Feeding a 3090

[Ianrivaldosmith 5,317]

21 minutes ago, sluflyer06 said:

This is false, absolutely false.  I'm still CPU bound at 4k ultra the majority of the time on my rig, this sim is simply too hard on some threads. I'm running a 5900X that hits 5.1ghz on multiple cores, 2x16GB dual rank 3600mhz at CL14, trio X 3080 at 2.1ghz and ram at +700, both on custom loop cooling. There are areas that are gpu bound this is 100% true, but the VAST majority of the time the gpu is under 100% load waiting on CPU.

Increase your render scale. That’ll remove the cpu bottleneck a bit. 

[simon747 185]

1 hour ago, sluflyer06 said:

This is false, absolutely false.  I'm still CPU bound at 4k ultra the majority of the time on my rig, this sim is simply too hard on some threads. I'm running a 5900X that hits 5.1ghz on multiple cores, 2x16GB dual rank 3600mhz at CL14, trio X 3080 at 2.1ghz and ram at +700, both on custom loop cooling. There are areas that are gpu bound this is 100% true, but the VAST majority of the time the gpu is under 100% load waiting on CPU.

Its not false, each system is different I suppose.  I am GPU bound at 4k on a 3090 about 95% of the time.  My CPU usage is usually 40%-50% across all cores.  Main thread limitations are few and far between on my system, unless Microsoft are doing weird things.  AVG Fps  with no VSYNC are 40-60 and with vsync on  via NVCP are 30 fps where the simulator seems to be best.

Flying in heavy PG areas, from what I understand, are the heaviest on the CPU usage.  I still seem to be able to fly over PG Vancouver, for example, with LOD at 185 or so with the recent MS update while still being GPU bound on most bits including at an add-on CYVR.     You have to really work your settings to get things flowing ok; and flowing ok, means just ok!

Edited March 12, 2021 by simon747

[Virtual-Chris 682]

I've gone ahead and changed my hardware... 5800x, TUF B550M-Plus, 4x16GB 3200 RAM, 1TB PCIe 4.0 MP600 m.2 drive... supporting my existing Asus Strix 3090.

Cinebench has this CPU cloberring my old 9700k, but I'm sure the difference in MSFS will actually be worse, since the last time I flew in MSFS was in Dec before the last two crippling updates 😄

Whether it actually has any impact on the sim or not, it's a fun hobby just tinkering with and optimizing a PC... so there's that.

[ahsmatt7 1,199]

On 3/10/2021 at 3:43 PM, andy1252 said:

I was having a discussion with a friend about graphics the other day and suggested that I might just go back to VGA and drop acid instead of worrying about all this tech. I seem to remember the graphics were pretty impressive back in the day <grin>

This post wins the internet. Freakin hilarious.

[Brandon01110 407]

On 3/10/2021 at 2:56 PM, Virtual-Chris said:

PCIe 4.0 M.2 drive... effectively doubling my threads, ram, and storage speed

a faster m.2 drive isnt necessary.  save your money

[Virtual-Chris 682]

9 minutes ago, Brandon01110 said:

a faster m.2 drive isnt necessary.  save your money

None of this is necessary 😛

[simon747 185]

1 hour ago, Virtual-Chris said:

None of this is necessary 😛

Wish I could justify the expense, I am going to persevere with my old-timmer 9700k for some more time as can't really afford it right now 😬  

Edited March 12, 2021 by simon747

[TurboKen 221]

3 hours ago, Virtual-Chris said:

I've gone ahead and changed my hardware... 5800x, TUF B550M-Plus, 4x16GB 3200 RAM, 1TB PCIe 4.0 MP600 m.2 drive... supporting my existing Asus Strix 3090.

Cinebench has this CPU cloberring my old 9700k, but I'm sure the difference in MSFS will actually be worse, since the last time I flew in MSFS was in Dec before the last two crippling updates 😄

Whether it actually has any impact on the sim or not, it's a fun hobby just tinkering with and optimizing a PC... so there's that.

Was your 9700k overclocked? I have the same system and it seems to be running everything I can throw at it great. Being only 3 hours ago I guess you are still downloading MSFS, so we will wait for your first impressions.

[Virtual-Chris 682]

11 hours ago, TurboKen said:

Was your 9700k overclocked? I have the same system and it seems to be running everything I can throw at it great. Being only 3 hours ago I guess you are still downloading MSFS, so we will wait for your first impressions.

Yeah, mine was OC to 5 GHz. It was ok, (40-45FPS) and it only really suffered when flying over Photogrametry (frames would drop to 20-30fps) or turning up the LOD in the config file. 

Im not expecting much improvement in MSFS to be honest. The sim is horribly inefficient and getting worse with every release by the sounds of it. The Guru3D benchmarking proved that there’s not a lot that can be done to get this sim really flying at 4K. But I will report back for sure. It will likely be at least a few days as I had a busy weekend planned before this. 

[Cpt_Piett 4,652]

This is an interesting thread. My next upgrade will be a watercooled 3090 (everything seems out of stock currently). I’ll hold on to my 6-core i7 8086K which I’ve overclocked to 5.1. Currently at 4.9 with hyperthreading, but not convinced that’s the optimal way to go. To be honest, I haven’t found any compelling reasons for a CPU upgrade yet, but I’ll wait and check out the 3090 first. I’m using 32GB ram.

EDIT: at 4K I’m limited by GPU most of the time.

Edited March 15, 2021 by flavik77
See post

[ivng 57]

1 hour ago, flavik77 said:

My next upgrade will be a watercooled 3090 (everything seems out of stock currently).

Do youself a favour and search for "model name issues/problems/dead/etc" before buying.

This will give you an idea of what users are experiencing and you can decide for yourself the level of acceptable risk.

[Cpt_Piett 4,652]

1 hour ago, ivng said:

Do youself a favour and search for "model name issues/problems/dead/etc" before buying.

This will give you an idea of what users are experiencing and you can decide for yourself the level of acceptable risk.

Thanks for the advice. I’m currently looking into either the Asus EKWB edition or the Gigabyte Aorus Waterforce WB. I currently have the 1080Ti version of the Aorus and I’ve been very happy with that one, no issues so far (3 years). Main problem right now (all cards) is availability.

Edited March 15, 2021 by flavik77

[Virtual-Chris 682]

So I finally have had time to get everything upgraded and setup. I did a Windows and MSFS install from scratch. Interestingly, MSFS kept a lot of my settings and control mappings in the cloud (I guess) which was a pleasant surprise. 

I wish I could say all my new hardware and effort was worthwhile, but as it stands, I’ve gone from 40-45FPS previously to now around 15-20FPS. Asobo has really F*d this sim up good. 😞

Edited March 24, 2021 by Virtual-Chris

[tfm 169]

All of this sounds very familiar, sadly. I’ve used MSFS in its various iterations since about 1995 and the issue has been the same since Intel ran into thermal limits so the marketing guys started promoting the virtues of multiple cores instead of clock speed. Clock speeds stopped their near-exponential rise. This wrecked the design principle of MSFS’s main code, which was written when everyone assumed CPU speed would double every 18 months or so.

 

All this extra processing power from additional cores is genuine, but it’s largely theoretical for apps like MSFS which do most (not all, but most) of the work on a single thread. As currently engineered, what MSFS craves above all else, is raw CPU speed. 
 

I think it’s a pity that Asobo seems to have borrowed so much of the old code. What MSFS needed, was a ground-up rewrite with imaginative use of multiple threads to leverage the kind of processing power actually available these days.

[westman 257]

msfs is mostly gpu bound in 4k, i build a new sim pc with a AMD 5950X and the old was a 9900k @5.2ghz 4000mhz mems i have two edentical 2080ti  test both with 1440 to be sure to be cpu bound.

the new amd system 54fps contra 9900k 49fps on the same time i was building a hybrid water air cooled 3090 Galax HOF OCLab that a get clean without cooling it have the 1000w extreme bios with tools.

today iam happy with my system iam mostly gpu bound , my standard GPU OC is 2200mhz on core powerdraw top out at approx 590w.

it a 15% oc over a 1900mhz gpu and in my test i see that the fps gain is linear to the gpu frq , what that say iam gpu bound