Feeding a 3090

[fogboundturtle 2,708]

this is why AMD Zen3 > Any intel processor. (if you can find one).

[cianpars 1,165]

Upgraded to an RTX 3070 and a 2700 AMD processor to get me into MSFS, but it wasn't until I upgraded my CPU to a 5600X that I really felt that I had a decent simulator and rig.  Everything seems to have gone downhill with the updates since.  I have no idea how a company with the resources of Microsoft and ASOBO can keep getting it so wrong with degrading uogrades.  At the moment I'm not really simming that much as a result.  Jorge should be very embarrased by the way this is going.

[Ixoye 1,821]

I’ve got a 10900k and 2080ti and after the Sim3 update i'm Limited by main tread, never been that before.

[sluflyer06 32]

3 hours ago, Av8ing1 said:

Have you looked at the developer modes FPS counter? At 4K even with your 3090 I would think you are GPU limited. If so its unlikely you would find much benefit from a CPU upgrade. I also like to tinker with the machine, so I'd add more ram to get up to 64GB just in case it does actually help the 3090.

I think what is really needed for 4K in this sim is a 15900K and a 5090Ti.....

Negative. 90% of the time at 4k ultra, cpu is the limit, I have a 3080 @2.1ghz on water, and a 5900x that hits 5.1 on water, 32gb 3600mhz cl14 ram...cpu is the issue, sometimes gpu yes for sure, but usually cpu. I'm typically between 45-60, sometimes high 30s at like hartsfield in a jet. It's going to be a couple generations of cpu and gpu for 4k users, but I'm not giving up my dedicated sim area with 55" oled main screen, and I run a 13" for little nav map or navigraph, and my uktrawide over in my normal desk.

[Virtual-Chris 682]

Wow. This is all sounding like a pretty sad state of affairs. <word not allowed>. I thought giving it a couple of months might help. Sounds like it’s only got worse!

Edited March 11, 2021 by Virtual-Chris

[Glenn Fitzpatrick 3,798]

5 hours ago, Virtual-Chris said:

Last fall I was lucky enough to get my hands on a 3090.  But I'm still running a 9700k (8C/8T) processor.  32GB of RAM.  PCIe 3 M.2 drive.  I game at 4K and get around 30-45fps on a mix of high/ultra settings.

Is there any other aspects I can upgrade that will help feed the 3090?  Ideally, I'd like to be able to run a higher LOD setting (using the config file) but that causes stutters - especially when combined with a photogrammetry flyover.

The recent Guru3D performance testing seems to indicate that almost nothing has much impact on performance other than the GPU but I'm wondering if anyone here has tried pushing the envelope.  For example, I've seen a few posts where people are reporting better results with 64GB of RAM.

With the 5800x now readily available, I could upgrade my Mobo, CPU, go to 64GB of ram and a PCIe 4.0 M.2 drive... effectively doubling my threads, ram, and storage speed while increasing single-thread performance slightly.  Will any of this make any difference?

In terms of your current setup the two "cheapish" upgrade options without resorting to a motherboard swap are:

• 64GB ram - however by all accounts this only makes any difference with VR headsets and maybe (only maybe) allows higher rates of accelerated time
• 9900K - these are relatively cheap now compared to a year ago but the extra threads will only give a slight improvement to smoothness rather than FPS. They also run hot and you may need a better cooler. If you sell the 9700K though may be an economical swap over.

 

Edited March 11, 2021 by Glenn Fitzpatrick

[Maxis 1,865]

What Glen said. Save the cash and just get the best chip that can work on your motherboard for now. I'm not keen on upgrading the ram either as yet but that part is up to you. I don't see a point in going to 64gb but it worked for some. 

Also considering the chip runs hot. You can probably tack on 120 bucks and pick up an arctic freezer ii 280 or 360 aio to control the Temps while you're at it.

Probably the most cost effective comment of the thread (Glen's response)

[Alpine Scenery 1,609]

6 hours ago, Virtual-Chris said:

Last fall I was lucky enough to get my hands on a 3090.  But I'm still running a 9700k (8C/8T) processor.  32GB of RAM.  PCIe 3 M.2 drive.  I game at 4K and get around 30-45fps on a mix of high/ultra settings.

Is there any other aspects I can upgrade that will help feed the 3090?  Ideally, I'd like to be able to run a higher LOD setting (using the config file) but that causes stutters - especially when combined with a photogrammetry flyover.

The recent Guru3D performance testing seems to indicate that almost nothing has much impact on performance other than the GPU but I'm wondering if anyone here has tried pushing the envelope.  For example, I've seen a few posts where people are reporting better results with 64GB of RAM.

With the 5800x now readily available, I could upgrade my Mobo, CPU, go to 64GB of ram and a PCIe 4.0 M.2 drive... effectively doubling my threads, ram, and storage speed while increasing single-thread performance slightly.  Will any of this make any difference?

The 5800x is OK I guess, just upgraded to it myself (but don't have a 3090). That said, I'd suggest wait until the Intel 11900 comes out shortly. Rumor has it that it's supposed to be out at the end of the month for $599. The performance is basically identical, but the INTEL runs WAY cooler. The Intel might edge the AMD out in certain games, but basically the same performance.

Here is my issue with the 5800x that I just upgraded to, this CPU runs so hot that you'll need a Noctua or similar giant cooler in a mid-tower case (if it even fits). Even after you do all this, the residual heat will increase your GPU heat slightly, maybe 2-3 degrees depending on your case (also the giant heatsinks block some air flow in the case). So my GPU fan runs louder now than before I did the upgrade, even though my CPU is relatively cool. If you have a really really giant case it might not matter, but my case is not small by any definition and I have 5 giant case fans. Cooling is fine, just kind of an inconvenience.

I tried removing the Noctua and went back to stock, and the temps were crazy high getting into the 80C range or higher (well - the CPU is rated to handle 90-95C), but that's not the point, the point is who wants a CPU running that hot trying to cook other components. So I had to put the giant Noctua back on.

Edited March 11, 2021 by Alpine Scenery

[andradef 59]

My setup: Intel Core i9 9820K, Nvidia 3080, 32 GB RAM, three 1920x1080  monitors.

My three HD monitors amount to 75% of the number of pixels of a 4K monitor. 

I run almost every setting at the highest level. I fly GA typically, and get 27 to 35 fps most of the time. In busier cities, my fps takes a hit. In fact, just today I was flying over Toronto and it was not playable at my settings (fps as low as 15).

I used to have a Radeon Vega 56. Back then, my performance was limited by GPU. Now, with the 3080, my performance is limited by the CPU. Unfortunately, I opted for a lot of cores (10) with the i9 processor, but multi-core only goes so far with DirectX 11. I should have picked a Core i7 with fewer cores but better performance per core.

I do hope that when we move to DirectX 12 in the Summer I will get to a minimum of 30 fps. I saw the difference in X-Plane when they went to Vulkan and it was significant (over 25% better fps). 

[Flyfaster_MTN002 412]

1 hour ago, andradef said:

My setup: Intel Core i9 9820K, Nvidia 3080, 32 GB RAM, three 1920x1080  monitors.

My three HD monitors amount to 75% of the number of pixels of a 4K monitor. 

Those 3 monitors are likely killing your performance. MSFS is not yet setup/optimized for multi monitors

[andradef 59]

30 minutes ago, Flyfaster_MTN002 said:

Those 3 monitors are likely killing your performance. MSFS is not yet setup/optimized for multi monitors

Yeah but I use the nvidia function that combines them into one, so MSFS sees a single very very wide monitor. 

[MrFuzzy 2,118]

I upgraded to 64 GB and there is absolutely no difference with 32, even in VR I have 16-20 GB RAM and 8-11 GB of VRAM used.

The Ryzen 5000 would be a little faster in single thread - more threads would be useless for now as MSFS uses efficiently only 6 - but in case you want to switch to VR there may be issues with the USB ports and chipset.

I would recommend you to keep what you have and wait until after summer, when DX12 will be implemented and we will see how the various processors perform with the new libraries.

[MrFuzzy 2,118]

6 hours ago, 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>

A lot of artifacts though... maybe damaged memories and overheated brains!

[Alpine Scenery 1,609]

5 minutes ago, MrFuzzy said:

I upgraded to 64 GB and there is absolutely no difference with 32, even in VR I have 16-20 GB RAM and 8-11 GB of VRAM used.

The Ryzen 5000 would be a little faster in single thread - more threads would be useless for now as MSFS uses efficiently only 6 - but in case you want to switch to VR there may be issues with the USB ports and chipset.

I would recommend you to keep what you have and wait until after summer, when DX12 will be implemented and we will see how the various processors perform with the new libraries.

Yah, I went from a Ryzen 5-3600 to a 5800x, and there is no real difference, maybe 1-2 FPS but that is in full-blown ultra, I didn't test 4k though . I upgraded for other reasons though, because I have too much other junk loaded in the background, like 10 copies of Blender usually.

[Alpine Scenery 1,609]

3 hours ago, sluflyer06 said:

Negative. 90% of the time at 4k ultra, cpu is the limit, I have a 3080 @2.1ghz on water, and a 5900x that hits 5.1 on water, 32gb 3600mhz cl14 ram...cpu is the issue, sometimes gpu yes for sure, but usually cpu. I'm typically between 45-60, sometimes high 30s at like hartsfield in a jet. It's going to be a couple generations of cpu and gpu for 4k users, but I'm not giving up my dedicated sim area with 55" oled main screen, and I run a 13" for little nav map or navigraph, and my uktrawide over in my normal desk.

If you have any frame-rate limiters on, it will often report the limit is CPU even when it's really GPU. You probably already know this, just noting it.