not buy you much.. (check both GPU memory usage and GPU usage %)

Edited August 21, 20196 yr by Bert Pieke

8 hours ago, FSLogin said:

My actual configuration is:

• Motherboard: Z97-A
• CPU: i7-4790k

If you haven't already done so (and assuming you have a decent CPU cooler), you'd get a zero-cost performance improvement by just overclocking your processor.

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If you look at the individual CPU cores in Windows Task Manager, you will see that the first P3D core is almost always fully used... that is the fps limitation.

Thanks Bert for this information. I will check it this evening.

 

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If you haven't already done so (and assuming you have a decent CPU cooler), you'd get a zero-cost performance improvement by just overclocking your processor .

Thanks vertox681. In fact, I never tried to overlock my processor. I've got a Be Quiet Pure Rock as CPU cooler; do you think I can try to overlock my processor?

15 hours ago, FSLogin said:

But something I don't understand with P3D: even if I test Ultra settings my CPU and my GPU are not satured...

What Bert said. This is where the ESP engine that P3D is based on is lacking. FSX was designed in anticipation of single core CPUs of up to 10 GHz. These CPUs never became reality. What we have today are multi-core CPUs at up to 6 GHz as the absolute maximum. Even though Lockheed Martin optimized P3D, it is still hampered by the ESP code and only really uses a single core while all other cores are not doing much. This is the major performance limitation of the ESP engine along with less than adequate GPU utilization. The overall CPU usage is low but that's only because it's just that one core doing all the work.

I would add,  that scenery loading is actually handled by "the other cores" so if you are flying in heavy/detailed scenery, you will see them working for sure.. 

The explanation of threegreen is particularly clear & relevant about CPU usage in P3D; thanks a lot!

So, definitetely, as I don't have enough money to upgrade my CPU and my GPU, I will not buy RTX 2070, and keep my i7-4790k.

But... I have the opportunity to buy Asus GeForce GTX 1070 Dual OC for 280 €; do you think it's a good idea compared to GTX 970?

 

16 hours ago, FSLogin said:

But... I have the opportunity to buy Asus GeForce GTX 1070 Dual OC for 280 €; do you think it's a good idea compared to GTX 970?

It's certainly worth the money. I don't know what plans you have for the future but if you can hold off, I would think some of the cards which are still expensive now will go down in price in the not-so-distant future. These are just rumors but from what I read, another new Nvidia series isn't that far away even though the 2080 series is still new. You might get a good price for a used 1080 ti or perhaps even a new one. This card will also allow you to comfortably go to 4k should you decide so in the future. The 1070 will struggle a bit at 4k in demanding scenarios from what I know.

On 8/22/2019 at 8:18 AM, FSLogin said:

I've got a Be Quiet Pure Rock as CPU cooler; do you think I can try to overlock my processor?

It's not the best cooler but it should do the job. Try it and see. Ideally you want to keep the temps below about 80°C under stress testing, but as long as it stays under 90°C you should be OK.

On 8/22/2019 at 10:42 PM, FSLogin said:

But... I have the opportunity to buy Asus GeForce GTX 1070 Dual OC for 280 €; do you think it's a good idea compared to GTX 970?

You'd be replacing an old GPU with one that's only slightly newer and you'll probably just want\need to buy again when you next update the full system. I'd install MSI Afterburner and monitor your GPU and individual CPU cores whilst running P3D. This will give you a better idea what the weaker component is. The 4790k is still a surprisingly good CPU.