Help me spec out parts for new computer build for MSFS2020

[captain420 3,066]

I have been interested in getting a new build ready for the upcoming MSFS 2020. Not only do I want to future proof it as much as I can, since it will be my primary gaming device, but also want it to be powerful enough to run most flight sims (DCS World, P3D, MSFS 2020, X-Plane, etc) at max or close to max settings as possible. I play on 4k, so I will need a pretty beefy build. I would like to gather some advice from the hardware experts of this community to help me figure out what parts I need to accomplish this build that will meet my requirements. I haven't really decided on a budget yet. But that isn't important to me as the quality and power which will result from this build is what will justify my choice on spending the money. With that being said I am looking at the following parts.

1. Intel i9-9900k for the CPU - $535
2. Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU Cooler w/ 4 Continuous Direct Contact Heatpipes, 120mm PWM Fan, Aluminum Fins - $35
3. NVIDIDA Titan RTX 24GB - $2500
4. Asus ROG Strix Z390-E Gaming Motherboard LGA1151 [Amazon] - $224
5. NZXT H710i Case (Not sure if I should go for the smaller H510i) - $200
6. Corsair Vengeance LPX 64GB DDR4 DRAM 3200MHz C16 Memory Kit - $330
7. Sabrent 512GB Rocket NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 Internal SSD High Performance Solid State Drive (will be my main OS drive) - $80
8. CORSAIR RMX Series, RM850x, 850 Watt, 80+ Gold Certified, Fully Modular Power Supply - $145
9. WD Black 6TB Performance Internal Hard Drive - 7200 RPM Class, SATA 6 Gb/s, 256 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD6003FZBX - $228
10. Keyboard (?)
11. Mouse (?)

My last computer build was back in 2012 which was an i7-3770k. It's lasted me until now almost 8 yrs and is still holding up. But it's time for me to start a new build getting ready for the next gen of games. Am I missing any other parts that are necessary? I'm not sure if a DVD-ROM is needed anymore, but don't I need that to install Windows 10? Or can the current gen computers install from a flash usb drive? Sorry, it's been a long time since my last build, and I know things have changed a lot since then.

[olderndirt 2,295]

Bit of overkill - it's not that demanding - 'nough said.

[captain420 3,066]

Like I said, I want to future proof this build because I plan on keeping it for awhile. I'm not in the market to build a new computer every 5 years. It may be overkill now, but not later down the road.

Edited April 14, 2020 by captain420

[ChaoticBeauty 6,692]

Is there a reason to get the build now? There is lots of new hardware coming in the next six months, and from the looks of it Microsoft Flight Simulator will not be released until later in the year.

[captain420 3,066]

No specific reason really, but I'm long overdue for a new build anyways. Is there anything beneficial that I should wait for within the next 6 months? I don't have to purchase everything on my list all at once. I can piece it out over time. Perhaps if there's a better graphics card that will be out by the end of this year, I can just hold off on that part while I order the other stuff 1st.

I can get the non essential parts such as the case, hdd, ssd, psu, and hold off on the others to see if anything new will come out and perhaps wait for prices to drop on cpu, memory, gpu, etc.

[monica6211 170]

The answer to your question for installing Windows10, newer motherboards support booting from flash drives. I just upgraded my computer (used to have an I7 3770 also). My new rig supports the flash drive, so I installed Windows10 from a flash drive. Very quick and easy. The motherboard you listed does support it as well. I have to agree with the comment above about a bit overkill, but hey, if you can afford it, why not. Just keep in mind though, that, if you don't set things up correctly (latest drivers, background programs, conflicts in hardware or software), even the best or fastest hardware may not give you the performance you might expect. Take your time and set everything up right and optimize it. Then install your sim(s). I still have my I7 3770 system and plan to use it for my flight planners, weather, and browsing system. It has served me well and still going strong.

One other thing I would suggest. While your new rig would have a built in sound support, I would suggest adding good quality sound card. Even with ASRock motherboard for my 3770 system had conflicts with the sound. The built in sound support would cause stutters that weren't always detectable unless I was using Teamspeak or skype. When I'd use these programs (and others) with my sims, I could hear the stutters and I could see the sim lag and stutter as well. After installing a sound card, everything has been silky smooth. Many years ago this was a known issue with motherboards with on-board sound. I figured by now that would have been fixed or addressed. To me, it doesn't seem to be, as I still experience the same thing with every motherboard I've used.

[GlideBy 324]

If you are building this for MSFS, why not wait until the announce the specs at least?  And hardware could change by the launch.  Maybe the Nvidia RTX 3090 Titan is best.  And maybe more cores are better than clock speed, or maybe max 4 cores and clock speed is best.  A lot of unknowns for MSFS 2020.

Edited April 14, 2020 by GlideBy

[ChaoticBeauty 6,692]

19 minutes ago, captain420 said:

No specific reason really, but I'm long overdue for a new build anyways. Is there anything beneficial that I should wait for within the next 6 months? I don't have to purchase everything on my list all at once. I can piece it out over time. Perhaps if there's a better graphics card that will be out by the end of this year, I can just hold off on that part while I order the other stuff 1st.

Yes. Next month Intel will be releasing the Comet Lake line-up (which is yet another Skylake rehash though), and later in the year (rumours point to the September-October timeframe) AMD will be releasing the Zen 3 CPUs and RDNA 2 GPUs, and then NVIDIA will respond to that with their Ampere GPUs.

The current generation of GPUs is extremely overpriced, and competition from AMD and consoles should make their price-to-performance ratio a lot better. It is suggested that Zen 3 will have a healthy IPC boost as well, which should bring their gaming performance ahead of Intel's offerings (with much better power efficiency too).

[captain420 3,066]

I appreciate everyone's input. With that being said perhaps I can hold off on the motherboard, CPU, GPU and RAM and start off by ordering the case, psu, cpu fan, hdd, ssd first while I wait for Microsoft to announce the specs for FS2020.

Really curious to hear about NVIDIA's next gen graphics card though to see how they compare to the current RTX 2080's.

Also I can't decide to go with watercooling vs the traditional aircooling for the CPU. I was looking at the NZXT Kraken X63 vs the Noctua NH-U12S or Coolermaster EVO 212. I heard watercooling is better for those extreme cpu overclocks and keeps the cpu cooler vs the traditional aircooling. I do plan on overclocking my i9-9900k, but nothing too extreme. I am looking for a stable OC. But not sure whether the much more expensive watercooling will be better overall for my particular build. What do you guys think?

[AUA425 116]

So I would definitely recommend water-cooling - (at all when overclocking is involved)
If you take an appropriate air cooler - it is usually large and heavy, so pay attention to the back plate on the motherboard.
You might also consider the new Intel i9-10900X and maybe you can use a faster memory - more PCIex lanes, and quad channel - makes a difference e.g. with the X-Plane - (and before discussions arise now - yes I did a comparison test, but I used more hard disks than you listed)

But now in April (I think) the Comet Lake S should start, is a refresh, it´s up to you.

And I would wait for the new graphics card update from Nvidia, the Titan RTX is just too expensive - if you're in a hurry you can take the RTX2080Ti and for the price difference you can take the RTX3080Ti (or whatever they're called) - (assuming it's in the 2080Ti price range - if you know what I mean, 2x1250$) 

It seems that the 3080series has more memory anyway and now to take the completely overpriced Titan RTX - surely an incredibly fast card but I don't know if it's necessary!

Cheers !

 

 

Edited April 14, 2020 by AUA425

[ChaoticBeauty 6,692]

9 hours ago, captain420 said:

Really curious to hear about NVIDIA's next gen graphics card though to see how they compare to the current RTX 2080's.

Several rumours indicate that Ampere will provide big gains to ray-tracing performance (and Microsoft Flight Simulator will support it in the future), but not much to rasterisation performance, and on top of that it seems unlikely that it will be fabbed on a 7nm node which will limit the potential benefit. None of this information is confirmed, but it comes from leakers that were right in the past. But since RDNA 2 is looking to be very competitive (50% performance/Watt improvement), it means that prices might finally be back to normal, so you will get a lot more for your money from either vendor.

[KenG 492]

$2500 for a TITAN RTX. Are you made of money or what? Really, I'd nerf the video card if you must buy today, and wait to see what the RTX3080 brings this fall. You could find yourself with a very expensive card that is getting tromped by the next gen stuff. You can get a refurbished 1080 Ti off ebay for $300 which will give you 11 GB of VRAM. 

 

[GearUp180 55]

As far as X-plane is concerned, you may want to check Michael Brown's excellent videos to choose and set up your rig:

https://www.youtube.com/user/col2mab

You'll find comparisons between Intel CPUs, reviews of AMD, GPU, memory... A goldmine of information!

Nevertheless, I do agree with olderndirt on the fact that your initial config is a bit "overkill".

Edited April 14, 2020 by GearUp180

[Bob Scott 7,316]

Agree that if your primary target is MSFS, there are still too many unknowns.

That HyperX air cooler is pretty underwhelming.  To overclock a 9900K you'll want something like the Noctua NH-D15S or an above-average all-in-one liquid cooler like the Corsair H115.  Custom water even better.

For the price of that Titan now you could most likely get a very good 2080Ti now and then a 3080Ti when it comes out. 

[captain420 3,066]

All very good advice guys! With the i9-10990k right around the corner and the next version of the NVIDIA GPU's later this year. I may hold off on getting the CPU and GPU.

But since the i9-10990K is a new socket and will require a Z490 motherboard. I might also hold off on ordering the motherboard until I decide to go with the i9-9900k or the i9-10900k, depending on its performance gains over last gen's model. But if the price wlil significantly decrease on the 9900k once the 10900k hits. I may go that route instead.

I really like the AIO liquid coolers over aircooling, not to mention they look so much nicer and show's off your build much more than a big aircooler. But I've never build a computer using liquidcooling before and I'm concerned about issues such as leaking and potentially damaging all your components inside and other possible things that can happen when it comes to liquid cooling. Is it that you need to replace it more often? Cause my current build of 8+ years now, going on strong even with an overclock has given me no problems. And I'm using the traditional Hypermaster EVO 212.

That's also another one of my big concerns is liquid vs air cooling for my next build.

Would it be safe for me to order the following parts now, while I wait for cpu, gpu, motherboard updates?

1. Case
2. RAM
3. NVMe SSD, SSD, HDD
4. PSU (Not sure if I should go with 750 or 850watts, please tell me what you guys think about that)