For all the low-end gamers out there without a 5,000 budget

[Roeland91 1]

Hi all,

 

Question on low-end hardware as i feel that most hardware topics are about 4K/VR/i9 etc.

I run:

 

- i5-7400 at 3.5GhZ

- 8 GB DDR 4 RAM

- 1 TB HDD

- GTX 1050 2 GB VRAM

- iiyama G-Master Black Hawk GE2288HS-B1 monitor on 75 HZ, 1920 x 1080


How would adding an extra 8GB DDR 4 RAM impact my performance?
Mind you, I am not looking for extreme graphics, all sliders to max etc.

Just want a medium experience since MSFS will be so much better than FSX anyway.

Edited July 19, 2020 by Roeland91

[Slayer 190]

TBH I would pull your existing memory and put in 32GB. 16GB is Recommended. You can get a 32GB kit off newegg for around $115. 

[Ixoye 1,813]

Yes, definitely go for 32gb Ram, and if you can afford, upgrade to an SSD disk, that will probably give you most performance for the buck.

[Dominique_K 10,133]

Dont be in a hurry. This is a new engine : CPU/GPU use ratio, streaming, use of cores, everything is different. The wise thing to do before buying anything is to wait for the release. Listen to people with similar setups or try with the one-buck Gamepass offer.

[Roeland91 1]

Okay so what you are essentially saying is that a decent upgrade in RAM size can compensate for my fairly outdated VRAM? 

[Wanderkroete 31]

I don't think that this will help much. According to new tests, only with PCI Express 4.0 it is kind of possible to use RAM as overflow VRAM without any too extreme performance drawbacks.

I think 2 GB VRAM is too little to enjoy the game. You should look at cheap options (Ebay) to get at least 4 or more. And also at least additional 8 GB RAM. But then you're still at the low end.

SSD also won't help much in the overall performance except for initial loading times I assume.

Edited July 19, 2020 by Wanderkroete

[LHookins 3,102]

Basically, if you're going to upgrade your RAM anyway, you might as well go to 32 gig.  You may not need it, but it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.  VRAM shouldn't matter until they go to DX12 but I'm guessing here.

Hook

[Wanderkroete 31]

Seriously? 2 GB was too little for flight sim even in 2013 when I got my last computer.

Edited July 19, 2020 by Wanderkroete

[devgrp 1,233]

You definitely need a new gpu

[ChaoticBeauty 6,692]

Upgrading to 32GB RAM before upgrading that GPU, obviously the biggest limiting factor in his system, does not make sense to me. More RAM will not improve performance, but it means that more detailed scenery, probably at a higher draw distance as well, can be loaded. Which will not matter if the GPU, which barely meets the minimum requirement, cannot render it fast enough.

First I would recommend trying out the simulator on your current system to see what the biggest bottleneck is. Then, the first thing I would upgrade to is an SSD (a performance SATA drive is good enough, no need to look into more expensive NVME drives unless the rest of your system is bleeding-edge), which will not only heavily boost loading speeds but will also make your system feel more responsive overall. After the full line-up of the next generation of GPUs is out, pick the one that you feel is good enough, and then upgrade your RAM accordingly.

If you can match your current RAM sticks then 16GB is a good upgrade path, and 32GB is optimal if your budget allows it. However, keep in mind that if you'd like to upgrade your CPU and motherboard at a later date, DDR4 will probably be obsolete in a couple of years from, which will render your current sticks incompatible.

[Andreas Stangenes 1,628]

Not sure if I should make a new thread or just make a new post here since I have a similar query:

I have a gti980ti and its been holding up great over some years now. Up untill this point I havnt seen a good reason to depart with lots of monies to «upgrade» my gfx card since the previous generations before current market has shown that my ti card is hilding up well against new cards. What do you guys think now, though? Will my card run mfs2020 well, or is it time to upgrade?

I enjoy eyecandy (which is ehy I got it in the first place) and wouldnt like it if I had to downgrade my gfx in sim too much. 

[LHookins 3,102]

22 minutes ago, ChaoticBeauty said:

Upgrading to 32GB RAM

Basically, it's to avoid getting an out of memory error.  With his likely settings 16 gig should be more than enough, but he may have to upgrade again in the future.

My advice to everyone is to try the sim on the hardware you currently have, then decide what needs to be upgraded based on performance and what you see.

Hook

[ChaoticBeauty 6,692]

16 minutes ago, Andreas Stangenes said:

Will my card run mfs2020 well, or is it time to upgrade?

Similar performance to the GTX 1070 or the GTX 1660 Super. Even if it is a power hog, it's a decent card for 1080p nowadays. If you are looking for a real upgrade it would make more sense to wait for the next generation anyway.

2 minutes ago, LHookins said:

Basically, it's to avoid getting an out of memory error.  With his likely settings 16 gig should be more than enough, but he may have to upgrade again in the future.

I don't know if the engine has measures to avoid these or what settings would be required to break beyond 8GB, but what's for sure is that upgrading to 32GB RAM before upgrading the GPU would be a massive waste, and 2GB VRAM is definitely going to be a lot more limiting nowadays. As for future upgrades, he would likely have to replace the RAM anyway unless he upgrades his platform within the next generation of CPUs, so adding 8GB more would be a more cost-effective upgrade.

Edited July 19, 2020 by ChaoticBeauty

[Turpentine 375]

10 minutes ago, Rob_Ainscough said:

Your most cost effective approach would be to wait for the New XBOX and get MSFS for XBOX not PC.

Your current hardware is not good enough for a medium experience and adding RAM will not help you much.

A new more capable CPU, Motherboard, RAM, GPU, and maybe PSU will cost more than the new XBOX which is slated at around $1000.

Cheers, Rob

Unless there are some new info on this, I believe 600/650 USD is seen as an upper bound for the Xbox Series X. Which only strengthens your point.

The problem is that we know nothing about what MSFS2020 will look like on the Series X. The good news is that the Marketplace will make it possible to get the same addons as for PC (at least in theory). I'm not too worried about the visuals. My main concern is about compatible peripherals.

[jpc55 185]

3 hours ago, LHookins said:

it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it.

One of my favorite sayings.